Donkey Kong
- For other uses, see Donkey Kong (disambiguation).
Donkey Kong (known as DK for short) is a gorilla that appears in some Mario games but also has his own series. Like Mario, Donkey Kong was created by Shigeru Miyamoto.
History
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.
MGM sued Nintendo over copyright violations, claiming that Donkey Kong was a copy of King Kong. If victorious, this lawsuit would have crushed Nintendo of America, and the history of videogames would be drastically altered. Nintendo's lawyer, Howard Lincoln, who would go on to become a Senior Vice President of the company, discovered that MGM didn't own the copyright to King Kong either, and was able to not only win the lawsuit but get MGM to pay the legal costs.
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.
Overview
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 game, the player's character Jumpman (Mario's old name) 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.
The game was quite revolutionary for its time, featuring multiple distinct levels, large colorful graphics, and a unique form of play control.
Sequels and spin-offs
Donkey Kong later asppeared in his own series, made by Rare and not Nintendo. He was the leader of the Kongs.
Nintendo's first title after Rare was Mario vs. Donkey Kong, a return to the earlier arcade-style games. While its style was that of the original games, the Rare-design for Donkey Kong carried over.
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 series, Mario Tennis series, 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.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 info
- Type: Powerful
- Special Shot: Konga Dunk
Mario Superstar Baseball Bio
"A gorilla known for raw power, DK lives a carefree jungle life... unless someone messes with his bananas, in which case he just loses it. His ancestor, Cranky Kong (the original Donkey Kong) wore no necktie. His talents lead in beating on primate foes and kart-racing. Fear his Banana Ball.
