Donkey Kong was originally an arcade game. It was created by Shigeru Miyamoto and released by Nintendo in 1981. It became one of the most successful arcade games ever and has two sequels, but both are nowhere near as popular as the original game. Its game play was considered to be extremely advanced at the time it was released.
The game follows the exploits of Donkey Kong – the villain of the story. He is a pet of Jumpman, who was later renamed Mario. Donkey Kong is mistreated by Jumpman, so he kidnaps his girlfriend Pauline and holds her hostage. The aim of the game is to navigate Jumpman through various obstacles and levels to rescue Pauline.
The story line may seem basic now, but was considered innovative for its time. The game involves completing scenes to advance the story line. Donkey Kong is the first example of a complete narrative told in a video game format. This was also the first time that a scenario involving a “damsel in distress” was used in a video game.
When the player rescues Pauline, the game restarts with increased difficulty. The game has a scoring system in which points are awarded to players for collecting hats, destroying objects, picking up items belonging to Pauline and completing other tasks. The players also receive bonuses for every 7,500 points gained. The highest point score was recorded by American Billy Mitchell, who scored 1,050,200 points in 2007.
The sequels of the game, Donkey Kong Jr and Donkey Kong 3 also follow the exploits of Donkey Kong. The original game was released on arcade platforms like Atari, Nintendo, DOS, Game Boy Advance, Apple II and many more home consoles.
The current versions of the game are available on the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii and GameCube. Donkey Kong debuted on the Wii in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. Donkey Kong Racing, Mario versus Donkey Kong 3 and Donkey Kong Jungle Climber were released on the Nintendo DS platform. In the arcade version, the player uses the controls of the arcade machine to navigate Jumpman or Mario through the levels. The various editions of the game use similar game play irrespective of the platform.
The character of Donkey Kong has become one of the mainstays of the Nintendo games portfolio, and appears in most of the company’s Mario titles and some others too. Many people consider Donkey Kong to be the best arcade game ever. The original game was created way back in the 1980s, but even today many still love to play Donkey Kong again and again!
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