Donkey Konga

Donkey Konga is a Donkey Kong video game for the Nintendo GameCube. It was developed by Namco and published by Nintendo in 2003 in Japan and 2004 overseas. It is the first installment of the Donkey Konga series. Donkey Konga is notable for being the first game to be compatible with the DK Bongos.

Donkey Konga eventually received two sequels: Donkey Konga 2 and the Japan-exclusive Donkey Konga 3: Tabehōdai! Haru Mogitate 50 Kyoku.

Story
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are strolling across a beach and suddenly find a mysterious pair of barrels. DK attempts to open it but is stopped by Diddy, who believes it is a trap from King K. Rool.

Following Diddy's advice, the duo take the barrels to Cranky Kong. Cranky chuckles and explains that they are bongos. DK decides to call them the "DK Bongos", and he plays on them. Diddy comments that DK is bad at the bongos, and he tries the bongos. DK, in turn, laughs and claims that Diddy plays the bongos poorly. He claps, which cause the bongos to glow. Cranky explains that the instrument glows and makes noises from detecting clapping.

In response, Donkey Kong and Diddy perform and clap with the bongos more. After they make a lot of loud noise, DK becomes discouraged and admits that him and Diddy are not good at playing the bongos. Cranky explains that nobody starts out as a professional and that their performance gradually improves from practicing. DK initially mentions his dislike of practicing but suddenly has the idea to become good at the bongos and become famous, which Cranky believes to be a possibility. DK and Diddy daydream and focus on becoming rich and owning lots of bananas. Cranky sighs and reminds them again to practice, which the two head out to do.

Gameplay
The main gameplay is largely identical to the  games, which were also designed by the same developers. The player has the option to utilize the DK Bongos or a standard GameCube controller. During gameplay, the player controls Donkey Kong, whose goal is to hit scrolling notes, known as beats. They must hit it with accurate timing when it moves under a cursor on the far left. There are four types of beats (red, light blue, yellow, and purple), and are each associated with a different button. A word appears on screen for every passing note, and the displayed word is based on the accuracy of the player hitting the beat. A combo is displayed if the player hits two or more consecutive beats, but it vanishes if the player misses a beat.

Modes
All four gameplay modes (except Challenge) have three levels of difficulty modes, from lowest to highest: Monkey, Chimp, and Gorilla. The second player plays as Diddy Kong in multiplayer modes. Every song has a varying number of beats, which is indicated from the number of barrels next to their titles on the selection menu.

Jungle Jams
The player can purchase individual songs to perform on Gorilla (expert) difficulty.

Bongo Sets
The player can purchase alternate sounds for the bongos to make during gameplay.

Monkey Shines
The player can purchase three mini-games to play in the ape arcade, two of which have a 2-player competitive (Vs.) mode.

Tracks
Donkey Konga features around thirty songs, most of which differ between regional release. Every region has songs that originate from other Nintendo titles along with traditional music, including kids' medleys, pop and classical. Almost every traditional song was made into a shortened cover for the North American release.

Japan

 * Advance Adventure - GARDEN (Pokémon Advance Generation opening theme #1)
 * Ai no Uta - Strawberry Flower (Pikmin commercial theme song)
 * Ashita he no Tobira - ( opening theme)
 * Clarinet no Kowashichatta
 * Desire - Jounetsu -
 * Donkey Konga (theme song)
 * The Galaxy Express 999 - ( theme song)
 * Hamutarou tottoko Uta - Hamu-chans ( opening theme)
 * Hyokkori Hyoutanjima (theme song for the animated film of the same name)
 * Kaze no La La La - Mai Kuraki ( opening theme #12 - 2003)
 * Kirby! - Hiroko Asakawa (Kirby: Right Back at Ya! opening theme #2)
 * Legend of Stafy
 * Love Somebody - ft.  ( ending theme)
 * Mata Aeru Hi Made - ( ending theme #8)
 * Monkey Rap - Grant Kirkhope (Donkey Kong 64 theme song)
 * Mori no Kumasan
 * Oklahoma Mixer
 * Shake -
 * Super Mario Theme - Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros. theme song)
 * - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * We are the One ~Bokura wa hitotsu~ - ( ending theme)
 * Mata Aeru Hi Made - ( ending theme #8)
 * Monkey Rap - Grant Kirkhope (Donkey Kong 64 theme song)
 * Mori no Kumasan
 * Oklahoma Mixer
 * Shake -
 * Super Mario Theme - Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros. theme song)
 * - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * We are the One ~Bokura wa hitotsu~ - ( ending theme)
 * Super Mario Theme - Koji Kondo (Super Mario Bros. theme song)
 * - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
 * We are the One ~Bokura wa hitotsu~ - ( ending theme)

North America

 * Campfire Medley
 * Diddy's Ditties (an instrumental cover of Happy Birthday)
 * DK Rap
 * Donkey Konga Theme
 * Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
 * The Legend of Zelda Theme
 * Super Mario Theme
 * Para Los Rumberos -
 * Pokémon Theme
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Stupid Cupid -
 * Kirby: Right Back at Ya!
 * The Legend of Zelda Theme
 * Super Mario Theme
 * Para Los Rumberos -
 * Pokémon Theme
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Stupid Cupid -
 * Para Los Rumberos -
 * Pokémon Theme
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Stupid Cupid -
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Stupid Cupid -
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Stupid Cupid -
 * Stupid Cupid -

Europe

 * DK Rap
 * Donkey Konga Theme
 * Donkey Kong Country Theme
 * -, , and
 * The Legend of Zelda Theme
 * Mario Bros. Theme
 * Para Los Rumberos -
 * Rainbow Cruise
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee Opening
 * Donkey Kong Country Theme
 * -, , and
 * The Legend of Zelda Theme
 * Mario Bros. Theme
 * Para Los Rumberos -
 * Rainbow Cruise
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee Opening
 * Mario Bros. Theme
 * Para Los Rumberos -
 * Rainbow Cruise
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee Opening
 * Rainbow Cruise
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee Opening
 * (With A Swing) -
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee Opening

Regional differences
Aside from a different set of songs, Donkey Konga's North American logo is different from the European and Japanese logo. This change is reflected both in-game and on each region's box cover. The Japanese logo has a subtitle, which western versions do not have.

Every title screen depicts a scene of the beach, but the North American one displays a different scene from the European and Japanese versions. The latter two depict a straight view of the beach, which is partially obscured by the game's logo. The North American title screen shows Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong partying at the shore, complete with a pair of bongos and a boombox in the scene.

The logo on the GameCube menu banner is also different between regions.

The Japanese version has a start-up warning advising players to be weary of vibrations, the sound and the amount of time they play. This warning was removed in the North American and European releases. A health and safety warning was eventually incorporated into the sequel, Donkey Konga 2.

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong - When choosing whether to display the screen in 50Hz or 60Hz, Mario (as he appears in Donkey Kong) acts as a cursor and Donkey Kong stands to the left (also as he appears in Donkey Kong).
 * Donkey Kong 64 - Donkey Kong, during the "K. Rool Bash" mini-game, can be heard saying "Hey!", "Cool!", and "Yeah!" throughout. Also, the Melee version of the DK Rap appears in the game.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee - The tracks "Rainbow Cruise," "Super Smash Bros. Melee Opening," and "DK Rap" are taken from this game.
 * Super Mario Bros. - The track "Mario Bros. Theme" is a remix of a track from this game.
 * Donkey Kong Country - The track "Donkey Kong Country Theme" is a remix of a track from this game.
 * The Legend of Zelda series - The Legend of Zelda Theme is featured on the North American, European and Australian versions of the game.
 * Kirby: Right Back at Ya! - The Japanese and North American releases both include the anime's theme song.
 * Pokémon (anime) - The North American release includes the anime's theme song.