Featured Article Summary #170

Donkey Kong is a video game series and media franchise made by Shigeru Miyamoto for Nintendo, centered on Donkey Kong and the Kong family. It includes several major game lines, such as the original arcade trilogy, Donkey Kong Country, and Mario vs. Donkey Kong, along with many spin-offs in different genres, plus TV, books, theme parks, and merchandise. Miyamoto created the first Donkey Kong in 1981 to reuse unsold arcade cabinets, and it became a big success with later sequels; after that, the series was paused and later revived. Rare’s 1994 Donkey Kong Country reboot brought the franchise back as a major Nintendo series, and different studios have developed games since. In most main games, players must reach the end of levels, while Donkey Kong and Mario swap roles depending on the game; the characters later spread into other Mario titles and crossover games. Beyond gaming, the franchise includes an animated series and theme park attractions, and it has sold over 65 million copies by 2021, helping shape Nintendo’s success worldwide and influencing game design and pop culture. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Nintendo moved into arcade games after rising toy costs and the success of Space Invaders. After the failed Radar Scope left unsold cabinets, Shigeru Miyamoto was tasked with creating a new game, drawing inspiration from Popeye characters and other influences to develop Donkey Kong. Donkey Kong stood out as an early platform game focused on jumping and progressing through changing “scenes,” and it became Nintendo’s first big international hit in 1981, saving Nintendo of America financially. It went on to earn major profits through 1982 releases and ports, and a 1982 trademark lawsuit by Universal City Studios failed because King Kong had already been ruled public domain. Miyamoto’s team planned sequels using game ideas and levels that wouldn’t fit in the original Donkey Kong, partly because moving Donkey Kong’s sprite was difficult. They created Donkey Kong Jr. as a new main character and adapted Nintendo’s own code by reverse-engineering Ikegami’s version; after release, Ikegami sued Nintendo but the court ruled for Ikegami in 1990 and a settlement followed. Donkey Kong 3 also changed the style with shooter gameplay, but these games largely failed commercially, helping push Donkey Kong into a long hiatus as Mario became Nintendo’s main star on the NES. Later attempts to bring Donkey Kong back included using Donkey Kong Jr. in Super Mario Kart (1992) and eventually developing a Game Boy remake-then-expansion with Donkey Kong (1994). There were also plans and licensed projects that didn’t finish, such as an unreleased NES game (Return of Donkey Kong) and a canceled CD-i project, while leaked prototype material suggests Donkey Kong concepts later influenced other games like Yoshi’s Island. In the early 1990s, Rare used advanced SGI workstations and rendering software to experiment with 3D graphics, impressing Nintendo during a demo. Nintendo then licensed Donkey Kong to Rare, leading to Donkey Kong Country (1994), a side-scrolling SNES game that used pre-rendered graphics and helped make the franchise popular again. The success of the game (including major sales) led to a fast follow-up, with Donkey Kong Country 2 (1995) and Donkey Kong Country 3 (1996) expanding the story and gameplay, including introducing Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong. Rare expanded the Donkey Kong series across handheld and new systems, creating original Game Boy games like Donkey Kong Land (1995) and later releasing a Country port on Game Boy Color in 2000. It also developed Diddy Kong Racing for Nintendo 64, which was well reviewed and sold millions, and then worked on Donkey Kong 64, its first true 3D platform game, released in 1999 to strong sales and praise despite some criticism. In 2001 Nintendo and Rare announced several more Donkey Kong projects, but rising costs and weaker console performance led Rare to seek acquisition. Microsoft bought Rare in 2002, making it an Xbox developer while Nintendo kept the Donkey Kong rights; as a result, Donkey Kong Racing was canceled and two planned handheld games were reshaped into It's Mr. Pants (2004) and Banjo-Pilot (2005).