Donkey Kong
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article is about the character called Donkey Kong. There are also two video games entitled simply Donkey Kong; see either Donkey Kong (video game) or Donkey Kong (Game Boy). For information on the series of video games featuring Donkey Kong, see Donkey Kong series
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Donkey Kong (ドンキーコング Donkī Kongu?) (or sometimes referred to simply as DK) is a character from Nintendo that has appeared in many video games since 1981. Donkey Kong was created by Shigeru Miyamoto. Since 1994 he has worn a necktie, his sole item of clothing.
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[edit] Game history
- Donkey Kong was created when Shigeru Miyamoto was assigned by Nintendo to convert Radar Scope, a game that had been released to test audiences with poor results, into a game that would appeal more to Americans. The result was a major breakthrough for Nintendo and for the videogame industry. Sales of the machine were brisk, with the game becoming one of the best-selling arcade machines of the early 1980s. 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 game's success, Nintendo released two sequels, Donkey Kong Junior and Donkey Kong 3, as well as eight games for the Game & Watch platform. Later on, Nintendo also released a game simply called Donkey Kong that was based upon the previous arcade versions.
Throughout the 1990's, the British company Rareware developed Donkey Kong related games, establishing an entirely new world for the franchise. These games included Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! for the Super Nintendo (SNES), and Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64 as well as the spin-off game Diddy Kong Racing . However, following the sale of Rare to Microsoft in 2002, Rare announced that it was concentrating its efforts on Xbox games, although Rare continues to develop games for Nintendo's portable consoles, the Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. The Donkey Kong Country series introduced several new Kongs, including Donkey Kong's side-kick, Diddy Kong. Interestingly, Cranky Kong, an older relative of Donkey Kong, claimed to be the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game.
Recently Donkey Kong has appeared in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for the GameCube. On the GameCube he also appeared in the Mario sport and party spinoffs, usually having an unconventional style of playing said sports (such as using a boxing glove instead of a baseball bat), as well as the Super Smash Bros. franchise. He also starred in his own spinoff rhythm-action game series, which included Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2, and Donkey Konga 3.
In the Mario Party series, Donkey Kong appeared in all of the games. In Mario Parties 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 he appeared as a playable character (only on Super Duel Mode in Mario Party 5). But in Mario Parties 5, 6 and 7, he had his own space like Bowser & Koopa Kid.
DK appeared in Yoshi's Island DS for the Nintendo DS, as a baby.
DK will appear in DK Bongo Blast for the Wii and Mario Strikers Charged for the Wii.
[edit] Animated series
Segments of "Saturday Supercade" featured Donkey Kong, along with Mario and Pauline (here billed as Mario's niece), who tried to recapture Donkey Kong, who had escaped Mario's circus. The show aired from 1983 into 1985 on CBS, where he was voiced by Soupy Sales.
The original version of Donkey Kong had appeared on Captain N: The Game Master (and its spin-off comic book). There, he was shown to be about 20-30 feet tall.
A computer generated animated television series that lasted 40 episodes was produced in 1996 by a French animation studio, released in North America as simply Donkey Kong Country.
Donkey Kong appears in two The Simpsons episodes, and a third episode compares Homer to him:
- In "The Springfield Files," he appears as a guest at a local arcade. When the turnout is low the owner replies that he's "just not a draw anymore." Donkey Kong replies by throwing a barrel at him and bowling him over. The man then exclaims happily, "Hey! He's still got it!"
- In "Marge Be Not Proud", Mario, Luigi, Sonic the Hedgehog and Donkey Kong try to convince Bart to steal a video game ("Duuuh, it's the company's fault for making you want it so much!").
- In "Homer and Ned's Hail Mary Pass," Mario arrives on a bus of Italian tourists, who mock Homer for being featured in an embarrassing Internet video. Homer throws trash cans at him. Mario jumps over the trash cans, making distinctive noises from Donkey Kong, and gets a hammer.
In the first episode of Groening's other animated series Futurama, "Space Pilot 3000", Fry is seen playing a game called "Monkey Fracas Jr." (an obvious parody of DK sequel Donkey Kong Jr.), which deviates from its apparent space shooter format with the appearance of a Donkey Kong-esque character (virtually the same except that this version wears a loincloth) as a level boss. In a later episode, "Anthology of Interest II", the same character, this time specifically identified as Donkey Kong ("Ambassador" Donkey Kong, in fact, from the planet Nintenduu 64), appears along with Mario (the Italian representative for the UN) and other classic game characters like Pac-Man and Q-bert. Also, he can be seen for a short moment in A Bicyclops Built for Two, is referenced by Leela in The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz when she calls Zoidberg and Fry Kong Donkeys, and in the final episode, The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings, a student playing a holophone version of Für Elise portrays Beethoven jumping over barrels in the style of Donkey Kong arcade.
The Robot Chicken episode "The Sack" has a segment parodying Donkey Kong by having Spartans from the Halo series invading the game, killing Mario, DK, and the Oil Drum Flame while saving Pauline in the process.
[edit] Pop Culture
- As a gaming mainstay, Donkey Kong is one of the few video game characters to be referenced in other media. A popular slang phrase related to Donkey Kong is the phrase, "It's on like Donkey Kong", derived from "it's on", which means something (usually exciting) is about to get started. The phrase was first used by rapper Ice Cube in his song "Now I gotta Wet' cha" off of his The Predator album. The phrase is also used by American professional wrestler turned announcer John Layfield when calling the action during a particularly important match, such as a main event. Similarly, the phrase was tweaked for use in a Teen Girl Squad episode on Homestarrunner.com as "Let's get it on like Diddy Kong."
- The country song Honkytonk Badonkadonk by Trace Adkins includes the line "Got it goin' on Like Donkey Kong".
- In his recent single, "Googly Moogly", featuring The Three 6 Mafia, Project Pat references Donkey Kong with the following line: "That ain't a monkey hanging on your back; that's Donkey Kong!"
- In an episode of Lost (The Long Con) Sawyer is at a computer when Jack comes in and asks him, "What are you doing?" Sawyer replies "Shhh I'm, like, this close to getting the high score on Donkey Kong"
- On Rock 105.3's The Mikey Show in San Diego, Sky's husband is referred to as Donkey Kong, a nickname given to him by the rest of the cast because of how well-endowed Sky claims he is. A running gag on the show includes Sky's made-up helicopter called the Donkey Kong II.
- In Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow, and Akumajou Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, skeletal gorillas can be seen carrying barrels throughout Dracula's Castle which they will hurl at the protagonist.
[edit] Other versions
- Baby Donkey Kong: A younger version of Donkey Kong appears in Yoshi's Island DS for the Nintendo DS. He has the unique ability to swing on vines and ropes, allowing Yoshi to access otherwise unreachable areas.
- Mini Donkey Kong: A toy version of Donkey Kong created by the Mario Toy Company.
- Giant Donkey Kong: In the N64 game, Super Smash Bros., Donkey Kong was featured as a boss in Classic mode, at about twice his normal size in the game. In Melee Donkey Kong himself could grow to giant proportions utilising the Super Mushroom item; however, the effect was not permanent. However, his permanent self came back in the Adventure mode, along with two tiny versions of himself. Generally regarded as a heavy hitter and heavyweight (along with Bowser and Ganondorf), Donkey Kong is difficult to knock off the stage, especially considering his strong throws, high-damage smash attacks, reasonable running speed, and a powerful punch (in which he winds his forearm repeatedly). The power punch inflicts about 30% damage, and often sends even mildly damaged opponents off the stage. However, Donkey Kong suffers from lack of projectiles and a poor vertical recovery, making him vulnerable to spikes (ironically Donkey Kong himself is an excellent spiker with his head butt attack).
- Donkey Kong Jr: Donkey Kong's son from the arcade game Donkey Kong Jr. He also featured as an unlockable character in the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Tennis
[edit] Voice Artists
- In the Saturday Supercade, Donkey Kong was voiced by Soupy Sales.
- In the animated series adaptation of Donkey Kong Country, he was voiced by Richard Yearwood.
- In Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and onwards, he is voiced by veteran seiyuu Takashi Nagasako.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Official
- Nintendo's official Donkey Kong Jungle Beat website
- Nintendo's official Donkey Kong Country website
- Nintendo's official Donkey Konga website
- Twin Galaxies Scoreboard for Donkey Kong at Twin Galaxies
- The Killer List of Video Games entry on the original Donkey Kong at KLOV
- Nintendo's announcement of Donkey Konga 3 at GameSpot
- Donkey Kong Anime website using Archive.org
- The History of Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong - A True Classic!
- Donkey Kong Database
- Play Donkey Kong for old time's sake
Other
| Kongs | Donkey | Diddy | Dixie | Kiddy | Cranky | Funky | Candy | Wrinkly | Chunky | Lanky | Swanky | Tiny | DK Jr. |
|---|---|
| Villains | Kremlings | K. Rool | Klump | Krusha | Klaptrap | Non-Kremling enemies | Jungle Beat bosses | Snapjaw |
| Cartoon | Eddie the Mean Old Yeti | Kaptain Skurvy | Polly Roger |
| Donkey Kong series | Donkey Kong games | Donkey Kong's animal buddies | Mario games | Mario characters | |
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