50 Fun Facts About Donkey Kong

The 1981 arcade Donkey Kong helped establish which video game genre?

Platform games got their name later: when Donkey Kong arrived, American magazines simply called its ladders-and-girders style a 'climbing game'.

In the instructions of the 1981 arcade Donkey Kong, the hero later renamed Mario was called what?

Jumpman was renamed during the American launch, too late to reprint the instructions, so the machine's own paperwork and its sales flyer disagreed about the hero's name.

Who designed the original Donkey Kong arcade game, his first as a game designer?

Shigeru Miyamoto was a staff artist who could not program, so he drew the game on paper and engineers built it; he went on to create The Legend of Zelda.

The 1981 Donkey Kong was created to salvage unsold cabinets from which failed Nintendo arcade game?

Radar Scope flopped in America and left a warehouse full of unsold cabinets, so Nintendo's US boss asked Japan for a new game that could be fitted inside them.

What was the name later given to the woman Donkey Kong kidnaps in the 1981 arcade game?

Pauline was just 'Lady' in Japan; Nintendo of America's small staff renamed her after Polly James, the partner of the man who ran its warehouse.

Which film studio unsuccessfully sued Nintendo, claiming Donkey Kong infringed its King Kong trademark?

Universal had gone to court itself in 1975 to prove King Kong's story was in the public domain, so the judge threw its claim out and made it pay Nintendo $1.8 million.

Mario was named after Mario Segale, who had what relationship to Nintendo of America?

Landlord of its office and warehouse, Segale is said to have burst in demanding late rent; a Nintendo veteran says the name was just a joke about a landlord nobody had met.

What do players call arcade Donkey Kong's level 22, where a bug ends every game?

The kill screen is a timer bug: the bonus clock starts so low that the hero dies before he can climb, so even the best players' games end there.

Which company licensed Donkey Kong from Nintendo for home consoles in 1982?

Coleco packed the game in the box with every new ColecoVision console, which gave its machine a famous arcade hit to sell it from the first day.

By the best-known account, Donkey Kong's creator chose the word 'Donkey' to convey which quality?

Stubborn is the meaning he has repeatedly given, after a hunt through a Japanese-English dictionary; other tellings have him picking the word for 'stupid' or 'goofy'.

In arcade Donkey Kong, which tool can the hero grab as a power-up?

A hammer suited the hero's first trade: he was written as a carpenter working on a building site, years before anyone called him a plumber.

Which 1982 arcade sequel cast Mario as the villain, keeping Donkey Kong locked in a cage?

Donkey Kong Jr. swaps the roles: the ape's son climbs vines to free his father, which makes it one of the very few games where Mario is the bad guy.

What is the job of Stanley, the greenhouse hero of Donkey Kong 3?

Exterminator Stanley came from an earlier Game & Watch title, Green House; armed only with bug spray, he has to drive the ape up his vines and off the top of the screen.

Donkey Kong was first planned as a game starring which cartoon character, before its cast was redrawn?

Popeye was meant to rescue Olive Oyl from Bluto; when the cast was dropped, the brute became a gorilla, and Nintendo made a real Popeye arcade game a year later.

What have the Kremlings stolen at the start of Donkey Kong Country?

The banana hoard never stays safe: in the sequel the villains kidnap Donkey Kong and demand it as ransom, and in 2010's Returns hypnotised animals carry it away.

Which company's workstations did Rare buy to render Donkey Kong Country's 3D models?

Silicon Graphics machines built the characters as 3D models, which were then flattened into ordinary sprites, so the 16-bit console never had to draw any 3D itself.

Which game tops the Super Nintendo's all-time sales chart, on which Donkey Kong Country ranks third?

Super Mario World had a head start, because it came in the box with the console; Donkey Kong Country still outsold everything else but one Mario compilation.

Who composed most of the Donkey Kong Country soundtrack, including 'Aquatic Ambience'?

David Wise wrote the underwater theme after a breakup that, he said, left him feeling as if he were drowning; he still names it his favourite of his own tracks.

To promote Donkey Kong Country in 1994, Nintendo mailed what to Nintendo Power subscribers?

A VHS tape called Donkey Kong Country: Exposed took viewers inside the office where Nintendo tests games, so fans saw the new graphics moving instead of in magazine stills.

What is the subtitle of Donkey Kong Country 2, released for the SNES in 1995?

Diddy's Kong Quest is a pun: say 'Kong Quest' aloud and you hear 'conquest', which is why the apostrophe sits on Diddy and not on Kong.

In Donkey Kong Country 2, the Kremling king adopts which persona?

Kaptain K. Rool is the Kremling king playing pirate; this time he kidnaps Donkey Kong himself, so the usual hero spends the whole game waiting to be rescued.

What is the name of the Kremlings' home island where Donkey Kong Country 2 takes place?

Crocodile Isle does not outlive the game: when K. Rool is knocked into its core at the end, the blast sinks the whole island into the sea.

What does Dixie Kong spin to glide through the air?

Her hair is a ponytail she whirls like a helicopter rotor to slow her fall; in the SNES games it also works as a spare hand for lifting barrels and hanging from hooks.

'Stickerbush Symphony' from Donkey Kong Country 2 plays in which kind of level?

The gentle track became a fan favourite despite scoring some of the game's most punishing stages.

Which animal buddy in Donkey Kong Country 2 is a spider that shoots webs?

Squitter does more than shoot enemies: his webs can also hang in mid-air as temporary platforms, so the Kongs can build their own bridge across a gap.

Donkey Kong 64 was the first of only two games to require which Nintendo 64 accessory?

Expansion Pak memory came bundled in the box, so nobody had to buy it; a much-repeated tale that it was only there to hide a crash bug was called a myth by one of the game's developers.

Which Kong in Donkey Kong 64 takes to the air with a jet pack?

Diddy has to earn the jet pack first: like the other Kongs' special moves, it must be bought with banana coins before he can use it.

A Hat in Time's creator blamed Donkey Kong 64 for which genre's decline?

Collect-a-thons send players after piles of trinkets, and this one colour-codes its bananas so that each of the five Kongs can pick up only his or her own.

Who composed the Donkey Kong 64 soundtrack, including the DK Rap?

Grant Kirkhope scored the DK Rap as a joke, with words by the game's designer, and has said it took twenty years for listeners to get it; he also voiced Donkey Kong in the game.

Which company bought Rare in 2002, taking the Donkey Kong Country studio out of Nintendo's hands?

Microsoft outbid Activision for the studio, but it had no handheld console of its own, so Rare kept remaking its Donkey Kong Country games for Nintendo's Game Boy Advance.

In the final battle of Donkey Kong 64, K. Rool is fought in what setting?

A boxing ring suits a villain who changes his act from game to game: for the finale of Donkey Kong 64, K. Rool turns prizefighter.

Which company developed Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) and Tropical Freeze (2014)?

Retro Studios, the Texas team behind Metroid Prime, had asked to make a Donkey Kong game years earlier and was told to make Metroid Prime 3 instead.

In Donkey Kong Country Returns, which group replaces the Kremlings as the villains?

The Tiki Tak Tribe are living instruments whose music hypnotises the island's animals; it has no effect on Donkey Kong, who answers the first one by punching it.

Who leads the invaders in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze?

Lord Fredrik blows an enchanted horn that summons an ice dragon; it hurls the Kongs off their island in the middle of Donkey Kong's birthday party and freezes the place solid.

The 2018 Switch version of Tropical Freeze added an easier mode starring which Kong?

Funky gets extra health and a surfboard that lets him hover, double jump and stand on spikes unharmed, rolling the other Kongs' special tricks into one character.

The arcade-original Donkey Kong appears in Rare's games as which elderly Kong?

Cranky Kong spends the Rare games grumbling straight at the player that modern games are no match for the simple arcade days when he was the star.

Which drum-shaped GameCube peripheral controlled Donkey Konga and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat?

DK Bongos hide a microphone that hears the player clap; in Jungle Beat a clap sends out a shockwave while the drums make the ape run and jump.

Which Donkey Kong character joined the Super Smash Bros. roster in 2018 after years of fan-ballot requests?

King K. Rool had barely appeared in a game for a decade; when the fan ballot brought him back, his supporters signed a thank-you letter to the series' director.

Who voices Donkey Kong in the 2023 Super Mario Bros. film?

Seth Rogen's Donkey Kong is the heir to the Jungle Kingdom: he loses an arena duel to a cat-suited Mario, then joins him in the fight against Bowser.

Donkey Kong Bananza (2025) launched on which console?

Nintendo Switch 2 was not the first plan: the team began the game on the original Switch, ran into its limits and moved the project to the new console around 2021.

In Donkey Kong Bananza, what does DK's human companion do to trigger his transformations?

She sings, and her voice powers forms such as the zebra and the ostrich; the 13-year-old first appears as a talking purple rock and has to beat stage fright before she will perform.

Which gamer's Donkey Kong records did Twin Galaxies strip in 2018 over evidence of emulation?

Billy Mitchell sued, Guinness gave his records back, and a 2024 settlement put his scores in a separate historical database.

Which bear made his debut as a racer in Diddy Kong Racing before starring in his own Nintendo 64 adventure?

Banjo raced here seven months before Banjo-Kazooie came out; delays to that game are the reason Rare needed a kart racer for Christmas 1997 in the first place.

Who voices Cranky Kong in the 2023 Super Mario Bros. film?

Fred Armisen's Cranky is the king of the Jungle Kingdom, who will help Mario only if the plumber can first beat his champion in the arena.

Donkey Kong Jr. broke the franchise's long hiatus as a playable character in which 1992 game?

Super Mario Kart was a stopgap: Nintendo wanted a tenth-anniversary revival but could not start a new game, and by Mario Kart 64 Junior's seat had gone to Donkey Kong himself.

Which roller coaster opened in Super Nintendo World's Donkey Kong Country area in Osaka in December 2024?

Mine-Cart Madness hides its real rails beneath the scenery and holds each cart out on a long arm, so riders seem to leap the gaps in a broken track.

In the motion-capture Donkey Kong Country TV series, what magical artifact does Donkey Kong guard from King K. Rool?

The Crystal Coconut is the reason he is the hero at all: the relic picked Donkey Kong as the island's future ruler, and guarding it is how he must prove he deserves the job.

Which Nintendo of America executive opposed releasing Donkey Konga, fearing it would harm the brand?

Reggie Fils-Aimé later admitted he hated the rhythm game and had pushed back against Nintendo's Japanese office; it sold well regardless and was given two sequels.

In the Saturday Supercade cartoon, Donkey Kong has escaped from where?

A circus was where the cartoon's ape had been the star attraction; comedian Soupy Sales voiced him, with Mario forever on his trail to bring him back.

Which Nintendo control made its debut on the 1982 Game & Watch version of Donkey Kong?

The D-pad was invented because a joystick would not fit a folding pocket game; Nintendo then put the flat cross on its NES controller, and the design later won an Emmy.