I've loved Donkey Kong Country Returns since I was a kid and I really enjoyed finally playing through the original. The platforming is a lot of fun and the soundtrack is fantastic. The graphics also look great for the time. It is frustrating how the camera struggles to keep up with you and enemies can easily come in from off screen and kill you. The hitboxes are also wonky and the bosses are lame.
Solid 2D platformer with a cool visual style and great atmosphere. The level design is generally solid throughout, and the game introduces a lot of varied mechanics to keep things fresh without straying too far from the core platforming gameplay you're here for in the first place.
There's two things I didn't like here. First is the length. You can beat this in an afternoon, which is not really anything new when it comes to a lot of SNES games, but the levels here feel pretty short in of themselves, which makes the game feel shorter than it actually is. Secondly is the camera. I felt it was just a tad too close to the player in a lot of cases, resulting in several moments where I was blindsided by an enemy or projectile that hit me before I could see it coming. It's not a constant occurence, but it does happen more often than I'd like it to. Just a little bit of extra screen space would have gone a long way here.
Outside of a handful of complaints, Donkey Kong Country is solid and an easy game to recommend for fans of the genre. I might go back to reach 100% completion one day, but I'm satisfied with leaving it here for the time being. Definitely looking forward to playing the second and third games in the future.
There's two things I didn't like here. First is the length. You can beat this in an afternoon, which is not really anything new when it comes to a lot of SNES games, but the levels here feel pretty short in of themselves, which makes the game feel shorter than it actually is. Secondly is the camera. I felt it was just a tad too close to the player in a lot of cases, resulting in several moments where I was blindsided by an enemy or projectile that hit me before I could see it coming. It's not a constant occurence, but it does happen more often than I'd like it to. Just a little bit of extra screen space would have gone a long way here.
Outside of a handful of complaints, Donkey Kong Country is solid and an easy game to recommend for fans of the genre. I might go back to reach 100% completion one day, but I'm satisfied with leaving it here for the time being. Definitely looking forward to playing the second and third games in the future.
i feel no hesitation in saying that donkey kong country is my favorite game from the golden age of platformers; hell, my favorite platformer ever. every word of impossible nostalgia-drunk exaltation spilled from the mouths of nintendotubers over the snes drivel they grew up with is fulfilled in dkc's pre-rendered 3d glory. fuck mario. this is what they told me smw would be like. even the water levels are good. if this game didn't play like a dream- constantly challenging you, though never unclear of its expectations or punishing with its lives- it would still have more style than pretty much any game in its genre released then or now. such technical wizardry was performed here that the game's assets and soundtrack look and sound somehow worse uncompressed. every level is a real place and i want to be there. aquatic ambience is cited incessantly in "greatest ost" lists for good reason. rare's nintendoid output would only improve (see: the sequel to this game), but this will always be their greatest achievement in my eyes. it was here first. it came and it conquered. shine on, you crazy kong.
Despite being held back bay a few repetitive levels and an out of place industrial world (that is luckily redeemed by the last world), DKC is one of the best platformers I have ever played, and one of Nintendo’s best games. So excited to see how this art style, score (my god the score), collectibles, and level design evolve over the trilogy.
holy hell this game was great! the game looks beautiful especially for it being an snes game! the gameplay is fun, the bosses aren't anything special except for the final one. the levels are fun, and the soundtrack is sooo goooood! mind you these games are not easy so be sure to know that beforehand! would recommend!
An absolute beauty of a game that the developers decided to ruin by making it stupidly (not a random choice of words here) hard. If game makers had arrived to the realization that your marvelous platformer with a masterpiece of a soundtrack could be easy, Donkey Kong Country would’ve been even better remembered, which is saying a lot. But the insistence in making games hard and punishing even if it doesn’t feel good mechanically nor makes sense with the vibe you’re going for has ruined many games, and will doubtless ruin many more.
Anyway the level design is Rare fucking with you in a way that makes the fun go away. I could call it “what if design” because they seemingly went “what if the player runs up with a new enemy throwing barrels at them that they can’t see if they are going slightly fast”, or “what if we put this enemy in the EXACT POSITION the player would end up in regular circumstances in this section ha ha!”, etc. Or I could call it shit design. Because is shit.
Anyway the level design is Rare fucking with you in a way that makes the fun go away. I could call it “what if design” because they seemingly went “what if the player runs up with a new enemy throwing barrels at them that they can’t see if they are going slightly fast”, or “what if we put this enemy in the EXACT POSITION the player would end up in regular circumstances in this section ha ha!”, etc. Or I could call it shit design. Because is shit.
This was the first SNES game I ever played and owned growing up so this game has a soft spot. Being a reboot of the arcade classic - this game delivers in fun and in difficulty - the music has NO RIGHT being as good as it is and is still a sound track MANY gamers recognize today.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPqSAH6E3FI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPqSAH6E3FI
Cranky Kong winds up his old Victrola to play an old creaky tune, one evocative of days long past. Times of climbing red girders and throwing barrels down at his former master, the Jumpman. In his younger days, he was known as Donkey Kong, then Donkey Kong Sr., having started a family with his beloved Wrinkley Kong. He remembers the day Jr. left, never to be seen again, leaving behind a son of his own.
Idfk, I really like this game, even if half of the levels are in dumb ass caves (like why would you make assets for a crystal grotto level and only use it once?). Still, I thinks it's a testament to this game's quality that the later levels, while challenging, are still really engaging and still experiment with new mechanics.
Idfk, I really like this game, even if half of the levels are in dumb ass caves (like why would you make assets for a crystal grotto level and only use it once?). Still, I thinks it's a testament to this game's quality that the later levels, while challenging, are still really engaging and still experiment with new mechanics.
I played through 80% of the game before I realized there was a run button (skill issue). Even with that in mind, it gets pretty damn hard, I don't know how people beat this back in the day. I used save states and still struggled to get past some levels. But the music is top notch so it was all worth it.