Its founder, Minoru Arakawa, asked his father in-law, Nintendo CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi, to provide a new game that could repurpose the unsold Radar Scope cabinets.

[65] It was Nintendo's bestselling game during the 1999 Christmas season and received positive reviews,[66][67] though critics felt it did not match the revolutionary impact of Donkey Kong Country.

[90] A racing game that used the DK Bongos, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, was developed by Paon for the GameCube, but was moved to the Wii with no support for the peripheral.

[112][113] Tropical Freeze was released in 2014 to favorable reviews,[114] but it sold poorly in comparison to Returns;[115] Nintendo Life attributed this to the Wii U's commercial failure.

[136] Polygon summarized K. Rool as an archetypal game villain who "often wears disguises and invents strange gadgets for his elaborately evil schemes",[135] such as dressing as a pirate captain in Donkey Kong Country 2.

[137] Other villains introduced in the Retro Studios Country games include the Tiki Tak Tribe, a race of floating masks who hypnotize animals into stealing the banana hoard,[138][139] and the Snowmads, Viking invaders who summon a dragon to take over Donkey Kong Island.

The player jumps to dodge incoming obstacles (such as barrels) or cross gaps and climbs ladders or vines to reach the top of the level.

[151] The Country series is known for its high difficulty level and emphasis on momentum, requiring players to react to oncoming obstacles quickly to maintain flow.

[156] In the Retro Studios games, other characters ride on Donkey Kong's back to provide special abilities; for instance, Diddy's jetpack allows him to temporarily hover.

[156] Country's game mechanics include blasting out of barrel cannons,[159] vehicle sequences with minecarts and barrel-themed rockets,[156][159] levels in which the characters and foreground environments appear in silhouette,[160] and swinging vines.

[57][164] Outside the main gameplay, the Rare games' world maps contain areas where players can converse with non-player characters, such as Cranky, who provide advice, collectibles, and save points.

[165] The Retro Studios games feature shops (run by Cranky in Returns and Funky in Tropical Freeze) where the player can purchase items like power-ups and lives.

[157][166] The Donkey Kong Land trilogy condenses the SNES Country gameplay for the Game Boy, with different level design that accounts for the system's low-quality display.

[167][168] Donkey Kong 64 blends Country elements with adventure gameplay that emphasizes collecting items to proceed, reminiscent of Super Mario 64 (1996) and Banjo-Kazooie.

[64][68] The player explores worlds and solves puzzles tailored to the unique abilities of the five playable characters (Donkey Kong, Diddy, Chunky, Tiny, and Lanky).

[176] Hirokazu Tanaka, a sound engineer who later garnered recognition for his work on Nintendo's Metroid and Pokémon franchises, also contributed,[177] while Miyamoto wrote Donkey Kong's opening and closing music.

[54] Fischer attempted to give levels a sense of purpose and drew inspiration from film composers such as Alan Silvestri and Klaus Doldinger.

[54] Wise composed a replacement soundtrack for the 2005 GBA port of Dixie Kong's Double Trouble after Rare had problems converting Fischer's score.

[196] Activision's toys-to-life game Skylanders: SuperChargers (2015) includes Donkey Kong as a playable character in the versions released on Nintendo platforms.

[210] Elements from the Donkey Kong franchise feature prominently in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023),[211] an animated film produced by Nintendo, Illumination, and Universal Pictures.

[212] Mario (Chris Pratt) and Princess Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy) seek the Kongs' help to stop Bowser (Jack Black) from invading the Mushroom Kingdom.

[212] In November 2021, prior to The Super Mario Bros. Movie's release, reports emerged that Illumination was developing a Donkey Kong film with Rogen set to reprise his role.

[219] It was designed with consultation from Miyamoto and includes a roller coaster, Mine-Cart Madness, based on the Tiki Tong boss fight from Donkey Kong Country Returns.

[222] Donkey Kong merchandise includes clothing,[223] toys such as plushes and Amiibo figures,[224][225] trading cards,[226] breakfast cereal,[198] and soundtrack albums.

[253] Donkey Kong also paved the way for the NES,[254] which rejuvenated the crashed Western game industry and shifted the home console market's dominance from the US to Japan.

[251] Donkey Kong Country's pre-rendered graphics featured a level of detail unprecedented in console games at the time,[262][263] and inspired many imitators.

[33][272] Country originated conventions characteristic of Rare's later output, including an emphasis on collecting items,[57] irreverent humor,[130] visual appeal, and tech demo-like design.

[275] Jonas Kaerlev, who developed the 3D platformer A Hat in Time (2017), said Donkey Kong 64 gave the genre a reputation for tedium that contributed to a decline in interest.

Kotaku described one theory, which postulates that Donkey Kong Jr. was killed in a violent, off-screen conflict to explain his absence in the Country series, as "a fascinating example of how fandoms can run away with the smallest bits of narrative available" to rationalize inconsistencies.

[294] Several voice actors from the Country television series reprised their roles for DKC: Return to Krocodile Isle, a follow-up animation released in 2023.