Donkey Kong (game)

This article is about the original 1981 arcade game. For the 1994 Game Boy game, see Donkey Kong (Game Boy). For the character, see Donkey Kong.

Template:Infobox-arcade Donkey Kong is an arcade game that was Nintendo's first big hit in North America. It marked the beginning of the Mario franchise, and introduced several of the earliest characters, including Mario himself (originally known as "Jumpman", a carpenter rather than a plumber), the original Donkey Kong (who, in later games, would become Cranky Kong, the current Donkey Kong's grandfather), and Pauline (originally known as the Lady), who now frequently appears in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series. A version of the game was also created later for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo's first home console, under Arcade Classics Series. The game sold very well in the United States, becoming one of four games to be inducted into the Nintendo Hall of Fame. The original arcade version had four screen levels, but the Nintendo Entertainment System version only has three, with the stage 50m cut from this version. This game was also the first title to be released on Virtual Console.

Story

Donkey Kong has kidnapped the beautiful Lady (Pauline in the NES conversion) to a dangerous construction site. Jumpman (Mario in home ports and promotional materials) must climb to the top of the construction site and rescue the Lady from the giant ape.

Official story quoted from Nintendo of America

File:Donkeykongflier.jpg

The flier for the game, which was handed out in arcades, toy stores and such.

"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 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. 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 girl's constant pleas 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."

So, if you want the most exciting, most fun-filled, most talked about family video game on the market, don't monkey around with anything but the original Donkey Kong.

Characters

The cabinet

Jumpman about to jump over a barrel.

25m, Jumpman leaping over a barrel.

• Mario (referred to as "Jumpman")
• Pauline (referred to as "Lady")
• Donkey Kong (canonically considered to be Cranky Kong)

Enemies

• Barrel
• Fire
• Sand Pile
• Springboard

Items

• Hammer
• Lady's lost articles
• Rivets

Levels

• 25m
• 50m (removed in NES version)
• 75m
• 100m

Development

Concept art for Jumpman.

Donkey Kong was created when Shigeru Miyamoto, under the supervision of the late Gunpei Yokoi, was assigned by Nintendo to convert Radar Scope, a poorly selling arcade game in North America, into a game that would have more appeal to more gamers. Shigeru Miyamoto later admitted that he did not focus on the story of the game, instead creating a basic plot with colourful characters and music that he himself penned. He said that Jumpman (later to be renamed Mario) and the Lady were not intended to have a relationship, and he did not know where the connection idea came from, but he thought that it did not matter much. Regardless, the resulting game was a major breakthrough for Nintendo and for the video game industry, becoming one of the best selling arcade machines of its time. Its platforming gameplay also distinguished it from most other arcade games at the time.

Donkey Kong was stated to be Jumpman's pet, who escaped his cage and kidnapped Jumpman's girlfriend, Lady. Jumpman was also designed to look around 24 or 26 years of age.

Lawsuits

Universal

In 1982, around a year after the game's release, Universal Studios sued Nintendo, claiming that Donkey Kong infringed on Universal Studios' 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 Studios 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."

Ikegami Tsushinki

As Nintendo's newly established video game division lacked programming manpower, the arcade version of Donkey Kong was programmed by Ikegami Tsushinki, a contractor that had worked for Nintendo for several of its arcade releases. For Donkey Kong's development, the two companies signed a contract which gave Ikegami Tsushinki exclusive rights to the manufacturing of Donkey Kong arcade boards.

In 1983, Ikegami Tsushinki sued Nintendo on the ground that the company had violated the contract and produced around 80,000 arcade boards on its own. Ikegami Tsushinki also sought compensation for the use of reverse-engineered Donkey Kong code in Donkey Kong Jr. and claimed it owned the copyright on Donkey Kong's code (while the contract did not specify ownership of the code, a judgment relating to Space Invaders Part II set a precedent establishing computer code can be copyrighted). In response, Nintendo claimed it owned Donkey Kong's code as Ikegami was hired as a sub-contractor.

The case went to the Tokyo District Court until March 26, 1990, at which point the two companies settled out of court. The lawsuit has often been stated to be the reason behind the lack of rereleases of the arcade version of Donkey Kong and the existence of Donkey Kong: Original Edition, although Donkey Kong 64 nevertheless features a full port of the arcade version, albeit with slight differences as it closely imitates the source code.

Documentary

Main article: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

In 2007, a documentary film directed by Seth Gordon based off Donkey Kong was released. The film centers around high school teacher Steve Wiebe as he tries to achieve a world record for obtaining the highest score in the game, which is held by Billy Mitchell at the time.

Sequels and ports

File:DonkeyKongJr.jpg

Poster advertising the first sequel, Donkey Kong Jr.

Sequels

Donkey Kong has four sequels to date.

• Donkey Kong Jr.
• Donkey Kong II (Game & Watch)
• Donkey Kong 3
• Donkey Kong (Game Boy)

Ports

In addition to the arcade version, Donkey Kong was ported into several other gaming systems and computers:

• NES
• Game & Watch
• GBA as Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong. This version, as the title implies, is not based on the arcade version, but rather the NES version, meaning 50m is also omitted.
• e-Reader for the GBA
• Family Computer Disk System
• Atari 2600
• Atari 7800
• Atari 8-bit computers
• ColecoVision (Pack-in game)
• Intellivision
• Commodore VIC-20
• Commodore 64 (Two official ports exist, one released in 1983 in North America by Atarisoft, and another released in 1986 in Europe by Ocean.)
• Texas Instruments TI-99/4A
• Amstrad CPC
• ZX Spectrum
• MSX
• Coleco Adam
• Amiga (Port is not official but rather a homebrew ported directly from the Commodore 64 version)
• Coleco Tabletop
• Apple II
• MS-DOS
• In Game & Watch Gallery 2 and Game & Watch Gallery 4, Donkey Kong was one of the minigames. It could be played in both modern and classic modes.
• Two different ports of Donkey Kong have appeared on Virtual Console. The first, released in 2006, is essentially a direct port of the NES version, while the second, entitled Donkey Kong Original Edition (ドンキーコング オリジナルエディション), attempted to adhere to the arcade version, and was pre-installed for the European release of the Mario 25th Anniversary limited edition red Wii in 2010. This version restored some missing animations and the level 50m, which was cut from the NES version, although Donkey Kong mistakenly stands still in this level, and while the port's graphics are an improvement to the NES port, it is still inferior to the true arcade version, which remains unavailable on Virtual Console. The latter port was made available on the Nintendo eShop in Japan when a Club Nintendo member purchased the download version of one of two games, one of which was New Super Mario Bros. 2, from July 28, 2012 to September 2, 2012. A similar promotion took place in the US between October 1, 2012 and January 6, 2013, exclusively to members of Club Nintendo who have, within the aforementioned time frame, linked their systems to their Club Nintendo accounts and have purchased the downloadable version of one of five select 3DS titles (one of which was Paper Mario: Sticker Star). There are currently no plans for a wide release of this version in the U.S., although it was released in Europe for the 3DS eShop on September 18, 2014.
• The NES and Famicom version of Donkey Kong is one of the 30 games included in the NES Classic Edition and Nintendo Classic Mini: Family Computer, respectively.

Donkey Kong was also re-released as part of two compilation games, Donkey Kong Classics and Donkey Kong/Donkey Kong Jr./Mario Bros., and it is featured as a playable extra in the following titles:

• Animal Crossing (NES version included as minigame)
• Donkey Kong 64 (arcade version included as a minigame)
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (NES version included as a Masterpiece; it starts on the third level, 75m, which is also an unlockable stage in both games)
• amiibo tap: Nintendo's Greatest Bits (NES version included as a "highlight"; the player can play on 25m, 75m and 100m in three separate "scenes", each of which are 180 seconds long)

Staff

Main article: List of Donkey Kong staff

The arcade version was produced by Gunpei Yokoi. Shigeru Miyamoto and Hiroshi Yamauchi directed the game while an uncredited Ikegami Tsushinki did programming duties, later leading to a lawsuit over which company owned the arcade code's rights. Intelligent Systems' own website claims credit for developing the NES port for Nintendo, though neither the cartridge nor title screen mentions the company and the Iwata Ask interview released for New Super Mario Bros. Wii states the game was developed by Nintendo Research & Development 2. Landon Dyer programmed the DOS Version.

Although Ikegami Tsushinki is uncredited, a 1996 article published in Bit Magazine and written by one of the programmer involved, Hirohisa Komanome, reveals the name of the programmers who worked on the game.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Donkey Kong (game).

• 464px-DonkeyKongArcade.jpg

  A poster advertising Donkey Kong.

• Donkey Kong-Barrel Artwork.png

  Barrel

• 

  Jumpman using a hammer.

• Jack.png

  A jack sprite.

• 50m 3.png

  50m, the second level of the game.

• 75m from DK Arcade.png

  75m, the third level

• 100m.png

  100m, the fourth and final level

Media

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E-Reader

The game eventually came out for the e-reader as part of Series Two.

Cards

Card 1 of 5/codes 1-2

English flavor text: Pauline's been kidnapped by Donkey Kong! She awaits your help at the top of the steel girders–can you rescue her from the ape's clutches? + Control Pad Up & Down -Mario climbs the ladder Left & Right -Mario runs L Button + R Button Resets game to Title Screen

START Start/Pause

SELECT Selects game mode

• Game A is beginner mode
• Game B is expert mode

A Button Jumps

B Button Not used

Card 2 of 5/codes 3-4

HOW TO PLAY There are three levels to clear before Mario is reunited with his sweetheart. After that the game loops and gets progressively more difficult.

Rounds 1 and 2: Mario has to climb to the top of the structure where Pauline awaits. Donkey Kong throws fireballs, Jacks and Barrels to foil you!

Round 3: Mario must undo eight bolts by running over them. This will cause the collapse of the structure and the downfall of Donkey Kong!

Card 3 of 5/codes 5-6

SCORING You can gain points by picking up Pauline's lost parasol and purse. It pays to be alert! You get an extra life if your score exceeds 20,000. Gain points by bonking a Barrel or Fireball with your Hammer. You also get points if you successfully jump a Barrel.

Bonus points are added to your score when you reach Pauline. But if you take too much time to reach her, these points will decrease. The sooner you finish the level, the better!

Card 4 of 5/codes 7-8

JUMPING TECHNIQUES Take advantage of jumps. Use your jumping skills to avoid Barrels, Jacks, and Fireballs. Pauline's waiting!

You can jump left, right, or upward. Press the + Control Pad in the direction you want to jump as you press the A Button. Note that Mario cannot jump on or off the ladders.

Mario can jump the distance of two sections of the steel girders. He can only survive a jump down the hight of two sections of the steel girders– the same as Mario's height.

Card 5 of 5/code 9

LEVEL TIPS Level 1: Two Hammers are on this level. Each can be used only once. Find the right place, grab it, and use it to bonk Fireballs and Barrels!

Level 2: The Jacks come down on a set course, so they're easy to avoid. Wait in front of the position where the Jack will bounce. After it passes, its safe to move on.

Level 3: Undoing the bolts needs to be done quickly because the number of attacking Fireballs increases. The best way to proceed is to go from the lower left upward and then from the upper right downward.

References in later games

• Super Mario Bros. 2: Clawgrip tosses down rocks and beats his chest in a similar manner to Donkey Kong in this game. The remakes of this game also feature girders in the backgrounds of the indoor areas.
• Donkey Kong (Game Boy): The four levels from the arcade version of this game are remade in this game. The Hammer and Pauline's dropped items also appear. The plot is also identical for the first four stages.
• Donkey Kong Country: Cranky Kong is said to be an elder version of the Donkey Kong that appears in this game and its sequels. The intro of this game has Cranky using a phonograph and playing the title song from the NES version of this game, on a structure made of girders resembling the ones from 25m. The oil drums from Oil Drum Alley are the same as the ones in 25m.
• Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: Cranky's line, "Whisking off maidens and chucking barrels seven days a week, I was!" is a direct reference to this game.
• Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: One of the challenge rooms in Bowser's Keep late in the game involves Mario having to dodge barrels thrown down by a Chained Kong.
• Mario Golf: One of Wario's alternate costumes is based on Jumpman's outfit.

The arcade machine found in the Frantic Factory.

• Donkey Kong 64: A direct port of the arcade game is playable by accessing an arcade machine in Frantic Factory. The song that plays in Creepy Castle is also a remade version of the music that plays when Donkey Kong is climbing up the construction site with Pauline. A red girder which looks similar to those from 75m can also be seen inside DK's Treehouse.
• Donkey Konga: When choosing to display in 50hz or 60hz, Mario's sprite acts as the cursor; Donkey Kong's sprite can be seen to the left.
• WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!: There is a microgame based upon this game in which the player as Mario must jump over barrels.
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga: If Mario jumps when the Border Bros tell Luigi to jump, one of them says, "give the jumpman thing a rest", a reference to Mario's original name for this game. Mario rescues Luigi at Woohoo Hooniversity by traversing a stage with rolling barrels. There is also a skeletal pirate who tosses barrels in a minigame.
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: One of the badges in this game is the Jumpman Badge. In addition, if the player returns to the Glitz Pit and reaches first place again, one audience member says, "JUMPMAN!!! Wait, who?"
• Mario Power Tennis: The music that plays when Donkey Kong wins a trophy is the title theme from this game.
• Donkey Kong Jungle Beat: During the fights with Ghastly King and Cactus King, a portion of their battle music consists of the music that plays when Donkey Kong takes Pauline up the construction site.
• Donkey Konga 3: Tabehōdai! Haru Mogitate 50 Kyoku: One of the songs from this game is featured.
• Mario Hoops 3-on-3: Mario's baller name in this game is "The Jumpman".
• Donkey Kong Barrel Blast: The theme of Cranky's flight school and part of Cosmic Highway feature this game's opening theme.
• Super Smash Bros. Brawl: 75m appears as a stage in this game. The title theme appears as a cover version in this game, and the 25m theme also appears in its original format. A demo of this game is also available as a Masterpiece. Mario's down taunt, in which he spins around in midair and falls on his back, is a reference to his death animation in this game. Also, one of Wario's costumes is based on Mario's outfit from his first appearance.
• WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase: There is a microgame based upon this game in which the player must destroy a barrel rolling toward Mario by tapping it.
• New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Broozers can pick up and throw barrels similar to Donkey Kong in this game.
• Donkey Kong Country Returns: The 25m stage can be seen in the background of Foggy Fumes. A statue of the Donkey Kong sprite from this game holding up a Wii Remote can be seen in Wonky Waterway. Some of the secret temple stages feature paintings on pillars and platforms resembling the stages from this game.
• Super Mario 3D Land: Part of the final battle with Bowser features Bowser moving from side to side and tossing barrels at Mario in a similar manner to Donkey Kong in this game.
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: Donkey Kong's sprite can be seen holding a Wii U GamePad at the end of Aqueduct Assault.
• Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker: The music played and animation when the player picks up a Super Pickaxe are identical to when Mario grabs a Hammer in this game. Also, the level Retro Ramp-Up is based on this game, but replacing Donkey Kong with a Spike throwing spiked balls.
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U: 75m returns as a stage. This game is also once again featured as a Masterpiece.
• Super Mario Odyssey: Red girders appear in New Donk City (which is a reference to the Donkey Kong series) and are found way above the city. The license plates for the taxi cabs also read "1981-ND", a reference to the year Donkey Kong released.

Trivia

• The twenty-second board is the final level of the game; Jumpman instantly dies within eight seconds of playing in the level, regardless of how many lives the player has left. This bug, known as a kill screen, happens due to a programming oversight in which the game does not have enough memory to continue. Games such as Pac-Man and Duck Hunt also have kill screens.
• Donkey Kong was the second platformer ever made; the 1980 game Space Panic was the first.
• Even though Jumpman wears his signature red and blue clothing in the game, he wears blue and white clothing on the box art for the NES port.
• Donkey Kong was originally conceived as a Popeye game, with Bluto being in the spot of Donkey Kong, Popeye being Jumpman/Mario, and Olive Oyl being Lady/Pauline. The game ended up being changed due to Nintendo being unable to secure the license for Popeye, but Nintendo would later make the Popeye arcade game (1982) due to being able to get the rights.
• All three major characters were renamed in later appearances, with Jumpman changed to Mario in Nintendo of America's promotions, Lady changed to Pauline in Saturday Supercade, and lastly this game's Donkey Kong becoming Cranky Kong by the release of Donkey Kong Country.
• Jumpman's outfit would later be used as Mario's outfit in the DIC cartoons and an alternate costume for Mario in the first three Super Smash Bros. games and an alternate costume for Wario in Mario Golf, Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U as well as Ice Mario's outfit in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and New Super Mario Bros. U.
• In Lego City Undercover the first level of Donkey Kong is referenced in a level design and line from Chase McCain, "I hope there isn't a giant ape at the top of this thing."
  File:Untitleddonkykong.png

External links

• Donkey Kong Megasite
• The Killer List of Video Games entry on Donkey Kong
• Arcade History Database entry for Donkey Kong
• MobyGame's entry on the Donkey Kong consumer games
• Category at ODP