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Chiphead's Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color) Review
When you consider that Game Boy Color isn't nearly as powerful as Super Nintendo and Rare is attempting to port one of the most impressive-looking games, DKC looks pretty damn good. Most of the details in the background are captured accurately, even if the back layers are missing. The character animation takes a hit, and the weather effects are gone, but what do you expect on an 8-bit system? At least they managed to get a mist effect for Misty Mine.
9.5
A lot of the music in the GBC Donkey Kong Country was taken straight from Donkey Kong Land. While it works, I would have preferred it if they were remixed to sound more like their Super Nintendo counterparts. Sure, the jungle and bonus themes could have been left unchanged, but others, like the cave music, sound almost nothing like they did on Super Nintendo. For areas that weren't in DKL, Rare had to make new 8-bit remixes of the DKC music. These are well-done for the most part, though there are a few stinkers (Tree Top Town comes to mind. It was like "Oh cack, we're running out of time! Let's just use what we have and slow it down to make it seem less repetitive."). Sound effects are pretty much what was in Donkey Kong Land, though I was surprised they bothered to program such sounds as the "Ack!" when you hit a Necky, a hiss when you kill a Slippa, and even Donkey or Diddy yelling when they're in a DK barrel.
9.0
While this isn't the "Running a mile with bowling balls for testicles would be easier" experience some people claim it is, play control in the GBC version of DKC isn't perfect. The Kongs seem to move slower, and jumping doesn't seem as good as it was on Super Nintendo, probably because of the lack of animation. It's also a bit annoying to have to stand in front of a barrel to grab it rather than simply run past it. However, while it takes getting used to, it's still perfectly playable.
8.0
This is a hard category to score. Sure, it's just like Donkey Kong Country for Super Nintendo, but that's the point. But Rare didn't stop at getting all of DKC's levels. They added a whole new level, but I would have preferred an entire world. But that's not all. They also added hard modes that disable DK Barrels and Star Barrels. A sticker book, where you can print various pictures you find throughout the game's world has been added, as well as a banner maker, and a bunch of stickers of Donkey Kong Country characters around all the letters of the alphabet. Rare also added a couple of minigames for one or two players. Crosshair Cranky, a series of minigames loosely based on Kremling Kosh from Donkey Kong 64, is fun, but if there was a high score count for the games, it would have added more replay value. There's also a very addictive Funky Fishing minigame, in which you have to catch fish and Croctopi and avoid catching junk. That's quite a few extras.
8.0
Donkey Kong Country for Game Boy Color is a pretty good game. If you can't wait a few days for the Game Boy Advance version, I'd highly reccommend picking this up. It doesn't look or play as well as the Super Nintendo version, but it's still better than most GBC titles. If you can forgive the hardware limitations, the extras make up for them. Unless you're a complete purist who overestimates Game Boy Color's power or are aware that there's a better GBA version out there, you won't be disappointed. I think.
8.5
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