Category:Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong is the name of a popular Nintendo franchise. The series was created in 1981 by Shigeru Miyamoto, with the game that created both the namesake ape and the legendary Mario. Donkey Kong was one of the most popular Arcade titles of its era, and had a couple of sequels. However, the series was left to rest when Nintendo shifted focus to the NES, instead focusing on Mario. However, a reimagining of the series was released in 1994 for the Game Boy.

In 1994, Donkey Kong once again entered prominence thanks to Rare's Donkey Kong Country. This game was similar to other sidescrollers of the era, but drew attention thanks to its revolutionary CGI graphics. The three Donkey Kong Country games were some of the best selling titles on the SNES, with the original only being outsold by Super Mario World and Super Mario All-Stars. Meanwhile, the Donkey Kong Land series was released for the Game Boy, and was also very successful.

Donkey Kong continued to be successful on future Nintendo platforms, in both platforming games and various spinoffs. Donkey Kong 64 was also developed by Rare, and is considered to be one of the better 3D platforming games ever made. Diddy Kong Racing was the second most popular racing title on the N64, beaten only by Mario Kart 64. Various GameCube games were made that required the DK Bongos peripheral, including Donkey Konga. Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii returned to the Country subseries's roots. Meanwhile, Donkey Kong for the Game Boy led to a creation of a new series of puzzle platformers, the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, for Nintendo's handhelds.