The 10 Best Donkey Kong Games

Despite being Nintendo’s archetypal mascot and being 1 of legendary crippled decorator Shigeru Miyamoto’s astir iconic quality creations, Donkey Kong has had a spot of a weird past of getting his ain video games compared to that mustachioed plumber he’s often feuding with. Sometimes he’s the hero. Sometimes he’s the villain. Sometimes he’s a bongo drummer. But with Donkey Kong Bananza retired present - DK’s archetypal caller starring relation successful implicit a decennary and archetypal caller 3D platformer successful implicit 25 years - it’s clip to thrust a rickety minecart down representation lane and look backmost astatine the large ape’s top games. Here are the 10 champion Donkey Kong games of each time.

10. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble

While Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble (an admittedly unusual sanction for the 3rd crippled successful a series) isn’t precisely a crippled wherever you play arsenic Donkey Kong himself, it does proceed to physique connected the momentum based platforming gameplay that kicked disconnected with the archetypal Donkey Kong Country. Double Trouble tags successful Dixie Kong and her relative Kiddy Kong for different adventure, bringing much collectible coins, rideable carnal sidekicks, and incredibly catchy inheritance songs on with them. New abilities similar Dixie’s ponytail hover (which feels akin to Tails’ foxtail chopper hover seen successful the Sonic games) adhd immoderate absorbing caller mechanics to the mix, and portion Double Trouble doesn’t rather scope the heights of its predecessors, it’s inactive an fantabulous and occasionally pugnacious arsenic nails escapade connected its ain and 1 of the champion looking games connected the Super Nintendo.

9. Donkey Kong 64

Donkey Kong’s archetypal (and until recently, only) foray into joystick-controlled platforming wasn’t rather arsenic beardown arsenic erstwhile Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda’s Link made the leap from 2D games connected the Super Nintendo to 3D games connected the N64, but hey, those were the aboriginal days of 3D gaming and determination were bound to beryllium immoderate increasing pains. Donkey Kong 64 is often derided for its implicit abundance of often tedious collectibles but erstwhile levels unfastened up and progression requirements get retired of your way, it’s an implicit blast to explore.

DK 64’s main hook is allowing players to power an full household of Kongs for the archetypal clip alternatively of splitting them disconnected into duos similar the Donkey Kong Country bid was known for. There are a ton of levels to hop astir in, concealed areas to unlock, and seemingly endless things to collect, positive a bonus multiplayer mode wherever Kongs tally astir shooting each different with guns, which whitethorn look unusual until you retrieve Donkey Kong 64 was made by Rare, the aforesaid institution known for reinventing console multiplayer shooters 2 years earlier with their deed crippled GoldenEye 007. However, inquire immoderate kid who grew up playing Donkey Kong 64 and they’ll archer you their 2 fondest memories person thing to bash with the gameplay itself. First, the agleam banana yellowish cartridge the crippled was released on, and 2nd and astir importantly, the DK Rap taxable song, perchance the catchiest rubric surface euphony successful the past of video games.

8. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

During the GameCube epoch Nintendo experimented with a clump of offbeat peripherals, but 1 of the strangest (and astir adorable) were the DK Bongos, a ample integrative brace of drums shaped similar woody barrels. The DK Bongos were astir famously utilized for a bid of bushed games known arsenic Donkey Konga, inviting players to smack the bongos successful clip with the bushed to assorted songs. But the existent prima of the bongo supported GameCube crippled room was Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, a broadside scrolling platforming crippled that utilized bongo inputs to power Donkey Kong crossed a wide assortment of stages.

By smacking the bongos individually oregon together, Donkey Kong tin determination around, interact with objects, and bushed the bananas retired of a ton of antithetic enemies and bosses. And portion Jungle Beat is simply a spot connected the abbreviated side, players were encouraged to replay it to bushed their precocious scores implicit and implicit again. Jungle Beat yet made its mode to the Nintendo Wii and Wii U with updated Wiimote question controls truthful here’s hoping it gets ported to the Nintendo Switch 2 truthful much players tin yet acquisition this often forgotten modern classic.

7. Donkey Kong

The archetypal Donkey Kong crippled is inactive 1 of the top arcade games ever made, adjacent decades later. At the clip of its merchandise successful 1981, Nintendo was struggling to link with arcade audiences and accelerated tracked a caller crippled from past chartless crippled developer Shigeru Miyamoto. The effect was the Kong Kong inspired Donkey Kong game, a unsocial arcade acquisition that showcased aggregate levels, challenging platforming gameplay, and a small feline named Jumpman, present known astir the satellite arsenic Super Mario.

Donkey Kong was not lone a monolithic deed for Nintendo, it besides inspired 2 progressively alien arcade sequels, Donkey Kong Jr and Donkey Kong 3. It besides served arsenic the ground for the deed movie King of Kong which documents the existent beingness feud betwixt 2 Donkey Kong precocious people satellite champions. For being a 40+ twelvemonth aged arcade game, the archetypal Donkey Kong crippled ever made inactive holds up good contiguous and brought the satellite Mario, Donkey Kong, and Pauline. Hey, wouldn’t it beryllium chill if they fto immoderate Mario developers marque a crippled with Donkey Kong and Pauline! Well, much connected that successful a bit.

6. Donkey Kong Country

It’s hard to explicit conscionable however revolutionary Donkey Kong Country was erstwhile it archetypal came to the Super Nintendo successful 1994. For starters, DKC was a full reinvention of Donkey Kong, his world, and his enemies. It gave america Diddy Kong, Donkey’s acrobatic sidekick who went connected to look successful tons much games, including a fewer of his own. It featured groundbreaking pre-rendered graphics based connected scans of 3D assets and an astonishing soundtrack to boot. It gave america the Kremlings and King R. Rool and a clump of different immense bosses. And it gave america Cranky Kong, Funky Kong, and Candy Kong.

Donkey Kong Country was a monolithic success, spawning respective sequels arsenic good arsenic Game Boy and Game Boy Advance ports and remakes. It’s perfectly packed with divers environments, tricky platforming, carnal sidekicks, and collectibles and the minecart levels are inactive tense and challenging to this day. At the clip it was incredibly uncommon (pun intended) for Nintendo to outsource 1 of their astir important characters to a UK-based workplace alternatively of conscionable making a crippled successful location but the effect was a redefining of Donkey Kong that inactive impacts however he’s seen today.

5. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest

What bash you bash with Donkey Kong aft the groundbreaking Donkey Kong Country? Well, you fastener him successful a cage truthful helium tin beryllium rescued by Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong, obviously. Coming retired conscionable 1 twelvemonth aft the original, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest improved connected astir everything from the archetypal crippled and cemented itself arsenic the champion crippled successful the archetypal trilogy. The levels are tougher and much clever, the graphics are better, the soundtrack is someway adjacent catchier, and the 2 playable characters are a ton of amusive to control. There are dozens and dozens of secrets and collectibles to unearth crossed its 8 immense worlds and 52 levels and uncovering them allows players to yet show a “102%” adjacent to their prevention file.

4. Donkey Kong Country Returns

After Microsoft bought Donkey Kong Country creators Rare, the Donkey Kong games bid was successful a spot of a unusual place. But 16 years to the time since the archetypal Donkey Kong Country was released, Donkey Kong Country... well, returned again with Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Nintendo Wii, this clip being developed by Metroid Prime creator Retro Studios. Returns was little of a full overhaul for the bid and much of a instrumentality to signifier but it inactive managed to bring on a ton of caller features and immoderate earnestly superb level design.

Returns featured a wholly caller and chiseled creation absorption for the bid which besides allowed the characters and satellite to beryllium overmuch much expressive and fun. Equally inventive were the stages and locales which were teeming with beingness and property and much importantly, challenging and rewarding platforming, chaotic autoscrolling levels, and more. Donkey Kong Country Returns sold implicit 6.5 cardinal copies connected the Nintendo Wii and has been ported to each Nintendo handheld and console since. It’s a maestro people successful however to bring a erstwhile dormant bid back, a happening that Donkey Kong seems to person a wont of doing.

3. Donkey Kong ‘94

Similar to the archetypal arcade game, you don’t really play arsenic Donkey Kong successful the Game Boy’s unthinkable Donkey Kong ‘94 adjacent though his sanction is successful the title. But that’s not the lone happening those games stock successful common. Like his archetypal game, Donkey Kong has erstwhile again captured Pauline, leaving Mario to leap and hammer his mode to her rescue. But aft a clever revisit of the Donkey Kong arcade 4 levels, Donkey Kong ‘94 opens up ninety 7 much stages afloat of level puzzle challenges.

Outside of however overmuch amusive Mario is to control, 1 of the champion parts of Donkey Kong ‘94 is however expressive and charismatic Donkey Kong is here. He’s large and hulking and pugnacious but besides comic and goofy and seeing truthful overmuch property radiance done the tiny and blurry archetypal Game Boy surface was revelatory. The crippled saw a ton of spiritual successors successful the Mario vs Donkey Kong bid and spinoffs, though nary were ever rather arsenic bully arsenic Donkey Kong ‘94. Here’s hoping it gets a remake someday, but for present it’s wholly accessible done the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy app and it perfectly inactive feels large to play.

2. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

Like Diddy’s Kong Quest, Tropical Freeze erstwhile again took each of the coagulated instauration laid down successful the crippled earlier it and built an adjacent bigger and amended sequel, making it the champion 2D Donkey Kong crippled ever made. Donkey Kong’s erstwhile peaceful satellite has been taken implicit by snowfall themed atrocious guys, and arsenic the rubric suggests, that means a beauteous premix of thenar trees and crystal everywhere, starring to immoderate genuinely genius (and precise tough) platforming sequences.

But if you find things a spot excessively tough, conscionable effort retired Funky Mode, an optional trouble alteration that allows players to play arsenic everyone’s favourite monkey that owns an airport. Speaking of which, Tropical Freeze features much playable Kongs than immoderate Donkey Kong crippled earlier it including Donkey, Diddy, Dixie, and astatine agelong last, Cranky Kong who conscionable couldn’t enactment retired. Tropical Freeze is the culmination of each of the champion things from the champion Donkey Kong Country games mixed up successful 1 cleanable frozen cocktail. Once Retro gets Metroid Prime 4 successful the rear presumption it would beryllium astonishing to spot them instrumentality to this bid 1 much time. But luckily for us, there’s different Donkey Kong crippled to clasp america over.

1. Donkey Kong Bananza

As it turns out, the latest Donkey Kong crippled is his greatest. Developed by the squad down the unthinkable Super Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Bananza gives DK a full caller container of toys to play with and a full caller satellite to destroy. De-emphasizing the choky platforming that the Country bid was known for, Bananza opts alternatively to observe Donkey Kong’s brute unit and dense fists, allowing him to punch holes successful the world successful hunt of collectibles, rip retired immense rocks to thrust astir and throw, and truthful overmuch more. It besides reunites him with Pauline, this clip arsenic friends and collaborators.

Bananza is besides Donkey Kong’s biggest crippled yet. It’s perfectly packed with concealed areas, unlockable costumes, and optional situation rooms and it tin easy instrumentality players dozens of hours to find it all. It’s a loving solemnisation of this iconic and legendary Nintendo character, hopefully paving the mode for much Donkey Kong games similar it for years to come. For a quality that has been reinvented a ton of times since 1981, it’s astonishing to spot Donkey Kong instrumentality for his archetypal 3D crippled since 1999 and to bash truthful with a crippled that feels some wholly caller and quintessentially Nintendo.

And determination you person it, the 10 champion Donkey Kong games of each time. Did immoderate of the games connected this database kongfuse you? Were determination immoderate different DK games we should person kongsidered? Well, spell bananas and fto maine cognize successful the kongments below.