by majormitch
This list is exactly as it sounds: my personal ranking of the games in the Donkey Kong franchise. While I haven't played every Donkey Kong game by any measure, I've played a lot of the biggest ones, and thus feel qualified to make a personal ranking of the games I have played (if a game is not on this list, then I haven't played it). One worthwhile note: Donkey Kong has changed drastically across eras, and has participated in many genres. That makes some comparisons tricky, but also interesting. This ranking is based on my personal, subjective preferences alone, and I will amend it over time as I play more Donkey Kong games. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!
Last updated on October 3, 2025 (original list creation)
See my other rankings of: Metroids | Marios | Zeldas | Final Fantasies | 2D Castlevanias | Fire Emblems | Consoles and Handhelds | From Software Games | Nintendo Franchises | Donkey Kongs
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For me, DKC 2 is the clear pick for the top spot. It refined and expanded everything from its predecessor: it had so much variety in its many levels, a great new character in Dixie who controlled differently from the other Kongs, the collectibles were more interesting and devious, and so on. It even somehow had a better soundtrack than the original (which was already incredible); DKC 2's score remains one of my all-time favorites. It was one of the best last hurrahs for platformers of the 16-bit era before 3D games took over, and showcased just how good the genre had become. For me, Donkey Kong hasn’t been better since.
The original DKC was a massive cultural hit, and revived and revamped Donkey Kong for a new generation. I was among those who really appreciated the move to a platformer, and this one had pretty much everything I wanted: solid controls that supported a sense of momentum and flow, well-designed levels with plenty of secrets and collectibles to find, impressive visuals for the time, and an all-time great soundtrack. It was a robust platforming adventure that rivaled the best of the era, and a game I still hold dear.
More commonly known as “Donkey Kong 94”, the Game Boy version of Donkey Kong was a complete surprise to me. While it started out looking like a recreation of the arcade classic, it quickly morphed into something else entirely: a puzzle-platformer with 90-something unique, excellent levels. Mario even had a surprisingly robust set of moves, including the side jump that Mario 64 popularized years later. It’s a minor miracle that a game this lengthy, creative, and, well, good was made on the Game Boy’s hardware in 1994.
Being the fifth Donkey Kong “Country” game, Tropical Freeze wasn’t the most novel DK game by any stretch. But it more than made up for that with pure polish, and some of the best level design and bosses in the entire series. It looked amazing as well, as the first major HD DK release, and the return of David Wise for the game’s soundtrack was welcome. This was a stellar platformer top to bottom, and I could see an argument for it being the best. Retro Studios finally managed to bring what Rare started in the 90s to the modern era, with great results.
Despite so many great 2D platformers to his name, it took decades for Donkey Kong to get the 3D platformer he deserved. Thankfully, it eventually came via Bananza, which feels great to play right out of the gate. The instant I punched through a few rocks during the tutorial, I knew Bananza had the juice, and the game’s many large, varied levels were the perfect playground to punch your way to hundreds of collectibles (even if they began to feel rote after a while). It also looked and sounded great, and was the perfect showpiece for the Switch 2 near its launch.
In a way I liked DKC 3 just as much as the first two. But by being the third game in as many years, it didn’t have a lot new to offer, and it came out after the Nintendo 64 did as well. That brings it down a bit, but I still had a lot of fun with this game as a kid. It played just as well (if not better in some ways), still looked and sounded great, and was at least as polished as its two predecessors, with many fun levels and secrets of its own.
It was nice to have DKC, uh, return after a lengthy absence, but Returns wasn’t perfect. Mainly, the motion controls, as seemingly minor as they were, made it the least enjoyable “Country” game for me to play. It also didn’t have the most interesting or unique level design in the series, and almost felt more like a statement that someone other than Rare could make one of these. Still, it was by no means a bad game, and had some really nice visual flourishes for the time (those silhouette levels were gorgeous). And it was just nice to see DKC back.
I wasn’t born when Donkey Kong first hit arcades, and never got into arcade games in general; score-chasing has rarely been my thing. Still, I find the original Donkey Kong super interesting as the debut game for both Donkey Kong and Mario (or Jumpman if you prefer). It’s so different from what both of those characters went on to do over the following decades, yet for the arcade setting it was made for, it’s hard to imagine a better debut for these iconic characters. Oh, and I’ve enjoyed playing it too.
DK 64 gets a lot of flak, and a lot of it is probably warranted. It was certainly a game with numerous flaws, a lot of tedious aspects, and some bugs too. Yet as a kid I still had fun with it. I was into the type of 3D platformer collectathons that DK 64 was very much going all-in on, and I enjoyed exploring as much of its world as I could. I haven’t touched it since near its original release, and I’m tempted to revisit it someday. Though I have a feeling it may not hold up to my childhood memories.
I didn't dislike Mario vs Donkey Kong 2 by any means, and had a perfectly good time playing through it. Its puzzle nature was a very different and interesting take on the long-standing duel between these two icons, and the touch screen controls were the perfect fit for its Lemmings-esque gameplay. It wasn’t that long nor that deep, and primarily sits at the bottom of this list simply because I remember every other game above it more fondly.
