Donkey Kong (game)

Donkey Kong was Nintendo's first big hit in America. It also marked the first appearances of Mario (known as Jumpman, a carpenter) and Donkey Kong.

In addition to the arcade version, Donkey Kong was ported to the NES as Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong, Famicom Disk System, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, ColecoVision, and IntelliVision. It was later re-released along side later Mario games in Donkey Kong Classics and Donkey Kong/Donkey Kong Jr./Mario Bros., and was included in Game & Watch Galleries 2 and 4.

The game sold well and is considered a classic among classic game enthusiasts. It is one of four to the Nintendo Hall of Fame!

The original arcade version has four screen levels, but the NES version only has three (Screen Level 2 was cut from this version).

Story
Donkey Kong has kidnapped Jumpman's/Mario's girlfriend Pauline, and taken her to the top of a construction site. Jumpman must climb to the top of this construction site and rescue Pauline from the giant ape.

Official Story Quoted From Nintendo of America


"HELP! HELP!" cries the beautiful maiden as she is dragged up a labyrinth of structural beams by the ominous Donkey Kong. "SNORT. SNORT". Foreboding music warns of the eventual doom that awaits the poor girl, lest she somehow be miraculously rescued. "But, wait! Fear not, fair maiden. Little Mario, the carpenter, is in hot pursuit of you in this very moment".

Throwing fate to the wind, risking life and limb, or worse, little Mario tries desperately to climb the mighty fortress of steel, to save the lovely lady from the evil Mr. Donkey Kong. Little Mario must dodge all manner of obstacles - fireballs, plummeting beams and a barrage of exploding barrels fired at him by Donkey Kong. Amidst the beautiful girls' constant please for help, your challenge is to maneuver little Mario up the steel structure, while helping him to avoid the rapid-fire succession of hazards that come his way.

As little Mario gallantly battles his way up the barriers, he is taunted and teased by Donkey Kong, who brazenly struts back and forth, beating his chest in joyful exuberance at the prospect of having the beautiful girl all to himself. It is your job to get little Mario to the top. For it is there, and only there, that he can send the mighty Donkey Kong to his mortal doom. Leaving little Mario and the beautiful girl to live happily ever after. "SIGH. SIGH".

History


Donkey Kong was created when Shigeru Miyamoto was assigned by Nintendo to convert Radar Scope, a poorly selling arcade game in the U.S., into a game that would have more appeal to Americans. The result was a major breakthrough for Nintendo and for the videogame industry. Sales of the machine were brisk, with the game becoming the best-selling arcade machine of all time in its era. The gameplay itself was a large improvement over other games of its time, and with the growing base of arcades to sell to, it was able to gain huge distribution. A little-well known fact is that Donkey Kong was the first appearance of Nintendo's world famous Mario character - known as 'Jumpman' in this game. The machine was Nintendo's first worldwide success.

In 1982, Universal Studios sued Nintendo, claiming that Donkey Kong infringed on Universal's intellectual property rights to the film King Kong. Howard Lincoln, attorney and future president of Nintendo of America, decided to fight the case, and hired seasoned attorney John Kirby to represent Nintendo. When Kirby showed that not only was Nintendo not in violation of any copyrights, but also that Universal themselves had sued RKO Pictures in 1975 to prove that the plot of King Kong was in fact in the public domain, Judge Robert W. Sweet ruled in Nintendo's favor, ordering Universal to pay Nintendo $1.8 million in legal fees. In an ironic twist, Judge Sweet also ruled that Tiger's King Kong video game, licensed by Universal, infringed on Donkey Kong. After the victory, Nintendo awarded John Kirby with a $30,000 sailboat, christened the Donkey Kong, and gave him "exclusive worldwide rights to use the name for sailboats."

Due to the huge success of Donkey Kong, Nintendo of America was able to grow and release many more games in succeeding years and had the resources necessary to release the Nintendo Entertainment System in the USA.

Sequels
This game had six sequels: Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong II, Donkey Kong 3, Donkey Kong '94, Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis.

Trivia

 * In the Frantic Factory level of Donkey Kong 64, an original arcade machine can be found. If Donkey Kong has learned to pull levers, he can play the original game. (as Mario, though).
 * Donkey Kong was the second platformer ever made, Space Panic being the first in history.
 * Donkey Kong's original engine was actually a heavily edited engine of Space Panic.
 * Pauline, according to the manual for the game, had blond hair. However, in the newer Mario Vs. Donkey Kong games, Pauline has brown-maroon hair. Strangly, in Princess Peach's debut, she had brown-marron hair, but changed to blond hair.
 * It is debated wether or not the Donkey Kong in this game is actually Cranky Kong, and that the Donkey Kong we know today is actually his son, probably Donkey Kong Jr.