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Donkey Kong (universe): Difference between revisions
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Donkey Kong remained a regular in ''Mario'' games as always, and his contributions have included the full ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario vs. Donkey Kong|series}}'' series of puzzle games that pay homage to the original ''Donkey Kong'' coin-op's scenario, particularly building on the foundation of the 1994 Game Boy version. The characters and setting originally introduced by Rare and associated with the ''Donkey Kong Country'' brand also made fairly regular appearances in games published by Nintendo, but are largely developed by a variety of second-party developers: Paon developed the Game Boy Advance puzzle game ''{{s|mariowiki|DK: King of Swing}}'' and its Nintendo DS sequel ''{{s|mariowiki|DK: Jungle Climber}}'', as well as the Wii racer ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Barrel Blast}}''; [[Namco]], meanwhile, developed all three titles in the ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Konga}}'' series of GameCube rhythm games that use a unique bongo drum-themed peripheral for input (a peripheral also used as a controller for the Nintendo-developed GameCube platformer ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Jungle Beat}}''). | Donkey Kong remained a regular in ''Mario'' games as always, and his contributions have included the full ''{{iw|mariowiki|Mario vs. Donkey Kong|series}}'' series of puzzle games that pay homage to the original ''Donkey Kong'' coin-op's scenario, particularly building on the foundation of the 1994 Game Boy version. The characters and setting originally introduced by Rare and associated with the ''Donkey Kong Country'' brand also made fairly regular appearances in games published by Nintendo, but are largely developed by a variety of second-party developers: Paon developed the Game Boy Advance puzzle game ''{{s|mariowiki|DK: King of Swing}}'' and its Nintendo DS sequel ''{{s|mariowiki|DK: Jungle Climber}}'', as well as the Wii racer ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Barrel Blast}}''; [[Namco]], meanwhile, developed all three titles in the ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Konga}}'' series of GameCube rhythm games that use a unique bongo drum-themed peripheral for input (a peripheral also used as a controller for the Nintendo-developed GameCube platformer ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Jungle Beat}}''). | ||
Throughout the 2000's, the mainline ''Donkey Kong'' series was on hiatus not unlike the buildup to Rare's SNES trilogy. This second hiatus for the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise came to an end when Texas developer [[Retro Studios]] was approached by Nintendo and Miyamoto to produce a new ''Donkey Kong Country'' game. Having concluded their saga with the original ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime}}'' trilogy, along with several core staff leaving the studio to pursue other interests, Retro jumped at the chance to revitalize another dormant Nintendo franchise. The result of these efforts was ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Country Returns}}'', a return to the side-scrolling gameplay style of the ''Donkey Kong Country'' games released for the Wii in 2010. Critical reception to this game was incredibly positive, with points of praise going to the level design and challenge while criticism was aimed at the sometimes disruptive motion controls. A port of ''Returns'' by Monster Games was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013 featuring an easier difficulty option and additional exclusive levels. Following the Wii version's success, Retro Studios felt there were many opportunities to seize on with a sequel on more powerful hardware. As such a direct sequel, ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze}}'', was released for the Wii U in February 2014. Reception was far stronger to ''Tropical Freeze'' than it was to ''Returns'', with points of praise going to the more ingenious level design, impressive visuals, and musical score by original series composer David Wise. The game was re-released for the Nintendo Switch in May 2018 with a new easier difficulty and featuring Funky Kong as a playable character. Since the Switch port's release, Retro Studios has no plans for a third ''Donkey Kong Country'' game | Throughout the 2000's, the mainline ''Donkey Kong'' series was on hiatus not unlike the buildup to Rare's SNES trilogy. This second hiatus for the ''Donkey Kong'' franchise came to an end when Texas developer [[Retro Studios]] was approached by Nintendo and Miyamoto to produce a new ''Donkey Kong Country'' game. Having concluded their saga with the original ''{{iw|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime}}'' trilogy, along with several core staff leaving the studio to pursue other interests, Retro jumped at the chance to revitalize another dormant Nintendo franchise. The result of these efforts was ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Country Returns}}'', a return to the side-scrolling gameplay style of the ''Donkey Kong Country'' games released for the Wii in 2010. Critical reception to this game was incredibly positive, with points of praise going to the level design and challenge while criticism was aimed at the sometimes disruptive motion controls. A port of ''Returns'' by Monster Games was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2013 featuring an easier difficulty option and additional exclusive levels. Following the Wii version's success, Retro Studios felt there were many opportunities to seize on with a sequel on more powerful hardware. As such a direct sequel, ''{{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze}}'', was released for the Wii U in February 2014. Reception was far stronger to ''Tropical Freeze'' than it was to ''Returns'', with points of praise going to the more ingenious level design, impressive visuals, and musical score by original series composer David Wise. The game was re-released for the Nintendo Switch in May 2018 with a new easier difficulty and featuring Funky Kong as a playable character. Since the Switch port's release, Retro Studios has no plans for a third ''Donkey Kong Country'' game as the team has since shifted focus to developing ''{{s|metroidwiki|Metroid Prime 4: Beyond}}'' for the Nintendo Switch. | ||
The modern-day Donkey Kong seen in all ''Mario'' and ''Donkey Kong'' games since ''Donkey Kong Country'' is said to be the grandson of the original "Donkey Kong" that was featured in the classic coin-op arcade games, who is currently depicted as an elderly curmudgeon named {{s|mariowiki|Cranky Kong}}. Donkey Kong's extended family and friends, all of them simians, are collectively referred to as the {{s|mariowiki|Kong Family}}, living on an island shaped like Donkey Kong's head named {{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Island}}. In many games focused around the Kong Family, they square off against a group of humanoid crocodilians known as the {{s|mariowiki|Kremling Krew}}. Under the leadership of their demented monarch, {{s|mariowiki|King K. Rool}}, the crew constantly plots to steal the Kong Family's enormous hoard of {{s|mariowiki|banana}}s for unspecified reasons, and to this end they have allies of different species, such as [[mariowiki:Necky|vultures]] and [[mariowiki:Zinger|giant, spiked wasps]]. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and many other Kong Family members embark on quests to defeat the Kremling Krew and protect their bananas, and the Kongs sometimes call on [[mariowiki:Animal Buddy|animal allies]] of their own. | The modern-day Donkey Kong seen in all ''Mario'' and ''Donkey Kong'' games since ''Donkey Kong Country'' is said to be the grandson of the original "Donkey Kong" that was featured in the classic coin-op arcade games, who is currently depicted as an elderly curmudgeon named {{s|mariowiki|Cranky Kong}}. Donkey Kong's extended family and friends, all of them simians, are collectively referred to as the {{s|mariowiki|Kong Family}}, living on an island shaped like Donkey Kong's head named {{s|mariowiki|Donkey Kong Island}}. In many games focused around the Kong Family, they square off against a group of humanoid crocodilians known as the {{s|mariowiki|Kremling Krew}}. Under the leadership of their demented monarch, {{s|mariowiki|King K. Rool}}, the crew constantly plots to steal the Kong Family's enormous hoard of {{s|mariowiki|banana}}s for unspecified reasons, and to this end they have allies of different species, such as [[mariowiki:Necky|vultures]] and [[mariowiki:Zinger|giant, spiked wasps]]. Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, and many other Kong Family members embark on quests to defeat the Kremling Krew and protect their bananas, and the Kongs sometimes call on [[mariowiki:Animal Buddy|animal allies]] of their own. | ||