Celebrating 40 Years Of Donkey Kong.

 

40.

 

Forty.

 

For-tee.

 

Four decades of Donkey Kong and Mario having a fairly inconsistent rivalry. It's enough to make anyone who was around back then feel pretty damn ancient, isn't it? Regardless, today marks 40 years since Nintendo’s -- no, gaming's most iconic characters made their debut, Mario and the big ape himself. While the carpenter, who would later get a job as the plumber we know him as today, made his debut here, we won't be focusing on him today. Today I'd like to go down memory lane and talk about some of my favorite games and memories of DK.

 

Zippo’s Notable Entries:

Donkey Kong (NES)

 

This is actually the second DK game I ended up playing as a child. I grew up with four sisters, and the first console the family got was the NES, and while I did get my own console eventually, my first memories of gaming started here. Super Mario Bros. 2, Mega Man 2, and of course, the port of the arcade hit Donkey Kong were my first three titles. I played Donkey Kong a lot, and I mean A LOT. It was a primitive game, even by the early 90s, but I think the simplicity is why I liked it, strangely enough. It's a platformer, and it's part of the reason why the genre took off in the first place. Those three games shaped my gaming tastes, and my skills for that kind of game started to solidify there. By the time I got an SNES and a Genesis, my reflexes were pretty on point. It doesn't hold up super well now, and it's pretty dated, but the game means a lot to me and is obviously a hugely culturally significant milestone. Miyamoto became a big name at Nintendo, and this game was the catalyst for an even bigger thing coming.

 

Donkey Kong 3

Uh… what was this? Some kind of sick joke? You play as Stanley, a bug exterminator of some sort, hellbent on shooting bug spray up Donkey Kong's rectum, and.. that's it. Easily one of the dumbest games Nintendo has ever conceived, and it's also not fun, at all. This game sent Donkey Kong into a slumber for 11 long years. That kinda says it all. It's a bad game, don't waste an ounce of your time on it.

 

Donkey Kong 64

Look, I know everyone else in the world has dragged DK64 through the mud and back, but I gotta have a go-round myself. This game is a turd. No ifs, ands, or buts. The level design is stupidly huge for its own good, the characters move too slowly, it's overstuffed with way too much filler, and the game doesn't have any sense of conveyance or nuance whatsoever. It's Super Mario 64, but bad. This killed collect-a-thons for many people, and many who have a distaste for the genre use this as their main reason why. Stay far away. It's a dreadful experience. It's doodoo.

(Side note: The DK Rap is incredible and I will hear nothing otherwise.)

Donkey Kong Country Returns

E3 2010 has and still is one of my all-time favorite E3 conferences for Nintendo. There were so many cool surprises there, but none surprised me more than the return of Donkey Kong Country, and what was even more shocking was the fact that Retro Studios were now in charge of the ape. Given that this was their first ever platformer, I think they did an extremely admirable job. The level design is well done, the visuals are excellent for a Wii game, and the music, despite being mostly remixes, was fantastic. One criticism I have is that the game is, quite frankly, too hard. I have a hard time imagining more than a few children getting through even a few levels. It's a nail-grinding kind of difficulty, and it's gonna turn off a lot of people, so be aware of that.

 

Zippo’s Favorites:

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

This game is excellent. It was the first game the team at EPD Tokyo ever worked on as a full studio, and I think they knocked it out of the park. I love the visuals, the unique bongo gameplay and brawler combat bright out DK's inner Hulk. This team is returning to the world of DK soon and I'm super excited to see what they've got planned. I highly recommend the Wii version.

Donkey Kong Country

Ah, yes. DKC. I remember going into a KB Toys with mom, and picking out whatever game I wanted because of my good grades. The nostalgia I have for this game is insane and I could never give a rational critique of it, but this is an all time favorite, and I spent countless hours with it. Diddy made his first appearance here and he immediately became a stupidly popular character in and of himself. To me, Donkey and Diddy are equal to Mario and Luigi, and Sonic and Tails in terms of iconic gaming duos. King K. Rool was a fantastic new villain and he's been DK's Bowser since then for a good reason. Cranky Kong being an aged version of the original DK is just icing on the cake. The animal buddies are also fantastic. Absolutely stellar soundtrack from the legend himself, David Wise. It's not aging great, but it's still a game I have a lot of fondness for. 

 

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

 

How do you make a sequel to the game that literally won Nintendo the console war of the 16-bit era? This is how. It's an improvement in every way. Control, level design, visuals, and somehow, music. DKC2 remains one of the best platformers of the era, which was already a golden age for the genre. Dixie Kong was an amazing addition and is my preferred way to play. Absolutely a masterpiece and a must play.

 

Diddy Kong Racing

 

This game slaps. It was an extremely novel game for the time, having an adventure mode and three modes of travel. I spent countless hours collecting everything and mastering the tracks. It features a stellar soundtrack, and I love the energetic, delightful cast, featuring the first ever appearance of Banjo. DKR absolutely mops the floor with Mario Kart 64, not even kidding. Best racing game for the N64.

 

Donkey Kong '94

Forgive me for the old timey term, but this game is the "bee’s knees". It's a remake of the original Donkey Kong game for the Game Boy. What starts out as a fairly rudimentary remake of the first four levels of the arcade classic jebaits you at level five and becomes a whole new game. With a world map, tons of new levels and gimmicks, all sorts of new moves for Mario to learn. A number of the moves you see in Super Mario 64 were actually first used here. Donkey Kong also received his now iconic red tie in this game. This is my favorite Game Boy game, no contest. I genuinely hope Nintendo somehow brings this to modern platforms. More people deserve to play this masterpiece. One of my favorite games of all time.

 

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze 

Here we are. The game that morons ridiculed upon its announcement just because it wasn't Metroid. Retro stunted on the critics, and made what I believe to be one of the most finely crafted platformers of all time. I don't have a single bad thing to say about Tropical Freeze, except that I never wanted it to end. The level design is immaculate, the gang's physics and control feel just right, it has one of the greatest soundtracks of the modern age, and the bosses are some of the coolest encounters on this side of the Northern Kremisphere. We can only hope Nintendo EPD's 2D Donkey Kong game (Yes, it's 2D, retierating that again.) can be even half as good as Retro's Magnum opus.

Absolutely play it if you haven't. This game is in my top 5 of all time. Masterpiece.

  

So, that's it for today. I have some Sonic articles I'll be finishing up soon. I’ll also have more scoops as we get closer to the end of summer, hang tight.

Have a great weekend.

Edited by David: https://mobile.twitter.com/dv_kh3