Note that I have no nostalgia associated with this game. I played it on the SNES Emulator on my Switch, with NSO. I used the Save State feature a lot.
Donkey Kong Country is heavily carried by its music in my opinion. The soundtrack has to be one of the best soundtracks of any video game. Its so rich, luxurious and flavorful. Every level's atmosphere is amplified with the soundtrack. David Wise killed it.
However, lets talk about the gameplay. I really didn't like the gameplay. The characters are very awkward to control, and feel slippery when moving around. A lot of times I felt that a death could be avoided if my character listened to what I told it to do.
Another issue is there is no visual clarity in the levels. I genuinely cannot figure out where platforms begin and end, and the enemies have these janky hitboxes which leave me confused. It gets really really frustrating after a point.
But nothing ruins the fun like the level design. When I play a platformer, I want to keep a certain pace (think Mario, Celeste). In this game, I am forced to play so damn cautiously. I cannot move fast cause there is a very high chance a random enemy or obstacle or hole randomly appears and I die. I hate it.
I avoided using Save States until the snow levels, after which I didn't care. It was getting so damn annoying. And the game in general is really difficult. I don't think I would have the patience or time to beat it without save states.
Regardless of all my criticisms, I think everyone should play it once, just to experience it. The music and ambience alone are good enough reasons tbh.
Donkey Kong Country is heavily carried by its music in my opinion. The soundtrack has to be one of the best soundtracks of any video game. Its so rich, luxurious and flavorful. Every level's atmosphere is amplified with the soundtrack. David Wise killed it.
However, lets talk about the gameplay. I really didn't like the gameplay. The characters are very awkward to control, and feel slippery when moving around. A lot of times I felt that a death could be avoided if my character listened to what I told it to do.
Another issue is there is no visual clarity in the levels. I genuinely cannot figure out where platforms begin and end, and the enemies have these janky hitboxes which leave me confused. It gets really really frustrating after a point.
But nothing ruins the fun like the level design. When I play a platformer, I want to keep a certain pace (think Mario, Celeste). In this game, I am forced to play so damn cautiously. I cannot move fast cause there is a very high chance a random enemy or obstacle or hole randomly appears and I die. I hate it.
I avoided using Save States until the snow levels, after which I didn't care. It was getting so damn annoying. And the game in general is really difficult. I don't think I would have the patience or time to beat it without save states.
Regardless of all my criticisms, I think everyone should play it once, just to experience it. The music and ambience alone are good enough reasons tbh.