We've been known to show our love for Donkey Kong around here, and Donkey Kong Country in particular. That's why it seems only fitting to acknowledge that yesterday marked the 15th anniversary of the release of the first title in the series.

Wow, 15 years already? It seems like only yesterday that I and other Nintendo faithful were watching our promotional VHS tapes and pegging it as the game that would put the SEGA Genesis six feet under.

Truth be told, the game wasn't the most innovational piece of software ever released; at its core was a platformer that was built on the foundation set, fittingly enough, by Mario. But, it was a solid platformer, and one which was and is fun to bring out and play now and again.

Of course, what put DKC over everything else at the time was Rare's process of creating sprites based on computer-generated renderings. That, and a soundtrack which is actually still quite good, even today. All of these things together combined into a hit for Nintendo that holiday season.

After Donkey Kong Country promised us the future, the Nintendo 64 saw some delays and Killer Instinct wound up receiving a home port on the Super NES using the same technique. Then came the sequels.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is often regarded as the best in the series, though I was always a little sore that Donkey himself wasn't playable. What can I say? I like the big lug. But otherwise, it was a great leap over the original-- and more difficult, too.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie's Double Trouble came soon after, and never quite seemed to take. Perhaps it strayed too far from its roots by ditching both Donkey and Diddy in favor of the latter's girlfriend and her overgrown baby cousin.

Rare seemed to think so, as when they brought the DKC world to Nintendo 64, Dixie and Kiddy were out, and Donkey and Diddy were back in... with a whole host of new sidekicks and cast members. Unfortunately, that game is perhaps where Rare's notoriety for collectibles hit its peak, with different characters required to collect different items, and the DKC world all but fell into obscurity.

The original trilogy was touched up and ported to the Game Boy Advance a few years ago, but otherwise, the world of Donkey Kong that was created by Rare has been relegated to cameos and other games, such as the racer Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast and DK King of Swing.

Donkey did return to action platforming in the phenomenal but underrated Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, which was even remade and re-released this past year for the Wii, and while it did bear numerous earmarks of the DKC games, it just wasn't quite the same.

Will Nintendo ever give us another chance to romp through Kong country? That remains to be seen, but at least we can still enjoy the original and its sequel (and even the third, if one so desires) on the Wii's Virtual Console.

For now, here are a few videos from when the game first launched:



Hmm, that's strange. The commercial says November 21st, but Wikipedia says the 25th.



One thing that was memorable about these ads, besides the adrenaline-pumping soundtrack, was that this was the first time Nintendo really started to retaliate against SEGA, if memory serves. Prior to this, they had turned the other cheek, or been subtle in their approaches, but I'm pretty sure this is the first time Nintendo really took the gloves off and called SEGA out directly with a "you want some? Come get some" attitude.

And finally, before there was YouTube or viral videos, Nintendo spread word of mouth about the game a different way: the aforementioned VHS video cassette which took Nintendo Power subscribers behind the scenes of the title, letting them see the game in action for themselves on their television sets.

And yes, I still have mine.



...and that says the 18th. That's it; I have no idea when this thing came out, or was supposed to come out. Let's just say it was around this time, and leave it at that.