Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat - IGN Hands On

Buddy.
Could you please make a thread with the following

*Pictures of the Case, Booklet, and Disc
*Impressions of
----Graphics
----Music
----Gameplay
----Presentation
*Import Reccomendation


Thanks.
 
Well, I can do the pictures and I can do the recommendation, but you'll have to wait on the full writeup. I was planning on doing one anyways, but I won't have the time until after Christmas :/
 
BuddyChrist83 said:
Well, I can do the pictures and I can do the recommendation, but you'll have to wait on the full writeup. I was planning on doing one anyways, but I won't have the time until after Christmas :/

Then please do the two you can. :)
THanks, BuddyC.
 
This is a very Japanese day for me. I just finished the first few levels of Jungle Beat, I'm going to go eat curry rice down the street, and for karaoke tonight my friends and I will meet. And I will sing random shit.

So, before I head out to stuff rice and fried pork into my mouth with a spoon, here are my Jungle Beat impressions.

It's exactly what you imagine it to be, but more polished than you probably think. The controls are spot-on, there's lots of tutorials to make sure you don't miss things, and between levels there are mini-tutorials as well as videos that show you hidden secrets you may have missed in levels you've already played.

I'm not yet sure how short it is, and I'm not sure I'm going to care. I've gotten golds on the first three levels -- it took me three tries to hit it on the first (Banana Kingdom) because I didn't know about some of the ways you can get a higher score (Beats). (ProTip: don't just run through a line of bananas -- stand in the middle of them and clap to earn combo points.)

The level 1 boss fight makes me want a Punch-Out game that uses the bongos.

Of course, once I knew some more of the ways to get more Beats, I got the gold badge on Level 3 the first try. I thought I'd have to redo it, because I definitely missed some of the bonuses on the first part of that level, and I took damage fighting the boss. Maybe there are secret bonuses for being extrasuperperfect, but it doesn't seem like it.

The part where you ride the woolly mammoth (rhino? I forget) through the ice mountain changes things up since it's more about twitch reflexes. And the third level begins with a stage where you have to time your claps in order to fly over a stage while your little monkey friends throw you from branch to branch. The second stage introduces item volleyball -- knock an enemy up into the air, then jump to meet it and punch it to send it flying.

Jungle Beat is a vaguely musical experience -- even though you're not really clapping with the rhythm of the background music, it does feel like a music game. Those of you who know my fondness for the first level music in DKC will know how excited I am that the game's soundtrack seems to be built around this theme, with a brief reprise of it used to tag the end of each level.

My hands are numb from enjoyment; the corners of my mouth hurt from smiling.
 
Import recommendation: There are paragraphs of text that explain about certain moves, but there are also graphics and videos that illustrate every such concept. Thus, I'd imagine anybody could play this.
 
Damn, I cannot wait. Donkey Konga wound up being MUCH more fun than I thought it would be. I'm positively enthused about Jungle Beat!
 
Disc:
Disc.jpg


Boxart (click for larger version):


Back of the box (click for larger version):


Manual Cover (click for larger version):


Staff/Q&A Page (click for larger version):


Control Foldout, side one (click for larger version):


Control Foldout, side two (click for larger version):


I would've scanned the rest of the manual, but there's really nothing interesting in there, not much art, mostly instructions and screenshots.

Recommendation:
Jungle Beat is fun, perhaps the most fun I've had with my GameCube since Super Smash Brothers Melee, and has tons of replay value. Even then, it's a little on the short side, and I don't see most sticking around to 100% it. And it's coming to America in three months. If you can, I'd suggest holding off and buying the domestic. But if you absolutely can't wait, go ahead and import it, you won't be disappointed. Either way, you really should experience Jungle Beat.

Kobun's already touched on the fact that it's rather import friendly, so really, it boils down to how much you want to spend and if you can wait.
 
Shikamaru Ninja said:
CAN ANYONE TRANSLATE THE STAFF CREDITS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No but I've had a couple of minutes to compare squiggles (technical name).

Executive Producer

Satoru Iwata

General Producers

Shigeru Miyamoto
Takashi Tezuka

Producer

Takao Shimizu

Director

Yoshiaki Koizumi

Koichi Hayashida and Futoshi Shirai are two of the four assistant directors and Kazumi Yamaguchi is the Map Designer. If no-one steps in to provide full details I'll give 'em all a stab tomorrow. As previously suggested it looks like much of the Super Mario Sunshine team were involved, makes me wish I had imported.
 
Thanks for the impressions. Really looking forward to this game. The length actually doesn't worry me that much as long as it has plenty of replay value. I've got too many games to play as it is (Metroid Prime 2 and Halo 2 still shrink wrapped for starters!)
 
Is it a game you'll go back to a lot?

I don't think that as a single player experience Donkey Konga had a lot of longevity to it either - unless you were gonna try and do the more impossible Jam levels. But Konga has replayability by the shit load. It's a game that you can go back to time and time again, especially with other people around. Is this a similar thing? A game fun enough that I'll go back to it a lot / show it off?

Looking foreward to this one a lot. Feb in Europe I believe...
 
Code:
Boss KIKONGU jungle beat Staff
Executive Producer			Satoshi Iwata			President
Producer				Shigeru Miyamoto		Director-General information Kaihatsu
					Takushi Tezuka			Information development headquarters
Producer				Takao Shimizu			Director Super Mario Sunshine
Director				Koizumi 歓晃			Producer Super Mario Sunshine
Assistant director			Hayashida Hirokazu			Main programmer Super Mario Sunshine
					Hyodo Kimiharu			Assistant director Super Mario Sunshine
					Shiroi 太			Super Mario Sunshine map director.
					Hyodo Kimiharu	Assistant director Super Mario Sunshine
					Shiroi 太		Super Mario Sunshine map director.
					Kawabata Toshihiro	"Baton" -"RUIJI apartment" - of the tradition - style [ ZERUDA ] "PIKUMIN" etc.
Player character programming		Spring water Intelligent	It support-programs by "MARIOSANSHAIN."
System programming director 		Koga Naoki	It support-programs by "MARIOSANSHAIN."
Character programming director 		Hayakawa 毅	It object-programs by "MARIOSANSHAIN."
Character programming			Ota Tatsuro	It programs under "the baton of the tradition - style of ZERUDA."
					Ando Katsuyasu 	
					Yamaguchi 敦 	
Sound					Kawamura Masashi	The sound of "the baton of the tradition - style of ZERUDA", and "four swords"
Music					Yokota Truth people 	
Character design			Hosono Tsuyoshi	It character-designs by "MARIOSANSHAIN."
					Former warehouse Kenta	It character-designs by "MARIOSANSHAIN."
					Sugawara It ceases and is a child.	It map-designs by "MARIOSANSHAIN."
					Mishima 敦 	
Map design				Yamaguchi One beauty		It map-object-designs by "MARIOSANSHAIN."
Character art & screen design		Matsuzaki Yasuhiko	Former UGA"Rez" graphic designer
Effect design				Autumn fringe Hirosuke	It is "the baton of the tradition - style of ZERUDA", and "four sword +", and is an effect.
					Matsumiya Means Yoshiko	"Tradition -4 つ sword + of ZERUDA"
Character modeling			Watanabe Daisuke		Former pixel animation
					Ezaki Masanori 	Former pixel animation
					Yamamoto Shunsuke 	Free 3DCG designer.
					Minamizawa Ken-ichi 	"WILDARMS Advanced 3rd" character motion
Map modeling				Hashimoto Kazunori 	Former data yeast.
					Tanaka Ritsuko 	
					Suzuki Sanae 	
					Yada Tomoko 	
3D animation				Ajima Beauty Keiko 	
					Hisanaga 勝貴 	A former dream FAKU tree, animation "a ZOIDS new century / ZERO"
Character art design			Takamura Hideaki 	Former UGA"Rez" graphic designer
Voice					Long 嶝 Takashi 	Abbreviation
					Suzuki Katsumi 	Abbreviation
					Miyata Hironori 	Abbreviation
					Nonaka Hideaki 	Abbreviation
					Takashina Toshitsugu 	Abbreviation
					Okazaki 雅紘 	Abbreviation
					Tsuchiya Toshihide 	Abbreviation
Coordination				Nishimura Katsuto 	The program of "PIKUMIN" and "PIKUMIN" etc.
Pro GURESU management			Kato Keizo 	It pro-GURESU-manages by {"super MARIOSANSHAIN."
Technical support			Matsui Keisuke 	
					Okamoto Shingo 	It debugging-supports under "a baton [ a style ]."
					Yasuda Yoshito 	It debugging-supports by "striking-how woods e+."
					Kadoi Hironobu 	It debugging-supports by "four sword +."
Debugging support			Yano 晃 	
Special SFX				Sugiyama Direct 	
					Black Sea Tomoaki 	Information development headquarters, a computer-graphics designer
					SUPER MARIO CLUB
					Nintendo Tokyo branch
Art work				Iida 季 	It is "striking-how woods e+" and is an art work.
					Sato Right virtue 	Information development headquarters, an art work
					Nakaue Shigehisa 	Nintendo Dream -- 絵描いて -- better -- た
					Hill Inside congratulation cost 	
					Nakano Hirosuke 	It is "super MARIOSANSHAIN" and is an art work.
					Oyama Greeting 	
					Kadota Keisuke 	It is "a baton [ a style ]" and is an art work.
					Teshima Atsushi 	It is "super MARIOSAN Shine" and is an art work.

Sorry for the engrish.

http://www.excite.co.jp/world/engli...itorial/tokyo_studio.html&wb_lp=JAEN&wb_dis=2
 
Can anyone get an accurate translation. I could do a further more accurate trace of the Tokyo staff.

But yeah, it is mainly the Sunshine team. Koizumi confirmed this was actually in development at Kyoto first, so they merely brought the game over to Tokyo before many of the new staff was even hired.

Hisanaga 勝貴 Former: Dream Factory (Zoids New Century Animation)
Takamura Hideaki Former: United Game Artist Employee (REZ Graphic Designer)
Matsuzaki Yasuhiko Former: United Game Artist Employee (REZ Graphic Designer)
Hashimoto Kazunori Former: Data East
Watanabe Daisuke Former pixel animation
Ezaki Masanori Former pixel animation
Yamamoto Shunsuke Free 3DCG designer.
Minamizawa Ken-ichi Former: Contrail / Media Vision : Wild Arms Adv. 3 Character

So that seems like very few of the 20-30 initial new designers hired went into DK: Jungle Beat. It was a Mario Sunshine team game really.
 
radioheadrule83 said:
Is it a game you'll go back to a lot?

I don't think that as a single player experience Donkey Konga had a lot of longevity to it either - unless you were gonna try and do the more impossible Jam levels. But Konga has replayability by the shit load. It's a game that you can go back to time and time again, especially with other people around. Is this a similar thing? A game fun enough that I'll go back to it a lot / show it off?

Looking foreward to this one a lot. Feb in Europe I believe...

Yup. You really nailed it with "a game fun enough that I'll go back to it a lot / show it off." Everyone I show it to is awestruck, all echoing the same "whoa, that's cool" sentiment.
 
DKJB came in the post this morning, and I've been playing it a fair bit since. It's the first game I've gotten for my Gamecube in a long time, due to other committments (uni).

Great game, though the repetition of the bosses is a little lame. Still, it looks, sounds, and most importantly, plays great.

Christmas presents for yourself are great!
 
Just finished the game to the point that the credits roll.

It has to be said, DKJB is pretty short, but its enjoyment factor is off the scale.

If nothing else, it has monkey-fucking-ninjas. With katanas and shruiken (sp?)
 
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