Skip to main content
GamesRadar+ GamesRadar+ The Games, Movies, TV & Comics You Love
flag of UK
UK
flag of US
US
flag of Canada
Canada
flag of Australia
Australia
Sign in
  • View Profile
  • Sign out
  • Games
  • TV
  • Movies
  • Hardware
  • Video
  • News
  • Reviews
  • Guides
  • Deals
  • More
    • PS5
    • Xbox Series X
    • Nintendo Switch
    • Nintendo Switch 2
    • PC
    • Platforms
    • Tabletop Gaming
    • Comics
    • Toys & Collectibles
    • Newsarama
    • Retro Gamer
    • Newsletters
    • About us
    • Features
Total Film
Gaming Magazines
Gaming Magazines
Why subscribe?
  • Subscribe from just £3
  • Takes you closer to the games, movies and TV you love
  • Try a single issue or save on a subscription
  • Issues delivered straight to your door or device
From$12
Subscribe now
Trending
  • Gamescom 2025 schedule
  • Gamescom
  • Battlefield 6
  • New Games for 2025
Don't miss these
Donkey Kong sat on a boardwalk, raising a single finger with his back to the camera.
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza's "rich and thick" hero isn't butt-naked this time around because Nintendo was "conscious" of how he looked "from the back"
Donkey Kong Bananza DK looking angry ready to beat his chest to create a music beat
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Country's DK designer is once again defending Bananza's redesign: "I'm not sure why I even made him brown – the gorilla I based him on was gray"
Donkey Kong Bananza DK and Pauline after she is released from purple rock
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza wins the praise of Donkey Kong Country artists who also had the job of redesigning the ape 31 years ago: "Reunited at last!"
donkey kong bananza screenshot showing DK and cranky kong
Donkey Kong I called it, Nintendo confirms Donkey Kong Bananza was actually the inspiration for the Super Mario Bros. Movie redesign all along
Donkey Kong Bananza Donkey Kong and Pauline looking frightened facing off against Grumpy Kong
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza's director replayed every game in the series when he was assigned to the Switch 2 game: "That motivated me to incorporate past memories along with new ideas"
Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong Somewhere in Nintendo's recycling bin is the god of all Goombas, gifted the giant hands of a Super Mario Odyssey boss during experiments for the Switch 2's Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza takes notes from the best Mario and Zelda games: it has its own shrines, you can totally destroy levels, transform into animals, and dive into the underground
Donkey Kong Bananza DK and Pauline after she is released from purple rock
Donkey Kong 26 years after Donkey Kong 64, Nintendo finally wants to establish "two separate branches" of Donkey Kong with the Switch 2's Bananza: 2D and 3D "just as we did with Mario"
King K Rool
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza is the perfect time to bring back an AWOL villain, and I'm already uncovering conspiracies that say our favorite crocodile will turn up
Donkey Kong mid-punch in Donkey Kong Bananza, his fur and the mud around him matching the arc of his swipe to give a real sense of momentum
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza has "some similarities" to Super Mario Odyssey since it's from the same dev team, and its core mechanic was already experimented on in the 3D Mario game
Screenshot of Donkey Kong and Pauline in Donkey Kong Bananza.
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza features a young Pauline, immediately raising lore implications and many questions about the very serious DK timeline
Donkey Kong punches a rock enemy in the face in Donkey Kong Bananza with a large purple glowing area in the background
Donkey Kong My Donkey Kong Bananza playthrough is being haunted by the remains of numerous iconic enemies and allies from classics like Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Bananza screenshot of Donkey Kong swiping at the ground and destroying the terrain
Donkey Kong Nintendo icon Shigeru Miyamoto spent his time testing Donkey Kong Bananza "smashing and digging" in one spot, which tracks following his hour-long Breath of the Wild playtesting stint "just climbing trees"
DK punches through gold Banandium chunks in Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong "It must have been an absolute nightmare for the programmers": Nintendo explains Donkey Kong Bananza's voxel tech and why it doesn't look like "stacked cubes" like Minecraft or Hytale
DK punches through gold Banandium chunks in Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Bananza player spends over 4 hours pushing its destruction to the absolute limit by smashing up an entire level: "Well, that took a while"
  1. Games
  2. Platformer
  3. Donkey Kong

It's On Like... Him: How Donkey Kong's design has evolved over three decades

Features
By Bob Mackey published 26 February 2014

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

A kong-fluence of Donkey designs

A kong-fluence of Donkey designs

Though Mario and Zelda have long since supplanted him in terms of sheer popularity, Nintendo would be nowhere without the early success of Donkey Kong and his titular arcade debut. The game turned heads (and raked in quarters) all around the world with its novel concept and aggressive cartooniness. The massive success made the stubborn ape a constant in Nintendos pantheon of franchises from then on.

The past three decades saw coin-op peers like Q*bert and Mappy fade from relevance, but Donkey Kong persists in the recent Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze and upcoming appearances in Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros. in 2014. A lot can change in 30 years, though, and for Donkey Kong, the passing of time has seen a surprising number of variations on the timeless notion of "big, fat, hairy ape." The persistent simians journey began back in 1981...

Page 1 of 13
Page 1 of 13
Donkey Kong (1981)

Donkey Kong (1981)

Like a lot of cabinet art from the era, Donkey Kong's promised the chance to play with colorful characters for a paltry 25 cents--but compared to the primitive graphics of the day, this wasn't another case of false advertising. The trio of characters within the game actually bore a striking resemblance to the figures pictured on the side, even if Donkey Kong looks a lot more affable here than he does with that pixellated grimace plastered to his face.

DK seems a bit more rooted in reality, and after seeing him wearing a tie for so long, its weird to see him without it. His nudity is much more noticeable now. By comparison, Mario looks a bit more cautious and less confident in his "Jumpman" days--though in his pre-Super form he could die by falling just a few feet, so it's understandable.

Page 2 of 13
Page 2 of 13
Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)

Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)

With Donkey Kong's sequel, Nintendo shook things up by giving the hero role to DK's previously unknown son, casting Mario as the villain. And with this change came a striking transformation to Nintendo's cabinet art; while the original game provided a pretty straightforward depiction of the actual action, Donkey Kong Jr. went for a much more stylized approach with thick lines, strangely appealing color choices, and facial expressions ripped right from the pages of Japanese manga.

Perhaps the vibrant look was meant to further appeal to kids that were already pulled in by the more childlike protagonist. The bright colors explained the plot of freeing your papa, then unleashing bitter ape retribution on his captor, but there was a little more to it than that. Framing the art with a smiling ape border softens DKs once villainous demeanor, making Nintendos newfound mascot more likeable in the process.

Page 3 of 13
Page 3 of 13
Game & Watch Donkey Jr./Donkey Kong II (1982/1983)

Game & Watch Donkey Jr./Donkey Kong II (1982/1983)

From the start, Nintendo wasn't shy about cashing in on their arcade sensation. Here we have not one, but two Game & Watch variants of Donkey Kong Jr., both of which feature the same cutesy art as the original DK follow-up. Donkey Kong would later go on to be muscled out of the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, so it's interesting to see just how little of an active role he played in the many versions of the original's sequel.

Game & Watch Donkey Kong Jr. also offers one of the most dickish portrayals of Mario to date, while Donkey Kong II evokes imagery of King Kong's failed American tour, including the broken chains. Pretty brazen, especially considering Universal's lawsuit concerning DK's similarities to King Kong wouldn't be decided in Nintendo's favor until 1984.

Page 4 of 13
Page 4 of 13
Donkey Kong 3 (1983)

Donkey Kong 3 (1983)

The bizarre black sheep of the original Donkey Kong trilogy, Donkey Kong 3 sees DK return to the role of the bad guy, only now hes given up on finding interspecies love and is illegally squat in a greenhouse. Donkey Kong still menaces players from the top of the screen, but the means of defeating him have changed drastically. Stanley the Bugman (looking very much like a younger, clean-shaven Mario with a dye job) is tasked with blasting DK in the butt with clouds of pesticide.

DKs demeanor is likely the most evil in his long history, harboring deadly insects and changing up his hairstyle a bit. The gameplay was a strange, Galaga-style shooter that would eventually be remembered as one of Nintendo's oddest one-offs, and DK would thankfully drop his spiky-headed punk look for future games.

Page 5 of 13
Page 5 of 13
Donkey Kong Classics (1988)

Donkey Kong Classics (1988)

Donkey Kong Classics cover delivered some distinctly non-Japanese versions of the Donkey Kong crew, who end up looking a lot like their ill-conceived cartoon versions (even if Mario's cartoon wouldn't come to TV sets for another year). More importantly, though, the artist behind this box art doesn't seem to understand the intent of either game.

Any Donkey Kong veteran can tell you Mario can't actually use the hammer to smash DK's brains in--even getting that close is courting death. And why Donkey Kong Jr. would be delighted by this act is even more questionable. Honestly, that pained, sorrowful look on DK's face makes it hard to imagine Mario as anything but the villain of both games. Was Nintendo trying to tell us something?

Page 6 of 13
Page 6 of 13
Donkey Kong (1994)

Donkey Kong (1994)

1994 was a huge year for Donkey Kong, though the Game Boy reboot and its confident title could never stand a chance against the Super Nintendo's similar attempts to make DK relevant for the go-go '90s. Even so, Donkey Kong GB was first to the scene, and this portable game finally gave DK a piece of apparel to cover up his shameful animal nakedness: the now-standard monogrammed red tie.

While Mario once again takes the role of the hero, this cover art pushes him to the background. Mario looks like a blustery, violent jerk next to Donkey Kong's genial goofiness and semi-responsible fatherhood. Its meant to be a reference to the arcade originals art, but DK comes off a lot better this time (even if hes still a kidnapper).

Page 7 of 13
Page 7 of 13
Donkey Kong Country (1994)

Donkey Kong Country (1994)

In the face of escalating console technology, Nintendo stuck to its 16-bit guns and, with the help of UK developer Rare, reinvented Donkey Kong for the MTV generation. Donkey Kong Country has a visual flair that says, "Hey! We made this game with computers!" The flashy look meshed well with the tie-centric redesign of DKs Game Boy title from earlier in the year.

Given the CGI rendering standards of 1994, Donkey Kong could honestly look a lot worse, but even with this design being tied to certain technical constraints, it's the one Nintendo's basically stuck with ever since. Its no doubt thanks to the tremendous success of Donkey Kong Country and its many sequel, though 2 and 3 greatly diminish his role, making him the kidnapping victim for a change. Still, as time goes by, it's becoming increasingly bizarre to see this product of mid-90s technology dropped into games with real-time visuals that handily outclass Rare's pre-rendered relics.

Page 8 of 13
Page 8 of 13
Donkey Kong 64 (1999)

Donkey Kong 64 (1999)

Donkey Kongs new look went pretty much unchanged when he began appearing more and more in the many Mario spin-offs. Meanwhile, Rare took a brief break from the family of apes to make some other titles for Nintendos next-gen machine, the N64. Rare returned to the jungle with Donkey Kong 64, a divisive game that made some alterations to DK that arent obvious in the cover art.

Kong still looks pretty goofy, though he looks much better when compared to his new pals Lanky and Tiny. DK64 also marked the first time Kong ever needed a gun, as he added the Coconut Shooter to his arsenal of barrels. But the biggest addition to Kongs style was likely the unforgettably bad DK Rap from the start of the game. If you know the words, you can join in too.

Page 9 of 13
Page 9 of 13
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004)

Mario vs. Donkey Kong (2004)

Nintendo waited a whole decade to follow up on the 1994 Donkey Kong reboot, and the cover art of Mario vs. Donkey Kong features one of DKs most conceptually strange designs to date. Here, Donkey Kong is a 2D approximation of a 3D render of a 2D character. And if you couldn't follow that, it means that this hand-drawn DK keeps the menacing, sunken eyes and beak-like muzzle of his 1994 Rare redesign.

To make things even more confusing, the art within Mario vs. Donkey Kong consists of pre-rendered 2D sprites, so it's strange that Nintendo would even go with box art like this to begin with. And the look was maintained across several sequels and downloadable side games. This odd bit of design shuffling is fitting for a game developed in America based on Japans interpretation of a British reboot to the original Donkey Kong.

Page 10 of 13
Page 10 of 13
DK: King of Swing (2005)

DK: King of Swing (2005)

Over the years, Nintendo has barely budged from Rares mid-90s redesign that defined Donkey Kong for a new generation, but the little-known DK: King of Swing was somehow granted a little more leeway than other post-2000 ape adventures. This Game Boy Advance oddity tried to marry DK's pre-rendered look with that of the old arcade art, and succeeded for the most part. And while this trend wouldn't last, Nintendo was confident enough in their longtime character to brand this game's title with the initials "DK" rather than spelling it out for prospective buyers. The game was developed by Paon, one of Nintendos lesser known Japanese dev partners, which may explain the change in look. Paon made several more Donkey Kong titles, starting with a King of Swing sequel, Jungle Climbers. However, those later games stuck very close to Countrys established look, which may indicate that Nintendo viewing the King of Swing look as a mistake.

Page 11 of 13
Page 11 of 13
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014)

Donkey Kong Country returned in Donkey Kong Country Returns, a game that very closely adhered to the style Rare solidified in 1994. That design choice continues with the Wii U follow-up, Tropical Freeze. DK's first official HD game drops the gorilla into a very Dreamworks-y world that remains linked to Rare's handiwork--even if that developer hasn't been affiliated with the series since the dark days of Donkey Kong 64.

Still, the current developers at Retro Studios do what they can when saddled with Donkey Kong's somewhat dated redesign. He may keep some of the attributes implemented to keep him expressive under the constraints of decades-old pre-rendered CGU, but DK still manages to look a lot warmer and fuzzier than he did in his former lifeless, plastic incarnations. Even though 20 years have passed since the SNES original, Donkey Kong doesnt show any sign of abandoning the design that made just as big of a splash as his arcade debut.

Page 12 of 13
Page 12 of 13
Watch out for rolling barrels

Watch out for rolling barrels

That brings all of you today, when DKs look is pretty much set. What do you think of it being the design for the last two decades? Do you miss his old arcade look? Let us know in the comments!

And if you're looking for more, check out the history of Donkey Kong and the top 7 most disturbing things about the Mushroom Kingdom.

Page 13 of 13
Page 13 of 13
CATEGORIES
Wii-u Nintendo Platforms
PRODUCTS
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze Donkey Kong Donkey Kong Country Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Donkey Kong Country Returns Donkey Kong: King of Swing Donkey Kong 64
Bob Mackey
See more Nintendo Features
Read more
Donkey Kong sat on a boardwalk, raising a single finger with his back to the camera.
Donkey Kong Bananza's "rich and thick" hero isn't butt-naked this time around because Nintendo was "conscious" of how he looked "from the back"
Donkey Kong Bananza DK looking angry ready to beat his chest to create a music beat
Donkey Kong Country's DK designer is once again defending Bananza's redesign: "I'm not sure why I even made him brown – the gorilla I based him on was gray"
Donkey Kong Bananza DK and Pauline after she is released from purple rock
Donkey Kong Bananza wins the praise of Donkey Kong Country artists who also had the job of redesigning the ape 31 years ago: "Reunited at last!"
donkey kong bananza screenshot showing DK and cranky kong
I called it, Nintendo confirms Donkey Kong Bananza was actually the inspiration for the Super Mario Bros. Movie redesign all along
Donkey Kong Bananza Donkey Kong and Pauline looking frightened facing off against Grumpy Kong
Donkey Kong Bananza's director replayed every game in the series when he was assigned to the Switch 2 game: "That motivated me to incorporate past memories along with new ideas"
Mario Kart World
Somewhere in Nintendo's recycling bin is the god of all Goombas, gifted the giant hands of a Super Mario Odyssey boss during experiments for the Switch 2's Donkey Kong Bananza
Latest in Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong Bananza DK and Pauline looking intrigued
As scholars analyze every frame of Donkey Kong Bananza for lore implications, the game's director says "please enjoy it without thinking too deeply about it"
Donkey Kong and pauline looking around
Donkey Kong Bananza's baffling default button settings were suggested by Shigeru Miyamoto himself
Donkey Kong punching through rocks in Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Bananza is the best Hulk game ever and makes me wish for the return of destruction-oriented sandboxes
Donkey Kong Bananza screenshot of Donkey Kong punching through the landscape with pieces of banana flying through the air
Donkey Kong Bananza can be beaten without collecting a single banana, meaning the "Potassium Deficiency%" speedrun is entirely possible
Donkey Kong Bananza DK looking angry ready to beat his chest to create a music beat
Donkey Kong Country's DK designer is once again defending Bananza's redesign: "I'm not sure why I even made him brown – the gorilla I based him on was gray"
Donkey Kong Bananza DK and Pauline looking intrigued
Donkey Kong Bananza's Pauline sometimes gets confused about fruits: "We love an occasional girlfailure who eventually grows up to be a bonafide girlboss mayor"
Latest in Features
A mech firing a machine gun in the desert in Menace
Menace is an XCOM-Warhammer hybrid that makes turn-based strategy feel like an immersive sim, and for the first time in my life I'm playing a game that seems made for me
Dogtooth
The new Yorgos Lanthimos movie is getting rave first reactions out of Venice Film Festival, but I think it's worth revisiting his breakout feature Dogtooth before Bugonia hits theaters this fall
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Legacy of the Forge DLC showing Henry and two allies standing looking down
I built a home and ran a business in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's next DLC, and the added role-playing guarantees I'll spend another 70 hours in my current game of the year
D&D Player's Handbook laid out on a wooden surface
Will romantasy be the next great crossover for Dungeons & Dragons? Fourth Wing could be the perfect D&D setting, if you ask me
Jurassic Park: Survival
Jurassic Park: Survival has quietly been 35 years in the making, and it's taking us back to where it all began
Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era artwork showing a beautiful fantasy city
Playing Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era has turned me into a Dungeon devotee, and I can't help but feel like I'm already seeing a strategy classic in the making
  1. The key art for Hell is Us, showing Remi with his equipment - military poncho, laser sword, and drone - in front of a Hollow Walker's milky white face
    1
    Hell is Us review: "The lack of waypoints and explicit objectives is a double-edged magical sword that pulls me deep into its harsh world"
  2. 2
    Shuten Order review: "The Danganronpa creator's new multi-genre mystery feels like a forgotten DS cult classic I would have been obsessed with"
  3. 3
    The Rogue Prince of Persia review: "I roguelike but don't roguelove this freerunner – there's just not enough to stand out"
  4. 4
    Shinobi: Art of Vengeance review: "So close to being to a pitch-perfect revival of a classic series, but just can't quite line up the killing blow"
  5. 5
    Fate of the Fellowship is the most anticipated board game of the year, and it's a thing of absolute genius
  1. Jacob Elordi as the monster in Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein
    1
    Frankenstein review: "A classy, if somewhat safe, adaptation"
  2. 2
    Weapons review: "A twisted fairytale that bests Barbarian"
  3. 3
    The Fantastic Four: First Steps review: "An occasionally thrilling heroic adventure that sits safely within a B-tier MCU range"
  4. 4
    Superman review: "A triumphant reinvention and a promising start for the DCU"
  5. 5
    Jurassic World Rebirth Review: "An unscary sequel that needed a little more time in amber"
  1. John Cena as Peacemaker holds a gun to the head of a different John Cena as Peacemaker in Peacemaker season 2.
    1
    Peacemaker season 2 review: "Darker and sadder than the first year, but there's still a lot of fun to be had with the 11th Street Kids."
  2. 2
    Wednesday season 2 part 1 review: "Complex and exciting but weighed down by too many subplots"
  3. 3
    Alien: Earth review: "Arguably the franchise's strongest outing since James Cameron's Aliens"
  4. 4
    King of the Hill season 14 review: "Hank Hill himself has evolved into a much more open and accepting person"
  5. 5
    Eyes of Wakanda review: "A creative premise shortchanged by the runtime and Marvel bloat"

GamesRadar+ is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

  • About Us
  • Contact Future's experts
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy policy
  • Cookies policy
  • Advertise with us
  • Review guidelines
  • Write for us
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Careers

© Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036.

Please login or signup to comment

Please wait...