Donkey Kong 64

Donkey Kong 64 is a 1999 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the first Donkey Kong game to feature 3D gameplay. As the gorilla Donkey Kong, the player explores themed levels to collect items and rescue his family members from the crocodile King K. Rool. The player completes minigames and puzzles as five playable Kong characters—each with their own special abilities—to receive bananas and other collectibles. In multiplayer modes, up to four players can compete in deathmatch and last man standing games. Rare began working on Donkey Kong 64 in 1997, following the completion of Donkey Kong Country 3 (1996). A 16-member team, with many staff from Rare's Banjo-Kazooie (1998) team, developed it over three years. It was conceived as a 2.5D platformer similar to Country before it was reworked into a more open-ended game using the Banjo engine. Rare sought to differentiate Donkey Kong 64 from Banjo with more collectibles and player characters, cinematic sequences, and bombastic bosses. It was the first of two games to require the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, an accessory that added memory resources. Grant Kirkhope composed the soundtrack, which includes a comedy hip-hop song, the "DK Rap", that plays in the introduction. Donkey Kong 64 was released in North America in November 1999 and worldwide in December. Nintendo backed the release with a US$22 million marketing campaign that included advertisements, sweepstakes, and a national tour. Donkey Kong 64 received acclaim and was Nintendo's bestseller during the 1999 holiday season, selling 5.27 million copies worldwide by 2021. It won the 1999 E3 Game Critics award for Best Platform Game and multiple awards and nominations from magazines. Reviewers praised its visuals, size, and length, but criticized its camera and emphasis on item collection and backtracking. Some cited its gameplay and visual similarities to Banjo-Kazooie as a detriment.

Source: Wikipedia CC BY-SA 4.0 — Donkey Kong 64 · retrieved October 19, 2026

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Developer

Rare Ltd.

Publisher

Nintendo

First release

November 22, 1999

Series

Donkey Kong

Cover

Official thumbnail

Record ID

Q774773