Donkey Kong is one of the cornerstones of arcade history. This game spawned game after game featuring the characters, Donkey Kong, Peach, and, of course, Mario. The port from arcade to Atari on this title wasn't too bad. This game was pretty much the start of it all for Nintendo. The character Mario is now the most popular video game character in the world. Statistics show that in the nineties, more children recognized the character Mario than did Mickey Mouse. The game Super Mario Bros. holds the world record for best selling video game with over 60 million copies sold worldwide.

Donkey Kong was definitely a pivotal game for Nintendo and Coleco. If you say you've never played this game, I might say you are a liar. Not really, but you have been living under a rock for a long time, though. On the other hand, maybe you're a young person. Even then I bet you've played Donkey Kong Country or something. If you really never have played this game before, hurry up and hit the launch button and get going.

Donkey Kong on the NES was a great port from arcade to home console. This was always one of my favorite games. Donkey Kong is one of the great classics of our time. It kicked off some very profitable careers for a few characters, including Mario. Mario in this game was actually called Jumpman at the time, and the Princess was still Pauline. They later dubbed her Peach. Donkey Kong also went on to have his own following. The Donkey Kong Country series did extremely well. Donkey Kong is definitely worth your time so give it a go!

Donkey Kong kidnapped the beautiful Pauline and has run away!! To save her, Mario must chase after Donkey Kong. The familiar game of "Donkey Kong" is now a Game Boy title. A totally new quest awaits Mario beyond the familiar scenes of the first few stages. Hunt down Donkey Kong as he escapes from the Big City, traveling on the Ship, through the Jungle, the Desert, Rocky Mountain and on to his home. Can Mario capture Donkey Kong and save Pauline?
--From the Gameboy Donkey Kong instruction manual.

Aside from the story, this Donkey Kong is almost totally different from the rest of them. The first four stages are very Donkey Kong, but the mere fact that there are more stages than that, is not very Donkey Kong at all. This game has 100 stages, well 101 if you count the last fight with Donkey Kong. Mario has a whole new list of moves now, too. This really was a great game. I loved it. As a matter of fact, I would probably still be playing if I weren't writing about it. If you liked Donkey Kong, or Mario games for that matter, try this one, you'll love it.

Donkey Kong is a platform format game that happened to be the platform that launched the decorated career of video icon Mario. In his debut, our hero, Mario, attempts to rescue the damsel-in-distress from Donkey Kong, who has taken her up into an unfinished sky-scraper. Donkey Kong tries to thwart the rescue attempt by hurling barrels at Mario, or by the aid of his diabolical fireballs.

The ColecoVision home adaptation of the arcade classic, even today, is a pretty good one. It features quality graphics, reminiscent of the original arcade version, accompanied with excellent gameplay and controller response. Sound effects are pretty accurate as well, such as Mario's running and the "scoring chimes" which sounds whenever Mario receives points for jumping over a hazardous obstacle or from picking up a prize. So, for the old nostalgic or the johnny-come-lately, this is it folks, history. A fine representation of it too, I might add.

Finally a change from the original, with the addition of a new character. Donkey Kong 3 was a pretty fun game. The only thing that isn't so great about it was the controls. I mean, do we really need two buttons for shoot? One of them could have been jump, instead they made it where up is jump.
A good game all around, Donkey Kong 3 is a must play for any Donkey Kong fan.

"Diddy... gone... my little buddy..." DK murmured to himself. He 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 hoard back!"
--From the Gameboy Color Donkey Kong Country instruction manual.

     To the yellow-bellied, land-lubbing Kong Family:

     Hah-arrrrh!  We got the big monkey!

     If you want him back, you scurvy dogs,

     you'll have to hand over the banana hoard!

                   Kaptain K. Rool

And as soon as the sun rose again, the brave young pair set out.
--From the Super Nintendo Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest instruction manual.

This is the second installment in Nintendo's great Donkey Kong Country series. It had some pretty cool improvements, including the ability to throw your partner up to platforms that would be unreachable otherwise. Donkey Kong was one of Nintendo's first and biggest video games. Most people don't know this, but Nintendo is actually a couple hundred years old. They used to make board games and the like. Nintendo's business has been fun for a long time, and they sure do know what they're doing.

The re-release of Donkey Kong Jr. for the Nintendo offered better graphics, sound and controls, since everything was pretty primitive on the Atari 2600. Just like before you must save your dad, Donkey Kong, from the evil Mario who is holding him captive.

This kid needs help. Don't just stand there. Help poor Junior save his father.
--From the Atari 2600 Donkey Kong Jr. instruction manual.

Who's in trouble now? In Donkey Kong Jr. you're playing the other side. Shortly after Donkey Kong's first run-in with Mario, he was imprisoned by the very man that he was fighting. Now it is up to Donkey Kong Jr. to set his father free from this crazy plumber. Like the first game, Donkey Kong Jr. was all about the points, so be careful.

Donkey Kong Jr. for the 2600 had a lot in common with most games on the 2600. The controls were unresponsive and glitchy. The graphics were badly drawn, and of course, the sounds were pretty bad, too. Try the NES version instead. As for the 2600 version, this is the kind of game I would only recommend to nostalgic people or Donkey Kong freaks.

Donkey Kong Jr. is the 1982 sequel to great Donkey Kong and introduces the fourth character in the Mario Dynasty. In this version, dad (Donkey Kong) has finally been caught by Mario (after climbing miles of skyscrapers) and Junior must rescue him. This is the only game in Mario's illustrious career in which he has played the role of the villain.

Donkey Kong Jr. is another really good Coleco home adaptation with close to arcade quality graphics and sound. The color and detail are good enough to make the characters distinguishable. Like Donkey Kong, it lacks the fourth board from the arcade version, but is still fun to play. Controller response is very good, making directional jumping very easy to execute. This game requires the directional jump. Each board has its own "musical soundtrack" that adds to the charm of this classic, and a "Nintendo song" plays at the end of each stage. Coleco hath did it again... well, a while back they did. Donkey Kong Jr. is big fun to be had by all.

Donkey Kong Land 2 for the Game Boy was my introduction to the iconic band of swingin' apes, and even after all these years, the game is still a rock-solid platformer.

The basic gameplay is simple enough; you move from point A to point B while collecting coins, bananas, and butt-bopping as many enemies in the levels as you can, in order to save Donkey Kong from the forces of Captain K. Rool.

The game's digitized character models are sharp and often make the backgrounds look rather drab in comparison. The sound is also a high point; I often find myself humming the melodies from this game while walking down the street to the video store. The game is still quite challenging to this day. I had to restart a few levels multiple times due to misjudging jumps and enemy placement, but like I said, this is still a rock-solid platformer.

Donkey Kong
DK has kidnapped a girl and it's Mario to the rescue!
--From the Gameboy Color Game and Watch Gallery 2 instruction manual.

This is the second installment of the Game and Watch series for the Game Boy Color. This one includes five games, all different than the first. These are Parachute, Helmet, Chef, Vermin, and Donkey Kong. Visually, you got your 32-color scheme, and some big pixels to go along with it. Like the first, it's got the classic Game Boy MIDI-tones for the background music, and little beeps and chirps for character movement. The games are OK and good for passing time when you have nothing else to do.