Donkey Kong 64
1999 · Platform · Nintendo 64
Overview
Donkey Kong 64 was the N64's largest 3D platformer — five playable Kong characters, each with exclusive abilities and items, in eight worlds containing hundreds of collectibles. The game required the Expansion Pak peripheral to run. Its enormous scope made it a divisive title: praised for ambition and scale, criticised for excessive collectible backtracking.
Deep Dive
Donkey Kong 64 was developed by Rare and required the N64 Expansion Pak — a memory expansion peripheral — to run, making it the only Rare N64 game with this requirement. The game's five playable characters — each with exclusive colour-coded items, instruments, and abilities — created a collectible system so extensive that completing the game required switching between characters hundreds of times. The game was praised for its scope and criticised for exemplifying 'collectathon' design at its most excessive.
Developer Story
Donkey Kong 64 was developed by Rare as their flagship N64 platformer following Banjo-Kazooie. The team wanted to create the most expansive 3D platformer possible on N64 hardware, which required the Expansion Pak's additional RAM. The game launched in November 1999 as a holiday title.
Did You Know?
- Donkey Kong 64 required the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak to run — Nintendo bundled the peripheral with the game in North America, making it the only N64 game to include the accessory at retail.
- The game's opening rap song — 'DK Rap' — became one of gaming's most discussed pieces of licensed music, frequently cited as an example of awkward 1990s marketing.
- Donkey Kong 64 holds the Guinness World Record for the most collectibles in a platformer — 3,821 individual items across the game's worlds.
- The game preserves a playable version of the original Donkey Kong arcade game, unlockable through in-game progression — making it one of the few N64 games to contain a fully playable classic arcade title.
