Donkey Kong 64 has a mixed reputation these days, thanks to its often bloated design and downright dizzying array of collectables. But while there were certainly some people who were complaining about those things back in the day, it didn't stop Donkey Kong 64 from becoming the best-selling game of 1999 on any platform, dethroning even the millennial monster of Pokemon Red and Blue.
"According to Circana's Retail Tracking Service, Donkey Kong 64 was the #1 best-selling video game of 1999 in the US market in dollars, besting Pokémon Red/Blue," according to Mat Piscatella on Bluesky. The OG Pokemon games had launched a year earlier in the US, but the nation was still fully in the hold of Pokemania in 1999 – the notion of any game dethroning Red and Blue at the time is absolutely wild.
