Released in the arcades in 1981, Donkey Kong was not only Nintendo's first real smash hit for the company, but marked the introduction for two of their most popular mascots: Mario (originally "Jumpman") and Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kong is a platform-action game that has Mario scale four different industrial themed levels (construction zone, cement factory, an elevator-themed level, and removing rivets from girders) in an attempt to save the damsel in distress, Pauline, from the big ape before the timer runs out. Once the rivets are removed from the final level, Donkey Kong falls, and the two lovers are reunited. From there, the levels start over at a higher difficulty.

Along the way, Mario must dodge a constant stream of barrels, "living" fireballs, and spring-weights. Although not as powerful as in other future games, Mario can find a hammer which allows him to destroy the barrels and fireballs for a limited amount of time. Additionally, Mario can also find Pauline's hat, purse and umbrella for additional bonus points.

Donkey Kong is also notable for being one of the first complete narratives in video game form, told through simplistic cut scenes that advance the story. It should also be noted that in versions of the game for early 1980's consoles, Donkey Kong only used 2-3 of the original levels, with the cement factory usually omitted.

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Alternate Titles

"Donkey Kong-e" -- e-Reader Title
"DK" -- Common Abbreviation
"Crazy Kong" -- Donkey Kong's name in Japan
"ドンキーコング" -- Japanese Spelling

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Part of the Following Groups

Merchant	Title	Platform	Price
	Donkey Kong
	Donkey Kong King of Swing	Game Boy Advance	$29.79
	Donkey Kong King of Swing	Game Boy Advance	$29.79
	Donkey Kong Country 3	Game Boy Advance	$29.99
	Donkey Kong Country 3	Game Boy Advance	$29.99
	Donkey Kong Country 2	Game Boy Advance	$10.99
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User Reviews

You Can't Go Wrong With Donkey Kong, But....

Guy Chapman (1673)

unrated

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The Press Says

Fragland.net	Jan 11, 2005	81 out of 100	81
Game Informer Magazine	Jun, 2004	8 out of 10	80
Cheat Code Central	2004	2.5 out of 5	50
Jeuxvideo.com	Jul 13, 2004	5 out of 20	25

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Trivia

This game represents one of the few (if only) relationships Nintendo would have with Atari. At the time of this PC port, Nintendo was small in the arcade world and Atari was king. Years later in 1988, when Nintendo was king and Atari was small, Nintendo would sue Atari for coming out with a port of Tetris that was not officially approved by Nintendo.

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This entry was contributed by Corn Popper (63023), Trixter