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Donkey Kong Country

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Donkey Kong Country is the first game in the Donkey Kong Country series and the first game in the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, overall, first released on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994 and later re-released on the Game Boy Color, the Game Boy Advance, the Virtual Console for the Wii, Wii U, and New Nintendo 3DS, the SNES Classic Edition, and the SNES Switch Online. This game and its two sequels were delisted on the Wii's Virtual Console worldwide except in South Korea on November 25, 2012, for reasons unknown, but the games were relisted only in Europe and Australia on October 30, 2014. Around the same time, the games were released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in both countries and worldwide a month later/early 2015. It stars Donkey and Diddy as the playable characters.

It later received four sequels; Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. It also has a semi-sequel called Donkey Kong Land.

Story[]

The story as taken directly from the game's manual;

Storms lashed the rugged terrain of Donkey Kong Island, home of the famous video game ape and his family and friends. Near Donkey Kong's tree house, a small monkey named Diddy cowered in fear of the savage lightning which periodically illuminated the lush, dark jungle that covered most of the island. Donkey Kong had assigned Diddy to guard duty on this awful night, and he was not happy about his fate.

"Donkey Kong's earlier pep talk kept creeping back into Diddy's mind. "OK, little buddy," Donkey had said in this patronizing voice. "As part of your hero training, you've got to stand guard tonight over my bananas... I'll relive you at midnight, so try and stay awake until then!"

Buddy? Yeah, right. Now he was alone. Alone unless you counted the unknown threats which lurked behind every tree that he glimpsed during the lightning flashes. The Kremlings were out there, this much was certain. They coveted Donkey Kong's Banana stockpile, the largest on the island, and probably in the world. A treasure in potassium and Vitamin A. The perfect food. "Ahhh... delicious Bananas..." The thought of DK's golden horde almost made Diddy forget his uncomfortable situation. But a rustling in the undergrowth and the sound of several snapping twigs brought him out of his reverie.

"W-w-who goes there?!" Diddy challenged the sounds in the darkened, dripping foliage. There was no answer but the flashing of claws and teeth, followed by a fleeting vision of many reptilian eyes and a crack of thunder. Diddy somersaulted into the fray with his signature cartwheel attack, but he was quickly overcome by the weight of many scaly assistants. The enormous bulk of Klump the Kremling landed on top of Diddy, knocking him senseless. His last memory was of a hissing voice... "It'ssss the sssmall one... Ssseal him inssside thisss barrel and tosss it into the bussshesss... Donkey Kong'sss Bananasss are ourssss!"

The barrel closed on Diddy, blotting out even the fleeting light of the storm. Seconds later, the barrel flew through the air, courtesy of Klump's army boot-assisted punt, and landed roughly into the jungle foliage. Diddy Kong knew no more. The entire Donkey Kong clan was oblivious as the Kremlings then loaded the Banana Horde into their Kremling karts and wheeled them off through the jungle, leaving an obvious trail of dropped fruit from their overloaded conveyances.

The next morning, Donkey Kong was awakened by frantic shouting of his name. "Keep it down!!" he growled. He suddenly realized what time it was. "Morning already... I slept through my watch!" Falling out of bed and through his tree house door, Donkey Kong slid down the tree house ladder without using any of the rungs, and assumed his characteristic fighting pose, with sun-blinded, squinting eyes! One swift blow was all that was needed to leave him sprawled on the floor, face down! He groggily rolled over to see the familiar wrinkled, white-bearded, grouchy face of his old granddad "Cranky Kong" peering down at him.

In his heyday, Cranky was the original Donkey Kong who battled Mario in several of his own games. "What 'cha do that for?!" Donkey Kong asked, knowing full well that Cranky was prone to cuffing him at every whim. "Take a look inside your banana cave. You're in for a big surprise!" Cranky cackled. Donkey's mind raced as he vaulted to the cave and peered inside. Instead of the dull golden glow of thousands of Bananas, there were only a few discarded peels. These had been trampled into the dirt by hundreds of reptilian feet, judging from the many three-toed footprints that covered the damp cavern floor. But what about...

"Diddy's gone, too!" Cranky laughed. "That's what you get for shirking your responsibility, your good-for-nothing bum! In my days we would have been happy to stand guard in the rain, 'cause that might have meant having an extra frame of animation! Of course, having rain would have been impossible, given our pitiful processing power, but..." Donkey Kong stood there in stunned disbelief and hadn't heard most of what Cranky said. "Diddy... gone... My little buddy..." he murmured to himself.

Donkey Kong was suddenly filled with conviction. "The Kremlings will pay!" he raged. "I'll hunt them down through every corner of my island, until I have every last Banana from my horde back!!" "Find your little buddy and retrieve a bunch of Bananas?!" Cranky snorted. "What kind of game idea is that?! Where's the screaming damsel in distress?!"

"Diddy's obsession with being like me has gone too far! He may be a long way from being a true video game hero, but he had the guts, the reflexes, the heart... If you ask me, neither of you are ready for prime time," Cranky interrupted. "You'll never be as popular a character as I was! Why, in my heyday, kids lined up to play my games! The quarters were stacked on the machine as they waited for their turn! If you go on this ridiculous adventure, you'll be lucky to sell ten copies!"

Donkey Kong fumed. He usually let Cranky's rambling roll off his back, but this time was different. "What do you know about adventuring, you flea-bitten old ape?" yelled Donkey Kong, edging closer and closer, braving Cranky's cane, until he was totally in his face. "I'm sick of hearing about your boring, single screen adventures! Diddy's in trouble, my Banana Horde is gone, and I'm going to get them all back!"

Donkey Kong stormed off in search of his missing buddy, following the trail of Bananas the Kremlings had dropped.

"Well, it's not exactly rescuing a Princess, but it'll do in a pinch," Cranky snorted as DK disappeared into the lush jungle. After a moment's hesitation, Cranky followed him. "The lad may just need my help..." he mumbled to himself. "Kids today... they just don't have any respect for their elders..."

Gameplay[]

Donkey Kong Country is a two-dimensional, side-scrolling action-adventure, where it is possible to play as either Donkey or Diddy Kong. The game consists of worlds, each with a different theme, and each containing a boss and other levels. The player can switch between the two characters while both are still alive. If one gets hurt, he disappears, and the other Kong takes control. Diddy Kong is more mobile and can jump higher, while Donkey Kong can defeat more powerful enemies.

The game also introduces some animals that can be found in levels and used, each with different beneficial abilities. The active Kong rides most of these: Rambi the Rhinoceros, for example, can defeat most enemies by running into them, while Expresso the Ostrich can glide through the air in a limited fashion, and is faster than any other method of travel.

Each animal also has a bonus level, accessed by collected three icons that depict that animal. These are chances to collect lives and bananas, 100 of which grant an extra life.

Blurbs[]

Main article: Donkey Kong Country/Blurbs

Characters[]

Kongs[]

Animal Buddies[]

Enemies[]

Bosses[]

Levels[]

Kongo Jungle[]

Monkey Mines[]

  • Winky's Walkway
  • Mine Cart Carnage
  • Bouncy Bonanza
  • Stop & Go Station
  • Millstone Mayhem
  • BOSS: Necky's Nuts

Vine Valley[]

  • Vulture Culture
  • Tree Top Town
  • Forest Frenzy
  • Temple Tempest (Sixth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • Orang-utan Gang (Fourth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • Clam City (Fifth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • BOSS: Bumble B. Rumble

Gorilla Glacier[]

  • Snow Barrel Blast
  • Slipslide Ride
  • Ice Age Alley (Fourth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • Croctopus Chase (Third in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • Torchlight Trouble (Sixth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • Rope Bridge Rumble (Fifth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • BOSS: Really Gnawty's Rampage

Kremkroc Industries Inc.[]

  • Oil Drum Alley
  • Trick Track Trek
  • Elevator Antics (Fourth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • Poison Pond (Third in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • Mine Cart Madness (Sixth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • Blackout Basement (Fifth in the Game Boy Advance version.)
  • BOSS: Boss Dumb Drum

Chimp Caverns[]

  • Tanked Up Trouble
  • Manic Mincers
  • Misty Mine
  • Necky Nutmare (This level is exclusive to the Game Boy Color version.)
  • Loopy Lights
  • Platform Perils
  • BOSS: Necky's Revenge

Reception[]

Donkey Kong Country received critical acclaim and was lauded as a paradigm shift that set new standards for video games. Diehard GameFan and Total! said it changed expectations for 16-bit and platform games,[2][3] and Entertainment Weekly wrote it "is to most 16-bit games what most 16-bit games are to their Atari forebears. Once you've played it, everything else before it seems like a peewee".[4] Electronic Gaming Monthly (EGM) called Donkey Kong Country "one of the few games that is actually as good as the hype",[5] and Total! declared it the best game of 1994. GameFan said that Donkey Kong Country set a new quality standard that many developers would attempt to imitate.[2]

The visuals were considered the best aspect. Reviewers considered them a major technological achievement, their detail unprecedented for a 16-bit game. EGM said that the graphical quality prompted questions about the purpose of 32- and 64-bit hardware.[5] Total! said the character animations surpassed those of a Disney film and applauded the parallax scrolling.[3] Several critics said the graphics were the best on available hardware, with Entertainment Weekly writing that they were comparable to matte paintings.[4] The soundtrack and audio were also lauded. Total! said the music built atmosphere,[3] Top Secret wrote the "captivating" soundtrack asserted itself as a masterpiece in its own right,[6] and EGM and Entertainment Weekly said the audio quality was unprecedented for the SNES and on par with a CD's.[5][4]

Reviewers praised the gameplay for its variety and depth;[5][7][3] Entertainment Weekly appreciated that it did not build upon the original arcade game's design.[4] Total! described Donkey Kong Country as addictive, accessible and exciting, with humour, imagination, puzzles and secrets, that proved there was still potential in the platform game genre.[3] EGM and GameFan wrote that the game was lengthy and offered plenty of technique,[5][7] and GamePro commended the replay value that searching for bonus stages provided.[8] EGM and GamePro found searching for bonus stages was challenging,[5][8] though GamePro said it was easy to "breeze through the game" without them and criticised the boss fights as simplistic.[8]

Critics frequently compared Donkey Kong Country to the Super Mario series,[5][3] particularly Super Mario World (1990).[9][3][2] Some considered Donkey Kong Country an improvement upon the Mario formula.[5][7][3] GameFan said it would be a worthy successor to Super Mario World even without the graphics[2] and Total! wrote that it took Mario's best elements, increased the speed, and presented them better.[3] Next Generation felt the gameplay, though good, did not meet the standards of previous SNES games such as the Mario and Legend of Zelda series and prevented it from being a "typical Nintendo blockbuster".[10] CVG wrote that Donkey Kong Country was the only SNES game that matched Super Mario World, but that it would be a conventional platformer without its graphics. It warned that experienced players may find the game, designed for a broad audience, unoriginal.[9]

Accolades[]

Donkey Kong Country received many Game of the Year awards.[11] For EGM's Best and Worst of 1994, it won Game of the Year, Best SNES Game, and Best Animation; Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong won Best Game Duo.[12] It also received Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine's awards for Game of the Year, Best SNES Game, Best Action Game, and Best Graphics.[13] Donkey Kong Country was the only video game included in Time's Best Products of 1994 list, coming in second behind the Chrysler Neon,[14] and it became the first game to win the Favourite Video Game Kids' Choice Award at the 1995 Kids' Choice Awards.[15]

Fan Reception[]

In 2016, WatchMojo placed Donkey Kong Country at the #3 spot in their "Top 10 Donkey Kong Games" list countdown, right behind Donkey Kong at #2 & Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest at #1.[16] WatchMojo also placed it at the #5 spot in their "Every Donkey Kong Game RANKED" video over on MojoPlays in 2024; following behind Donkey Kong '94 (#4), Donkey Kong Country Returns (#3), Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (#2), & Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (#1).[17]

Regional differences[]

Main article: Donkey Kong Country/Regional differences

Version differences[]

Main article: Donkey Kong Country/Version differences

Gallery[]

Main article: Donkey Kong Country (SNES)/Gallery
Main article: Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color)/Gallery
Main article: Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Advance)/Gallery

Alternate Titles[]

  • "超级大金刚"—Simplified Chinese spelling
  • "Super Donkey Kong"—Japanese title
  • "Donkey Kong Country 1"—Informal title
  • "Donkey Kong 2001"—Japanese title (Game Boy Color)
  • "DKC"—Common abbreviation
  • "Chaoji Dajingang"—Chinese title
  • "ドンキーコング2001"—Japanese spelling (Game Boy Color)
  • "スーパードンキーコング"—Japanese spelling

References[]

  1. ↑ http://nintendo-database.the-chronicles.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-231.html
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Storm, E. (November 1994). "Donkey Kong Country". Diehard GameFan. Vol. 2, no. 11. Agoura Hills: DieHard Gamers Club. pp. 76–81. ISSN 1092-7212.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Atko; Andy (December 1994). "Donkey Kong Country". Total!. No. 36. Bath: Future Publishing. pp. 36–39. ISSN 0964-9352
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Strauss, Bob (9 December 1994). "Donkey Kong Country". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 4 September 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2022.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Semrad, Ed; Carpenter, Danyon; Manuel, Al; Sushi-X (November 1994). "Review crew: Game of the month". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Vol. 7, no. 11. Lombard: Sendai Publications. p. 34. ISSN 1058-918X.
  6. ↑ Kopalny, A (July 1995). "Donkey Kong Country". Top Secret (in Polish). No. 40. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Bajtek. p. 58. ISSN 0867-8480.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Storm, E. (November 1994). "Donkey Kong Country". Diehard GameFan. Vol. 2, no. 11. Agoura Hills: DieHard Gamers Club. pp. 76–81. ISSN 1092-7212.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Scary Larry (December 1994). "Nintendo went ape". GamePro. Vol. 6, no. 12. Needham: International Data Group. pp. 51–53. ISSN 1042-8658.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Donkey Kong Country". Computer and Video Games. No. 157. Peterborough: St Ives. December 1994. pp. 52–54. ISSN 0261-3697.
  10. ↑ McDonnell, Chet (January 1995). "Aping Mario?". Next Generation. No. 1. Brisbane: Imagine Media. p. 102. ISSN 1078-9693.
  11. ↑ McLaughlin, Rus (28 July 2008). "IGN presents the history of Rare". IGN. Archived from the original on 14 April 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  12. ↑ "EGM's best and worst of 1994". Electronic Gaming Monthly 1995 Buyer's Guide. Lombardvissn=1058-918X: Sendai Publishing Group. 1994. pp. 12–24.
  13. ↑ "VideoGames best of '94". Video Games: The Ultimate Gaming Magazine. Vol. 7, no. 3. Beverly Hills: Larry Flynt Publications. March 1995. pp. 44–46. ISSN 1059-2938.
  14. ↑ "ProNews". GamePro. Vol. 7, no. 3. Oakland: IDG Communications. March 1995. pp. 154–156. ISSN 1042-8658.
  15. ↑ "First winner of "Favorite Video Game" in Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards". Guinness World Records. 20 May 1995. Archived from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
  16. ↑ Gordon, B. (2016, February 9). Top 10 Donkey Kong Games. WatchMojo.
  17. ↑ MojoPlays (WatchMojo). (2024, January 21). Every Donkey Kong game ranked. YouTube.

External links[]

Database[]

Wikis[]

Games[]

Donkey Kong Country logo
Characters Playable characters Donkey Kong • Diddy Kong • Cranky Kong • Funky Kong • Candy Kong • Rambi the Rhino • Enguarde the Swordfish • Winky the Frog • Squawks the Parrot • Expresso the Ostrich
Bosses Very Gnawty • Master Necky • Queen B. • Really Gnawty • Dumb Drum • Master Necky Snr. • King K. Rool
Enemies Enemies Army • Bitesize • Chomps • Chomps Jr. • Clambo • Croctopus • Gnawty • Klaptrap • Klump • Krash • Kritter • Krusha • Manky Kong • Mincer • Mini-Necky • Necky • Rockkroc • Slippa • Squidge • Zinger
Objects Objects Animal Token • Banana • Barrel • Extra Life Balloon • K-O-N-G Letters • Mine Cart • Tire
Worlds and Locations Worlds and Locations Donkey Kong Island • Kongo Jungle • Monkey Mines • Vine Valley • Gorilla Glacier • Kremkroc Industries Inc. • Chimp Caverns • Donkey Kong's Treehouse • Cranky's Cabin • Funky's Flights • Candy's Save Point • Gangplank Galleon
Levels Levels Jungle Hijinxs • Ropey Rampage • Reptile Rumble • Coral Capers • Barrel Cannon Canyon
Winky's Walkway • Mine Cart Carnage • Bouncy Bonanza • Stop & Go Station • Millstone Mayhem
Vulture Culture • Tree Top Town • Forest Frenzy • Temple Tempest • Orang-utan Gang • Clam City
Snow Barrel Blast • Slipslide Ride • Ice Age Alley • Croctopus Chase • Torchlight Trouble • Rope Bridge Rumble
Oil Drum Alley • Trick Track Trek • Elevator Antics • Poison Pond • Mine Cart Madness • Blackout Basement
Tanked Up Trouble • Manic Mincers • Misty Mine • Necky Nutmare (GBC only) • Loopy Lights • Platform Perils
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