Happy 40th anniversary Donkey Kong

[mrkonasoni]

|KonamiCode + Start》》



While I understand new generations will fail to understand the impact that some games like the original Donkey Kong had for the industry and I don't believe that's exactly something wrong, I think is important talk and keep the record from of events that helped build an industry.

For enthusiasts of video game history, I don't think I need to mention how important was the original Donkey Kong for Nintendo, and the development story for the game, still if you have a couple hours for spare, I recommend watching a couple documentaries, about highlights for the story... I have always loved details like Nintendo of America being skeptic about the success of the game and their preference for still trying with an improvement version of Radar Scope, or the relationship that Hiroshi Yamauchi (Nintendo's CEO at the time) had with his own family regarding the important business that was and is still Nintendo.

About the character itself, I don't think there much to say, sincerely, it was created by the legend Shigeru Miyamoto, it has a nice design and up to this day is still a popular character.

Since Donkey Kong don't have a lot of games unlike Mario I just want to say a few words about some games with the character.

List.

- Donkey Kong:
The original, I sincerely still consider it a masterpiece, life could be so simple...

- Donkey Kong Junior:
It was a nice sequel, and the concept of Mario being the villain is something Nintendo has never tried at all after this point.

- Donkey Kong 3:
The weaker of the trilogy but is still a good game, maybe it needed a couple extra levels, but I still consider it a good game for just spend hours chilling.

- Donkey Kong Country:
Not much to say that haven't been repeated countless times, it was a true revolution for gaming and up to this day is still a terrific game.

Donkey Kong Country 2:
A flawless masterpiece, sincerely.
I can't think ONE think that DKC2 does wrong, from the level design, mechanics, music, graphics, variety and more, DKC2 is just one of the greatest game ever made.

Donkey Kong Country 3:
It's not a bad game, in fact it's still pretty good, the problem is that DKC2 was so good, this one feels weaker in almost everything, and they also put a couple useless collecting like the Banana Birds that while curious, I don't have big opinions for the minigame for get them, still I consider it's a good game and it shouldn't be ignored.

- Donkey Kong 64:
Sincerely I have never played it, but I am aware since it's original release, the opinions has been more mixed than with the Country games, still... eh... it's 2021, you could just play it for a couple hours, have fun or not... I will see it later.

- Donkey Kong Jungle Beat:
Pretty underrated sincerely, it's like a rhythm-platforming game and it's actually pretty fun, I also love that for once DK has his own game instead of being with someone else.

- Donkey Kong Barrel Blast:
Eh... sincerely? I like it.
It's a different racing game for a change, and I don't think the mechanics are bad at all, I think is just fun, silly and that's it, I don't really care if it's good or not.

- Donkey Kong Country Returns.
Terrific game, it's also really hard but I still feel it's well designed and a pretty great game, if you have a Wii or Wii U, go ahead, this is game is just insanely good.

- Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze.
Just like the previous game is also terrific, part of the music was also by David Wise, the original composer for the Country 1, 2 and 3 (GBA version).

That's all.

Happy 40th anniversary Donkey Kong.
Your legacy won't be forgotten.

[kamikazekeeg]

I'd probably say Donkey Kong's history is mixed for me.  I of course played the original on an arcade at some place when I was younger, there were some of those you could find around even in my small town, but I can't say I ever liked those old games a lot.  They were just those games you'd pop a quarter into and then move onto more fun games lol

Donkey Kong Country stuff is generally fun, but I was also not the biggest fan of them.  Nothing wrong with them, and I played all three on SNES, but they aren't games I really go back to.

Diddy Kong Racing, now that's my jam.  It's absolutely one of my favorite racing games, like I thought it was better than Mario Kart for awhile simply because it had multiple vehicle types and fun story related stuff with the overworld and bosses.  I would then consider Sonic All-Stars Racing Trasnformed to be sort of a spiritual successor to that idea and why I think Sumo Digital needs to make Diddy Kong Racing 2.  DO IT.  YOU COWARDS.

Donkey Kong 64 I also like, but it has its problems.  The Rare formula that was used for Banjo-Kazooie does work here, but they went too far into collectibles for every character and having to switch between them to get them all, it just gets very tedious after awhile, but I still liked it as the formula is still what I like in a 3D platformer.

After that, I didn't play anything DK till Tropical Freeze, which was generally good, but I never got around to fully beating it.  It's fine, but not something I loved.

[aliensstudios]

The original Donkey Kong Country is still my favorite game of all time

[pzeke]

I liked the original Donkey Kong, and had fun with the Country series, especially the second one. DK64 was cool, but it got boring fast for me, to the point I've yet to finish it. Cool intro song, though. I've been meaning to try Country Returns out, but I keep putting it on the back burner.

When it comes to the spin-off games, other than the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series, nothing else has truly made any lasting impression, although I bought Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat on a whim given it looked like fun after watching gameplay footage, but I've yet play it.

All that said, Donkey Kong is a cool character, as is most of his siblings and extended family.

[undertakerprime]

While I appreciate its historical significance, I never really got into the first DK arcade game. However, I played DKJr a lot, since it was at the pizza place we got pizza from when I was a kid. My dad would bring me along so I could play while our pizza was cooking.

I also watched Saturday Supercade every Saturday morning, which had DK and DKJr segments. DK was voiced by comedy legend Soupy Sales, while Mario was played by Peter “Optimus Prime” Cullen and DKJr was played by Frank “Megatron” Welker.

I’m not as big into the DKC series as a lot of people. I enjoyed the first one just fine, and the revolutionary pre-rendered graphics were astonishing. However, I personally didn’t like DKC2 or 3 as much as the first one. Playing them often felt like a chore, and the system of having to pay coins just to save your damn game was extremely frustrating. Just got through a difficult level? Sorry, if you don’t have coins you can’t save unless you slog through another level to collect some 

I enjoyed the GB DK vs Mario games quite a bit. I thought it was cool how they combined the barrel jumping platforming of DK with the vine-climbing of DKJr in a kind of puzzle platformer.

One aspect I have to mention is the Nintendo Game & Watch releases. Both DK and DKJr on G&W were fun, while DK3 was really meant to be played against another person (not quite as fun as a single player). However, Donkey Kong II is by far my favorite of any G&W game. The bottom screen is standard platforming while the top screen is based on the “push the keys to the top” levels of the arcade version of DKJr, and it’s fun as hell.

[telly]

I haven't played a lot of Donkey Kong games, the only two being Donkey Kong Country and DKC Tropical Freeze. I did do a college English paper on the documentary film "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" so I at least have some knowledge of the original arcade release and some of the history behind it!