Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Categories: Donkey Kong platform games | Mario platform games | Arcade games | Atari 2600 games | Nintendo | NES games | 1981 computer and video games | ColecoVision games
Donkey Kong (arcade game)
| Donkey Kong | ||
| Developer: | Nintendo | |
| Publisher: | Nintendo | |
| Game designer: | Shigeru Miyamoto | |
| Release date: | 1981 | |
| Genre: | Retro/Platform | |
| Game modes: | Up to 2 players, alternating turns | |
| Cabinet: | Standard, mini and cocktail | |
| Controls: | Joystick, 1 button | |
| Monitor | ||
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| Notes | ||
| Introduced the Mario and Donkey Kong characters; #3 most popular game in the KLOV | ||
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.
In the game, the player's character "Jumpman" (later: "Mario") must rescue his girlfriend Pauline.
| Contents |
Stages
There are four stages, each made up of a single screen, and which combine in various orders to form levels:
In the first screen, Jumpman must scale a crooked construction site while jumping over or hammering barrels tossed by Donkey Kong.
In the second, he must avoid pans of cement while running across conveyor belts.
In the third screen, he must ride up and down lifts to reach Pauline.
In the fourth screen, he must remove the rivets from the girders supporting Donkey Kong.
Successive levels become progressively harder and contain longer groups of screens. After 21 levels, the game's timer ticks down so fast you can't even begin the 22nd.
Legacy
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ports
Like most arcade games of the era, Donkey Kong was ported to numerous home systems including Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, ColecoVision, Commodore 64, Commodore VIC-20, e-Reader, Game & Watch multiscreen, Game Boy Advance, PC, Intellivision, Mini-Arcade, NES, and the TI 99/4A.
| Atari 2600 (1982) | Intellivision (1982) | Colecovision (1982) |
| Commodore 64 (1983) | NES (1986) | Atari 7800 (1988) |
In defence of the Atari 7800 version, the purplish girders are a result of poor colour tables in 7800 emulation. The actual Donkey Kong 7800 game features distinctly red girders.
External links
- 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
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