Yes but before that he was a stand alone character (DKC series), they made him more and more into the mario spinoffs due to the fact that they had no interest in making a dedicated sequel to that series until the Wii came out with DKCR. :(

I still personally consider him part of his own series.

Who doesn't like Yoshi? He's adorable!

Donkey Kong NES is different from Donkey Kong Country SNES.

Cranky Kong is the original Donkey Kong from the arcade games (although Nintendo has sometimes ignored this in the past, though they do ultimately support Rare's decision). During his youthful prime, Cranky Kong kidnapped Pauline, was kidnapped and trapped in a cage by Mario, and even battled Stanley the Bugman in a greenhouse. Not counting the "modern" mixes in the Game & Watch Gallery series, his final role as Donkey Kong was in Donkey Kong '94. After that event, he relinquished his name to his grandchild and retired.

http://www.mariowiki.com/Cranky_Kong