Rare released a number of quality games for the NES: R.C. Pro-Am, Solar Jetman, Snake Rattle 'n' Roll, and Battletoads come to mind. But all these were surpassed by Rare's masterpiece, Donkey Kong Country (DKC). DKC uses faux-3D sprites to produce an incredibly beautiful and well designed platformer. The game was so successful it spawned two sequels, DKC 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and DKC 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! All three games were such hits they got Game Boy spin-offs (renamed Donkey Kong Land, of course!) and later Game Boy Advance ports! DKC even got a port on the Game Boy Color somehow! Two more recent sequels, DKC Returns and DKC: Tropical Freeze, have brought the series, and the classic character of Donkey Kong himself, back into the limelight for modern gamers. But it all started with the original.
Usually I describe gameplay first, but DKC is most notable for its stunning graphics and music. Hype for the game was real: I watched a preview for it on a VHS tape that Nintendo Power sent through the mail! Can you imagine? Today we easily watch trailers and previews for games years in advance on the internet; in 1994, Nintendo took the trouble to manufacture and distribute VHS tapes! It seems to have worked: DKC was heavily anticipated because the "3D" graphics were unlike anything we'd ever seen in a console game. Yes, there were actual 3D games, like Star Fox and Stunt Race FX, but their graphics were chunky, slow-moving polygons. For DKC, Rare created 3D models of characters and then used those models to make 2D sprites that looked 3D. The levels are conventional, 2D platforming fare—albeit expertly crafted—but it felt like you were playing a cutting-edge game.
The music in DKC may be even better than the graphics. I would go so far as to say that it may be the single best soundtrack of the 16-bit era (although that honor perhaps belongs to Chrono Trigger). The songs are catchy and upbeat. They often start slow and gentle, but then jam later on. The different tracks complement the different stage backgrounds and types. This was one of the first albums I loaded in the new Nintendo Music app!
Now for the gameplay: the main gimmick is that Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong—who is actually a monkey, as evidenced by his long tail, and not an ape—can tag-team. In a two-player game, the second player controls Diddy Kong. (You can also play two-player "competitively," which I've never done.) There is no simultaneous play, but by pressing SELECT you can switch characters at any time. If one simian is knocked out by an enemy, he runs away and the other takes over. If you fall in a pit, though, both go down. In each stage are many barrels with "DK" written on them in red letters. If you approach one while the other character is absent, you hear him howling inside the barrel; smash it open to release him!
The platforming is heavily focused on jumping, which makes sense given the primate protagonists. The cast of enemies is relatively small, and they are basic. The main villains are kremlings, a kind of lizard-men. They are ruled by the big boss, King K. Rool. Jump on them, throw a barrel at them, or attack them by pressing Y: Donkey Kong rolls whereas Diddy Kong does a cartwheel. They can roll off an edge and then jump in mid-air to go extra far. There are also bees (zingers), which can't be stomped on, and klaptraps—the lizards from Donkey Kong Jr.—which can't be rolled through due to their large teeth. A few of the enemies can't be defeated by Diddy, because he's too small!
Several animal companions help our simian friends. Rambi the rhinoceros smashes enemies with his horn, Enguarde the swordfish pokes them with his rostrum in underwater stages, Winky the frog jumps high, Expresso the ostrich flutters through the air, and Squawks the parrot carries a light for you in Torchlight Trouble. My favorite is Enguarde, although I think that's just because the underwater theme is my favorite song in the game!
The world map is an island made up of multiple worlds. It's mostly linear, with occasional appearances by Kong family members: Funky, Candy, and Cranky. Cranky gives advice, including where to find secrets, while complaining about kids today. Funky is a totally gnarly 90's dude who can transport you to any stage you've already visited via a flying barrel. Candy appears once in each world to let you save your game—the only aspect of the game that feels outdated. The game is rather hard, so you may want to go back and save after some levels (unless you're using save states, of course!) I played the game so much as a kid that I didn't realize it was hard, but several stages test your reflexes, particularly Snow Barrel Blast! Each world ends with a boss fight. These fights are straightforward and one of the less memorable parts of the game.
Barrels are a theme in DKC. In addition to the ones you can throw (or find your partner in), they are also used for flying around the map, saving your game, mid-level checkpoints, entering bonus areas, holding explosive TNT, and getting shot as if from a cannon. Some cannon barrels shoot you instantly, as marked by the X on them, whereas others fire when you press A. These barrels sometimes spin and move, slowly or rapidly: if you don't time it right you may be shot right into a ditch or an enemy. The game contains many, many ditches, sometimes followed immediately by an enemy! Some stretches of stages have no proper ground, just platforms. People who prefer more combat-centric platformers may not enjoy DKC.
DKC contains a large number of secrets, though it is not a "collectathon." The only collectibles in the game are bananas (recovering DK's stolen banana hoard is ostensibly the goal of the game), 1-up and 2-up balloons, and the letters K, O, N, and G. Bananas function exactly like coins in Super Mario Bros. They sometimes appear as bunches worth ten, and Donkey Kong (but not Diddy) can slap the ground (hold ↓ and press Y) to uncover bunches in certain spots. Getting all four letters in a stage earns you an extra life (like Dragon Coins in Super Mario World). Some canon barrels lead to bonus areas. They are usually found by going a bit above or below the main path. Other bonus zones are accessed by smashing a wall with a barrel. Diddy is best for this: he carries barrels directly in front of his chest (instead of over his head), so if he walks into a destructible wall with a barrel, it is opened automatically. Once you've beaten the game, it's fun to go back and find all the secrets. Levels in which all secrets have been found are marked with an exclamation point after the title.
Donkey Kong Country plays, sounds, and looks fantastic. It's one of the best pure platforming games ever made, though a tad on the difficult side. It has only 40 levels (a respectable amount in 1994–the sequels have more), but they are fun and replayable. The game is equally fun solo or two-player.
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| Grade: A |
Linked Reviews
"One of the best looking games on the SNES. Fantastic music adds to the appeal."
— Dave Frear, Nintendo Life, 9/10
"Rare shocked us all by developing such an amazing and eye-catching new graphical style that no one could imagine the SNES was actually capable of such graphical feats."
— IGN, #28 of Top 100
"Altogether, the look, sound, and gameplay of the SNES's third-best seller make Donkey and Diddy's banana journey quite appealing."
— Asheton Phinney, Ultimate Nintendo: Guide to the SNES Library, 4.5/5
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