Donkey Kong (Super Smash Flash 2)

This article is about Donkey Kong's appearance in Super Smash Flash 2. For the character in other contexts, see Donkey Kong.

Donkey Kongin Super Smash Flash 2
Universe	Donkey Kong
Availability	Starter
Final Smash	Arcade
Tier	A- (15)

Donkey Kong is a playable veteran starter character in Super Smash Flash 2. He was the last newcomer announced in the original trailer, and could only be seen at the very end after the credits; here, he was seen with his sprites from DK: King of Swing. However, his appearance in the game has him using custom made sprites which is based on his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and uses voice clips from said game. He move set is similar to the one he has in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Donkey Kong is currently ranked 6th on the tier list (The highest ranked Mario character if sub-series are included) in the A- tier. Donkey Kong has amazing reach on the majority of his attacks, highly damaging combos, an outstanding grab and throw game, good Momentum canceling, and very powerful finishers in all of his smash attacks, sourspot forward air, back air, back throw, and Giant Punch. His main recovery tool, Spinning Kong, covers great horizontal distance, has high priority, and gives him super armor in the move's initial frames. Donkey Kong has a strong air game due to his good air mobility and strong aerials overall.

However, his large size, heavy weight, and being a high faller make him arguably the most vulnerable character to combos and chain grabs in the game. He has difficulty dealing with projectiles due to a lack of his own, which limits his ability to approach campy characters. His recovery move covers the least vertical distance in the game, which leaves him completely and utterly incapable of recovering if meteor smashed offstage, even at 0%.

However, DK has a rather large player base due to how strong he is for a low amount of effort. This has caused some players to dislike the character, as well as the people who use him, due to how easy it is to exploit his strengths online. DK players have continually taken high placings in online tournaments, though he is not as prominent as he once was, due to the rise of characters such as Lloyd, Zero Suit Samus, and Sheik.

Attributes

See also: Donkey Kong (Super Smash Flash 2)/Hard data

Donkey Kong certainly has his slew of positive attributes; he has good reach in most of his attacks which are also fast, amazing combo ability and above average mobility. He posses strong finishers in all of his smash attacks, a sour spotted forward aerial, Giant Punch, back aerial, the initial hitbox of Spinning Kong and back throw.

Donkey Kong has great horizontal endurance due to his weight (being the heaviest character in the current demo) and good vertical endurance due to his high accelerated falling speed. His recovery, Spinning Kong, covers good horizontal distance and gives him knockback resistance in the move's initial frames.

Perhaps DK's biggest boon is his grab game; he possesses a large grab range and his throws serve a variety of purposes. Forward throw allows him to carry enemies off-stage, back throw serves as a high-percentage finisher near the ledge, up throw sets up juggling combos and can chain grab certain characters. DK's down throw is also a good combo starter and good for setting up chain grabs.

However, Donkey Kong's size, weight and being a high faller leaves him vulnerable to juggling, combos, chain grabs and zero-to-death combos himself, as his stature makes it highly difficult to avoid combo starters.

His recovery covers little vertical distance, giving him extreme vulnerability to meteor smashes in general, and if used at the wrong time can result in a fatal edgeguard, as the move offers no protection after the initial frames have passed.

Donkey Kong lacks a projectile and a reliable way to deal with them; although he can deflect those close to the ground with Hand Slap, it is only a situational maneuver at best, and he is still helpless against projectiles with more volatile trajectories; these attributes make it hard for Donkey Kong players to escape pressure.

Due to his aforementioned lack of a projectile and his lack of disjointed hitboxes, Donkey Kong also has trouble approaching; although his short hopped neutral aerial can out-prioritize weaker attacks thrown at him while he is moving towards the foe, he can still be shut down by characters with greater range in their attacks. Also, due to his great range not being disjointed, each range attack is also an extension of his hurtbox which can leave him vulnerable if not properly spaced.

Moveset

Ground attacks

Attack	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Neutral attack	Swipe, then uppercut.	4%	20, 60, 45°	2	12	3-4
		6%	40, 100, 70°		16	5-7
Forward tilt	Swipes his arm out in front of him. Decent knockback and good for spacing.	10%	30, 90, 33°	4	13	6-8
Up tilt	Swats his hand over his head. Fast, good range, great for jugging and a good combo starter. Sends opponents into a good deal of hitstun.	11%	45, 105, 90°	4	15	6
		9%	45, 105, 100°			7
		11%	45, 105, 115°			8-9
		11%	45, 105, 90°			6-8
Down tilt	Low swipe across the ground with his arm.	10%	40, 60, 37°	3	9	4-7
Dash attack	His signature forward roll attack taken from Donkey Kong Country. It's also his dash attack in Project M and 3DS / Wii U; however, unlike Project M, this iteration does not allow DK to pass the ledge.	11%	100, 30, 50°	3	29	3-8
Forward smash	Slaps both hands together. Fast for a heavyweight.	20%	32.1, 81.74, 45°	6	20	9-10
Up smash	Claps his hands together above his head. Hard to hit on grounded opponents due to low horizontal range, yet excellent vertical range.	18%	42.8, 100, 90°	6	19	7-8
Down smash	Slams down his fists on both sides of him.	17%	37.5, 107, 115°	6	22	8-10

Aerial attacks

Attack	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Neutral aerial	Spins quickly, swinging his arms around himself. Fast and good for approaching.	12%	35, 90, 42°	4	17	2-3
		8%	95, 2, 65°			4-11
Forward aerial	Clenches his fists together and swings them forward. It is a meteor smash when the fists come down, but does decent knockback when sourspotted. Very risky to do.	12%	21.4, 127, 45°	5	25	11-14
		14%				11-12
		14%	30, 85, 265°			13
		14%	50, 85, 45°			14
Back aerial	Backwards kick. Good for spacing, good edgeguarding tool and does good knockback.	13%	21.4, 89, 150°	3	17	5-9
Up aerial	Headbutt. Does weak knockback, but its fast and is great for extending combos.	14%	32, 70, 75°	4	16	5-7
Down aerial	Stomps downwards underneath himself. A powerful meteor smash.	16%	38, 85, 270°	6	17	9-11

Grabs and throws

Attack	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Grab	Reaches out with both arms.	N/A	N/A	N/A	14	4
Pummel	Karate chops opponent.	3%	N/A	N/A	12	9
Forward throw	Picks up and carries opponent. No damage, but Donkey Kong can walk forwards, jump, and throw the carried opponent forward.	0%	N/A	N/A	13	N/A
		8%	80, 56, 48°	0	14	6-7
Back throw	Flings opponent backwards. Powerful horizontal knockback.	11%	54, 105, 39°	0	20	10-11
Up throw	Throws opponent upwards. Can chain grab fast and high fallers.	9%	70, 70, 85°	0	21	8-10
Down throw	Slams opponent into ground. Can chain-grab fast and high fallers, while also allowing great follow ups for all accelerated falling speeds.	7%	60, 80, 75°	0	21	14

Other

Attack	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Floor attack	Swings up head first. Has deceptive range.	6%	80, 50, 43°, 100	3	22	9-16
Ledge attack	Gets up and hits his opponent with his back.	8%	0, 100, 45°, 100	4	26	4-8
100% ledge attack

Special moves

Attack	Name	Description	Damage	Knockback	Priority	Total frames	Active frames
Standard special	Giant Punch	Donkey Kong begins charges winding up his fist. When pressing the special move button again, Donkey Kong releases a massive punch. The power of this move is determined by the amount of time spent charging it up. When charged for at least 45 frames, the move grants DK Super Armor. This move is able to stack charges.	8-23%	15, 70, 25°	6	22	16-17
			25%		7
Side special	Headbutt	Donkey Kong smashes his head into his opponent, burying them in the ground. If the opponent is in the air, it will meteor smash them instead.	10%	20, 40, 271°	3	19	10-11
			11%	30, 40, 271°
Up special	Spinning Kong	Donkey Kong spins around rapidly, causing him to rise slightly and boosting his horizontal control significantly. Donkey Kong has Super Armor during the first 4 frames (ground) or 10 frames (air) of the attack.	14%	50, 70, 29°	4	59	3-7
			1%	5, 70, 50°	0		9-42
			4%	40, 70, 70°			45-46
			14%	50, 70, 29°	4		3-8
			1%	5, 70, 50°	0		10-43
			3%	5, 70, 70°			46-47
Down special	Hand Slap	Donkey Kong slams his fists down, damaging the grounded characters that are close to him. By continually pressing the special move button, the player can have Donkey Kong slap the ground multiple times.	11%	95, 15, 110°	5	21	7-8, 13-14
Final Smash	Arcade	Donkey Kong jumps onto a steel girder and begins throwing barrels everywhere, in the classic Donkey Kong fashion.	14%

Misc.

• Entrance: DK bursts out of a DK barrel.
• Taunts:
  • Standard: Faces camera and shrugs shoulders.
  • Side: Holds out banana with mischievous look.
  • Down: Same as Side.
• Fanfare: Bonus Clear fanfare from Donkey Kong Country Returns.
• Wins: Does a backflip, then shows his muscles and smiles.
• Loses: Claps slowly.

Changes from v0.9a

DK has receievd little changes from last demo. However, DK is one of a few characters who are not hindered by the low hitstun of this demo and is able to combo opponents like last demo. Another advantage is due to the decreased hitstun of this demo, DK is not as susceptible to chain grabs and zero-to-death combos that plagued him last demo. Due to this, DK is seen as a more effective character than last demo.

Attributes

• Due to shields depleting faster this demo makes it DK more susceptible to shield stabbing.

Ground attack s

• Up tilt send opponents into a lot of hitstun which makes it a good combo starter. This makes it a excellent tool this demo due to the decreased hitstun.

Aerial attacks

• Forward air appears to be weaker.

Special moves

• Giant Punch is a little weaker. However, it is still one of the strongest moves in the game.
  • Giant Punch no longer receives Super Armor when the move is not fully charged.
• DK can now gain vertical height when using Spinning Kong by pressing the special button.

In competitive play

Notable players

Active

• 1smash18
• PPStyles

Tier placement history

When first introduced in demo v0.8, DK was seen as character with great potential. He was ranked 10th of C tier for the list of demo v0.8b. He dropped to 24 of what could be considered C tier in demo v0.9a. However, he rose to 15th of what of A tier where he is seen as a high tier character. Changes in the metagame for v0.9b, has led to DK's position rising to 13th of A tier where he is still seen as a high tier character.

Gallery

Palette swaps

Screenshots

Donkey Kong and Pikachu in Yoshi's Story.

Donkey Kong in Crateria.

Donkey Kong attacking Samus with his side tilt in Rainbow Route.

Donkey Kong using his forward (cargo) throw on Link in Hylian Skies.

Donkey Kong doing his taunt while Black Mage attacks Fox in Dream Land.

Donkey Kong with Naruto and Goku from the reference of Donkey Konga where they brought some few anime songs, in Japan.

Donkey Kong's ending on Classic mode.

Artwork

Donkey Kong's second art in the DOJO!!!.

Donkey Kong's third art in the DOJO!!!.

Trivia

• Donkey Kong's third DOJO!! art is based off his artwork in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
  • In addition, his current artwork is taken directly from his artwork in Donkey Kong Country Returns.
• Steven Borgers stated that Donkey Kong, Bowser and Sheik were his hardest character projects. In DK's case it was due to his inexperience with spriting.
• Donkey Kong and Peach are currently the only characters so far to have a different Final Smash then the ones they have in the main Super Smash Bros. games. However, before the roster change and before DK's redesign, his Final Smash was supposed to be Konga Beat (His Final Smash in Brawl).