In 1995, learning of the imminent release of Donkey Kong Land for the Game Boy just months after the SNES barrel-buster was an immense surprise. Despite significant doubts over the hardware's capability, the all new enemies and stages made this yellow cartridge alluring to any freshly enthused Donkey Kong Country fan. Surprisingly creative when just a straight port would have sold spectacularly, after a few jungle and snow stages, Donkey Kong Land begins radically differentiating itself, but rarely for the better...
Acting as a bridge between the original Country and Diddy's Conquest, World 1 features King K. Rool's recently wrecked ship, which you may climb the ropes of and explore months before doing the same in DKC2. The Mountain Mayhem stage features verticality and constant switching from left to right unlike anything in Country. Underwater ruins accompany the returning coral reef levels, where a giant nautilus gives a terrifying chase. The overworlds introduce puzzle elements, as you must find hidden items within levels to deal with obstacles blocking your path. Harkening back to Donkey Kong's early 80s origins, the high-rise themed final world hosts the second showdown with King K. Rool. Elsewhere in the land, entirely original bosses improve upon Country's uninspired giant enemies.
While all the new elements are highly commendable, the game's rushed development on incredibly limited hardware made for a disappointing final product. The zoomed-in camera lags behind Donkey and Diddy's movements; annoying at best, nauseating at worst. By the time you get accustomed to the stiff, bizarre physics, you'll be nearly finished with the several hour long journey. Sky High Caper is amongst the worst levels I've played in any platformer, taking Mario 3's moving platform concept and creating a miserable experience. In no desire to frustratingly repeat deaths from poor visibility, or just plain awkward controls, I admit to abusing the Switch' save/load feature for much of the game.
While the graphics are remarkably smooth and detailed, they weren't at all suitable for the Game Boy platform, so much that it plays notably better in the lightly colored Super Game Boy mode. Even with the modernity of an HDTV, in black and white it's hard to differentiate ropes from the snowy mountain's busy scenery. I can only imagine how frustrating the experience was on the original Game Boy's tiny, motion-blurred screen. The best part of the game is the soundtrack, which includes worthy new songs and clever remixes. Played on the Kremlin Ship, Gangplank Galleon diverts into an entirely different direction than the SNES' intense final battle theme.
Donkey Kong super-fans will enjoy Land's bold changes and clever transition towards Country 2, but most players will find this to be a mere curiosity, literally paling in comparison to other platformers. Donkey Kong Land is best approached like a gorilla encountering some fermenting fruit on the jungle floor. Go ahead and poke a stick at it, maybe even give it a taste. But as a primate with options, you'll likely move on to more choice offerings.
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