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[Naked Snake]

I've been playing this for a week and I'm only in world 2, because I keep repeating the same levels over and over to collect everything and beat the Time Attack. I even find myself replaying levels when I've already got everything in them just cause they're so much fun. I can't remember the last time any game did that to me.

I'm smitten.

This might quickly change though if the infamous difficulty later on is anything to go by. 1-K is currently kicking my ass.

 

[braves01]

I bought this in anticipation of Tropical Freeze *ugh, before the delay* and having lost my save at about the start of world 7, I have to say a few things: 1.) This game is still incredibly fun AND difficult, even on new mode; 2.) the drop to 30fps and slowdown hurts and is quite noticeable; and 3.) having roll tied to a button almost makes up for the drop in fps.

I'm still glad I have it, but I must admit Dolphin is probably the best way to play, even though easy mode makes it more enjoyable to less talented players like myself (although I'll still never be able to do all the time attacks).

 

[Christopher]

Should I buy this what do you guys think...

 

[DonMigs85]

Should I buy this what do you guys think...

If you didn't play the Wii version I would go for this. It's one of the best platformers on 3DS

 

[WrenchNinja]

Man, I'm so glad I picked this up. It's great finally being able to play this game with non - garbage controls. Just finished the second world.

 

[Neiteio]

Hey Naked Snake, several key mechanics to keep in mind:

- You can get extra height when bouncing off an enemy by tapping jump again the moment you hit them.

- You can roll off ledges and jump again mid-air to get extra distance.

- If you have Diddy with you, you can roll infinitely by repeatedly tapping the roll button. Try it in Sunset Shores -- you can blaze through most of the level while rolling.

 

[Christopher]

It's coming Saturday I didn't play the Wii one I just hope this is as awesome as the SNES ones

 

[Tom_Cody]

I'm just returning to this now after an extended break. Wow, I can't believe that was so many months ago.

Anyway, a few more thoughts:

I am currently working my way through world 4 (Cave). This game really has a lot of content! Each stage is so substantial. This is quite a change of pace from the NSMB series. In some ways it feels similar to the collection-based Mario 3D platformers and the Banjo-Kazooie series translated into 2D. The stages are 2-3 times longer than those in NSMB, the amount of collectibles is much greater (and they are harder to obtain), and the levels themselves have much more going on in their backgrounds. This really feels like an adventure game despite being a pure 2D platformer in terms of gameplay.

In my first stretch with the game, I burned out by putting too much focus on 100%ing levels as I was going through. Some of those collectibles are really hard to find and/or obtain. Once you factor in time attack, I was sometimes replaying levels 5-10 times. Now that I have given it a second go, I am primarily focused on clearing new stages and then separately returning to old levels when I am in the mood to do so. This makes for a much more pleasant gaming experience. I had actually gone through that same cycle with SM3DW and my turnaround with that game made me decide to return to this one.


One final comment: the combination of 30 FPS + high-speed scrolling causes problems. I have learned to turn off (or at least turn down) the 3D on minecart/rocket levels.

 

[Tom_Cody]

Just finished world 5. What a fantastic game. So many memorable levels and visual elements. Spingy Spores has such a great setting and Muncher Marathon (the spider level) has to be an all-time classic.

Mangoruby was quite a bastard. I felt very satisfied when I had beaten him but it took me a number of tries to get a feel for the fight. Also, the fight was one of a number of moments that made me wish I was playing this on my TV. The encounter just felt too cramped for the 3DS. I think I'm going to enjoying doing the time attack medals for this one though (whenever I get around to going for those).


I'm really enjoying my progression through the game. Sometimes I'll sit down and want to play a new level, other times I'll want to go back and try to collect stuff on the earlier levels. The K-O-N-G letters are always essentially fair, so I'll always go for those on my first return. The puzzle pieces can be more tricky but, by the time I have spent enough time with a level to first beat it and then possibly returned to get the letters, I usually will have gotten most or all of the pieces. From there it is easy enough to hire Squawks to get the last 1 or 2.

Also, I really like the unlockable galleries, similar to those in the Prime series. They add an extra bit of motivation to the task of going back to complete earlier levels. I have only unlocked the 'Diorama' for the first world so far (achieved by collecting all letter and all puzzle pieces) but that was a great feeling. There is just so much content here. I feel like I will be playing this for another 2 months.

 

[Gambit]

Just finished world 5. What a fantastic game. So many memorable levels and visual elements. Spingy Spores has such a great setting and Muncher Marathon (the spider level) has to be an all-time classic.

Mangoruby was quite a bastard. I felt very satisfied when I had beaten him but it took me a number of tries to get a feel for the fight. Also, the fight was one of a number of moments that made me wish I was playing this on my TV. The encounter just felt too cramped for the 3DS. I think I'm going to enjoying doing the time attack medals for this one though (whenever I get around to going for those).


I'm really enjoying my progression through the game. Sometimes I'll sit down and want to play a new level, other times I'll want to go back and try to collect stuff on the earlier levels. The K-O-N-G letters are always essentially fair, so I'll always go for those on my first return. The puzzle pieces can be more tricky but, by the time I have spent enough time with a level to first beat it and then possibly returned to get the letters, I usually will have gotten most or all of the pieces. From there it is easy enough to hire Squawks to get the last 1 or 2.

Also, I really like the unlockable galleries, similar to those in the Prime series. They add an extra bit of motivation to the task of going back to complete earlier levels. I have only unlocked the 'Diorama' for the first world so far (achieved by collecting all letter and all puzzle pieces) but that was a great feeling. There is just so much content here. I feel like I will be playing this for another 2 months.

Glad you are enjoying it so much. I liked it enough to play through it all again on 3DS after having finished the Wii one. World 5 is my favourite, and the muncher marathon was awesome!

 

[Tom_Cody]

I'm at the end of world 7. So good.

I had been playing this and SM3DW concurrently but this ultimately took over (though this is sort of moot since MK8 is going to be dominating my Wii U starting tomorrow).

I don't have much to add, I'm just still loving this. I've been playing though (or returning to 100%) 2-3 levels a day and that pace feels just right. The challenge is so intense that.


To anyone who might see this, where did you ultimately stop in your quest to complete the game? I am enjoying getting KONG letters and puzzle pieces, but I don't know if I am going to want to complete all of the time attack. Same comment regarding hard mode. How many people actually played through these modes?

 

[cavemancolton]

How noticeable is the frame rate in this game? Another way of asking this question is, how much does it hinder gameplay?

I've been thinking of picking up this game.

 

[maxcriden]

How noticeable is the frame rate in this game? Another way of asking this question is, how much does it hinder gameplay?

I've been thinking of picking up this game.

Honestly it's an amazing port but the frame rate is a significant change. Time trials are from what I understand and much more doable in the Wii version. With that said, I strongly prefer the 3DS port of the game. You get used to the frame rate and short of home brew it's the only way to play with buttons. It's just a stupendous port and easily favorite 3DS game. Plus, it has additional content the Wii version does not have.

 

[also]

How noticeable is the frame rate in this game? Another way of asking this question is, how much does it hinder gameplay?

I've been thinking of picking up this game.

The frame rate is bad; 30fps instead of 60 like on the Wii and there are frequent drops so the game feels really unresponsive. This is unforgivable for a game that demands so much precision and it really diminished my enjoyment. For the record, I'm usually not one to complain about frame rates but this game is a prime example of how a low, unstable frame rate ruins an otherwise good game.
Also, as you probably already know, the circle pad sucks compared to an analogue stick and the D-pad controls don't let you use B to run and A to jump so you are SOL if that's your preferred control scheme.

I really regret my purchase and advise you to stay away from this version.

 

[DonMigs85]

If you don't have access to the Wii version I would say this is still more than worth it - the lower resolution and framerate suck, but it's more than playable and it has extra stages.

 

[Tom_Cody]

I just completed 4K: Jagged Jewels. Oh my god. I went through something like 30 lives. Those K levels are bastards. I can't even image what lies ahead.

My completion percentage it at 77%. I have a few levels left in World 8 but I have tons of stuff left that I want to go through. Even though I'm close to seeing the credit crawl, I feel like I am going to continue to chip away at this game for the next few months. The challenge is so intense but the sense of gratification you get from completing these levels is fantastic.

 

[Tom_Cody]

How noticeable is the frame rate in this game? Another way of asking this question is, how much does it hinder gameplay?

I've been thinking of picking up this game.

I see that I'm kind of late in responding to this post but I thought I would chime in anyway.

I haven't played the Wii version but I have played all of the recent 60 FPS NSMB titles. I would say that you definitely notice the framerate, but it isn't disruptive to the gameplay.

In some ways the gameplay of the NSMB titles is more precise than what you'll find here. If those are games of inches, this is a game of feet. When you die, you are likely to die big.

It is interesting to watch some 60 FPS video of the Wii version now that I've spent so much time with this. It does look a lot smoother. That said, since I still have Tropical Freeze left to play, I don't feel like I'm missing out. If anything the transition from 3DS to Wii U will only increase my appreciation for the graphics in that game once I get to it.

The last word I'll say about the framerate is that it does make an impact on the 3D, especially on the fast scrolling levels (mine carts and rockets). With most 1st party Nintendo titles I turn the 3D all the way up but I have to play this game at ~25% to prevent ghosting.

 

[Tom_Cody]

I have been partially derailed by Animal Crossing and Crimson Shroud recently (as you can tell, I take my time getting to games) but I'm still chugging through DKCR3D. Part of the reason for the divide in my attention is that I have finally hit a bit of a wall in terms of difficult.

Now, to be totally clear, it's not like I was ever breezing through this game. It has always been challenging. I guess it's probably more accurate to say that I have hit a point where challenge is outweighed by frustration.

Two levels are responsible for this: Blast & Bounce (5-K) and Bobbing Basalt (8-5). I have spent something like an hour on Blast & Bounce which, by video game standards, is not that much time, but it definitely crosses the threshold of the amount of time I want to dedicate to one of these levels before I can beat it. The main cause of frustration is that there are no checkpoints in the K levels, so I never feel like I'm making progress. Also, every second of it is brutally hard so you can continually die at the very start, even if you've played it 50 times already. Bobbing Basalt probably isn't as bad, but I came to that after hitting my head against the wall on Blast & Bounce and I couldn't make it through.

Oh well, I will probably beat these levels eventually. In the absence of forward progress, I have continued to go back through the game to get puzzle pieces that I had missed and it is at least gratifying to be able to blast through the earlier levels with ease.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Blast & Bounce can be pretty brutal, I find it's one of the hardest K stages outside of mirror modes one hit deaths since a single mistake in most sections is instant death anyway, plus the barrel blasting nature of the stage makes it easy to start mistiming things when you're getting frustrated.

 

[Agent Unknown]

So I made Platinum and this is one of the rewards I'm mulling on choosing. I already planned on getting it someday even though I already own the Wii version as I want to play the extra stages. My only concern (aside from frame rate loss) is when I played it on a demo unit at Target last year, if I'm not mistaken the R trigger is what's used to roll and that felt awkward. Can roll be set to the Y button (as in B -jump, Y -run/roll)? Waggle roll on Wii version was never a real issue for me but if I'm going to get this version the roll function ought to at least be in a comfortable, quick, responsive spot (which the R trigger isn't IMHO for this game).

 

[The Xtortionist]

So I made Platinum and this is one of the rewards I'm mulling on choosing. I already planned on getting it someday even though I already own the Wii version as I want to play the extra stages. My only concern (aside from frame rate loss) is when I played it on a demo unit at Target last year, if I'm not mistaken the R trigger is what's used to roll and that felt awkward. Can roll be set to the Y button (as in B -jump, Y -run/roll)? Waggle roll on Wii version was never a real issue for me but if I'm going to get this version the roll function ought to at least be in a comfortable, quick, responsive spot (which the R trigger isn't IMHO for this game).

You can roll/pound/blow with Y, but you'll be using the circle pad to move instead of the Dpad. I think analog with the circle pad is the way to go regardless, but your mileage may vary.

 

[Agent Unknown]

^^^^
Thanks! I could actually see circle pad being very workable for me on this game.

 

[Tom_Cody]

So I made Platinum and this is one of the rewards I'm mulling on choosing. I already planned on getting it someday even though I already own the Wii version as I want to play the extra stages. My only concern (aside from frame rate loss) is when I played it on a demo unit at Target last year, if I'm not mistaken the R trigger is what's used to roll and that felt awkward. Can roll be set to the Y button (as in B -jump, Y -run/roll)? Waggle roll on Wii version was never a real issue for me but if I'm going to get this version the roll function ought to at least be in a comfortable, quick, responsive spot (which the R trigger isn't IMHO for this game).

The default configuration is y to roll / b to jump. L and R are used to grab (barrels and moss/vines). I'm not sure what was going on with that demo.

If look at the above page, you will see that I have gotten a lot of enjoyment out of this game. I recommend it strongly.

 

[Tom_Cody]

I return to this for the first time since the beginning of July and I've gotten back into the swing of things. I managed to finish up world 8 (including the final boss) and eventually made it through Blast & Bounce (5-K).

Now I just have puzzle pieces in ~12 levels, two K levels, and then the Golden Temple World.

The feel of playing it is interestingly different now that the end is relatively more in sight (I'm not really planning on going through time attack or mirror mode). I have put so many hours into this; it's strange that there in now some version of an end in sight.

 

[Tom_Cody]

Last week while I was waiting in line at Nintendo World for Smash 3DS, I beat the final Golden Temple level in DKCR3D. Additionally, upon completing that level, I had obtained 100% of the puzzle pieces.

I really had a blast with this game but it's nice to put it to rest. Very fun and very difficult but very rewarding.

I was amazed to check my activity log and see that I had only put ~35 hours into it. I rarely played more than one level at a time (having died many times in the process of completing each level), so this was spread across many play sessions. This contrasts sharply with NSMB2, SMB3DL, KI:U, FE:A, or Mario Kart 7, games that I frequently played for hours at a time. IMO DKCR pushed was a bit too hard. I enjoyed the challenge, but I think I would have liked the experience to be somewhat less intense.

 

[Nocturnowl]

It has been a slow burn coming to think if it, you've been making slow and steady progress through this thread for a while.
If you do ever get around to Tropical Freeze one day know that it actually does dial back on the intensity in various ways.

 

[Tom_Cody]

It has been a slow burn coming to think if it, you've been making slow and steady progress through this thread for a while.
If you do ever get around to Tropical Freeze one day know that it actually does dial back on the intensity in various ways.

Cool cool.

I picked up Tropical Freeze during the Smash sale and my excitement for it is untempered. I know I'm going to love diving into that experience. I'll probably start playing it sometime around the end of this year. I'm pretty well immersed into Smash 3DS at the moment, and then I want to finished 100%ing 3D World before I get back to another 2D platformed. I might also play Hyrule Warriors in the interim.

 

[Velcro Fly]

I finished Kirby last weekend so I've got a taste for more platforming. It's between finally picking this up again in world 4 I believe or finally trying to 100% 3D Land. I think I might do a little of both. I love 3D Land and I enjoyed this but then Animal Crossing came out

 

[NIGHT-]

Stuck at the factory map. Is there something I'm missing?

 

[Nocturnowl]

Stuck at the factory map. Is there something I'm missing?

The final three stages of the world all have a hidden power switch to activate a generator somewhere within, fortunately they're not too hard to find, keep an eye out and you may notice the generators themselves lurking in the background which means the hidden entrance is right near by.
When you've done all three you can progress onwards.