History Trivia / DonkeyKong

* ExiledFromContinuity: The Creator/{{Rare}}-created characters [[VideoGame/BanjoKazooie Banjo]] and [[VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay Conker]] were locked out of appearing in the extended ''Mario'' universe following Rare's transfer to Microsoft, at least until Banjo showed up again for the first time in years in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.[[note]]That, and the fact that Conker went on to star in the M-rated ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay'' after appearing in the family-friendly ''VideoGame/DiddyKongRacing'' and ''Conker's Pocket Tales''.[[/note]]

** Who the hell is DK Jr? The current DK? DK's father? Somebody else entirely? Rare writer Leigh Loveday came up with Jr. being the current DK, something at least Nintendo of Europe agreed with. Nintendo themselves do not mind referencing Jr. or even making him playable in some multiplayer games alongside normal DK (akin to Mario and Baby Mario), but they have never clarified on DK Jr.'s identity and [[ShrugOfGod appear to not care enough to do so]] for the time being.

** Who the hell is DK Jr? The current DK? DK's father? Rare writer Leigh Loveday came up with Jr. being the current DK, something at least Nintendo of Europe agreed with. Nintendo themselves do not mind referencing Jr. or even making him playable in some multiplayer games alongside normal DK (akin to Mario and Baby Mario), but they have never clarified on DK Jr.'s identity and [[ShrugOfGod appear to not care enough to do so]] for the time being.

** Ask different people involved with the franchise about the exact relationship between Donkey and Cranky and they will likely give a different answer. Originally, Rare had them as grandfather-grandson, but then ''Donkey Kong 64'' (also by Rare) has Cranky pretty explicitly referring to DK as "son". Since then, Nintendo has consistently stuck with the original grandfather interpretation save for a few localization hiccups, but then the ''Super Mario Bros. Movie'' developed by Creator/IlluminationEntertainment established the father-son connection again, and it's unknown if THAT will stick for the future.
** Who the hell is DK Jr? The current DK? A different character entirely? Rare writer Leigh Loveday came up with Jr. being the current DK, something at least Nintendo of Europe agreed with. Nintendo themselves do not mind referencing Jr. or even making him playable in some multiplayer games alongside normal DK (akin to Mario and Baby Mario), but they have never clarified on DK Jr.'s identity and do not seem to care doing so for the time being.

** Who the hell is DK Jr? The current DK? A different character entirely? Rare writer Leigh Loveday came up with Jr. being the current DK, something at least Nintendo of Europe agreed with. Nintendo themselves do not mind referencing Jr. or even making him playable in some multiplayer games alongside normal DK (akin to Mario and Baby Mario), but they have never clarified on DK Jr.'s identity, and do not seem to care for the time being.

* FlipFlopOfGod: Ask different people involved with the franchise about the exact relationship between Donkey and Cranky and they will likely give a different answer. Originally, Rare had them as grandfather-grandson, but then ''Donkey Kong 64'' has Cranky pretty explicitly referring to DK as "son". Since then, Nintendo has consistently stuck with the original grandfather interpretation save for a few localization hiccups, but then the ''Super Mario Bros. Movie'' developed by Creator/IlluminationEntertainment established the father-son connection again, and it's unknown if THAT will stick for the future. And then there's the matter of who the hell DK Jr. is and if it's even possible to fit him in this mess.

* FlipFlopOfGod: Ask different people involved with the franchise about the exact relationship between Donkey and Cranky and they will likely give a different answer. Originally, Rare had them as grandfather-grandson, but then ''Donkey Kong 64'' has Cranky pretty explicitly referring to DK as "son". Since then, Nintendo has consistently stuck with the original grandfather interpretation save for a few localization hiccups, but then the ''Super Mario Bros. Movie'' developed by Creator/IlluminationEntertainment established the father-son connection again, and it's unknown if THAT will stick for the future. And then there's the matter of whether DK Jr. is even a thing now.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: If [[UsefulNotes/{{ColecoVision}} Coleco]] hadn't used their port of this game to show off their Coleco ADAM computer at a trade show, Creator/{{Atari}} would have been the American distributor of the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem.

* KillerApp: The UsefulNotes/{{ColecoVision}}'s popularity was thanks in part to it hosting an impressive port of ''Donkey Kong'' as a pack-in title.

** In a bizarre twist, the programming of the original arcade version of ''Donkey Kong'' was subcontracted to Ikegami Tsushinki, a maker of professional broadcasting equipment and TV cameras that also did uncredited work for arcade games at the time. The code was then reverse-engineered for ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongJunior'' and possibly other games. Unfortunately, there was no contract between Ikegami and Nintendo for the source, leading to a [[http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Ikegami_Tsushinki bitter dispute over the ownership of the code]]. This is believed to be the reason why the original arcade game was never directly released until 2018 (as part of Hamster's ''Arcade Archives'' series on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch), with Nintendo instead selling ports (i.e., the later [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] versions) remakes and updated versions until then. Considering that a near arcade-perfect port exists in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', this may also be a reason why ''that'' game would not see a rerelease until the Wii U virtual console release in 2015 (the inclusion of the Rare-owned ''VideoGame/{{Jetpac}}'' was another problem until then). [=DK64=] ''requires'' you to play – and beat – the two {{Embedded Precursor}}s in order to reach the final boss.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** If [[UsefulNotes/{{ColecoVision}} Coleco]] hadn't used their port of this game to show off their Coleco ADAM computer at a trade show, Creator/{{Atari}} would have been the American distributor of the UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem.
** Completely new sprites of Donkey Kong Jr. are in the code for ''Donkey Kong 3'', suggesting that he may have been planned to be in that game at some point.

* GoodBadBugs: Both the arcade and NES versions have means of beating 25m very quickly.
** On the oldest version of the arcade game (Japan Set 3), there is a precise point on the level that Jumpman can leap from, phase through the floor, and reappear at the top, which counts as beating the level.
** The NES version requires standing on a certain pixel of the second ladder on the first floor. Pressing down will make Jumpman start climbing down until he reappears at the top.

* FirstAppearance:
** The [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong first game]] is the first appearance not only of the titular ape, but also of Mario (then-known as Jumpman) and Pauline (then-known as Lady).
** ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' is the first appearance of ''that'' game's titular ape.

** ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' was possibly going to be more like a traditional sequel where you controlled Mario again, as there are [[DummiedOut various unused Mario sprites]] in the code identical to his sprites in the first game.

* DivorcedInstallment: The game was originally going to be a licensed game of ''Franchise/{{Popeye}}''. When Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto couldn't get the rights to it, ''Donkey Kong'' was born. [[VideoGame/{{Popeye}} A separate game based on Popeye]] was eventually released in 1982, the same year that ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' was released.

** In a bizarre twist, the programming of the original arcade version of ''Donkey Kong'' was subcontracted to Ikegami Tsushinki, a maker of professional broadcasting equipment and TV cameras that also did uncredited work for arcade games at the time. The code was then reverse-engineered for ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' and possibly other games. Unfortunately, there was no contract between Ikegami and Nintendo for the source, leading to a [[http://gdri.smspower.org/wiki/index.php/Ikegami_Tsushinki bitter dispute over the ownership of the code]]. This is believed to be the reason why the original arcade game was never directly released until 2018 (as part of Hamster's ''Arcade Archives'' series on the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch), with Nintendo instead selling ports (i.e., the later [[UsefulNotes/NintendoEntertainmentSystem NES]] versions) remakes and updated versions until then. Considering that a near arcade-perfect port exists in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'', this may also be a reason why ''that'' game would not see a rerelease until the Wii U virtual console release in 2015 (the inclusion of the Rare-owned ''VideoGame/{{Jetpac}}'' was another problem until then). [=DK64=] ''requires'' you to play – and beat – the two {{Embedded Precursor}}s in order to reach the final boss.

* DivorcedInstalment: The game was originally going to be a licensed game of ''Franchise/{{Popeye}}''. When Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto couldn't get the rights to it, ''Donkey Kong'' was born. [[VideoGame/{{Popeye}} A separate game based on Popeye]] was eventually released in 1982, the same year that ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' was released.

** The game was originally going to be a licensed game of ''Franchise/{{Popeye}}''. When Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto couldn't get the rights to it, ''Donkey Kong'' was born.[[note]][[VideoGame/{{Popeye}} A separate game based on Popeye]] was eventually released in 1982, the same year that ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' was released.[[/note]]

** The first game is the first appearance not only of the titular ape, but also of Mario (then-known as Jumpman) and Pauline (then-known as Lady).

* ThePeteBest: Until ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' was announced, Pauline had fallen into near-complete obscurity since the original game's release.[[note]]Her only other appearances were in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong94'', and the ''VideoGame/MarioVsDonkeyKong'' series.[[/note]]

* BadExportForYou: Due to the US imports of the first two games using the bizarre level orders (see DifficultyByRegion on the main page), the first cycle versions of stages 2 and 3 and the second cycle version of 2 could never be seen by American players. Also, while it's not too difficult to see stage 3 on either game, stage 2 requires a pretty high skill level to be able to experience at all due to it requiring beating ''six levels'' before getting to see it.

* BadExportForYou: Due to the US imports of the first game two games using the bizarre level orders (see DifficultyByRegion on the main page), the first cycle versions of stages 2 and 3 and the second cycle version of 2 could never be seen by American players. Also, while it's not too difficult to see stage 3 on either game, stage 2 requires a pretty high skill level to be able to experience at all due to it requiring beating ''six levels'' before getting to see it.

* ImageSource:
** ThrowABarrelAtIt

* FanNickname: Level [=50m=] is often called "pie factory" because of the sprites used there. In reality, however, these are tins of cement.

** The game was originally going to be a licensed game of ''Popeye''. When Creator/ShigeruMiyamoto couldn't get the rights to it, ''Donkey Kong'' was born.[[note]][[VideoGame/{{Popeye}} A separate game based on Popeye]] was eventually released in 1982, the same year that ''Donkey Kong Jr.'' was released.[[/note]]