Donkey Kong

Smash Attacks

SIDE SMASH

Donkey Kong pulls his arms back before clapping on anyone in front of him.

DOWN SMASH

Donkey Kong raises his arms before slamming them down on both sides of him.

UP SMASH

Donkey Kong claps his hand above his head. Covers less horizontal range than you might expect.

Basic Attacks

Standing Attack

A strong two-punch attack.

Forward Tilt

Donkey Kong swipes forward with his impressive reach. You can aim this slightly up or down.

Up Tilt

Donkey Kong swings his arm in an arc over his head to the ground on the other side of him. This hits most of the way through the arc, not just at the destination.

Down Tilt

Donkey Kong ducks while swinging at an opponent’s feet.

Dash Attack

With this new attack, Donkey Kong rolls himself at the opponent.

Edge Attack

Donkey Kong returns to the stage with a clobbering overhead strike.

Air Attacks

Neutral Air Attack

A spinning attack that hits opponents away.

Up Air Attack

This headbutt attack ground-bounces opponents if hit in the air.

Down Air Attack

A downward strike with Donkey Kong’s foot. Cause a ground bounce when hit in the air.

Forward Air Attack

A double axe-handle overhead strike. Also bounces the opponent off the ground when hit in the air.

Back Air Attack

This jumping back kick is fantastic. Use it often.

Special Attacks

Giant Punch (Neutral Special)

Donkey Kong winds up for a massive punch. The more spins on his wind-up, the stronger the punch is. Press the Special button at any point while spinning to release the punch. Use Left or Right to cancel on the ground and use air dodge to cancel in the air.

Headbutt (Side Special)

Donkey Kong performs a massive headbutt on his opponent. If the opponent is grounded, that opponent is buried in the ground temporarily. In the air, this performs a meteor smash.

Spinning Kong (Up Special)

Spinning like a tornado with his massive arms outstretched, Donkey Kong can cover a lot of horizontal distance with this Special. You can move him left or right while he uses this attack.

Hand Slap (Down Special)

Donkey Kong slaps the ground, creating shockwaves that pop opponents into the air. This doesn’t affect characters already in the air, however. You can continue slapping by repeatedly hitting Special without holding Down any longer after the first slap. You can even do this move in the air!

Final Smash

Konga Beat

Donkey Kong whips out his bongo drums and bangs them, sending out shockwaves to hit your opponents. This includes a music minigame in which you hit the Attack button when the red-and-white circles cross over the target. You get an indicator saying GREAT, GOOD, or BAD. The better you do, the stronger your shockwaves are. Donkey Kong doesn’t take damage during this Final Smash, and he can’t move once he starts it. Be sure to position yourself close to your opponents, and try to use Konga Beat when your opponents are close to an edge.

Strategy

Being one of the heavier characters in the game, Donkey Kong can withstand some punishment before being in danger of being KO’d. Despite his huge size and weight, his mobility is impressive. Strong KO power, good throws, and a multitude of spikes combined with the excellent range on his attacks make him a threat at all times. His large size, however, makes him an easy target. Couple this with slow recovery on some of his attacks, and you’ll have to make sure your attacks count! His most notable attacks are his Back Air, Forward Smash, and his throws. Back Air’s hitbox and hurtbox make you feel somewhat invincible, so use this where you can to rack up damage. His Forward Smash does a huge chunk of damage, so try not to use it too much, and it’ll catch opponents off guard when they get blasted off the stage! Giant Punch is a great intimidation tactic when fully charged, so be sure to charge it whenever possible. Each arm spin adds an additional 2 points of damage to it, and hitting at the top will net you extra damage.

After burying an opponent with Headbutt, you can immediately charge up at least two spins on Giant Punch. A safer and easier option is to follow up with the two jab attacks. The higher percentage the opponent is at, however, the longer that opponent will be buried, and the longer you can charge up Giant Punch. Alternatively, you can attack with the grounded version of Spinning Kong. Use Hand Slap when you anticipate your opponent might spot dodge or roll, but note this is vulnerable to air attacks. Up Air, Down Air, Forward Air, and Headbutt in the air all give you meteor effects or ground bounces with various strengths. Up Tilt is an important tool to cover the area immediately above Donkey Kong as well as behind him.

Donkey Kong’s long arms means increased throw range. Couple this with his good throw game, and it becomes something you should always try to use. During Donkey Kong’s Forward Throw, he can walk around while carrying the opponent! Use the Forward or Down options while carrying to throw opponents farther away from you in those respective directions. At low percentages, use Down Throw instead to set up better follow-up options. Donkey Kong’s Back Throw hurls the opponent a decent distance, so try to save this for opponents who are at a higher pecentage and close to the side of a stage.

Recovery

Donkey Kong is limited when it comes to recovery options. His main recovery tool is his Spinning Kong. This is extremely useful for horizontal recovery but gives him very little lift vertically. Donkey Kong will be left in a fall state after this move. So, to maximize your recovery, your best option is to double jump and then Spinning Kong. But if you land on the ground before this move is ready to complete, Donkey Kong will be vulnerable to attacks!