"Donkey Kong Joins the Music Game Genre"

Donkey Konga helps break Nintendo further into the music game genre, a genre that the company is seriously lacking in. Dance Dance Revolution is already on the Playstation AND XBox systems, with no signs of turning it's head toward Mario and his friends. So, Namco sets up a game similar to its Taiko drum series with Nintendo, creating a very neat and creative peripheral, and decides to break the ice and give music-game-loving Nintendo fans what they want.

Let me start by putting my opinion forth: I hate Donkey Kong. I loathe him. I despise him. He's one of those characters that I wish would just be scrapped, and all games previously made with him in it would be burnt or remade without him. I have no problem with Diddy; but Donkey Kong is one of my least favorite characters. Perhaps after hearing this, my review of the game should help persuade even the greatest of DK haters.

Gameplay: Not too much to put here. The yellow half-circle (located on the LEFT side of the icon) means to hit the left drum. The same with the red half-circle (located on the RIGHT side of the icon); hit the right drum. A full circle, colored pink, means to hit them both. And the blue explosion symbol is for you to clap. Voila! Nintendo has made its way into the music scene! However, if you don't place the drum on an entirely flat surface, it can get a little hard to hold, play, beat, clap, and everything else needed to play.
You earn coins by playing songs, which, in turn, let you buy new features in DK Town; a menu with different items, instead of a town. Which makes me wonder why they named it DK Town. You have to play these songs to get coins to buy the Gorilla (Hard) level songs, which was extremely depressing, being a DDR Heavy level player. This means the musically inclined and those with rhythm have to bear with playing easier songs, which is good for beginners, but dull for advanced players. However, even if it is little things like this, I love unlocking things in video games, so I'm not too let down.

Music/Sound: The music is done very nicely. While none of the songs are done by their original artists (much like Karaoke Revolution), they are still nice on the ears and most don't sound too different or terrifying. However, some songs are too childish for most to play; "Diddy's Ditties," for one, contains "Happy Birthday to You," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," and "Row, Row, Row Your Boat." I vow to never play that song again. Ever.
However, other songs are new and old at the same time, specifically the Mario Bros and Zelda themes. Very nostalgic, with a hint of a latin salsa-esque style to go nicely with the bongo sound effects. Which brings me to those sound effects. In the wonderful "land" of DK Town, you can buy sound sets for your bongo. I was confused at first upon seeing these, but to lessen the confusion of future players, the sound sets change the in game sound effects of the bongo. Which means instead of bongo drums and claps, you may hear car horns or classic NES sounds. Kinda useless, but pretty creative.

Graphics: One word: Ugh. Now, as I said, I hate Donkey Kong. Which means I have to put up with him through this game. A lot. He's everywhere. Title screen, menu screen, game screen, song fail screen, song pass screen... EVERYWHERE. Not to mention, the graphics are probably upon the lowest on the Gamecube. They almost match those of the Sega Genesis ports of the Sonic games in the Sonic Mega Collection. The backgrounds aren't too bad, if it's not covered in jungle leaves and such. The animation is nothing to brag about, either. Not that it matters, though. You focus on the beats, not the backgrounds and animation.

Fun Factor: The game is fun, but it's sure to wear off quickly after playing the Pokemon theme and "Louie Louie" too much. The game supports four player multiplayer; however, the problem stands at can you afford to dish out another $90 US for your friends to play? They range at about $30 US a piece, which is a little much. However, Nintendo DOES plan to make its adventure game, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, as well as a sequel to Donkey Konga, and the game DOES support controller support instead of the bongos. But what fun is that? The game is fun, though the question is are you willing to dish out the cash for it?

Overall: As stated above, the game is fun, but the best idea is to go to a friend's house that owns it (or sucker one into buying it. Hehe!) and try it out for yourself first, before buying it. Chances are, since it uses a separate peripheral, it'll be hard to find a rental place that offers the game for rent. With some good songs, some bad songs, great though expensive party fun, and unlockables, it should be fun to play for a while. At least until the next DK Bongo game should come out, hopefully.

SCORE: 8 out of 10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/29/04