Tuesday 29 July 2008

Donkey Kong? Aiai The Monkey? George The Ape? Who Is The Best Primate In Video Game History?

Some people might say we here at MTV Multiplayer are bananas for continuing our silly, year-long quest to find the Greatest Animal in the History of Video Games.

And you know what? They’re right.

This month, we march on by listing some of our favorite primates in video games. As always, our judges will later decide their top three picks. And readers, we ask you to weigh in with your favorites as well as ones we’ve missed. Here we go…

Aiai and co. in the “Super Monkey Ball” Series The game features banana-loving monkeys enclosed in balls, and AiAi is its main protagonist. Players can also choose to be AiAi’s wife MeeMee, their son Baby or the stronger-yet-slower monkey GonGon.

Amigo in “Samba de Amigo” The title character is known for shaking his maracas like nobody’s business in the popular rhythm game series.

Andross in the “Star Fox” Series The original space chimp and power-hungry mad scientist, Andross is the recurring arch nemesis to the Star Fox team and aims to take over the Lylat System over and over again.

Agent 9 in the “Spyro the Dragon” Series Playable in the “Spyro” games, Agent 9 is a psychotic, trigger-happy space monkey armed with a laser blaster he calls “Mr. Laser Blaster.”

Abu in “Aladdin” In the Sega Genesis version, if players find an icon for Aladdin’s monkey pal, they can unlock a bonus round where they can control the little guy to catch bonus items falling from the sky.

Coconuts in the “Sonic the Hedgehog” Series The evil robotic monkey would throw coconuts at Sonic or Tails whenever they passed by.

Crackers in “Hail to the Chimp” In the presidential party game, the Congo-bred Crackers was the right-hand monkey to the former King Lion. But word on the street is he’s in cahoots to get the feline back his crown.

Curious George In the games based on the animated movie, players help George explore, collect items (bananas) and unlock various mini-games.

Darwin in “The Adventures of Darwin” When a monkey named Darwin has a dream about an approaching monkey-annilhilating asteroid, he rounds up a few friends to help them evolve and avoid the impending doom of monkey-kind.

Data in the “Mega Man Legends” Series Accompanying Roll as a pet, the little robot monkey helped by saving the player’s game and giving Rock useful information upon request.

Donkey Kong in the “Donkey Kong” Series Created by Shigeru Miyamoto, the hulking gorilla has been a staple of Nintendo games (his own and others) since he starred in the 1981 arcade title with a certain Italian plumber.

Donkey Kong Jr. in the “Donkey Kong” Series Kid of Donkey Kong, Junior starred in his own 1982 arcade game and has appeared throughout various “Mario” and “DK” games.

Diddy Kong in the “Donkey Kong” Series Donkey Kong’s buddy and sidekick, Diddy is known for being more monkey-like than ape, and he dons a red hat bearing the Nintendo logo.

All The Other Kongs in the “Donkey Kong Series” From ladies Candy (DK’s alleged love), Dixie (Diddy’s girlfriend) and Tiny (Dixie’s sister) to Chunky (Diddy’s brother) and Funky (munitions) as well as Lanky (orangutan), Manky (good Kong gone bad), Swanky (sideshow attractions), Cranky (DK’s dad) and Wrinkly (DK’s mom)… there are a lot of Kongs.

Doom Monkeys in the “Crash of the Titans” Series Series antagonist Doctor Neo Cortex has pesky, wrench-wielding simian minions called Doom Monkeys.

Faron in the “Legend of Zelda” Series The Spirit of Light watches over the Faron Province and appears as a monkey. Faron also helps Link return to his human form in “Twilight Princess.”

George the Ape in “Rampage” In the classic arcade game, players could take on the role of giant ape George (a human-turned-monster) to wreak havoc on hapless cities by smashing buildings, destroying vehicles and eating people.

Goldar in “The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” Series The evil humanoid monkey warrior was known to be able to defeat the entire Power Rangers team single-handedly and has appeared as a boss in the various games.

Gorilla in “Gekido” The 3D fighting game also included an unlockable character called Gorilla whose special combos included the Head-butt, the Ground-Pounder and the Crazy Monkey.

Gorilla Grodd in the DC Universe The telepathic supervillain appears as a non-playable character in “Justic League Heroes” and is set to appear in Sony Online Entertainment’s upcoming MMO “DC Universe Online.”

The Hog-Monkeys in the “Avatar: The Last Airbender” Series The game based on the popular Nickelodeon TV series includes enemies that have the body of a monkey with a dog-like face.

Hanumachine in the “Mega Man Zero” Series A boss in “Mega Man Zero,” Hanumachine is a Mutos Reploid based on the Hindu monkey god Hanuman, and he uses fire-based attacks as well as mini-hanmachines to do battle.

Kiki in the “Legend of Zelda” Series Kiki appears to help Link in various ways. In “Link to the Past,” he opens a palace door for Rupees and in “Link’s Awakening” he builds a bridge to the castle for bananas.

King Kong From the Atari 2600 to the 2005 title based on the Peter Jackson re-make, the legendary giant gorilla has been in several of his own games.

King Louie in “The Jungle Book” In the game based on the popular Disney movie (based on the Rudyard Kipling book), the feisty orangutan acts as a boss to lead character Mowgli by throwing bananas at him.

Kongo in “Monkey Magic” Based on the anime series, this PlayStation game was a side-scrolling platformer where a monkey named Kongo used King-Fu and elemental powers to fight for his friends and challenge the gods.

Mojo JoJo in “The Powerpuff Girls” Series The mad scientist chimp with an exposed brain and super-strength acts as the most frequent villain to the Girls.

Money the Monkey in “Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice For All” During a case in the game, a monkey named Money steals Phoenix’s badge, and it’s a wild goose monkey chase to get it back.

Pogo the Monkey in “Grand Theft Auto III” Pogo is a video game character in “GTA III” advertised on the game’s radio stations. The ads promised that you’ll “play through tons of levels - killing scientists and becoming President of The United States!” Pogo also taught kids to “win things,” “kill,” and “covet money!”

Monkey Fling!! in “Bully” “Bully” features boarding school miscreant Jimmy Hopkins and includes an arcade minigame where a monkey must fling his poo to collect bananas.

Pokemonkeys and Pokeapes From squirrel monkeys to apes to chimps, Pokemon’s got it covered with Mankey, Aipom, Ambipom, Chim Char, Monferno, Infernape and Primeape.

The Primates in the “Animal Crossing” Series The variety of gorillas included grumpy Cesar, DK-like Louie, attention-loving Jane and mountain-climber Yodel. There is also Porter, the chipper monkey who can be found at the train station.

Professor Monkey-for-a-Head (and Monkey Professor-for-a-Head) in the “Earthworm Jim” Series A professor with a monkey grafted to his forehead, the villainous Professor Monkey-for-a-Head shares a brain with his simian counterpart and is known for building the ultra-high-tech-indestructible-super-space-cyber-suit.

Rafiki in “The Lion King” and “Kingdom Hearts II” Simba’s crazy mandrill friend appears as a non-playable character in the “Lion King” movie game as well as the Square Enix RPG “KHII.”

Rilla Roo in “Crash Bash” Cross a gorilla and a kangaroo and you’ve got Rilla Roo, who appeared as a playable character in the fifth game of the “Crash Bandicoot” series.

The Saiyans in “Dragon Ball” Universe Including main characters Son Goku and Gohan, the powerful warrior race has monkey tails and the ability to transform into a giant ape-like creature.

Specter in “Ape Escape” “Ape Escape”’s main villain is an albino monkey armed with his Peak Point Helmet, super intelligence and psychic powers.

Sten in “Breath Of Fire II” A playable character in the Capcom RPG, Sten is a foolish chimp that works as a traveling magician. He is a part of the clan of monkeys called Highlanders who are known for their speed and jumping abilities.

Sun Wukung in “The Monkey King: The Legend Begins” This side-scrolling shooter features the Chinese legend as its protagonist fighting his way through ancient China.

Ukiki in the “Mario” Universe This mischievous monkey appears in various “Mario” games as hat-stealer, watermelon seed-spitter and banana-thrower and even a mayor.

Wiki in “Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros’ Treasure” The enchanted monkey friend of Zack, Wiki travels the high seas with his pal to find pieces of a legendary pirate captain for… treasure, of course.

Snake vs. Monkey in “Metal Gear Solid 3″ In this crossover mini-game based on “Ape Escape,” Snake must stun monkeys using the EZ Gun or Stun Generades.

Little Gray the Monkey in “Metal Gear Solid 4″ Little Gray is the pet of Drebin, a munitions launderer in the game. And he’s really darn cute.

The Apes in “Planet of the Apes” Though it came out in the same year as the Tim Burton re-make, the game stays closer to the source material and features a Charlton Heston-esque astronaut named Ulysses that you must help figure out where the hell he is. (Hint: a planet full of apes).

The Chimps in “Space Chimps” The game based on the computer-animated comedy features a chimp named Ham who, along with his crewmates, is on a mission to retrieve a lost ship and save a peaceful planet from the evil Zartog.

The Monkeys in “Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures” The simians in this game throw blocky Indy a much-needed item (a sitck of dynamite, a wrench) in exchange for a nearby banana.

The Monkey in “Monkey Hero” In “Monkey Hero,” A “Zelda”-type RPG, you play a courageous monkey who’s tasked with finding The Magic Story Book to keep the peace between three warring worlds.

The Monkeys in the “Monkey Island” Series The island had a giant monkey head landmark which turned out to be the control room of a giant monkey robot controlled by real monkeys (natch).

The Monkeys in the “TimeSplitters” Series Throughout the series, monkeys are playable characters who perform various roles and wear different disguises (including ninjas, cyborgs and zombies). Got any more to add? Let us know who else should be considered for the greatest primate in video game history! And place your votes below. We’ll follow-up by the end of the month with the official picks from our judges and a count of your selections.

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