***Donkey Kong*** is an arcade video game made by Nintendo in 1981. It was designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Gunpei Yokoi after their other games failed in North America. It is the first game starring Mario (then called Jumpman) and Donkey Kong, where Mario has to climb a construction site to save his girlfriend Pauline from Donkey Kong, an escaped gorilla.

Gameplay
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The player is Jumpman (Mario). He must climb to the top of the level to reach his girlfriend Pauline who has been kidnapped by Donkey Kong, who escaped from a zoo. There are four different levels, and Donkey Kong has different weapons in each. Donkey Kong rolls barrels down a busted construction site, and Mario has to climb ladders and jump over these barrels until he reaches the top. He can grab a hammer to defeat obstacles, and each level has three of Pauline's things that will give him bonus points.

When Mario beats the fourth level, it goes back to the first level and it gets harder. Like all arcade games with looping levels has an end level because the game cannot go farther than that. In this, Mario dies ten seconds into the final level.

Music
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The music was made by Hirokazu "Hip" Tanaka. Several remixes have been made of music from this game and used in *Super Smash Bros. Brawl*.

Development
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Shigeru Miyamoto made *Donkey Kong* with the help of other people, such as Gunpei Yokoi. It was based on an older Nintendo game called *Radar Scope*, which did not do very well in the United States, so Hiroshi Yamauchi, the president of Nintendo, asked Miyamoto to make a game to replace *Radar Scope*.

### Name

There are a lot of rumors about where the name comes from. One rumor says that someone misheard or mistranslated the phrase "Monkey Kong" into *Donkey Kong* when talking over the phone or on a fax machine. Another rumor is that Miyamoto used a Japanese-to-English dictionary to find words that meant stubborn gorilla and came up with *Donkey Kong*.

Reception
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When *Donkey Kong* was first announced in America, game magazines thought it was not going to be a good game because it was not like other games being made at the time, which were mostly shooting games. But when it came out, it got great reviews and made a lot of money at the arcades. It is one of Nintendo's most famous games ever made.

### Legacy

There was a documentary made about the game called *The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters* where someone tries to beat the high score for the game.

A lot of items from this game are used in *Super Smash Bros. Brawl*. There is also a stage that copies the third level.

Sequels and re-releases
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*Donkey Kong* has had many sequels. *Donkey Kong Jr.* and *Donkey Kong 3* were sequels to this game. The playable character called Mario went on to become the biggest game character of all time, making Nintendo more than 1 billion dollars and releasing more than 200 games, more than any other series. Donkey Kong went on to have his own series apart from Mario, starting with *Donkey Kong Country* for the Super NES. Donkey Kong also starred in many more sequels, as well as spin-offs like the *Donkey Konga* music games.

*Donkey Kong* has been re-released many times; first on the Nintendo Entertainment System where it was the same game except that it does not have the second level. It has also appeared on other consoles including Atari consoles. A sequel came out for the Game Boy called *Donkey Kong*, which has the first four levels and 100 new levels after that.

*Donkey Kong* appeared as a bonus game in the Frantic Factory level for *Donkey Kong 64*.

This game has not to be confused with the Game & Watch *Donkey Kong Jr.* portable game console, because the history of the game is a little different. In the Game & Watch version, the main character is Donkey Kong Jr. that has to save its father Donkey Kong from Mario. This game recently released for the Nintendo DSi as a downloadable for the cost of 200 Nintendo Points.

| * v
* t
* e
*Mario* series |
| --- |
| Early *Mario* games | *Donkey Kong* • *Donkey Kong Jr.* • *Mario Bros.* |
| Main series | *Super Mario Bros.* • *The Lost Levels* • *Bros. 2* • *Bros. 3* • *Land* • *World* • *Land 2* • *64* • *Sunshine* • *New Super Mario Bros.* • *Galaxy* • *New Super Mario Bros. Wii* • *Galaxy 2* • *Super Mario 3D Land* • *New Super Mario Bros. 2* • *New Super Mario Bros. U* • *Super Mario 3D World*  • *Super Mario Maker* • *Super Mario Odyssey* • *Super Mario Maker 2*  • *Super Mario Bros. Wonder* |
| Spin-offs | *Luigi's Mansion* • *Mario Pinball Land* • *Super Princess Peach* • *Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon* • *Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker* • *35* • *Princess Peach: Showtime!* |
| Related series | Remakes • RPGs • *Mario Party* • Sports series • Puzzle games • *Super Smash Bros.* |
| Characters | Mario • Luigi • Princess Peach • Toad • Bowser • Wario • Yoshi • Donkey Kong • Rosalina • Princess Daisy • Waluigi • Birdo • Koopa Troopa • Goomba • Bowser Jr. |
| Related articles | *Super Mario 128* • *Mario Clash* • TV Series • 1993 movie • Anime • 2023 movie |


| * v
* t
* e
*Donkey Kong* series |
| --- |
| Arcade | 
* *Donkey Kong*
* *Donkey Kong Jr.*
* *Donkey Kong 3*

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| Console platforming | 
* *Donkey Kong Country*
* *Diddy's Kong Quest*
* *Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!*
* *64*
* *Jungle Beat*
* *Returns*
* *Returns 3D*
* *Tropical Freeze*

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| Handheld | 
* *Donkey Kong* (handheld game)
* *Donkey Kong Land*
* *Land 2*
* *Land III*
* *DK: King of Swing*
* *DK: Jungle Climber*

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| *Mario vs. Donkey Kong* | 
* *Mario vs. Donkey Kong*
* *March of the Minis*
* *Minis March Again!*
* *Mini-Land Mayhem!*
* *Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move*

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| Other games | 
* LCD games
	+ *Donkey Kong*
	+ *Donkey Kong Jr.*
* *Donkey Kong Jr. Math*
* *Diddy Kong Racing* (*DS*)
* *Donkey Kong Racing*
* *Donkey Konga* series
* *Donkey Kong Barrel Blast*
* *Donkey Kong's Crash Course*

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| Characters | 
* Donkey Kong
* Diddy Kong
* King K. Rool
* Mario
* Pauline

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| Related articles | 
* *Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Nintendo Co. Ltd.*
* *Donkey Kong Country* (TV series) (Episodes)
* *Donkey Kong*
* *The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters*
* *Crazy Kong*

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