Backlog Game Reviews 30: Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

                                                 

    Hey there, and welcome to Backlog Game Reviews.

For this week’s review let’s take a look at Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. It first came out in North America on November 21^st, 1994, it soon became available in Europe on November 24^th, 1994, and later came to Japan on November 26^th of the same year. It was very successful upon its release, selling nearly 500,000 copies within its first month in the United States.

Cranky Kong, the original Donkey Kong thinking about the good old days

                                                                                                                       

It was highly praised by critics at the time for not only it’s gameplay but also it’s graphics. Donkey Kong Country was one of the first video games on home consoles to use pre-rendered graphics, because of this some reviewers called this game a visual masterpiece. With the introduction out of the way let’s see how this game holds up today.

The new Donkey Kong crashes Cranky's party.

The game takes place on Donkey Kong Island, an island that’s the same shape as Donkey Kong’s head. Here Donkey Kong lives together with all of the other Kong’s. One-night Donkey Kong’s nephew and best friend Diddy Kong was assigned with guarding the Kong’s banana hoard. It was on this night that the Kremlings, a race of crocodiles invaded Donkey Kong Island. Lead by their king, King K. Rool, they infiltrated the banana hoard, trapped Diddy Kong in a barrel, and stole all of the bananas.

Donkey Kong Island.

The next morning Donkey Kong went to check on Diddy and the banana hoard, but instead he finds that all of the bananas are gone and Diddy is missing. He soon finds Diddy in a nearby barrel and after hearing about what happened the two of them set off to rid Donkey Kong Island of the Kremlings and to get their bananas back.

If you go to Cranky's cabin he'll give you hints on how to find the hidden bonus stages.

Like most platformers of it’s time the story is simple but it gets the job done. It’s not great but it’s not bad so there’s nothing to really complain about. One thing about the story that I liked is how it’s integrated into the gameplay. While there is no intro cutscene, you can go into the banana hoard at any time in the game and see all of the bananas missing for yourself. Being able to see the empty banana hoard is a great way to motivate the player and explain the story in-game.

The empty banana hoard

   Moving on to the gameplay Donkey Kong Country is a really solid platformer. You control both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, but only one at a time. You can switch between the two Kongs with the select button as long as you’re not standing on a slope of some kind.

Donkey tagging Diddy in.

   As long as you have both Kong’s with you you can take up to two hits before dying. When you get hit the Kong you were playing as will run away and you’ll now have to use the other Kong. To get your partner back you'll need to find a DK barrel and break it open.

Find and break open a DK barrel to get Donkey or Diddy back after getting hit.

I feel that this is a very creative health system. Other games either give you a health bar or require you to find a power-up of some kind so you can take more hits. This game instead gives you two playable characters that combined can take up to two hits. It's a fresh and new idea and it makes keeping track of your health a simple affair, as long as both Kongs are together then you know you have two hit points left.

Diddy Kong taking a hit.

 Your adventure across Donkey Kong island will take you through a variety of different areas. Every section of the island has its own theme that affects the gameplay for that area. You have normal jungle stages that focus on basic platforming, jungle stages that take place high up in the trees that will have you blasting out of barrels,There are also underwater stages.

The game has multiple sections where you have to shoot yourself out of a moving barrel. Get the timing right and don't shoot yourself into an obstical or into a hole.

Throughout the game, you'll also come across various animal buddies that'll give you a helping hand. There's Rambi the rhino who can break walls and defeat just about any enemy with his massive strength. Winky the frog who can jump higher than any of the Kongs and jump on enemies that Donkey and Diddy can’t. There’s also Enguarde the swordfish, he can attack enemies with his sword like nose, he’s also your only means of attacking while underwater.

Attacking an enemy with Enguarde.

   The wide variety of stage themes and platforming challenges makes it so the gameplay stays fresh and never gets repetitive from start to finish, and the animal buddies add a layer of variety to the gameplay with their unique abilities. There's also a heavy focus on exploration as every stage is packed with hidden bonus games, and if you want a 100% completion score, you’re going to have to find every bonus game.

One of the many bonus games. At the end of each row is a different prize and you can't see what it is. Pick a row and shoot yourself out of the barrel to see what you got.

  Donkey Kong Country has a lot going for it. It's full of difficult yet fun platforming challenges. The gameplay never gets old and the animal buddies are a lot of fun to use. There's not much to complain about, but one thing that I didn't like is how hard some of the bonus games are to find. One bonus game entrance for example is hidden in another bonus game. Without a guide, the only way you would find this is by pure accident. Other then that small problem, this is a really well-made game that I can easily recommend to fans of 2D platformers.

Hidden in every stage are K, O, N, and G pannels. Find and collect them all to get an extra life.

Moving on to the presentation it’s easy to see why the graphics were praised so much. All of the character sprites were originally full 3D models that were converted into 2D sprites which resulted in highly detailed 2D sprites that could pass for 3D models. And the pre-rendered backgrounds are some of the best the SNES has to offer. The level of detail put into the sprites and backgrounds was something that was never seen before and it looks great even by today's standards. Just be careful when playing this game on a modern TV as the sprites tend to end up looking very pixelated on new Televisions.

This level has you jumping over pitfalls in a mine cart.

The music is just as good as the graphics. Every song fits the setting perfectly. The music used for the underwater levels are slow-paced and calm, it makes it feel like you're really exploring a deep ocean. Then on the other hand you have the theme that's used in the jungle stages, which is more fast-paced but still keeps the feeling of being in a jungle.

The first boss.

It goes without saying that this is a great game that holds up really well. The gameplay is great, the visuals are awesome and the music is a treat to the ears. If you like 2D platformers then give this game a try. It’s a pretty short game so it’ll keep you busy for a weekend or two.

That’s all I have to say about Donkey Kong Country, a game that’s a lot of fun to play no matter how old it gets. Thank you for reading! The next review will be over another SNES game. I hope to see you again here at Backlog Game Reviews.

   Click Here For Donkey Kong Country Gameplay Video.