 |
|
 |
| |
Chad's First Donkey Kong Country Impressions
Time Played: 2 hours, 32 minutes
What better way to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the Donkey Kong Universe than to re-release the game that started it all? Donkey Kong Country for SNES remains one of my favourite games of all time, and I'm rather interested in how it ported over.
The graphics, considering Game Boy Color's relative inferiority to the SNES, are superb. Aside from a few blue lights in the scaffold levels, and Squawks' uselessness in Torchlight Trouble, everything looks the same. The sound has been ported over quite well, especially the "KONG" letter sound effect, and most music. Some of the songs have been directly ripped from Donkey Kong Land, but they fit the scenario in most cases. I still have my fingers crossed for the Kremlantis theme to be somewhere in.
The game, while very commendable for an SNES port, does have a few initial drawbacks. This probably won't be too terribly bad for novice players, but I have about every level in this game memorised. As a result, since Rare has made slight changes, I find myself constantly dying in these places. I have to play the game as if it's an entirely new experience, rather than the 1994 version. Also, there are clipping errors which make head-bopping quite a formidable task, and banana grabbing more difficult than it was on SNES. The animal buddy system leaves something to be desired as well, since you turn right back into the Kong if you get hit once, with no chance at redemption. These are all very minor though, and I'm sure I'll compensate for it as I play more.
The added features are very nice. I especially like the idea of green banana bunches for Game Boy Printer print-outs. I found one in the first level and printed the result, with refreshingly spectacular results, considering Game Boy Printer's usual level of grainy black-and-white crappiness. I've played two of the bonus levels so far, Crosshair Cranky (which is taken directly from DK64), and Funky Fishing. My favourite by far is Funky Fishing, as you can literally play for hours without getting bored. It's really that much fun. All in all, I'm looking forward to further playing this game, and it's a definite reccommendation for those who have never played the SNES version of Donkey Kong Country.
by Chad McCanna
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
