Portal: Donkey Kong
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| Donkey Kong | |
| Developer | Nintendo |
| Games | List of all games (1981) |
| Debut | Donkey Kong |
| Gallery | GH Gallery |
Donkey Kong is Nintendo's oldest franchise. Though the main Donkey Kong games are platformers, Donkey Kong has branched off into other types of games, such as kart racing and rhythm games.
History
The Donkey Kong franchise was started by Shigeru Miyamoto. Nintendo needed a game that could use unsold Radarscope cabinets and put Miyamoto in charge of the project. The game he came up with was Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong was Nintendo's first hit in America. It was followed by Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong 3. Afterwards Donkey Kong played second fiddle to his rival Mario who went on to become the Nintendo mascot.
It wasn't until Nintendo let Rare make a Donkey Kong game that a true sequel was produced. Though Donkey Kong Country was an excellent platformer, the prerendered 3D graphics were what really amazed people. There were two direct sequels. The Donkey Kong Country games introduced many new characters, including Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, Cranky Kong, Rambi, and Enguarde. The last of the main Donkey Kong games developed by Rare was Donkey Kong 64, the spiritual successor to the Donkey Kong Country games.
Following Rare's departure from Nintendo, the Donkey Kong franchise returned to Nintendo's direct control. Capitalizing on the franchise's popularity, Nintendo released the DK Bongo accessory for play with Namco's Donkey Konga. Nintendo released their own game as well with the platformer Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. Two other Donkey Konga games were released, but with limited success to the point that the third game never saw an international release.
Meanwhile, Donkey Kong returned to it's earlier platforming roots with Mario vs. Donkey Kong. The game played very much like the enhanced Gameboy port of Donkey Kong GB. It's sequel, Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis was more puzzle oriented with a play style similar to the Lemmings series.
Ultimately the series has become a staple of PAON, who have since released DK: King of Swing and DK: Jungle Climber, two games loosely based on the gameplay of Clu Clu Land, with the latter of the two introducing new characters to the series. Another game, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast is a racing game (originally designed for the DK Bongos) that pits the Kongs against the Kremling gang, featuring new and old characters.