Donkey Kong is an iconic Nintendo character with a storied history, transforming from villain to hero over the course of his existence. Though he made his menacing debut in arcades, Donkey Kong has since become a goofy character prime for comedic relief, so much so that Seth Rogen recently voiced DK in the Super Mario Bros Movie. The cheery, yet strong reputation is in large part due to the success of the Donkey Kong Country franchise, a platforming series that started on the Super Nintendo and continues to deliver bright and colorful action to this die. With the original SNES title recently celebrating its 30th anniversary, let’s take a look back at this unforgettable platformer that forever changed the future of Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong Gets a Reboot
When the original Donkey Kong arcade game was released in 1981, it was a pretty big hit, quickly resulting in sequels like Donkey Kong Jr. (Arcade, 1982) and Donkey Kong 3 (Arcade, 1983). Despite being a villain who kidnapped damsels and got sprayed with repellent, Donkey Kong was still a beloved character, but his popularity started waning by the 1990s. So, Nintendo hit up RARE, a developer who had already produced dozens of titles for the NES and Game Boy, to revive the Donkey Kong brand with an all-new game. Left with near-total creative control, the studio went on to create Donkey Kong Country, a landmark adventure that puts DK at center stage, expands the series lore, and offers some pristine platformer gameplay.
Like other games of its time, Donkey Kong Country is a bit light on plot, but it establishes plenty of important world-building and introduces some all-time classic characters. All’s well on Donkey Kong Island, until the vile King K. Rool breaks into the banana vault and swipes every last bundle, forcing Donkey Kong and his sidekick/nephew Diddy Kong to give chase. With straightforward yet satisfying controls on par with Super Mario World (SNES, 1990), players are led through 40 levels, often boasting unique and memorable gameplay mechanics. Playing as both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, you race around on minecarts, command control of a rambunctious rhino named Rambi, shoot yourself across chasms with exploding barrels, and much more. The game’s no cakewalk either, as the difficulty only ramps up with each subsequent stage, truly testing your platforming skills.
It’s not just the gameplay that makes Donkey Kong Country so fantastic, as the presentation is equally impressive. This was one of the first games of its kind to utilize pre-rendered graphics, and while Nintendo was cagey about the look at first, the 3D-style visuals afford a lot of depth to the artistic design. The same can be said about the music, which is consistently excellent, with a handful of truly standout tracks like the moody underwater stage music, “Aquatic Ambience”. There’s a very specific vibe to the art and music of Donkey Kong Country that makes it immediately identifiable and just as timeless as the 16-bit pixel art of other SNES classics.
Sequels, Spin-Offs, and So Much More
To say Donkey Kong Country was a hit would be a bit of an understatement. Clearing millions of copies over its holiday season release, it was the fastest-selling game of 1994, eventually winding up in the top 3 SNES games ever made by total sales. Critics loved it and players loved it, so the inevitable sequels came in the form of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest (SNES, 1995) and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble! (SNES, 1996), both of which were stellar games of their own. From there, the series simply grew, resulting in spin-offs on the Nintendo 64, and later, more modern consoles like the Wii and Nintendo Switch.
The legacy of Donkey Kong Country is not only felt in the sequels and spin-offs that came after, but also in a ridiculous amount of multimedia crossovers and cameos. Thanks to the resounding revival on the SNES, Donkey Kong can now be found in nearly every big Nintendo game where applicable, whether it be a family-friendly sports title, every Super Smash Bros game, and even oddball picks like Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle (2017, Nintendo Switch).
Apart from games, there was even a Donkey Kong Country animated show that ran for two seasons in the late ’90s, and though admittedly pretty silly, it’s an interesting example of video game adaptation. As of this year, there’s even a Donkey Kong Country-themed area at the Super Nintendo World theme parks, the first major expansion beyond Super Mario. It’s crazy to think that this dominance of Donkey Kong is not due to his arcade roots, but rather the SNES game that Nintendo barely cared about, which transformed the character into the star that he is today. If you haven’t played Donkey Kong Country lately, fire it up and go bananas in celebration of its 30th anniversary, as this SNES classic deserves every bit of love it receives.
