In the early 80s, arcades were taking over the entire world, quickly becoming the main spot for people to hang out with each other. Games like “Space Invaders,” “Pac-Man,” pinball machines, “Galaga,” “Dig Dug,” and many more. These games were all great but one stood out amongst others, Donkey Kong the Great Ape. The “Donkey Kong” franchise helped kickstart the gaming revolution of the 80s and is still just as iconic today.

Donkey Kong begins as a villain in the game “Donkey Kong”, kidnapping a princess. The player, who is playing as Mario, has to attempt to save the princess and the game ends with Mario defeating Donkey Kong. It’s a relatively simple plot, but one that has captivated gamers since its release. If there’s one thing audiences love, it’s a damsel in distress.

Donkey Kong has a huge arsenal of videogames involving him, some being one of the revolutionary classics of the 80s and 90s.

Nintendo tends to take one character and make many different games starring them, and the same can be said for Donkey Kong. Many were very popular among fans, but also some were more underground. Regardless of how popular each game was, they were all unique in their own way, bringing a new and exciting gaming experience for players.

Some popular games were “Donkey Kong,” “Donkey Kong 64,” “Donkey Kong Country,” “Mario Kart,” and “Super Smash Bros.” Donkey Kong was featured in these franchises as a playable character which would become a trend in the gaming community labeled as “who’s your main?” Which meant the main character you chose.

One of the more underground games at the time was “Donkey Konga,” which came out in 2003 and was a game that had the same mechanicals as “Guitar Hero” However, instead of a guitar a pair of bongos was used as the controller which is an homage to Donkey Kong’s bongos he uses in numerous games like “Super Smash Bros.” when Donkey kong uses bongos to distract opponents.

Many games took inspiration from the Donkey Kong games, using their concepts and mechanics as a blueprint for future creations. For instance, many of the levels in “Donkey Kong Jungle Beat” were inspiring to those who developed games like “Super Mario Galaxy” and “Super Mario 3D Land”

Kyle Mainer Junior, who is involved in ERHS Theater, explains his experience with Donkey Kong.

“When I was four my brothers and I got new DS Lites and one of our first games we got was “Mario vs Donkey Kong.” I started getting bored of the games we played on our Wii so my parents let me try and find a new one,” explains,  “And I found Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. And it’s one of my favorite Nintendo games ever.” Mainer reminisces.

Nathan Crousse a junior at ERHS exclaims “Donkey Kong is my favorite Nintendo character! I grew up on the OG Nintendo on ‘Donkey Kong’, ‘Mario’, and ‘Full Metal Jacket’.” he elaborates.

The parallelism between generations is ironic and heartwarming with arcades growing in popularity so did like the Wii and the 3Ds.

All of the games were in one way or another classics even so, by far the best parts of all of the Donkey Kong games were the soundtracks

Each game had its own soundtrack which was more memorable than the last. Most had different composers but despite that after Donkey Kong Country was released the tone and atmosphere for the future of all Donkey Kong games.

Donkey Kong is monumental to Nintendo adding a flamboyant and strong character that audiences go bananas for!