Donkey Kong (arcade game)

Donkey Kong is an arcade game created by Nintendo, released in 1981. The game introduced two of Nintendo's most important characters, Mario and Donkey Kong. The unusual name of the game is commonly believed to be due to a mistranslation of the Japanese for "monkey", but Shigeru Miyamoto actually intended for it to have this name. The "Kong" part is obvious (see King Kong), but the "Donkey" part represents "Stubborn".

Legacy

Donkey Kong was released at a time that Nintendo's American branch most needed it. Their most recent game, Radarscope, flopped in the arcade market, and they needed a game that would help keep them afloat. After Nintendo's Japanese branch had finished the game, Nintendo of America decided to test the marketability of the game in a similar fashion that Atari did with PONG - put it in a local tavern and see what the reaction was. The next day, the coin box had over $30 in quarters inside it, which the Nintendo execs took as the OK to start mass production.

Related Topics:
Radarscope - Atari - PONG

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Donkey Kong had two direct sequels: Donkey Kong Jr. and Donkey Kong 3. Mario Bros. was a spin-off featuring the popular Jumpman character, now renamed Mario.

Related Topics:
Donkey Kong Jr. - Donkey Kong 3 - Mario Bros.

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A clone of Donkey Kong called Crazy Kong, manufactured by Falcon, was licensed for some non-US markets. However, Crazy Kong games found their way into some U.S. arcades during the early 1980s, and Nintendo was quick to take legal action against those distributing the game in the U.S. Illegal bootleg copies of Donkey Kong also appeared in both the U.S. and France under the Crazy Kong name.

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In 1994, the enhanced remake Donkey Kong '94 was released on the Game Boy, with Super Game Boy support, many new stages, and enhanced graphics and controls. This game may be regarded as the canon depiction of events in Mario and Donkey Kong's story.

Related Topics:
Enhanced remake - Donkey Kong '94 - Game Boy - Super Game Boy - Canon

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Rareware revived the Donkey Kong license in the 1990s, for a series of platformer games and spin-offs; see the main Donkey Kong page for more.

Related Topics:
Rareware - Platformer - Donkey Kong

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The Killer List of Videogames (KLOV) readers rank Donkey Kong as the #3 most popular arcade game of all time. The KLOV includes it on its "Top 100 Videogames" list. It is the fifth most popular arcade game among collectors.

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