radioheadrule83
Banned
DONKEY KONG: JUNGLE BEAT REVIEW
This came out in the UK on Friday. I played through most of the game very quickly, and really wanted to post my review - but I was banned for being an idiot. All I'll say to open is: Nintendo haters and those who have grown to hate nature's primary colours in all their bright & pure glory will have a predictable reaction to this game. The rest of you better prepare to have a great big smile on your face. Playing this will exercise those facial muscles no matter what your mood.
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Key to your enjoyment in this game, is accepting certain truths:
There aren't that many levels in Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, and using the drums in a platform game takes a tiny bit of getting used to...
However: once you have mastered the bongo controls, picking up and playing is a blast! A blast that becomes invariabley second nature. Nintendo's new Tokyo team look like they have a bright future ahead of them. Early impressions indicated a few things to me -- there's no actual story conveyed to you - you just get thrown into the game. The first time you play, even the Title Screen is a sort of micro level. You'll see what I mean when you play it. As for DK himself? Donkey Kong's facial expressions are awesome: he's so full of personality in this game. The only reason he's enlarged in the bottom left of the screen is probably so you can entertain yourself with his halfwitted mug in all of it's glory. He is one hell of a lovable fur-shaded moron in this game! The camera work and audio reminds me of Bonzai the TV show for some reason. If you've never seen it - what I'm basically saying is that the pacing is really fast and wacky. They're really exploiting the company's Japanese-ness here -- and it works like a charm. The levels have multiple paths (which you mightnt realise at first) and some of them take a bit of skill to discover/truly-master. Especially later.
This game has some of the best music in a Nintendo Gamecube game, ever. In the background you'll notice DK's monkey friends clapping and dancing to the levels' various themes - even playing instruments. The attention to detail is awesome. The graphics are quite simply impressive. There's a few Wind Waker effects used here and there - especially in fighting the enemies. Look out for puffs of smoke, fire and explosions to see what I mean. Backgrounds are so far beyond artistically-sound its rediculous: there are birds fluttering about, animated whispy clouds, rays of sunshine, refracting rays in the water, awesome waterfalls etc. It's a job very well done - and might explain why some will feel that this game is so bittersweet: it's awesome in every regard, and yet perhaps, too short.
"Battle for Stormy Castle" is my favourite level so far. The music reminded me partly of A Link to the Past's dark world theme and it has the tone of Super Mario Bros 3's world 8 levels. The barren wasteland and trees in the background of this level actually remind me of similar ones in the newer Zelda trailers. When you get to this level, check it out and see if you agree. There are other great levels of course, but this one stood out for me: multiple levels, animal "vehicles" and ninja monkeys flying at you. AWESOME. There are a few levels from this point that have fantastic music actually. Aforementioned animal vehicles come in a few forms: gliders, riders and birds. Using them can be a lot of fun.
Though the game is short, it seems they've put in a few things that you can always go back to and challenge yourself with, for the sake of a little more longevity. In addition to the multiple paths that I mentioned earlier - there are certain levels (Kingdom 2 - Level 1 for example) where you will ride some kind of animal down a slope as fast as you can and try to make the longest jump possible. Records are saved to memory card. A later level sees you do a similar thing, but this time you're trying to make several successive jumps without touching the ground. The more you get, the higher your score.
In normal-play, you are striving to collect bananas, first and foremost. Combos multiply what bananas are worth, and you get combos by doing as many airborne moves as you can in succession. Banana's and combos then rack up "beats" -- symbolised by a number under a giant barrel in the top left of the screen. These double as your energy -- kind of like rings in Sonic the Hedgehog games. These beats also earn you crests/medals at the end of each level, which are required to open up new kingdoms. For the first 8 kingdoms this is nimps-easy. It's when you get to the rest and particularly when you have to unlock the final battle, that you'll have to go back to earlier levels and learn to master them. It's not particularly hard: don't expect viewtiful joe... but it is FUN.
If you've played Mario Vs Donkey Kong on the Gameboy Advance, this game pulls something similar at the end credits. You will see levels you've never seen before. Once the game is finished, you'll get a chance to play them -- and they are some of the games' best! Opinions will vary regarding the length of this game. It's actually longer than I initially thought. Each Kingdom has 2 levels, and a boss. So at my count, I make it something like 32 levels, and 5 or more unique bosses which you encounter multiple times. Each time you meet them, the battle arena, and the ferocity and diversity of their attacks greatens.
Closing comments:
Amazing graphics: this game has the best in-house graphics Nintendo have put out this generation. The exeption possibly being the Metroid Prime games. It'd be a better looking game than Wind Waker if only there were more of it: the lava effects are somehow as good as or better than those on Dragonroost Island.
Fantastic musical score: it's MIDI, and it doesn't matter. Some really great tunes. I'm actually tempted to capture some of it.
Gameplay: a whole lot of fun.
Longevity: questionable.
Added incentive: If you don't have an extra set already, the extra bongos will unlock the option of true Multiplayer in Donkey Konga. Multiplayer using normal controllers as bongo-emulation just isn't the same.
General comments:
This game makes you realise what they could do with SNES-era gameplay mechanics on modern machines if only casual gamers would accept it. It makes you want more 2d platforming -- whether it uses bongos or not. My craving for Mario action on a 2D plane exponentially increased upon playing this title! You get a good selection of well-designed levels - but you come out at the end wishing there were 96 of them like in Super Mario World.
I'm still playing so I'm not sure what the game's full extent of unlockables are, but I feel I've played enough to convey my feelings in review.
PRO:
The game achieves a probable Nintendo goal of sorts: it makes you want Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat 2.
CON:
Short to the point of making you cry because its so good.
My score: 8.5/10
