Donkey Kong Bananza Launches This Week: Here’s a History of Every Donkey Kong Game Leading Up to Nintendo’s Latest

The Donkey Kong franchise is coming full circle as one of Nintendo’s most enduring and important properties once again. The company’s breakout arcade hit in America, not to mention the vehicle that propelled creator Shigeru Miyamoto to becoming a rising star within Nintendo and paving the way for Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong is a hugely important game for the Big N. It’s fulfilling that same role once again with the launch of Donkey Kong Bananza, giving Nintendo’s latest hardware a much-needed first-party exclusive in the Switch 2’s initial post-launch window. In celebration of Donkey Kong Bananza‘s launch and recognition of the franchise’s importance, let’s take a trip down memory lane to examine the iconic gorilla’s games throughout the years.

• Release Date — July 15, 1983
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 2
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Arcade, NES

The game that started it all, Donkey Kong was a breakout arcade success on par with other contemporaries of the era like Pac-Man, Galaga, and Frogger. It would go on to help make Nintendo a household name in the West, laying the foundations for other successful arcade cabinets (plenty of them in the Donkey Kong franchise) and, eventually, the groundbreaking success of the Nintendo Entertainment System. And to think, it would eventually be eclipsed by the game starring its then-unknown player character, Super Mario Bros.

• Release Date — July 15, 1983
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 1
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Arcade, NES

Shortly after the success of Donkey Kong, Nintendo would begin work on a sequel in which you play not as Mario, but as the son of the game’s antagonist, Donkey Kong Jr. Along with that change in player character is a change in mechanics, where instead of climbing different layouts of ascending platforms, you’re swinging from vine to vine while avoiding the falling debris Mario chucks down in your path. Crazy to think there was a game where Mario was the villain.

• Release Date — December 12, 1983
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 2
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — NES

Want to know a great way to get hesitant parents to buy a video game console? Release some games that have a math component. Donkey Kong Jr. Math blends the same basic gameplay of Donkey Kong Jr. with some light arithmetic, giving parents a clear conscience about buying their children a video game, all while doing a halfway decent job of teaching basic math skills.

• Release Date — July 4, 1984
• Developer — Nintendo R&D 1, Intelligent Systems
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Arcade, NES

For the third and final game in the original line of Donkey Kong arcade cabinets, Nintendo decided to switch things up from a platformer to a shooter, giving players control of Donkey Kong Jr. yet again as he shoots away falling barrels thrown down by his angry dad, Donkey Kong. While the original Donkey Kong will always take the lead as the best of the original games in the franchise, there’s something cool about Nintendo’s willingness to switch up the series’ genre, and it pays off in Donkey Kong 3 being a surprisingly addictive game.

• Release Date — June 14, 1994
• Developer — Nintendo EAD, Pax Softnica
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Game Boy

Just ahead of the Donkey Kong franchise’s radical reinvention courtesy of Rare, Nintendo EAD would develop a Game Boy-exclusive Donkey Kong game that acts as a sort of compilation title. Rather than adhering to a specific gameplay template, Donkey Kong on Game Boy incorporates levels from Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Donkey Kong 3, and even Super Mario Bros. 2, acting as a “greatest hits” compilation of Nintendo platformers.

• Release Date — November 18, 1994
• Developer — Rare
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — SNES

For the Donkey Kong franchise’s revival on 16-bit hardware, Nintendo would outsource development to up-and-coming British studio Rare, resulting in one of the SNES’ best games. Donkey Kong Country is every bit the revolutionary 16-bit platformer as Nintendo’s own Super Mario World, and it would quickly go on to become one of the best-selling titles on the Super Nintendo.

• Release Date — November 21, 1995
• Developer — Rare
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — SNES

The runaway success of Donkey Kong Country made a series of sequels an inevitability, with Rare quickly churning out a follow-up the next year with Donkey Kong Country 2. This time, Donkey Kong has been kidnapped, with Diddy Kong stepping into the starring role and joined by newcomer Dixie Kong (who would soon enough lead her own game in the series). For a lot of players, Donkey Kong Country 2 marks the peak of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy thanks to its inventive level design and heightened challenge.

• Release Date — November 18, 1996
• Developer — Rare
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — SNES

To conclude the Donkey Kong Country trilogy and close out the series’ 16-bit era, Rare would opt to have Donkey Kong Country 2‘s Dixie Kong step into the spotlight of her own game. Donkey Kong Country 3 is more than just a new protagonist and levels, though, as it introduces enough new mechanics to stand out from the other two games in the trilogy while also delivering more of the challenging platforming players had come to expect.

• Release Date — November 21, 1997
• Developer — Rare
• Publisher — Rare, Nintendo
• Platforms — Nintendo 64

It would seem almost impossible for any other kart racing game to compete with Mario Kart 64, but Diddy Kong Racing did just that. Both games are excellent, and while Mario Kart 64 is arguably the better racing game, the visuals and unique level designs of Diddy Kong Racing are so strong as to make it a cult favorite game on the Nintendo 64. Not to mention, Diddy Kong Racing was the first kart racer to introduce transforming karts — something that would soon become a staple of the Mario Kart series.

• Release Date — November 22, 1999
• Developer — Rare
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Nintendo 64

Prior to this week’s launch of Donkey Kong Bananza, the only previous 3D game in the mainline Donkey Kong series was Donkey Kong 64, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag. While there’s no denying Donkey Kong 64 is a phenomenal 3D platformer on par with Rare’s other excellent genre entry on the Nintendo 64, Banjo-Kazooie, it does eventually crumble under the weight of the “collect-a-thon” experience that 3D platformers had morphed into by the time of its release. Still, Donkey Kong 64 is a highly underrated Nintendo 64 game that deserves a modern remaster.

• Release Date — December 12, 2004
• Developer — Namco
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — GameCube

For a lot of players who had been ardent fans of both the Donkey Kong Country games and Donkey Kong 64, the GameCube’s decision to skip a traditional series entry was a bit disappointing. Still, we did get two (or three, if you lived in Japan) Donkey Konga games, which were some incredibly fun drum-based music/rhythm titles with a cool plastic bongo peripheral ahead of the music game craze kicked off by Guitar Hero.

• Release Date — July 1, 2004
• Developer — Namco
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — GameCube

Just a year after the launch of the initial Donkey Konga, Namco and Nintendo would release a sequel in the franchise, delivering more songs and bongo-beating fun using the proprietary plastic peripheral that the original game shipped with. Japanese players would be privy to a third game in the franchise, but in the West, Donkey Konga 2 is where the series ends.

• Release Date — December 16, 2004
• Developer — Nintendo EAD Tokyo
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — GameCube

Still have that Donkey Konga plastic bongo controller sitting around? Fret not, as there’s another game you can use it on. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is an inventive take on Donkey Kong Country-style platforming where, instead of using a traditional controller, players use the Donkey Konga bongos to control how the titular ape moves and jumps through challenging levels. It’s a great idea in theory that was somewhat hamstrung by the technology of the era.

• Release Date — February 4, 2005
• Developer — Paon
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Game Boy Advance

The Game Boy Advance’s DK: King of Swing is sort of a modern take on Donkey Kong Jr. that sees players swing from hold to hold instead of jumping and running across platforms. Once players got used to the controls, King of Swing quickly became a cult favorite among both Donkey Kong fans and the Game Boy Advance faithful, even if it never quite reached the same level of success as the Donkey Kong Country trilogy.

• Release Date — June 28, 2007
• Developer — Paon
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Wii

The GameCube and Wii were both home to some attempts by Nintendo to capture the same success of Mario Kart, with both Kirby and Donkey Kong getting their own signature racing games. For Donkey Kong, that game is Donkey Kong Barrel Blast on the Wii, and it’s another title that players had to control with the Donkey Konga bongo controller. Unfortunately, limiting the control scheme in this way resulted in a racing game that was more of a chore to play than legitimately fun.

• Release Date — August 9, 2007
• Developer — Paon
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Nintendo DS

A spiritual successor to DK: King of Swing, Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber is very similar to its Game Boy Advance predecessor but adds dual-screen and touchscreen functionality courtesy of its release on the Nintendo DS. It’s one of the more hidden gem titles in the Donkey Kong franchise, with some really fun level design and a nice implementation of touchscreen controls.

• Release Date — November 21, 2010
• Developer — Retro Studios
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch

After years of spin-offs and attempts at new genres, the Donkey Kong franchise went back to its roots with the phenomenal Donkey Kong Country Returns. DKC Returns is just that, a glorious return to form of the same style of challenging platforming gameplay that players remembered fondly on the SNES, only with Metroid Prime developer Retro Studios at the helm to give it both a unique gameplay spin and some excellent visuals. For evidence of how loved Donkey Kong Country Returns is, look no further than the fact it has versions on three different generations of Nintendo hardware.

• Release Date — February 13, 2014
• Developer — Retro Studios
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Wii U, Nintendo Switch

The direct sequel to Donkey Kong Country Returns, Tropical Freeze is a diabolically challenging platforming game that also happens to be one of the best modern titles in the genre. Retro Studios once again knocked it out of the park, delivering some of the most insane setpiece moments of any Donkey Kong game, together with some of the most devious platforming gauntlets. Tropical Freeze is an essential title for fans of the genre and for Switch owners, in general.

• Release Date — July 17, 2025
• Developer — Nintendo EPD
• Publisher — Nintendo
• Platforms — Switch 2

Instead of a brand-new Mario or Zelda game to kick off the launch of the Switch 2, Nintendo made the bold choice to give the spotlight to its original mascot, Donkey Kong, as he heads up his first 3D platformer in more than 25 years. Donkey Kong Bananza is an incredibly cool-looking game where the iconic ape uses his brute strength to smash up the environment Red Faction-style, traversing between an overworld and the labyrinthine cave network beneath in a brand-new, story-driven adventure game.