STACK #232 February 2024

GAMING FEATURE

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IT’S LIKE… ON One of the oldest rivalries in video gaming is reignited this month with the arrival of Mario vs. Donkey Kong on Switch. A lot has been written about Mario, but not quite as much about D.K. Let’s redress that balance just a little with a quick look back at the history of Nintendo’s great ape. Words Amy Flower A star is born four-level arcade romp Donkey Kong Jr. , tables

The original Donkey Kong became grouchy old Cranky Kong, according to the Donkey Kong Country manual. DYK?

Toy-time! In Mario vs. Donkey Kong , the rivalry between D.K. and the tradie is rekindled, and Pauline even makes a return from the 1981 arcade game. This one, a spiritual successor to that original, is a puzzle platformer, in which D.K. steals all the Mini Mario toys,

leaving toy magnate Mario to chase them

all down, solving puzzles along the way. A fun new addition is local multiplayer, too.

were turned, with Mario becoming the villain! He imprisoned D.K., and it was up to the titular young ape to rescue dad from the

Way back in 1981, Nintendo were left with a surfeit of arcade cabinets for their failed 1980 release, Radar Scope . A young, first-time Nintendo designer named Shigeru Miyamoto was tasked with coming up with a game that would resonate with players worldwide – and save Nintendo financially.

The big new D.K. news in ’94, however, was from Rare. The British game developer oversaw the return of our hero/villain to the limelight, and in style. 18 months in development, and featuring incredible at the time prerendered graphics, Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo was a massive hit. It filled out D.K.s family tree, and spawned two superb sequels

clutches of the moustachioed one. Employing the junior D.K. was also a practical decision – Donkey Kong himself was at the time technically too big to be a playable character. Showing no sign of his popularity waning, D.K. starred in 1983’s more

That game was Donkey Kong , featuring four different stages of action, and the world suddenly had two new video game stars. Mind you, the character of Donkey Kong technically preceded that of Mario, as the now world-famous tradie was at first known as Jumpman, until workers at Nintendo’s US branch nicknamed him

in 1995’s Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest , and 1996’s Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble! . D.K. was back, baby, and his star hasn’t faded since. From the Donkey Konga rhythm games with plastic

shooter-based arcade outing Donkey Kong 3 , which had the player as a bug exterminator named Stanley, hitting our beloved big ape with pesticide! While generally well received, it wasn’t

a huge hit, and other than a failed edutainment game, Donkey Kong Jr. Math , that was about it for Donkey Kong games in the ’80s, as Mario’s star went on to

Mario as he reminded them of their landlord. Miyamoto-san liked it, and the name stuck. The smash hit that Nintendo needed it to be, versions of Donkey Kong soon made it to the consoles of the day, as well as Nintendo’s handheld Game & Watch series, in a very famous orange two-screen variant. As well as being great fun, it was notable for introducing the now omnipresent cross shaped D-pad controller to the world. A hit usually spawns a sequel, and Donkey

bongoes, and various other more traditional types of games, including the original Mario vs. Donkey Kong for Game Boy Advance in 2004. Our great ape has also featured in many Mario spinoff games, from appearing in all but the first Mario Kart (which featured D.K. Jr.), through to sports games, the Mario Party series, and the Super Smash Bros. brawlers that kicked off on the Nintendo 64 in 1999. So, we salute you, Donkey Kong. May your star never again fade. • Mario vs. Donkey Kong is out Feb 16

shine ever so brightly. 1990s…

Time for the D.K. Well, 1994, to be precise. A Game Boy release of Donkey Kong saw the hero character’s long-overdue return,

According to Miyamoto san, D.K.’s name was comprised of ” Donkey ” to represent stubbornness, and ’ Kong ” for gorilla. DYK?

and he’d gone corporate! Yes, he sported that now familiar red tie, complete with his initials.

Kong was no exception. However, for 1982’s new

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