Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong (NES)
System NES
Developer Nintendo
Genre Platformer
Series Donkey Kong Series

A port of the classic arcade title Donkey Kong, and a launch title for the Famicom in Japan. This port had a few changes due to limitations with early game carts:

  • The second stage with the conveyor belts is missing.
  • There is no animated opening sequence or between-stage "How High Can You Get?" scenes.
  • Blue barrels appear as just regular barrels
  • Only two of Pauline's accessories appear.
  • The music when you rescue Pauline is different.

Despite this, almost all future ports of the game are based on the Famicom/NES version rather than the original Arcade release.

Release Information

Region Name Release
Japan ドンキーコング Donkey Kong 15 Jul 1983
US Donkey Kong Jun 1986
Europe Donkey Kong 1986

Re-releases

System Japan U.S. Europe
Famicom Disk System 08 Apr 1988 - -
Card-e Reader (GBA) - 11 Nov 2002 -
Classic NES Series (GBA) 14 Feb 2004 07 Jun 2004 09 Jul 2004
Wii Virtual Console 02 Dec 2006 19 Nov 2006 08 Dec 2006
Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console 17 Oct 2012 15 Aug 2013 21 Nov 2013
Wii U Virtual Console 15 Jul 2013 15 Jul 2013 15 Jul 2013

Ports & Remakes

Virtual Console Donkey Kong: Original Edition

Also available to play in:

NES Donkey Kong Classics
Nintendo 64 Dōbutsu no Mori
GameCube Animal Crossing