What are Nintendo's Big 3 "core" franchises?

[BrandonM]

Jumpin said:

Nintendo isn't a "Holy Trinity", There are four main defining franchises, and they are: Super Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda, and Pokemon.

Metroid, Kirby, Kid Icarus, Animal Crossing, are examples of Nintendo B-series titles.

Smash and Mario Kart are multi-series titles.

But what has Donkey Kong done for me lately?