Donkey Kong is one of the bestselling video game franchises, selling more than 65 million units by 2021. The original game was Nintendo's first major international success and established it as a prominent force in the video game industry. The franchise has pioneered or popularized concepts such as in-game storytelling and pre-rendered graphics, inspired other games (including clones), and influenced popular culture. Harris, Craig (September 25, 2006). "Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis Review". IGN . Retrieved November 5, 2023.

Reed, Phillip J. (September 16, 2012). "Donkey Kong Jr. Review (3DS eShop / NES)". Nintendo Life . Retrieved November 16, 2023.Hunt, Stuart (October 2007). "The History of Donkey Kong". Retro Gamer. No.43. Bournemouth: Imagine Publishing. p.29. ISSN 1742-3155.

a b c MacDonald, Keza (April 12, 2007). "Diddy Kong Racing". Eurogamer . Retrieved December 27, 2022. Donkey Kong is one of the bestselling video game franchises. Cumulative sales reached 65 million units by March 2021. [189] Year DK64 is criminally underrated online. Loved that game as a kid. It does have its faults but it’s still a great game. a b c IGN staff (March 1, 2001). "GameCube developer profile: Rare". IGN. Archived from the original on January 22, 2016 . Retrieved June 14, 2022.Calvert, Darren (July 23, 2015). "Donkey Kong Nearly Missed Out On Pixels Stardom". Nintendo Life . Retrieved November 27, 2023. McFerran, Damien (March 13, 2010). "Feature: The Making of the Nintendo Game Boy". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on December 27, 2022 . Retrieved December 28, 2022. a b c Watts, Martin (February 23, 2014). "Month Of Kong: The Making Of Diddy Kong Racing". Nintendo Life . Retrieved February 28, 2016. Miyamoto designed the original 1981 Donkey Kong to salvage unsold arcade cabinets following the failure of Radar Scope (1980). It was a major success and was followed by the sequels Donkey Kong Jr. (1982) and Donkey Kong 3 (1983). The franchise went on a hiatus as Nintendo shifted its focus to the spin-off Mario franchise. Rare's 1994 reboot, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) game Donkey Kong Country, reestablished Donkey Kong as a major Nintendo franchise. Rare developed Donkey Kong games for the SNES, Game Boy, and Nintendo 64 until they were acquired by Microsoft in 2002; subsequent games have been developed by Nintendo, Retro Studios, Namco and Paon. LeBlanc, Wesley (April 28, 2023). "Donkey Kong Lego Sets Join The Super Mario Lineup". Game Informer . Retrieved November 15, 2023.

Harris, Craig (January 23, 2007). "Diddy Kong Racing DS Hands-On". IGN . Retrieved February 19, 2023. One of the problems with this approach shows when you support this opinion with purely subjective arguments. So, you don't get the physics, the timing, the movement and the slightly more complex controls, which is fine in itself. But the latter is a perfect example of simply personal preference. You have to actually push a button, to grab a vine? How does that make the controls bad? To you, this may be an inconvenience and unusual. But to me, this adds a layer of interactivity and challenge to the game. It makes it more "realistic" and intense. So nobody is right, but it's far from "objectively" bad.a b c McFerran, Damien (May 13, 2021). "Rumour: The Next Donkey Kong Is Being Developed By The Super Mario Odyssey Team". Nintendo Life . Retrieved February 22, 2023. I also read some other comments by you and you seem to have a very strong view that games can be differentialy rated between objectively good or bad and "Do I like it?".