Donkey Kong (franchise)

The Donkey Kong series follows the adventures of Donkey Kong and his friends. The first game in the series, Donkey Kong, is also considered the first game of the Mario series, as it actually starred Mario (known as "Jumpman") as the protagonist (while Donkey Kong was the villain).

Like the Mario series, the Donkey Kong series is a media franchise made up of video games, comics and cartoons. After the initial series of arcade and Game & Watch titles (many of which included Mario), the series ended until Rare, Ltd. created Donkey Kong Country, which was drastically different than the earlier Donkey Kong games: it focused solely on Donkey Kong and his kin, and was set in and around their jungle home on Donkey Kong Island. This led to two more games in the Donkey Kong Country series, three similar Donkey Kong Land games, and various other installations and spin-offs. Both the Banjo and Conker series grew out of one of those spin-offs, Diddy Kong Racing.

Two spin-offs to the series, Donkey Kong Coconut Crackers and Diddy Kong Pilot were canceled. The series faced a five year hiatus until Nintendo EAD released Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. Since then, Paon and Retro Studios have taken Rare's place and kept the series alive.