Donkey Kong News, Donkey Kong Features

No more monkeying around

It's easy to forget, as Nintendo has seemingly decided that it's no longer a definitive unique selling point, but the 3DS has a fantastic stereoscopic 3D screen. It's tempting to be blase about it, but it's still the only mainstream piece of hardware — certainly in gaming terms — that uses it so effectively. The...

Monster Games responsible for porting the Wii title to 3DS

A while back, there was a rumour that Monster Games was working on a new game for Nintendo. Speculation suggested it might be another Donkey Kong title, but a lack of solid evidence made many — Nintendo Life included — dismiss the chatter as unfounded gossip. Turns out the rumour had...

Are you ready?

During the arcade boom of the early 1980s, Donkey Kong was doing great business for Nintendo. To capitalise on this popularity, miniature versions of the arcade game were released. First, there was Coleco’s Donkey Kong tabletop, followed by Nintendo’s Game & Watch Multi Screen version. We decided to pit these ‘portable’...

It's a 3D Wii-make

Today's Nintendo Direct broadcasts in both Europe and North America saved a big surprise for last, with confirmation that Wii title Donkey Kong Country Returns is on its way to 3DS, not surprisingly titled Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. It's a remake, so we don't anticipate much if any new content — though there's always a...

A multi-screen masterpiece

Before the Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance and even the Game Boy, portable gaming was all about Nintendo's Game & Watch series. The brainchild of Nintendo engineer Gunpei Yokoi - who apparently came up with the idea after seeing a Japanese businessman playing around with his pocket calculator during his journey to work...

Vincent Lemay just 2,700 points shy of Hank Chien's record

There are plenty of vintage video games out there which tempt modern-day players to accomplish a record-breaking score, but Nintendo's Donkey Kong seems to get more attention than most - thanks largely to the amazing 2008 documentary film King of Kong, which charted the titanic battle...

Just to rub it in

Dr Hank Chien is the current master and world record holder on the original Donkey Kong arcade. Ahead of a Kong Off II event in November, it seems that Dr Kong isn't merely content to enjoy his record and wait to face his rivals, but is actively trying to assert his place at the top of the tree. After extending his world record to...

Seth Gordon talks directorial influences

Seth Gordon's The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters documentary about Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe ― two gamers on a quest for a world record-breaking high score on Donkey Kong ― is still on course for a remake, but the style in which the film will be presented might in some ways end up being a pastiche of The King of Kong. Speaking to The Playlist,..

One pastiche you don't want to mess with

When the trailer for the fictitious film The Brothers Mario was released, it gave us a good chuckle at how many video game and cultural references were crammed so beautifully into the space of 5 minutes. How might a sequel turn out? The Country Club shows us how. Another exclusive from The Game Station, The Brothers Mario 2: Kong Country depicts previous..

We recap the event and sit down with "the most important person in video gaming right now"

In the documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, Steve Wiebe travels to FunSpot Arcade to put a stop to all the naysayers disputing his record-setting Donkey Kong skills. To the amazement of everyone watching, he achieves the first ever kill screen...

The doctor, the teacher and the saucier go head-to-head

1,090,400 points. That's the record to beat, set by the cheerful Dr. Hank Chien just last week. Now the New York plastic surgeon joins the double-decade champion and hot sauce tycoon Billy Mitchell and the mild-mannered schoolteacher who toppled his throne, Steve Wiebe, to duke it out for Donkey Kong dominance. What will happen today at Richie..

Join us for live coverage

You've seen the movies. You've read the interviews. You've designed the shirts. You've cheered for the former champion. And to top it off, the bar just got raised by 20,000 points. This weekend is what it's all been building up to: The Kong Off.

The high score just got higher

To be the best you have to beat the best, even if that means beating yourself. On 27th February, current Donkey Kong champion Hank Chien did just that. Nearly a year after he originally broke the record for the highest score on a Donkey Kong arcade machine, the New York surgeon has surpassed his best score, making Steve Wiebe, Billy Mitchell and others' task of..

A smashing shirt

Around a month ago, Nintendo Life and Donkey Kong world champion Dr. Hank Chien teamed up to challenge you, the readers, to design the official Team Chien t-shirt. The response was overwhelming, but Dr. Chien was able to cut through the entries with surgical precision and pick a favourite. The winning design was submitted by user...

We catch up with Alexis and Hank at the film's Brooklyn premiere

The saga over high scores in Donkey Kong is no longer a tale of two dudes. While most of us came to know the world of modern day Donkey Kongers through the epic rivalry between Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchelll, it wasn't long before a third player emerged out of left field. Hank Chien, a plastic surgeon from New York, shattered both of..

Hint: it's not a hatred of gorillas

Plenty has been written about the ongoing action at the top of the global Donkey Kong leaderboards, but what inspired plastic surgeon Dr Hank Chien to take up the challenge? Chien, whose score of 1,068,000 is just 3,500 points above nearest rival Steve Wiebe, is the subject of a new independent documentary called Doctor Kong, which reveals the Doctor's motivation..

The former champ ain't no chump

Not since a certain famous gorilla and plumber-to-be squared off for the coveted Pauline has there been a rivalry like that of the Kings of Kong. The film The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters brought to public attention the fight for dominance between family man Steve Wiebe and Goliath-like hot saucier Billy Mitchell, and since then New York plastic surgeon Dr..

Worldwide sales as strong as DK's ground pounding

It hasn't been out for long when compared to the other big sellers of last year, but that hasn't stopped Donkey Kong Country Returns from flying off the shelves. The return of the Donkey Kong franchise by way of Retro Studios has been selling like hot cakes ripe bananas since its North American release last November. Since then, combined global..

Doctor Kong tells all

We recently live blogged former King of Kong Steve Wiebe's attempt to take back the Donkey Kong record, but before last March, we weren't even aware that a new champ was out there. We recently sat down with the New York plastic surgeon to get his thoughts on his rise to fame, competitive playing and more as well as get some...