Donkey Kong Country

Did You Know?

• In multiplayer modes, two players work cooperatively or race.
• Donkey Kong Country was the first Donkey Kong game neither produced nor directed by Shigeru Miyamoto, though he contributed design ideas.

Development

Rare was founded in 1985 by Tim and Chris Stamper, who had previously established Ultimate Play the Game. After Nintendo rejected an early partnership, Chris Stamper studied the NES hardware for six months, and Rare eventually secured a developer license from Nintendo of America. Rare developed over 60 NES games, including the Battletoads series. When the SNES launched in 1991, Rare limited its output. Though purchased for Nintendo 64 development, Rare found the workstations could be used with the 16-bit SNES. Rare tested the technology with Battletoads Arcade and began a boxing game, Brute Force. Nintendo, competing with Sega, wanted a game to rival Sega's Aladdin. The Stampers produced a working build within two days, impressing Nintendo.

Release

Howard Lincoln unveiled Donkey Kong Country at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago from June 23 to 25, 1994. The presentation did not reveal the game was for SNES until the end, leading the audience to believe it was for the upcoming Nintendo 64. Gregg Mayles recalled the audience was stunned before applauding. Donkey Kong Country was a flagship title in Nintendo's Play It Loud! promotion and received an exceptionally large marketing campaign. Nintendo spent $16 million on marketing in America alone, while major games typically had a $5 million budget. Marketing emphasized the revolutionary graphics, noting that Rare's SGI workstations had been used to create the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. Nintendo sent a promotional VHS tape, Donkey Kong Country: Exposed, to Nintendo Power subscribers. Hosted by Josh Wolf, the tape provided a behind-the-scenes look at Nintendo's Treehouse division and included gameplay tips and interviews with localizers, playtesters, and Tim Stamper.

Post-release

In April 1995, Nintendo purchased a 25% minority stake in Rare, which later increased to 49%, making Rare the first non-Japanese studio in such a relationship with Nintendo. Rare became a second-party developer, allowing it to expand from 84 staff to over 250 and move to an advanced development site in Twycross. Rare was among the first to receive Nintendo 64 development kits and began spending more time on fewer games. A proposed Game Boy port was repurposed as Donkey Kong Land after programmer Paul Machacek convinced Rare it would better use resources. Rare developed concepts for a sequel during production, and Nintendo green-lit Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest after the success. Other teams used Donkey Kong Country technology in Killer Instinct and the Donkey Kong Land series. Rare followed with Donkey Kong 64, the first 3D Donkey Kong game. In 2002, Rare was acquired by Microsoft, and the Donkey Kong rights reverted to Nintendo.

Legacy

Donkey Kong Country's visual appeal helped the SNES remain popular during a period of uncertainty for cartridge-based games. By bringing next-generation graphics to the SNES just 12 days before the PlayStation's Japanese launch, it persuaded consumers that an immediate upgrade was unnecessary. IGN wrote that it saved the SNES and revitalized sales. The game helped Nintendo pull ahead of Sega in the console wars. The series re-established Donkey Kong as one of Nintendo's most popular franchises, transitioning him from villain to hero, and Rare's redesign became his standard appearance. Donkey Kong Country inspired an animated series that ran for 40 episodes from 1997 to 2000. Diddy Kong starred in Diddy Kong Racing for the Nintendo 64. The series went on hiatus until Donkey Kong Country Returns, developed by Retro Studios, was released for the Wii in 2010, followed by Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Wii U in 2014. David Wise, who left Rare in 2009, returned to compose Tropical Freeze's score. Reviews of the Virtual Console rerelease were mixed on the visuals: some found them among the SNES's best, while others thought they had not aged well, describing the backgrounds as paper-thin or plastic-like.