Friday, April 11, 2014

Stubborn Gorilla: The Wonderfully Weird Ballad of Donkey Kong

     Did you think I had forgotten about this blog? Hot, original content coming  at you! Check out this thing I wrote about the strange history of my favorite Nintendo franchise: Donkey Kong.

     And if you aren't already, please follow me on Twitter @JordanWMinor. It's my main e-hangout space these days.


Considering the game named after him is what first put Nintendo on the map, Donkey Kong should be a pretty big deal. And yet, over 30 years after his arcade debut, he remains a B-level franchise at best. He's certainly no Legend of Zelda, and although he continues to appear in various Mario spinoffs, Super Mario 3D World got the big holiday release spot while Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze was pushed to last February. However, existing in this strange space between "important enough to keep around" and "not important enough to hang our hopes onto" has made Donkey Kong's history one of the most enjoyably bizarre among Nintendo's more prominent mascots.