Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong, commonly referred to as Donkey Kong '94, is a 1994 puzzle-platform game developed by Nintendo and Pax Softnica for the Game Boy. The player controls the Italian plumber Mario, who must rescue his girlfriend Pauline from the gorilla Donkey Kong. It begins as a remake of the Donkey Kong (1981) arcade game before introducing 97 original levels, incorporating game mechanics from Donkey Kong Jr. (1982) and Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988), in which the player must locate a key to proceed.

The Donkey Kong franchise creator Shigeru Miyamoto led the development, which ended a decade-long hiatus after the unsuccessful Donkey Kong 3 (1983). The developers sought to reimagine the original game while maintaining the theme of Mario attempting to outwit the trickster Donkey Kong. They gave Mario many new abilities while focusing on puzzle-oriented gameplay to account for the Game Boy's small display. Donkey Kong was the last game developed before Miyamoto shifted to an advisory role on the franchise.