Top 10 Donkey Kong games, ranked

With a history dating back to 1981, Donkey Kong is one of the oldest names in gaming. From his earliest battles against Mario at a construction site to his most recent adventures, there’s no shortage of Donkey Kong titles to choose from. If you’re looking for the best games starring Nintendo’s favorite monkeys, here’s our pick of the best Donkey Kong games of all time.

The best Donkey Kong games – our top 10 picks

As one of Nintendo’s original intellectual property rights, existing even before the Super Mario Brothers series, Donkey Kong has featured in dozens of titles over the years. He’s one of Nintendo’s most enduring characters and is said to be in his own movie. In this list, we’ll focus on games that have the great ape as the main character. You won’t see Super Smash Brothers or Mario Kart on this list, but you will see any game that focuses on Donkey Kong or his companions.

10) Donkey Kong 64

The best thing about Donkey Kong 64 is also its worst. The game features an almost unlimited number of collectibles to find and encourages players to search every nook and cranny in search of a new symbol. However, the sheer number of them rendered everything equally worthless, leading to an uneven game at times. The ambition is worth celebrating, though, so despite its underwhelming approach to collectibles, it just sneaks onto this list.

9) Donkey Konga

If you love rhythm games, chances are your house is already filled with guitar and drum peripherals. Still, Donkey Konga is worth a look for fans. It takes what certainly started out as a terrible pun and turned it into one of the best rhythm games of its generation, paving the way for games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band a few years later. The music is catchy and simply banging a drum has never been so much fun.

8) Donkey Kong 3

This was one of the last Donkey Kong games to be released for arcades and it completely changed the gameplay from the original game or Donkey Kong Jr that came out the year before. Now Donkey Kong is climbing vines and dropping bugs on city streets. Players shoot insects and the mighty monkey himself instead of jumping over barrels and obstacles like in the original. The game tries to create continuity with the Mario Brothers game by explaining that Mario is wandering around in a sewer, so an exterminator named Stanley has to take over the role of the hero.

7) Donkey Kong

Sometimes the old ways are best. There’s a lot to be said for how much this arcade classic changed the gaming industry when it hit the stage. It’s not only Donkey Kong’s first appearance, but also the first time we see the heroic plumber Mario in a game. Donkey Kong is firmly in the villain’s role here, serving as an apparent replacement for King Kong. The vibrant colors and precise platforming mechanics here were light years ahead of what other games had to offer at the time.

6) Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble

Of the three games in the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, the third is probably the weakest. However, the game showed that Rare still had some innovations in the tank. The non-linear map allowed players to find their own path to the final boss and bypass levels they struggled with. Dixie and Baby Kong aren’t quite as memorable as Donkey Kong and Diddy, but the world still looks, feels, and sounds beautiful.

5) Donkey Kong country

Donkey Kong Country was a groundbreaking game in terms of its graphics, so it was even more stunning when players saw those graphics recreated in the original Game Boy. Donkey Kong Land is mostly a remake of Donkey Kong Country, but the fact that it looks and feels like its 16-bit predecessor feels like it needed more magic than the actual programming.

4) Donkey Kong country

Looking at this game today, it’s easy to forget how innovative it was back then. Donkey Kong Country’s gameplay is a bit dated now, but the music, sound, and graphics hold up to this day. Fans are still discovering this classic Super Nintendo title thanks to the Switch Online service. Aside from being such a fun world to explore, with lots of unique maps and animal companions to ride, it essentially revived Donkey Kong’s ownership and gave him the look he still has today.

3) Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest

Donkey Kong may not be the star of this game, but he’s still the center of attention in this sequel to Donkey Kong Country. Diddy’s Kong Quest is arguably better than the original, with two characters who are remarkably different from each other. Dixie’s hair gives her a gliding mechanic, while Diddy is faster and more agile than his companion. This game takes the beautiful graphics of the first game and refines them to create a lush jungle environment in which to smash your way through.

2) Donkey Kong Country returns

Back in 2010, you might have thought side-scrolling games were over and done with, but then Donkey Kong Country Returns came out for the Wii and proved everyone wrong. This game brought the series back to what made Donkey Kong Country great, with beautiful graphics and sound while streamlining the platforming and making the game all around more enjoyable. While it doesn’t necessarily do anything new compared to the original, it perfects everything the series has done up to this point.

1) Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze

This is undoubtedly one of the best platform games ever released. As a sequel to Donkey Kong Country Returns, this has taken everything the original did to a whole new level. The music is particularly fantastic and captures the feel of the original Donkey Kong Country soundtrack and updates it perfectly. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was originally released for the Wii U and received an excellent port for the Switch just a few years later. Every platform game fan needs to play this game at some point – it’s just too good to pass up.