Donkey Kong 64 Was the Best-Selling Game in the US in 1999 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 28 May 2026 / 2,853 Views
Senior Director and Video Game Industry Advisor at Circana Mat Piscatella following the announcement the Nintendo 64 game - Donkey Kong 64 - will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack on June 3 has revealed sales figures for the game in the US.
Donkey Kong 64 was the best-selling game in the US in 1999 in terms of dollar sales, beating out Pokémon Red / Blue. It was also the 16th top seller in 2000.
The Nintendo 64 version of Donkey Kong 64 sold over 2.3 million units and generated $130 million in revenue.
The game is also the ninth best-selling game of all-time on the Nintendo 64 in the US. The N64 games that sold better are Super Mario 64, 007: Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros, Pokémon Stadium, Diddy Kong Racing, and Star Fox.
"A little late on this one, but 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," said Piscatella. "In 2000 Donkey Kong 64 ranked 16th. US lifetime sales of the N64 version exceeded 2.3M units and $130M."
He added, "Donkey Kong 64 ranks 9th all-time in US N64 video game unit sales, following Super Mario 64, 007: Goldeneye, Mario Kart 64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Smash Bros, Pokémon Stadium, Diddy Kong Racing and Star Fox."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
More Articles
That was the one hyped up big N64 game that was just a big disappointment. Was just a sorta boring bloated mess. Big and pretty but mediocre. That was the most disappointing game for me that gen. DK64 being bad is the reason Nintendo abandoned the idea of 3D DK for a full 26 years until DK:B last year.
Perhaps so, but hey, it walked so Bananza could later run.
Albeit it is somewhat vexing that Banjo Kazooie came out first and is generally considered a timeless classic (in an era where 3D platformers generally haven't aged well) but things be strange sometimes.
People and critics at the time really liked it. Definitely has its flaws, but it does more right than it does wrong.
Don't think the gap in 3D DK games has much to do with DK64. Nintendo themselves never really made many 3D platformers outside of the Mario franchise and Rare was sold.
Hell yes it was!!!
Makes sense. IGN gave it a 9. It was well-received in its time.
Hard to believe that relatively low numbers like that used to make something a "best seller" lol
Solid game with amazing visuals but wasn't as good as the Banjo games. This was the 1st game where I felt Rare were losing their way. Following was StarFox Adventures which was another miss for me.
D! K! Donkey Kong!
I've never played it so looking forward to trying it on Switch
