Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). It is a reboot of Nintendo's Donkey Kong franchise and follows the gorilla Donkey Kong and his nephew Diddy Kong as they set out to recover their stolen banana hoard from King K. Rool and the Kremlings. In 40 side-scrolling levels, the player collects items, defeats enemies and bosses, and finds secrets on their journey to defeat K. Rool. In the multiplayer modes, two players can work together cooperatively or race each other.
After developing numerous Nintendo Entertainment System games in the 1980s, Rare, a British studio founded by Tim and Chris Stamper, purchased Silicon Graphics workstations to render 3D models. Nintendo, seeking a game to compete with Sega's Aladdin (1993), purchased a large minority stake in the company. Tasked with reviving the dormant Donkey Kong franchise, Rare assembled 12 developers to work on Donkey Kong Country over 18 months. Donkey Kong Country was inspired by the Super Mario series and was one of the first home console games to feature pre-rendered graphics, achieved through a compression technique that allowed Rare to convert 3D models into SNES sprites without losing much detail. It was also the first Donkey Kong game neither produced nor directed by creator Shigeru Miyamoto, though he contributed design ideas.
Following its announcement at the Consumer Electronics Show in June 1994, Donkey Kong Country was highly anticipated and backed by a major marketing campaign that cost $16 million in America alone. It was released in November 1994 to acclaim and sold 9.3 million copies worldwide, making it the third-bestselling SNES game. Critics hailed its visuals as groundbreaking and praised its gameplay, replay value, and music. The game won numerous accolades, and although some retrospective critics have called it overrated, it is frequently cited as one of the greatest video games of all time. It has been ported to numerous platforms, including Game Boy handheld consoles and digital distribution services.
Donkey Kong Country was key in maintaining the SNES's popularity when players were moving to more advanced consoles, such as Sony's PlayStation. It also helped establish Rare as one of the video game industry's leading developers and re-established Donkey Kong as a key Nintendo franchise. Rare developed two sequels for the SNES, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996). After a hiatus, during which Rare was acquired by Nintendo competitor Microsoft, Retro Studios revived the series with Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) for the Wii and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014) for the Wii U.
Category:Video Games