Donkey Kong: Difference between revisions

'''Donkey Kong''' (Japanese:ドンキーコング) is a gorilla character from [[Nintendo]] that appeared in many video games since 1981. Like many Nintendo franchises, ''Donkey Kong'' was created by [[Shigeru Miyamoto]].

[[Image:Donkey_Kong.JPG|thumbnail|200px|right|Donkey Kong was redesigned for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]] Donkey Kong Country series.]]

Donkey Kong was created when [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] was assigned by [[Nintendo]] to convert ''Radar Scope'', a poorly selling arcade game in the U.S., into a game that would have more appeal to Americans. The result was a major breakthrough for Nintendo and for the videogame industry. It was likely the first game with a "hero," a "villain," and a "damsel in distress." Sales of the machine were brisk, with the game becoming the best-selling arcade machine of all time in its era. The gameplay itself was a large improvement over other games of its time, and with the growing base of arcades to sell to, it was able to gain huge distribution.

Due to the huge success of Donkey Kong, Nintendo of America was able to grow and release many more games in succeeding years and had the resources necessary to release the NES in the USA.

The exact origins of the name "Donkey Kong" are unclear and debated. The most common explanation of the name is that it was created by [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] as a combination of the word "Kong" from ''King Kong'' (although 'Kong' by that time had already come to colloquially mean monkey), and "Donkey," a word which can mean stubborn. It is believed by many that the name "Donkey Kong" was the result of a typo on the original cabinet's art work for "Monkey Kong," but this has been denied by Miyamoto and others.

In the original [[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong game]], the player's character "[[Jumpman]]" (later: "[[Mario]]") must jump over barrels thrown by Donkey Kong while climbing ladders up a crooked construction site to reach the top of the screen to rescue his girlfriend Pauline (who was originally called Lady in Japan). Each screen is a game stage, with stages grouping to form levels. Each successive level is progressively harder.  

This game was first released in the arcades, but was ported to home video game consoles and home computers. The game was also sold as a portable LCD game (1982) by [[Nintendo]] in two versions: Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong II.

''Donkey Kong'' spawned two sequels, neither of which were as popular as the original arcade hit. In  ''[[Donkey Kong Jr. (arcade game)|Donkey Kong Junior]]'' Donkey Kong was kidnapped by Mario and players had to control his son [[Donkey Kong Jr.]] to rescue him.  In ''Donkey Kong 3'' DK broke into a greenhouse and got chased out by [[Stanley the Bugman]], who carried a spray can to protect his greenhouse from Donkey Kong's insects. In 1994, Nintendo produced a remake of the original game for the Game Boy (often dubbed "Donkey Kong '94" to distinguish it from the original) which contained 96 new stages (most which were puzzle-oriented) in addition to the original four from the Arcade game. Donkey Kong's and [[Pauline]]'s respective appearances were updated for this game (DK now had a tie and Pauline was made into a brunette to set herself apart from Peach).

After that he went on hiatus until he appeared in ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' (in Japan, Super Donkey Kong). Donkey Kong Country was an entirely new DK franchise established by the British company [[Rare|Rareware]] which took the Donkey Kong premise in an entire new direction. Severing DK's ties to the [[Mario]] world (until ''[[Super Mario Kart]]''), Donkey Kong Country established a whole new world for DK, and became a showcase title to show-off then-revolutionary 3D CGI graphics.

In ''Donkey Kong Country'', DK was the hero and he and his sidekick [[Diddy Kong]] had to save his hoard of bananas from the thieving [[King K. Rool]] and his [[Kremling]] Krew. The game was an action sidescrolling title similar to the Mario games and was enormously popular for its graphics, music, and gameplay. Some sources, such as ''[[Nintendo Power]]'', suggest that the Donkey Kong in the ''Country'' series was the son of [[Cranky Kong]], the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game, which would equate him with Donkey Kong Junior. Other sources, including the manual of ''Donkey Kong Country''<small>^[[#Notes|1]]</small> and in-game dialogue from other games in the series, suggest that the Donkey Kong in ''Donkey Kong Country'' is Cranky's grandson and the son of Donkey Kong Junior. This is also contradicted by the in-game dialogue from [[Donkey Kong 64]], as Cranky specifically calls DK his son. Rareware released an official statement some time ago, stating that Cranky is indeed the D.K. of the arcades and that the current Donkey Kong is D.K. Jr. However, Nintendo hasn't made up their minds yet as to what it should be, and have been known to refer to today's Donkey Kong as Mario's oldest rival. This has led to some confusion, but because they own the characters, it is ultimately up to Nintendo to decide which possibility is correct.

The official sequel, ''[[Donkey Kong Country 2]]'' (Super Donkey Kong 2) involves Donkey being kidnapped by King K. Rool (now [[Kaptain K. Rool]]) and has to get rescued by Diddy Kong and his girlfriend [[Dixie Kong]], in a less cheery and a more dark themed game. In ''[[Donkey Kong Country 3]]'' (in Japan, Super Donkey Kong 3) he and Diddy both got kidnapped and Dixie and her cousin [[Kiddy Kong]] had to save them in the final game of the series for the SNES. The ''[[Donkey Kong Land]]'' series for the [[Game Boy]] were smaller and slightly modified versions of the "Country" games.

A successful [[N64]] sequel was also developed. In ''Donkey Kong 64'' DK once again had the starring role and he had to join forces with Diddy Kong, [[Tiny Kong]], [[Lanky Kong]], and [[Chunky Kong]] to save [[Donkey Kong Island]] from destruction at the hand of the Kremlings.

The ''Donkey Kong Country'' series died after Rareware split with Nintendo to develop games for the Xbox. Though the DKC series were always solely developed by Rare, they featured Nintendo's trademarked characters and as a result are not allowed to appear on any other system.

Donkey Kong also appears in a number of other games such as ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'', ''[[Mario Kart: Double Dash!!]]'', the ''[[Mario Party]]'' series, ''[[Mario Golf]]'', ''[[Mario Tennis]]'', and the two crossover games ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' and ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]''. In nearly all of these games, Donkey Kong is presented as a powerful but slow and cumbersome character (for example, in the ''Mario Kart'' games, he has a high top speed, but poor acceleration), as opposed to [[Yoshi]]. Donkey Kong is slated for several games on the Nintendo [[GameCube]] and the [[Game Boy Advance]].

While still under Rare's influence, numerous spin-offs of Donkey Kong were created. ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]'', a racing game released in [[1997]] starring the Diddy Kong character, was the launching point of the Banjo-Kazooie and Conker franchises as well as the first appearance of several characters that would later spring up in Rare games.  These franchises are now owned by Microsoft, but they'll always have their origins in Donkey Kong's universe. ''Donkey Kong: Coconut Crackers'' was originally developed by [[Rare]] for the [[Game Boy Advance]], but was eventually released as [[It's Mr. Pants]] after the Microsoft purchase.

"Donkey Kong Universe" (DKU) refers to the place in which all Donkey Kong games (except the original arcade versions), and games taking place in the same universe as Donkey Kong, exist. The list of characters in the Donkey Kong Universe include all of the Kongs in the Donkey Kong Country series, the ''Banjo-Kazooie'' series, ''Conker's Bad Fur Day'', ''Grabbed by the Ghoulies'', and ''Star Fox Adventures''. The games are inter-related by cameo appearances by characters from other Rare games or references to the other games.

'''Mario''' (originally called Jumpman) is the Italian star of many Nintendo games, created for the arcade game ''[[Donkey Kong (arcade game)|Donkey Kong]]'', where he must rescue his girlfriend, Pauline.   

'''Donkey Kong Jr.''' was Donkey Kong's son, who rescues DK in ''[[Donkey Kong Jr.]]''

'''Donkey Kong''' in the ''Donkey Kong Country'' games is stated by some sources to not be the original Donkey Kong, but his son (Donkey Kong Jr.) or grandson. He is playable and the star in ''Donkey Kong Country'', and ''Donkey Kong 64''. In Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, he is kidnapped for the duration of the game, and the objective of the game is to save him.

'''Diddy Kong''' first appeared in ''Donkey Kong Country'' as Donkey's sidekick. In that game and its sequels he is smaller and weaker than Donkey. He returned as the star of ''Donkey Kong Country 2''. In ''Donkey Kong Country 3'', he appeared as a non-playable hostage alongside Donkey, and starred in ''[[Diddy Kong Racing]]''.  He reappeared in ''Donkey Kong 64'' as one of five playable characters, where he possessed a rocket pack perhaps reminiscent of Rare's game ''Jetpac'', which is playable as an unlockable in that game.  Most recently, he's started appearing alongside Donkey Kong in Mario sports titles, such as ''[[Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour]]'',  ''[[Mario Kart: Double Dash!!]]'', ''[[Mario Power Tennis]]'', and ''[[Mario Superstar Baseball]]''.

'''Dixie Kong''' is Diddy Kong's girlfriend. She first appeared in ''Donkey Kong Country 2'' as Diddy's sidekick who helped him save Donkey Kong. She also appeared in ''Donkey Kong Country 3'' as the star with her cousin Kiddy Kong as her sidekick.  She has recently appearred in ''[[Mario Superstar Baseball]]'' alongside Donkey and Diddy.

'''Tiny Kong''' is Dixie Kong's little sister and was playable only in ''Donkey Kong 64''.  Most recently, she had a cameo in the [[Game Boy Advance]] port of ''Donkey Kong Country 2''.  Her talents include the ability to shrink and hover with her pig tails.

'''Lanky Kong''' is one of Donkey Kong's friends who appeared in only ''Donkey Kong 64'', and is an orangutan.  His persona is described as wacky and his specific skills in that game are generally due to his long arms.  He wears a red clown nose. It's stated by Cranky Kong in the instruction booklet of Donkey Kong 64 that he is unsure how exactly Lanky is related to the Kong family, the only reason to wonder if he's not related being that he's the only orangutan in the series.

==''[[Mario Superstar Baseball]]'' Bio==

His ancestor, the [[Cranky Kong|original Donkey Kong]] wore no necktie. His talents lead in beating

on primate foes and kart-racing. Fear his [[Banana]] Ball.  

[[Category:Characters]]