NINTENDO-64
10
Donkey Kong 64
Rare's ambitious collectathon platformer sent Donkey Kong and four Kong companions through eight enormous worlds in pursuit of 3,821 collectibles. Technically impressive and generously sized, DK64's scope is both its greatest strength and its most criticized aspect — a game of extraordinary content that some consider bloated.
💡 Donkey Kong 64 — Key Facts
- → Donkey Kong 64 was developed by Rare and published by Nintendo
- → Released in 1999 on NINTENDO-64
- → Genre: Platformer, Adventure
- → We rate it 8.7/10 — highly recommended
- → Part of the donkey-kong franchise
- → Rare's ambitious collectathon platformer sent Donkey Kong and four Kong companions through eight enormous worlds in pursuit of 3,821 collectibles. Technically impressive and generously sized, DK64's scope is both its greatest strength and its most criticized aspect — a game of extraordinary content that some consider bloated.
Overview
Donkey Kong 64 arrived in November 1999 as Rare’s most ambitious Nintendo 64 project, attempting to do for the Donkey Kong franchise what Banjo-Kazooie had done for collectathon platforming — but at five times the scale. Five playable characters, eight worlds, and 3,821 collectibles represented a scope that no previous platformer had attempted.
The game required the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak to run, which doubled the console’s RAM and enabled the rendering of its enormous, detailed environments. Rare packaged the Pak with the initial release, making it effectively a hardware upgrade bundled with its flagship game.
Gameplay
Each of the eight worlds contains items exclusively collectible by specific Kongs. Golden Bananas — the primary objective — require each Kong to complete five unique challenges in each world. Regular bananas fill color-coded meters; instrument pads activate with specific Kongs; colored doors require the correct Kong’s unique instrument to open.
This per-character system creates enormous content variety: each world effectively has five layers of content, one for each character. The trade-off is substantial backtracking — clearing a world fully requires running through it as each of five characters. This is the central design criticism of the game: the item segregation inflates playtime through repetition of space rather than variety of design.
The boss fights are imaginative and diverse, ranging from conventional platformer encounters to basketball challenges and boxing matches. The final King K. Rool battle is a memorable multi-phase encounter.
Why It’s a Classic
DK64’s scale and ambition are genuine achievements. The sheer quantity and variety of its content — five characters with distinct abilities, mini-games, embedded arcade cabinets, multiplayer modes — represents an extraordinary production effort. For players who embrace its collectathon philosophy, it provides dozens of hours of genuinely entertaining exploration.
Legacy
Donkey Kong 64 sold over 5 million copies and holds the world record for most collectibles in a single game. It became influential in game design discourse as the example cited when discussing whether collectathon design had gone too far, and its polarizing legacy helped push the genre toward more curated, less exhaustive designs in subsequent years.
Our Review
8.7
Excellent / 10
🎮
Gameplay
★★★★★
🎨
Graphics
★★★★★
🎵
Audio
★★★★★
🔄
Replay
★★★★★
Gameplay
Five playable Kongs each with unique instruments, weapons, and abilities creates a rich variety of gameplay interactions. The world designs are imaginative and large-scale. The collectathon scope is immense — 200 golden bananas across eight worlds — but the per-character item segregation means significant backtracking to clear each world. Combat is varied; boss fights are creative.
Graphics
Required the Expansion Pak to function (bundled with the initial release) and demonstrates what the extra RAM provided — detailed, large environments that pushed the N64 to its limit. The Kongs animate expressively and the game runs more smoothly than many N64 games of its era.
Audio
Grant Kirkhope's exuberant, funky soundtrack is a highlight — the DK Rap opening number became infamous for its earnestness, but the in-game music across Jungle Japes, Angry Aztec, and Crystal Caves is excellent. Each Kong has a theme that plays when they're active.
Replayability
High for completionists — the 3,821 collectibles provide an enormous long-term challenge. The multiplayer modes (battle arena, racing) add additional content. For players satisfied with reaching the credits, the journey is about 20–30 hours.
Historical Significance
Donkey Kong 64 holds the record for the most collectibles of any single game as recognized by the Guinness World Records. It was the first game to require the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, bundled with the game on release. It sold over 5 million copies and was for many years the best-selling title in the franchise.
✅ Pros
- + Five playable Kongs with distinct abilities provides excellent character variety
- + Enormous scope — eight worlds with unique themes and hundreds of hours of potential content
- + Creative, memorable boss fights
- + Multiplayer battle and racing modes extend entertainment beyond single-player
- + Grant Kirkhope's soundtrack is characterful and funky
- + Arcade cabinets for original Donkey Kong and Jetpac embedded within the game
❌ Cons
- - Per-character item segregation requires excessive backtracking through each world
- - 3,821 collectibles is criticized by many as excessive — the collectathon at its most extreme
- - Some late-game world designs feel less inspired than early worlds
- - Completing 101% requires finding items that can be extremely obscure without guidance
- - The DK Rap divides opinion severely
Also Known As
DK64ドンキーコング64
Donkey Kong 64 FAQ
How many collectibles are in Donkey Kong 64?
The total collectible count is 3,821, including: 201 Golden Bananas, 3,500 regular bananas (200 per Kong per world), 40 Blueprint pieces, 8 Boss Keys, 10 Battle Crowns, 40 Banana Medals, and various other items. This total was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the most collectibles in a single game.
Who are the five playable Kongs?
The five playable characters are: Donkey Kong (basic heavy hitter with Coconut Gun), Diddy Kong (double Peanut Popguns and rocket pack), Tiny Kong (smallest, can shrink further, Feather Bow), Lanky Kong (long arms, can walk on hands, trombone), and Chunky Kong (largest, strongest, Pineapple Launcher). Each has unique abilities, instruments (which open color-coded doors and activate pads), and exclusive items.
Why does DK64 require the Expansion Pak?
Donkey Kong 64 requires the 4 MB RAM Expansion Pak (which doubles the N64's standard 4 MB RAM to 8 MB) to run. The initial retail release bundled the Expansion Pak with the game. The additional RAM allowed Rare to render the game's large, detailed environments and the larger cast of characters simultaneously. It was the first and one of the few N64 games to require the accessory as mandatory rather than optional.
What is the DK Rap?
The DK Rap is an introductory song that plays at the start of the game, introducing each of the five Kongs with rap verses. Written and performed by Grant Kirkhope and Chris Marlow, it became notorious for its earnest, goofy lyrics ('He's the leader of the bunch, you know him well, he's finally back to kick some tail'). It has been embraced as a beloved piece of late-1990s video game culture.
Are there original arcade games within DK64?
Yes — Donkey Kong 64 contains fully playable arcade cabinets of the original 1981 Donkey Kong arcade game (required to play as part of the story) and Jetpac (a 1983 Ultimate Play the Game — a Rare predecessor — ZX Spectrum game). Playing each requires finding the respective arcade cabinet within a level.
