(Originally posted on August, 2014)
(1994, SNES/Super Famicom)
Being a Nintendo Power subscriber, I was lucky enough to receive the Donkey Kong Country VHS tape (with it’s amazingly-90’s style), which I of course watched dozens of times in preparation for the game. Right when CGI was becoming a big deal in movies, the idea of converting pre-rendered imagery into video game sprites for the illusion of such visuals was brilliantly timed. Even back then, the promotional imagery had a surreal quality that was far from “real” but very mesmerizing: The graphics team had no idea how to do fur in 1994. Everything had a porcelain quality to it, with the characters seemingly frozen for years. Fortunately, while the in-game graphics were not nearly as sharp, they animated and came to life quite well.
Possibly the first game I received on launch day, I remember nesting myself (gorillas sleep in nests, so I had to go with that word!) in my room and toppling King K. Rool before the evening was over. It wasn’t a waste of money, as I went on to replay it many more times over the following months and years. By 2014, having not played DKC in well over a decade, but often noticing a somewhat negative view of the game on the internet, I tried out my newly acquired Super Famicom cart for another adventure.
Going bananas and beating the game in a single 4 hour session, I found that I still appreciated DKC quite a bit, for what the game is. Donkey Kong Country is not extraordinarily ambitious, nor expertly crafted in terms of design, but succeeds quite well as a medium to unobtrusively deliver the still impressive, distinct graphics and the timeless soundtrack. After arriving at Gorilla Glacier (World 4), DKC turns into quite a decent challenge, but seldom gets hugely frustrating. Rare attempted to pad the game with collectible items and secrets. I’ve never been drawn to searching everything out, as I find most of the levels lack a sense of progression, totality or often just logic in their design. No particular stage is so offensive that I wish it wasn’t in the game, however I simply wish to enjoy them briefly, quickly progressing to the next one. There are plenty of other games I’d rather go treasure hunting and hang around in, such as Retro’s own take on this franchise.
Having said that, many of the stages stand out as fun for reasons other than the core gameplay:
- This is one of the few games to have consistently enjoyable water stages. When not being pursued by some slippery creature threatening sharp teeth or poison, the stages are deeply relaxing, both in the listening of the music and in viewing the backgrounds, which seamlessly meld into an infinite sea.
- Suddenly sticking you into a midnight rain storm (complete with lightning) and giant hornets to swing over, level 1-2 leaves a big impression early on in the game.
- The dangling, colored lamps in the cavern stages are still an impressive effect for a 16-bit title.
- The music of the forest stages really does convey the feeling of the forests’ elusive but powerful energy.
- I still ask the question: In the ruin stages, how the heck are the beavers making giant wheels levitate by running inside of them? This is a game, but still!
- In another example, within a foggy, threatening cave, pressing a timed on-off switch somehow makes the MONSTERS lurking within retreat back into their barrels, like Grouch from Sesame Street. I have no idea what’s going on, but it’s still neat!
- The final boss fight finally gets you off the island, set to one of the most epic tunes of the 16-bit era.
While the level design and mechanics are simplistic, there’s still a decent amount of variety pulled off. The barrel cannons and floating bouncy tires defy logic, but are fun to interact with. The rope swinging will satisfy the monkey DNA lurking in the human player. There are animals to briefly transform into, surprisingly well done swimming stages, the infamous mine cart levels, uncreative (but satisfying) boss fights and plenty more, all taking place over a nicely done world map where Donkey and Diddy’s friends and family are ready to assist in various ways.
Along with Sonic, Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat, I hold a special spot for Donkey Kong Country as one of the games I most closely associate with early-90’s nostalgia. For kids 20 years prior, such a short, simple but beautiful experience would at the least be a perfect weekend rental. If you’re reading this as a busy adult in 2014 or later, you might also find it to be just as satisfying for the brief commitment it asks of you.
(Originally posted January, 2021)
In the mid 90s, Nintendo's once unstoppable momentum was quickly being gnawed at by competition wielding futuristic technology and a better grasp of edgy American youth culture. Donkey Kong, by then a somewhat outdated and awkward Mario Kart guest, was put to a major task; being reinvented by Nintendo's western partner, Rareware. Kong soon returned with an extended family and the same computer imaging techniques overtaking American cinema. Experiencing the violent lightning storm of stage 2 without the slightest quake from the SNES was indeed like Jurassic Park. One was about a miracle within amber. The other, from a cartridge now beginning to be viewed as similarly ancient...
Despite strongly embracing the awkward business of disguising sprites as polygons, this banana went on to ripen without many brown spots. Smartly avoiding the garishness seen in many pre-rendered games that followed, each faux-3D stage artfully practices restraint and maximizing the minimal. Caves with a single stalactite color and underwater stages emphasizing a narrow ecosystem frequently repeat between worlds, yet convey dramatically different atmospheres with the effective swapping of a few graphical elements and enemies.
Aging even better than the graphics is the soundtrack. Guitars wail like a howler monkey hiding in the brush. Percussive elements sneak around like a serval cat. "Voices in the Temple" and "Cave Dweller" have a playful, slightly sinister presence. The solemn tension building followed by hopeful synth break in "Fear Factory" may have you setting down the controller just to listen. Good thing there's no time limits.
Aside from the minecarts, tagging system and the refreshing launches by barrel, little is new on the island. Level design and especially boss battles are simplistic, yet competent. While challenging, the most frustrating moments never betray fairness. If a suicidal cart kremlin bested your reflexes, be relieved that their sudden appearances aren't random. Even the dreaded Snow Barrel Blast stage allows the player infinite time to prepare for each nerve-racking firing. Backed towards the edge of a cliff? Simply roll into the air and jump to wherever's safe. Much like Beavers powering giant, levitating stone wheels...this feat makes no sense, but is highly amusing nevertheless. The occasional animal helpers feel a bit limited given the game's already constrained view, but mowing through enemies with the rhinoceros was so fun that Rambi returned as often as Rambo.
Lean and highly re-playable, I associate DKC more closely with 90s nostalgia than as a great game itself. Confined by rather conservative design, somersaulting off a powerlifting Kremlin with the heavy Donkey, then switching to the nimble Diddy to cartwheel an armadillo is satisfying, but, merely a test run for the type of imagination and ingenuity following months and decades later. Though this debut is often considered second banana within the 16-bit trilogy, the Kong troop served Nintendo well by being lent out and sent out to pound their chest towards other encroaching anthromorphs. With Mario already so busy on the SNES, he could appreciate the help. Even from his original nemesis, DK...
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