The Donkey Kong series is the first and titular series of the Donkey Kong franchise. Most of its titles were released in the 1980s, predating the Donkey Kong Country series. The Donkey Kong series is the first Mario-related series in general, as its first installment is the 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, in which Mario made his first appearance.
Overview[]
The first 3 games are arcade games with the first game, Donkey Kong being about Mario trying to save his girlfriend Pauline from Donkey Kong. In the second game, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong's son, Donkey Kong Jr. becomes the protagonist who must save his father from Mario who plays the role of the antagonist. In Donkey Kong 3, you play as Stanley the Bugman who must get Donkey Kong out of his greenhouse. After years of hiatus, the original series was concluded with the 1994 Game Boy game, Donkey Kong.
The series has had an educational spin-off called Donkey Kong Jr. Math and two Game & Watch games known as Donkey Kong Circus and Donkey Kong Hockey.
Continuity & Plot[]
The original Donkey Kong series takes place on Earth in Big Ape City and during this time Mario is a carpenter who owns Donkey Kong as a pet and has a girlfriend named Pauline. Mario has more of an antagonistic nature in this series as he and Pauline started a circus using Donkey Kong and where Mario was shown to be abusive to Donkey Kong in the game Donkey Kong Circus which later prompted Donkey Kong to act against Mario and kidnap Pauline and take her to the top of a construction site in the original Donkey Kong Arcade Game. After being defeated at the end of the game, he was captured once again by Mario and then pursued by his son Donkey Kong Jr. in the game Donkey Kong Jr. where Mario was the antagonist and tried to take out Donkey Kong Jr. to prevent him from releasing Donkey Kong. After Donkey Kong Jr. saved his dad from Mario, Donkey Kong later breaks into a greenhouse owned by Stanley the Bugman in Donkey Kong 3 and is chased out at the end.
A while later after Mario has some of his adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom during the Super Mario Bros. series, he briefly returned to Earth where Donkey Kong and his son both together kidnap Pauline once again in Donkey Kong. At the end of game when Mario defeats the father and son and saves Pauline, the Kongs stop their rivalry with Mario and Pauline and they all become friends in the end. Mario is seen taking Pauline to the Mushroom World with the two Kongs implying to go along as well.
In the aftermath of the series, Donkey Kong and his son return to their homeland Donkey Kong Island in the Mushroom World where in the Donkey Kong Country series he grows old and becomes known as Cranky Kong while Jr. becomes closer friends with Mario and the residents of the Mushroom Kingdom as seen in Super Mario Kart and Mario's Tennis and he has a son of his own that would grow up to be the current Donkey Kong. Pauline who at this point is simply only friends with Mario is shown to now reside in the Mushroom World as well afterwards. Mario and the present day Donkey Kong have a smaller rivalry grow in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong series
Games[]
Main Games[]
Donkey Kong (1981) (Arcade) |
Donkey Kong Jr. (1982) (Arcade) |
Donkey Kong 3 (1983) (Arcade) |
Donkey Kong (1994) (Game Boy) |
Spin-off Games[]
Donkey Kong Jr. Math (1983) (NES) |
Donkey Kong Circus (1984) (Game & Watch) |
Donkey Kong Hockey (1984) (Game & Watch) |
Compilation Games[]
Donkey Kong Classics (1988) (NES) |
Animal Crossing (2001) (Gamecube) |
Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008) (Wii) |
Characters[]
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Main games | Donkey Kong • Donkey Kong Jr. • Donkey Kong 3 • Donkey Kong | |
---|---|---|
Spin-off games | Donkey Kong Jr. Math • Donkey Kong Circus • Donkey Kong Hockey | |
Other media | Saturday Supercade | |
Related series | Donkey Kong Country series • Mario vs. Donkey Kong series |