How Donkey Kong Changed Gaming Forever

It’s easy to take modern video games for granted, with their stunning visuals and immersive sound, but it wasn’t always like this. Like any technology, video games evolved from what came before, and when you look back on the thousands upon thousands of games created over the years, one stands out above the rest: Donkey Kong. By today’s standards, it’s a fairly simple platformer that requires skill, and it’s fun. Still, it’s nothing like firing up The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Grant Theft Auto. Still, those games might not exist were it not for an arcade game from 1981 that not only revolutionized gaming but also established Nintendo as a household name.

The company was on the verge of financial ruin in the early 1980s, and it desperately needed a breakthrough to pull itself out of its rut. Fortunately, the company employed a talented young designer named Shigeru Miyamoto, and he came up with Donkey Kong. The game was designed to repurpose a few thousand unsold Radar Scope arcade cabinets, but it evolved into something much more. Donkey Kong was a massive success, generating hundreds of millions in its first two years alone. It had as much success on home consoles, saving Nintendo. Donkey Kong did more than that, though, because it was a massive innovation in game design, establishing many of the norms found in games decades later.

Donkey Kong Represented a Significant Evolution in What Games Could Do

On its surface, Donkey Kong is a relatively simple game. The player character, known as Jumpman at release, must save Pauline (named initially The Lady) from Donkey Kong. To do so, he must navigate obstacles, jumping and climbing to the top of the tower. When it was released in 1981, Donkey Kong was unlike any game that had come before, and it introduced numerous elements that are found in almost every game since. It’s the first to use graphics for characterization, which was a huge innovation. Prior games featured nameless ships, paddles, or vehicles for gameplay. Donkey Kong features three distinct characters, and the game has a plot.

It may seem strange, but before Donkey Kong, games didn’t have a true narrative. They had objectives, but no underlying story. One of the ways Donkey Kong revolutionized gaming was by including not only a complex plot surrounding its three characters, but also utilizing cutscenes. Donkey Kong was the first game to do so, and while short and simplistic, Donkey Kong’s cutscenes tell a story. Not only was this a massive change in how games could convey plots, but it also earned the title a Guinness World Record. The game begins with Donkey Kong taking The Lady up a building, and then he stomps on it, causing the platforms to fall at specific angles.

Another innovation was jumping, and Donkey Kong is the first game to feature the now-ubiquitous mechanic as a primary element of gameplay. Try to imagine playing any platformer besides Donkey Kong without jumping … It’s hard to believe that jumping was once unheard of. Donkey Kong also features unique stages, each requiring the player to navigate them differently, facing a variety of enemies as the story progresses. While not the first platformer, Donkey Kong pioneered the genre before it even had a proper name. It solidified its place in the annals of video game history, doing so with only four levels and 24 kilobytes of data.

Donkey Kong Established a Franchise, Saved Nintendo, and Changed Gaming Forever

For years after Donkey Kong’s arrival, platformers were referred to as “Kong-like,” or something similar. Eventually, “Platformer” became a solid genre, and that’s mainly due to Donkey Kong’s success. Nintendo knew it had a hit on its hands, so the character evolved, becoming a hero. He has been completely redesigned from his arcade-era appearance and is one of the company’s most important mascots. Every innovation introduced in the original arcade game had a significant impact on the industry, forever changing video games by demonstrating that they could tell a story, feature diverse characters, and more. 

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