Donkey Kong Country (SNES - 1994)

Monkey.

That was the only name we had for Donkey Kong in my house prior to November, 1994. My brother and I knew the smelly, singlet-wearing animal from 1992's Super Mario Kart was known, canonically, as Donkey Kong Jr., but we never once would waste the electrical signals required to utter that name. Monkey was big, dumb, and threw bananas that he usually ran straight into on the bumpy Choco Island courses. We called Bowser "Thunderbutt," and Toad was lovingly nicknamed "Turd," but Monkey earned the most groans of ire.

At the arcades, we would sometimes happen across older Donkey Kong cabinets. We were of the House of Mario above all other mascots, and we recognized the origin story. However, once you've played the first three Super Mario Bros. titles and journeyed yourself into Super Mario World, the bonky joystick-controlled Jumpman just didn't feel right. Donkey Kong arcade was quaint. Respected and groundbreaking, but quaint.

Who would have thought that the Throwaway Hominidae would eventually become the Papilla-headed Gorilla in one of gaming's most brightest glow-ups of the 16-bit era.

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