Nintendo is Great is a Substack devoted to playing and exploring every game ever released for a Nintendo console/handheld in chronological order.
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Donkey Kong
PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER: Nintendo
RELEASE DATE: July 15th, 1983 (JP), June 1986 (US), Oct. 15th, 1986 (EU)
ALSO AVAILABLE ON: Arcade, Game & Watch, Atari (2600, 7800), ColecoVision, Coleco Tabletop Arcade, Intellivision, Atari 400/800, IBM PC, Apple II, Commodore 64, TI-99/4A, Vic-20, Coleco ADAM, Amstrad CPC, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Famicom Disk System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color (via Game & Watch Gallery 2), Nintendo 64 (via Donkey Kong 64), Gamecube (via Animal Crossing), eReader, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console (Wii, 3DS, Wii U), NES Classic, Switch (via Arcade Archives), Nintendo Switch Online
Donkey Kong is often considered to be Nintendo's first successful video game, but that's not true. In June of 1977, Nintendo released their first home consoles in Japan, the Color TV Game 6 and the Color TV Game 15. The Color Game 6 featured Light Tennis, or as we Yanks like to call it, Pong. Light Tennis could be played in one of six different modes, including Hockey and Volleyball, otherwise known as Stick Pong and Overhead Pong.
The Color Game 15 featured nine additional variations on Light Tennis because Pong and its many clones were seriously that popular in 1977. These were not the only consoles in the Color Game series, and at some point, I might write a separate article about these early Nintendo consoles. What's important to note here is their success. Nintendo sold over one million units of both the Color Game 6 and the Color Game 15, and while the Color Game 6 supposedly lost the company money, the Color Game 15's success more than made up for it.
In fact, Nintendo was quite successful with their pre-Famicom video game ventures, at least in Japan. In addition to the Color Game consoles', the Game and Watch handhelds were incredibly popular, going on to sell over forty million units worldwide in their eleven-year run. Even some of Nintendo's pre-Donkey Kong arcade titles, like Radar Scope and Sheriff appealed to Japanese audiences. But that wasn't enough for Nintendo's then-President, Hiroshi Yamauchi. He wanted to crack the American market, and he tasked Shigeru Miyamoto with creating a game that would appeal to the West.
Yamauchi was seeking the Popeye license at the time, with the idea that a Popeye game would prove to be a hit in the States (spoilers: Nintendo would later make a Popeye arcade game – it was only semi-successful). But with the Popeye license in limbo, Miyamoto pressed on with a semi-original idea: a love triangle between a girl, an ape, and a scruffy carpenter.
Thus Donkey Kong, or The Angry Ape that Birthed an Empire, was born. Today, Donkey Kong wears an endearing family-friendly smile and a hip tie. In 1981, he was little more than a “King Kong”-ripoff, climbing up high places, damsel in tow. Mario makes his debut here as gaming’s beloved squatty workhorse, huffing and puffing up construction sites to rescue his former lady love Pauline. Notice that Mario’s love for red-and-blue ensembles, extravagant jumping ability, and penchant for collecting items all began here. Mario's squeak when he walks is also one of gaming's greatest sound effects.
Donkey Kong is groundbreaking, no question. It's one of the first platforming games ever. It's one of the first (if not the first) game to be built around a preconceived story. The game brought us Donkey Kong and Mario, two longrunning franchises that have only gotten better and better with each subsequent game. It's unlikely that Nintendo was looking to revolutionize the gaming industry with Donkey Kong, but the game's unbelievable success and influence had to have given them confidence that they were on the right track.
So Donkey Kong for the arcade breaks all the ground, but on the NES? Eh. It's an easy game to pick up and play, but the time you put into it depends on how much you enjoy collecting points. The three levels (minus the “Pie/Cement Factory” level from the arcade) are replicated well, and they're also completed quickly, then repeated over and over again. Perfect for an arcade game from the early 1980s, not so great if you want to play something that lasts more than five minutes. Plus, if you’re an older Nintendo fan, you’ve probably experienced Donkey Kong countless times, either with the NES ports, the overpriced GBA port, or one of many Virtual Console re-releases.
Then there are the Coleco ports, the Apple II port, the C64 port, the British computer ports, among many, many others. So many ports of Donkey Kong, none of them made by Nintendo. This doesn't mean they're all bad. In fact, I might look into them all at a later date. For now, just know that Nintendo's ports are the best, even if the majority of them don't include the cement/pie factory level. If you must have that extra level, you can download the original Donkey Kong arcade game for the Switch for $7.99.
We should all be grateful that Donkey Kong made Nintendo boatloads of money and kickstarted the beloved Mario and Donkey Kong franchises. But like a once-brilliant Beatles song that's been played to death, overexposure to this revolutionary title has hindered its ability to blow our minds. Donkey Kong is little more than a historical landmark at this point, and while that may sound like a slight, it's more than enough.
1986: B
Today: C
Astounding Piece of Trivia
As I was researching Donkey Kong lore for this article, I discovered something astonishing... mind-blowing... call it what you will.
Nintendo didn't actually develop Donkey Kong. A company named Ikegami Tsushinki did.
Not only did Ikegami Tsushinki develop Donkey Kong, they were allegedly contracted out to develop eight titles for the company, with most of them releasing pre-Donkey Kong. Titles like Radar Scope, Sheriff, Heli-Fire, etc.
According to the Game Developer Research Institute, Donkey Kong was developed without a contract. Ikegami sold Nintendo between 8,000 and 20,000 PCBs, with Nintendo allegedly copying 80,000 more without permission. As Donkey Kong became more and more successful, Yamauchi commissioned a sequel, but Nintendo didn't have the source code. Rather than go back to Ikegami and ask for it/buy it, they disassembled and reverse-engineered Donkey Kong with help from subcontracter Iwasaki Giken. Donkey Kong Jr. emerged shortly thereafter and is (again, allegedly) "noted for being the first game Nintendo developed entirely in-house."
The story doesn't end well for Nintendo. Ikegami supposedly found out about all the backdoor shenanigans and sued Nintendo for a staggering ¥580,000,000 in 1982. The court case dragged on for eight long years, and finally, in 1990, Nintendo and Ikegami settled out of court.
My sources: the GDRI and a Time Extension article, who also took much of their information from the GDRI. Is any of this true? Possibly! I wouldn't be surprised if it is. Neither Ikegami nor Nintendo seem forthcoming about this debacle, and particularly in Nintendo's case, I'm not that surprised. Ultimately, Nintendo still went on to make some of the greatest games of all time, and that can never be taken from them. Still, to think that Donkey Kong – the game that helped kickstart "modern" Nintendo – wasn't even developed by Nintendo is very surreal.
What I Wrote About Donkey Kong in 2011
“I’m grateful for the existence of Donkey Kong even if I don’t feel that it has aged well. It put Nintendo on the map, and without Nintendo, many of my and millions of others’ greatest gaming memories would not have been created. For that, I can only give the maddest of props.”
Impact: A+
Actual game: B-
Donkey Kong Jr.
PUBLISHER/DEVELOPER: Nintendo
RELEASE DATE: July 15th, 1983 (JP), June 1986 (US), June 15th, 1987 (EU)
ALSO AVAILABLE ON: Atari (2600, 7800, 8-bit), Arcade, BBC Micro, Coleco Adam, ColecoVision, Famicom Disk System, Intellivision, e-Reader, Gamecube (via Animal Crossing), Virtual Console (Wii, Wii U, 3DS), Switch (via Arcade Archives), Nintendo Switch Online
Donkey Kong was Nintendo's most successful arcade game – and probably most successful video game product - to date. Want some numbers? $280 million dollars in two years. That's almost $800 million today. From one simple arcade game.
That's not GTAV money ($8.6 billion and counting), but few games in the world were as successful as Donkey Kong was in the early 1980s. A sequel was assured and was eventually released for the arcade in August 1982 in Japan, a year and a month after the original Donkey Kong.
Not sure how wise it was to release Donkey Kong Jr. at a time when the original Donkey Kong was still selling like gangbusters. But Nintendo saw an opportunity to milk the now-franchise while it was still hot (or still full of milk? I dunno). Thankfully, Miyamoto and crew were more than up to the task. Donkey Kong Jr. holds up better than the original and is a surprisingly subversive sequel.
After the events of Donkey Kong, Mario drops the mic and throws Donkey Kong into a cage for kidnapping Pauline. Rather than just giving DK to a wildlife rescue and calling it a game, Mario flaunts the big ape's capture in front of his child. This is abhorrent behavior, far worse than Donkey Kong’s male posturing in the original. One could argue DK was acting out of instinct when he took Pauline to the top of those construction sites. Mario’s just a spiteful jerk.
While Mario’s busy choking on his own rage, Donkey Kong Jr.’s pluck carries him through the game’s tricks and traps. Adorned only in a white onesie, he climbs across vine after vine with grace, panache, and a surprisingly sunny disposition. Just look at that winning smile as he scoots up the vines. Sensational!
Obviously in 1982, Mario wasn't the heroic, optimistic do-gooder that he is today. Nevertheless, it's surprising that Nintendo flipped the script and made Donkey Kong's protagonist the bad guy. Mario clones, imitators and haters would later perpetrate crimes in Mario's name in future games, but Mario's own record has remained clean as a whistle since Donkey Kong Jr. I suspect Nintendo wants to keep it that way.
DK Jr.’s winning personality and stronger stage design makes Donkey Kong Jr. the superior of the two classic DK games. The 2nd and 4th stages in particular take full advantage of DK Jr.’s simian characteristics and are a joy to play. Unlike the original DK, Donkey Kong Jr. is also a complete experience, with all four stages from the arcade intact on the NES version. Sure, you won’t be spending any long hours with this one (unless you travel back in time to 1986 America and DK Jr. is all you got), but at least Mario gets his.
1986: B+
Today: C+
What I Wrote About Donkey Kong Jr. in 2011
“A couple niggling points remain, though. While it’s nice that this game is a direct port of the arcade, there are still only four levels to play. Granted, they repeat endlessly and you can play them on hard mode, but unless you adore these stages and want to have little Donkey Kong babies of your own, the game grows tiresome. Also, Donkey Kong Jr. shouldn’t die if he falls a mere two inches. It was ridiculous when I was a kid and it’s ludicrous now. Still, I wouldn’t want Miyamoto to pull a Lucas and re-vamp his old games. They stand as testaments to a simpler era and they should remain the way they were made, flaws and all. Donkey Kong Jr may not be as influential as the first entry, but it’s the better of the two.”
B
Donkey Kong Jr. was such a weird little game in retrospect. That Jr. goes up fast and goes down slow when he holds two vines but goes up slow and goes down fast when he's holding one; that Mario's the bad guy; that Jr. dies from falling more than his jump height; that Jr. exists at all—it's all so darn weird. It's not the best game on the NES, but it's worth checking out just for the weirdness.
That factoid about another company making the original DK was surprising after it resurfaced a few years ago. It’s still rumored as the reason that Nintendo never rereleased the original arcade version until the Arcade Archives release. It also surprised me to find out that Nintendo went back and revamped the NES version, bringing back the cement factory level for some random promotional release for the Wii and 3DS.
I like both games but Donkey Kong Jr is more fun for me. Playing as the adorable little Kong holds up better after all these years and it’s amusing to see Mario playing the heavy for once. I’m pretty sure my brother, a DK fan from back in the day, had the Game & Watch version of DK Jr at some point too.