I can't believe they named a whole country based on the arcade game, could've worked on the name though, a bit too blunt.
"Donkey Kong..." Who doesn't know this iconic character and game? Babies. Always babies. In 1981, Nintendo released "Donkey Kong," giving creation to the most iconic ape in gaming history. In 1994, Donkey Kong would get his own game franchise titled "Donkey Kong Country," starting on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, developed by Rare.
Although, despite the "Donkey Kong Country" series being named after the iconic ape, he's only playable in the first game. Although, Rare was known for its uniqueness, so why not add removing the most character the game is named after off the playable character list?
Despite this, the "Donkey Kong Country" became popular. The "Donkey Kong Country" series was so popular, it even had a 3D-animated cartoon in 1997.
Which is best described as a cartoon where the people behind it both knew and had no clue what they were doing. It's beautiful.
However, today we're talking about the Gameboy Advance version of "Donkey Kong Country," released in 2003. This is the only version of the game I've played and the version I grew up with. However, now that I'm older, I know about the SNES version despite never playing it and can now compare. This is a good idea.
Things Quickly go Bananas
The story is simple. Donkey Kong like banana hoard. King K. Rool steal banana hoard. Donkey Kong mad.
While the story is simple, it does the job. In the GBA version, we see the incident of the bananas being stolen and are told Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong's sidekick, has been shoved into a barrel. By freeing Diddy Kong, he'll become playable. With his Diddy's and Donkey Kong's strength, they'll go down the path of monkey.
[Credit for first screenshot: TASVideosChannel, Edit by: Matthew McCarthy]
...This game was darker than I remember.
Bananas will Fall
Enemies & Allies
In "Donkey Kong Country," Donkey Kong/Diddy Kong platform to the end of each level. There are six worlds in total with their own set of levels and one boss each. When a boss is defeated, you retrieve a big banana.
Thank goodness, it's way too hard to find big bananas where I live. The enemies come in the shape of other animals like beavers, bees, and more. The enemy design looks great, the designs are silly but endearing, making them very memorable.
Credit for pictures in gallery: TASVideosChannel
Enemies are also fun to defeat. They can be beaten by jumping on them, throwing barrels at them, rolling into them, slamming the ground they're on, and more. Although not all enemies can be beaten equally. For example, you can't jump on Zingers and Black Krushas, you need to use a barrel to beat them.
Some enemies can even be agile themselves, such as the bouncing Kritters or red Klap Traps that jump when you jump which caught me off guard.
Bosses are also good, although a bit too simple at times. I only found K. Rool and Queen B. challenging, the rest were a banana-walk.
To help with enemies, there are animal buddies that can defeat most enemies. Such as Expresso, an ostrich who can't defeat enemies, but can glide in the air for a good distance; Rambi, a Rhino who can charge into enemies, even breaking walls to bonus rooms; Winky, a frog who can jump high and even defeat Zingers; and more.
Credit for both pictures: TASVideosChannel
Most of the animal allies are helpful, supplying great navigation and easier ways to defeat enemies. Not all of them are perfect though, such as Squawky the Parrot, who only offers a light. He's still helpful, but it's hard to compete with the swordfish who has no idea what a Geneva Convention is.
Winky's my favourite, the heights you can reach with this guy is so high, I'm surprised there wasn't a space level.
Collectibles
The animal allies also have their own animal tokens excluding Squawks because parrots don't have rights. They're scattered in levels and by collecting three, you enter a bonus stage to collect small coins in the shape of the animal ally you're playing as. Getting around 100 each will give an extra live.
These bonus levels are fun to play a level, especially since they're specifically designed for the animal allies. However, what kills these levels for me is that they start you back at the beginning of the level or by the checkpoint.
While the levels aren't long, it's still annoying to have to redo stuff you just did. The animal tokens are even IN your path on rare occasion, like in the first minecart level.
They're also sometimes the reward in bonus rooms, which is beyond underwhelming. Additionally, these animal ally bonus levels can end up being pointless if you're well stocked up on extra lives.
Thankfully, the bonus rooms are much better. Bonus Rooms are in most levels, which the player can enter through breaking breakable walls or by finding a bonus barrel. Bonus levels consist of challenges such as spelling out a word correctly by jumping to the right letter, jumping on Klap Traps multiple times, and more.
Credit for pictures in gallery: TASVideosChannel
There are also Kong Letters to find in the levels too, sometimes being in Bonus Rooms. There are four in total each level and when collected, they give the player an extra live. The same thing occurs when you collect 100 bananas, which act like coins in a Mario game.
There are also warp barrels and warp rooms, which when found, will teleport the player to the end of the level. These may sound overpowered, and they are, but to balance them out, they're almost impossible to find. In fact, most of them are invisible.
These bonus barrels, collectibles, and more, reward exploration effectively. This is what makes "Donkey Kong Country" so unique, the abundance of secrets and bonuses. They add depth to the levels to keep you coming back and exploring.
Unfortunately, not all the bonus room locations are... Fair. A few of them are completely out of sight, and one of the bonus rooms in Fear Factory can only be accessed by completing another bonus room first to get a barrel, which none of the other bonus levels give you, and then breaking a breakable wall.
Credit for pictures in gallery: TASVideosChannel
Also, if you're not next to the wall, you'll have to repeat the process because the game will think you're done and boot you out of the bonus level with no way to get back. How would anyone figure this out without a psychic?
Levels and Challenge
The levels have fantastic design that makes for a fair and challenging time. Platforming challenges are varied and gradually build in difficulty, from swinging on ropes, the lights going out, and more.
Credit for pictures in gallery: TASVideosChannel
The difficulty curve helps ease into harder challenges. Now, adult me doesn't find "Donkey Kong Country" hard at all, for this replay, I only died ten times. I also got up to around 70 extra lives which, admittedly is a bit much.
Younger me would heavily disagree.
This game kicked me and brother's butts as kids. We had a lot of trouble beating it, and even got stuck on the final world for years. For us kids who didn't know what a geography was, it was difficult. However, that day when I finally beat the final world and the game... Well, it was priceless.
Credit for pictures in gallery: TASVideosChannel
On top of the great difficulty curve and level design, the controls are satisfying and feel amazing. They're smooth, tight, and responsive. Enemies are satisfying to beat, which is also thanks to the sound effects giving these actions the needed punch.
It adopts the "hold down B to run, press A to jump" control scheme like in "Super Mario Bros," and it's flawlessly executed. Even the water levels are fun. Most importantly, despite the many times I died, I never once blamed the game. I blamed my own error of judgement.
Gameboy Advance Differences
Since I'm talking about the GBA port of "Donkey Kong Country," it's a good opportunity to bring up the Super Nintendo version, the original. And by good opportunity, I mean legal obligation whenever anyone talks about the GBA port of “Donkey Kong Country.”
I won't cover every difference, I'm here to make a review not an essay, but I do want to touch on some changes that even I, who have never played the SNES version, can comment on.
Presentation
Now, on its own, "Donkey Kong Country GBA" looks nice with its colours, sprites, animation, and more, especially when compared to other GBA games, Where the visuals fall short is in comparison to the original game.
On its own, "Donkey Kong Country" for the GBA looks excellent. The colours, 3Dish sprites, environments, backgrounds, and more look great, especially for the GBA. The screenshots can make the game look bad, but on an actual GBA, it looks great. However, they don't compare to the original game.
Credit for the GBA pictures in gallery (left): TASVideosChannel
Credit for the SNES pictures in gallery (right): Nintendo LongPlays
The original SNES version has dark lighting that creates a better atmosphere with crisper sprites and visuals. The GBA version increased the saturation of the visuals which makes it too bright, hence jarring.
This wasn't without reason though, the GBA didn't have a backlight at the time, so they needed to make the game brighter to compensate. This isn't even considering hardware limitations. However, playing this on a GBA SP which has a backlight, the cracks really show. I can't really blame Rare for this, but it still unfortunately hurts the visuals.
A positive change to the visuals is the maps. The maps are more zoomed-in and detailed, which gives a better feel for each world.
Credit for the pictures in gallery: TASVideosChannel
Another big presentation-related difference is the soundtrack, as the soundtrack is rearranged from the original SNES version due to hardware limitations. The SNES version is better due to its amazing sense of atmosphere and compositions, which are still praised to this day. However, I might get on another list for this, but...
I prefer the GBA soundtrack more.
Look, the SNES version is better and more atmospheric, but the GBA version packs more of a punch. The main melodies aren't drowned out like in the original SNES soundtrack, likely because of the atmosphere, and I find them catchier. I can't find myself to listen to the SNES versions in my spare time, but I can listen to the GBA versions for hours.
I admit nostalgia may be a heavy contributing factor here, but even then, the soundtrack still sounds good and does the job.
Gameplay
"Donkey Kong Country" for the GBA adds new game modes and features. These new game modes include DK Mode, which are time trials, and the unlockable Hero Mode where Diddy Kong goes on a solo adventure (meaning one hit) with no checkpoints.
[Credit for second picture: mdX Zero]
I don't know why Diddy Kong wears yellow in Hero Mode, but it looks cool, and yes, the game both acknowledges and mocks it. These modes are both great additions that spice up the gameplay. DK Mode can be addicting with getting S ranks, while Hero Mode is a fun challenge mode that keeps you on edge in an effective way.
Unfortunately, you don't really get anything for getting 101 per cent completion in Hero Mode, just some congratulatory dialogue. No new costumes, no boss rush, nothing.
The map areas also have an accessible menu with the options to save the game, exit the world map you're in, the scrapbook to look at the pictures you've found, and your statistics for the levels.
I'm happy the choice to save anywhere on the map is present, it also makes sense since the GBA is a portable console. The statistics also help keep track on bonus rooms and Kong letters you've collected, which is handy for completionists.
The Scrapbook has artwork of enemies, levels, and more. They are collected by finding blue cameras. These, like bonus rooms, are tough to find with more varied ways of finding them, like ground slamming an enemy type.
Unfortunately, they aren't as rewarding as bonus rooms since you can find all these renders online and in higher quality too. It's still fun to collect the photos, but it's not as exciting as getting the letter O in a bonus room.
[Credit for second picture: RarePosting]
The Call Funky option is only way to leave a map without beating the boss, which is great. You can still go to Funky Kong's fishing hut to use it like in the SNES version. The fishing hut also supplies a fishing minigame.
You ride Enguarde and fish specific fish/items to complete a given goal. The fishing hook is remotely controlled and when brought back up to the surface, can hook multiple fish/items. Fish/items are only caught when they land in the boat.
I love fishing mechanics, they're a ton of fun alongside the goals you must do. I wouldn't call it hard, but it's a fun time.
Candy Kong's Dance Studio, which was originally for saving your game in the SNES version, is now dedicated to Candy Kong's dancing minigame, a rhythm minigame.
...And I don't like it. Button inputs are spotty with when it'll register and when it won't despite indicators such as the notes bopping to the beat. I couldn't beat any of them for the longest time until I just... Did somehow. I don't even feel satisfied, I just feel confused how I managed to do them all the sudden. Was I possessed?
[Cropped using Clideo.com]
...Huh. I'll also admit that getting a perfect for Candy Kong's photo in the scrapbook, which requires getting a perfect on all notes, is a massive pain.
Some other changes overall include the addition of more Warp Barrels and some bosses being changed, such as Queen B. summoning Zingers to surround her instead of chasing the player while invincible like in the SNES version.
I don't know if these changes are for the best or not though. Another minor change includes the Rock Krocs being beatable by using Donkey Kong's Ground Slam attack. In the original SNES version, they were invincible.
Despite my grievances with the Candy Kong minigame and the visuals, I don't mind the other changes/additions, and welcome them like hotdog pizza cru- Okay, bad example. Even with the visuals, I don't mind them all that much, they never hindered my performance.
Overall (A+)
"Donkey Kong Country" for the GBA is a fun time that has amazing visuals, fantastic music, tight controls, excellently designed levels and enemies, a fantastic difficulty curve, and new additions that help with the experience.
The experience is hindered however, due to the annoying animal tokens, the visuals can be too bright at points, and Candy Kong's minigame can go die in a fire.
Overall, though, the game is incredible. While I haven't played the original "Donkey Kong Country" for the SNES, it's safe to say this is a solid port given the limitations of the GBA. It's an extremely fun time with plenty to do while still capturing the spirit of the original "Donkey Kong Country" and most of what made it so great.
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