 |
|
 |
| |
Screenshot Analysis
Making a stunningly bland debut on the Game Boy Advance is Rare's 1994 masterpiece, Donkey Kong Country. Yeah, again. One of the apparent goals (at least as far as the assheaded Nintendo fandom is concerned) is to fix the problems with DKC GBC and bring the game closer to it's SNES roots. We can tell right from screenshots, though, that this isn't the case at all. So, since we're bitter bastards and we live to point out the holes in any dragon's scales, here's a back-breaking analysis of DKC GBA. We've gone over the thing with a fine-tipped comb, and we are talking fine. You think hair like mine gets the way it does with a dull comb? BAH!
Jungle Hijinx returns, with mild hurrahs and a few raised eyebrows. One of the first things you've notice is that the jungle paralax background of the SNES version has been replaced with a DKCGBC-esque blue sky. Bah, I say. This appears in every jungle screenshot, so it's probably not a filler. Stripping the jungle levels of it's radiance? Shame on thee, Nintendo.  And it doesn't stop there! If you'll notice, right behind Rambi is a splotch of green. This is probably a clipping error from one of the plants. The fact that this occured is somewhat discouraging, but this at least will probably be corrected. Speaking of plants, you'll notice some foliage changes, like some trees added into the background. An attempt to make the bland background look interesting? However, the most annoying thing is the fact that the sky isn't even showing a HINT of darkening into night. DK is almost PRECISELY at the point where the background begins to blacken, and yet the sky is still afternoon blue! Look, I've even got a screenshot to prove it! You're going to cut THAT out too, Nintendo?! BAH!
"What the heck happened here?", you're probably asking. It's Mine Cart Carnage, now in a dusty red to make sure those of us who aren't cheap enough to break down and pick up one of those fancy GBA SP thingos don't go blind. The colour does hurt the feel of the level a bit, but it also brings out plenty of detail, which is a good thing, I guess. Far more of interest is the KONG Letter placed directly in front of our speeding primate pals. It seems Nintendo has gone an extra mile (well, not really a mile - more like a few centimeters, a decimeter at tops) and has replaced the small sparkly KONG letters of the original game with the bloated, spinning versions of DKC2 and 3. I appreciate the effort, but I for one much prefer the small sparkly versions - granted, the big versions are much easier to grab... perhaps why Nintendo is using them instead?
We're back in the jungle again. One thing you notice is the colouration difference between DK and Diddy - Donkey is more toned down and pretty much nigh-identical with his SNES version, wheras Diddy is radiating bright red from every part of his body, not just his clothes. Perhaps it's just a side-effect of the "shadow" technique being tweaked so, again, you don't strain your eyes to see your follower and lose your eyeballs as a result. Now that I've imprinted that mental image in your minds, we can move on to the scenary. The bananas, like the KONG Letters above, appear to be the DKC2/3 models, due to the intense brightness of them. The bland blue sky rears it's ugly head once again, so it looks like any chance of paralax jungle background is lost for good. On a lighter note, the Blast Barrel looks to be 100% identical with it's SNES counterpart. Huzzah!
No, you're not seeing things. That's Diddy's tail poking out from behind DK. Nintendo has tweaked the Animal Buddy engine, making it so BOTH Kongs ride your animal slave through thick and thin, as opposed to one primate dashing ahead on Rambi, gloating like a bitch while his partner scampers behind, sweating more than a fat person climbing stairs. Now, the reality of the situation is a little bit harder to grasp: there's no way both apes can ride on an animal buddy side-by-side, ESPECIALLY Enguarde, who logically is only a few sheets thicker than your standard slice of carbon paper. If it was one in front, one in the back, it would make much more sense, but hey, this is Nintendo! Since when has anything ever made sense with them?
A welcome sight admist the dreck that preceded it, Funky Fishing returns, bigger, bolder, and more beautiful. The big difference between this version and the GBC version is that both Donkey and Diddy are out on the hunt, yanking poor fish into the air to feed the starving masses of Donkey Kong Island. Let's work our way from the bottom up: we see several beautiful crystals at the bottom of the seafloor, reminiscient of Slipside Ride. Don't ask me why they're there. In this screen we only see red and blue Bitesize, though it's highly doubtful that these are the only kind of game available to catch. At the top of the screen lies what appears to be the time limit - if it is, then it's a damn long one.  The sky and sea colour sort of gives you the feeling that it's wintertime during this level - perhaps as you progress further, the skyline changes to reflect the days and seasons? Possibly! And see? Here we have a second fishing screenshot, creating more possibilities. At the top, we see that the big arsing bar has subtracted some, indicting that yes, it is the time limit. There's a fish counter that wasn't there before, which probably indicates how many of one kind of fish you've gotten. And the seafloor? It's changed! No longer dotted with big crystals, it now looks like it submerged a portion of the Kongo Jungle. This helps support my Seasons theory I just wrote about. We also see that in the second screenshot, the roles have been reversed: DK in the boat, Diddy on Enguarde. This might indicate that you can play the minigame during the actual game, and that whoever's in front at that time gets on Enguarde (or vice versa). They could just be switching every level though, I dunno.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
