Average Playtime: 10 hours

Donkey Kong

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Donkey Kong (Japanese: ドンキーコング, Hepburn: Donkī Kongu) is an arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981. An early example of the platform game genre, the gameplay focuses on maneuvering the main character across a series of platforms while dodging and jumping over obstacles. In the game, Mario (originally named Mr. Video and then Jumpman) must rescue a damsel in distress named Pauline (originally named Lady), from a giant ape named Donkey Kong. The hero and ape later became two of Nintendo's most popular and recognizable characters. Donkey Kong is one of the most important games from the golden age of arcade video games, and is one of the most popular arcade games of all time.
The game was the latest in a series of efforts by Nintendo to break into the North American market. Hiroshi Yamauchi, Nintendo's president at the time, assigned the project to a first-time video game designer named Shigeru Miyamoto. Drawing from a wide range of inspirations, including Popeye, Beauty and the Beast, and King Kong, Miyamoto developed the scenario and designed the game alongside Nintendo's chief engineer, Gunpei Yokoi. The two men broke new ground by using graphics as a means of characterization, including cutscenes to advance the game's plot, and integrating multiple stages into the gameplay.
Despite initial doubts by Nintendo's American staff, Donkey Kong succeeded commercially and critically in North America and Japan. Nintendo licensed the game to Coleco, who developed home console versions for numerous platforms. Other companies cloned Nintendo's hit and avoided royalties altogether. Miyamoto's characters appeared on cereal boxes, television cartoons, and dozens of other places. A lawsuit brought on by Universal City Studios, alleging Donkey Kong violated their trademark of King Kong, ultimately failed. The success of Donkey Kong and Nintendo's victory in the courtroom helped to position the company for video game market dominance from its release in 1981 until the late 1990s (1996–1999).

System requirements for Game Boy

System requirements for Nintendo Switch

System requirements for Nintendo 3DS

System requirements for Wii U

System requirements for Wii

System requirements for Atari 2600

System requirements for Game Boy Advance

System requirements for Atari 8-bit

System requirements for Atari 7800

System requirements for Apple II

System requirements for NES

System requirements for Atari XEGS

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Last Modified: Feb 13, 2024

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Donkey Kong reviews and comments

Monkey donkey gorilla conga threw a barrila on-a me! What the f*@#?
Anyways, it's pretty fun. That or maybe the games I've been playing are so shitty a simple climb the ladder minigame is enough to impress me. Either way, it's good.
You play as not-mario trying to save not-peach from the one and only, Donkey Kong himself. You know, the one from the movies... What was it? Whatever, he's famous.

I have a confession to make, I actually got jumpscared when I was standing in a ladder and a barrel went down it. Sorry, keyboard, please forgive me.

Overall, rating out of 100:
Story: 5
There's a story in this! Albeit extremely cliche being a "save the princess from a crazy plumber with a hammer that can destroy barrels", they innovated that you actually play as the villain! For some reason the princess seems to be happy to be captured by the short plumber though, strange.

Gameplay: 10
You jump, climb, and die. Pretty good!

Graphics: 5
I gotta say ooh OOH OH UH AH AH AK EEK EEK OH OH. But considering the time it was released, it ain't bad.

Sound/Music: 0
That's the reason I was jumpscared.

This leaves the game with a barrel's worth of bananas. I mean, 20 out of 400, yeah. 
«Constantly dying and enjoy it»
Gameplay 7/10. Graphics 8/10. Soundtrack 4/10. Storyline 5/10. OVERALL 6.0/10.0 (A 5.0)
«Reviewers bribed»
Today Donkey Kong isn't much, but its historical significance to the gaming world is undeniable. Also, it still retains a timeless charm. 
«Beaten more than once»
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