November marks the 20th anniversary of Donkey Kong Country, one of the biggest games of the 1990s. It sold more than 9 million copies in its original release, spawned a less-than-well-remembered TV series and began a new era of the cultural icon known as Donkey Kong.
Older readers may remember Donkey Kong as one of many villains menacing arcades and eating quarters in the 1980s. The character originated in Japan as the first of many famous creations by Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto.
Thirteen years after Donkey Kong first flashed his toothy grin and began throwing barrels down at us, an English company called Rareware reinvented the character as a hero.
This new, heroic Donkey Kong hasn’t quite achieved the same cultural familiarity on his own, but the name is among the most recognizable in gaming and contributes to the character’s lasting legacy.
I find it fitting that November 1994 featured two passings of the torch in our pop culture and that any kid in America could have been part of both ceremonies on the same day. Parents and their kids could have left a theater showing Star Trek Generations’ Captains Kirk and Picard saving the universe together and then on the way home pick up a game for their kids where an aging Donkey Kong — far past his damsel-kidnapping, barrel-throwing prime — lectures his young successor on how easy the kids have it these days.
Much like Captain "I was out saving the galaxy when your grandfather was in diapers" Kirk, the elderly Donkey Kong — now fittingly named Cranky Kong — seemed arrogant, but he helped the younger Donkey Kong by sprinkling in hints for finding treasure during his drawn-out ranting.
Though many of the actual hints were cut from the game, Cranky’s nostalgic interludes broke up the action of Donkey Kong Country’s simple plot. The new Donkey Kong and partner Diddy Kong found themselves on a quest to reclaim their stolen stash of bananas from the Kremlings, reptilian creatures with a military-industrial theme.
Though the day was saved, this one game began a Country trilogy on the Super Nintendo and a Donkey Kong Land trilogy on the Game Boy that chronicled the ongoing struggle between the extended Kong family and the Kremlings.
Notably, the first Donkey Kong Country (and the first Donkey Kong Land on Game Boy) was the only time Donkey Kong was a main character, as he began getting kidnapped by the Kremlings in an homage to the premise of 1982’s Donkey Kong Junior.
Diddy Kong proved himself a hero in Donkey Kong County 2 alongside his girlfriend Dixie before also getting kidnapped in Donkey Kong County 3 and having to be replaced by the latter’s cousin, Kiddy. In a twist, Donkey Kong had to save everyone else in 1999’s Donkey Kong 64.
By the 2000s, Donkey Kong Country as a franchise seemed over. Rareware was bought out by Microsoft, and Nintendo began using Donkey Kong and his cast for its own games. 2010 saw the revival of the series with Donkey Kong Country Returns, and that game received a sequel last February called Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze.
Though the Kremlings have mysteriously disappeared from the series, and the rampant kidnappings have stopped, the bananas now need to be reclaimed from hypnotic tikis and Arctic vikings.
Twenty years later, even with a new coat of paint, some things never change.
