Donkey Kong

Q: Who are the main characters in the original Donkey Kong game?

The main characters are Donkey Kong, a rampaging ape , and Jumpman, who is later known as Mario.

Q: What is the objective of the original Donkey Kong game?

In the original game, players control Jumpman to save Pauline from Donkey Kong by navigating platforms, using hammer power-ups, and collecting bonus items.

Q: What programming glitch is associated with Donkey Kong?

A glitch causes the game to have no official ending, as the timer on the 22nd level is too short to complete the level.

Q: What is the premise of the Donkey Kong Country series?

In the Donkey Kong Country series, players control a friendlier Donkey Kong and his sidekick, Diddy Kong, to retrieve stolen bananas from a reptilian enemy known as King K. Rool.

electronic game

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History

Who are the main characters in the original Donkey Kong game?

What is the objective of the original Donkey Kong game?

What programming glitch is associated with Donkey Kong?

What is the premise of the Donkey Kong Country series?

Donkey Kong, electronic game, originally released in 1981 by the Japanese Nintendo Company Ltd., that spawned a popular franchise and helped start the video game revolution of the 1980s. The arcade machine marked the first appearance of Donkey Kong, a rampaging ape who rolled barrels down a series of platforms, and Jumpman, better known as Mario of Mario Bros. fame after the introduction of the Nintendo console for home play. Donkey Kong spawned multiple sequels, including the critically acclaimed Donkey Kong Country series, and it inspired a cartoon television show and a documentary.

The original Donkey Kong featured a very simple premise. Users played as Jumpman and in each level had to save Pauline, a pink-clad female character, from the giant ape Donkey Kong. Utilizing timely jumps and ladder-climbing skills, players navigated an extensive series of levels, using hammer power-ups to destroy objects and collecting bonus items along the way for additional points. Donkey Kong has been consistently praised for being one of the most challenging games of its era, and it marked the debut of the platform game genre. Because of a programming glitch, the game has no official ending. On the 22nd level, a timer-calculation error leaves too little time for the level to be completed, producing what became known as a “kill screen”, adding to Donkey Kong’s quirky mystique.

In the Donkey Kong Country series on the Super Nintendo system, users play as a much friendlier Kong and his sidekick, Diddy Kong, in an adventure to retrieve stolen bananas from a reptilian enemy, King K. Rool. Nintendo’s popular Mario Kart series also features Donkey Kong as a playable character. The documentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007), directed by Seth Gordon, examines the quest of two men to obtain and hold on to Donkey Kong’s highest score.