Spin-off kings

Donkey Kong

Ah, good old Donkey Kong. He's been the baddy, the goodie and everything in-between. Of course, Diddy Kong is cuter, but Donkey Kong's better, in our eyes at least. So what about their spin-offs? Well, Diddy Kong Racing is a decent enough Mario Kart clone (come on, guys, some originality please) andDonkey Kong brought us the rhythm-action Donkey Konga too (much more original). The latter even came with its own bongos and we must admit that multiplayer Wild Thing at a party is a lot of fun. Shame you had to hit slightly in front of the beat to register perfect hits, but we'll forgive it that.

Above: Donkey and Diddy Kong. A few spin-offs, some quite original. But not quite champion material

Then of course we had Jungle Beat that used the bongos as a controller for some swinging platform antics, which was aimed squarely at those who had bought the bongos and grown bored of the music. But has Donkey Kong done much else? He's got Barrel Blast coming out soon for Wii, which looks like being another Mario Kart clone, only the difference here is that you're hovering in the air. Riiight. Maybe not a spin-off 'king' after all...

Above: Donkey and Diddy Kong. A few spin-offs, some quite original. But not quite champion material

Then of course we had Jungle Beat that used the bongos as a controller for some swinging platform antics, which was aimed squarely at those who had bought the bongos and grown bored of the music. But has Donkey Kong done much else? He's got Barrel Blast coming out soon for Wii, which looks like being another Mario Kart clone, only the difference here is that you're hovering in the air. Riiight. Maybe not a spin-off 'king' after all...

Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.