Donkey Konga

""Donkey Konga" - Almost as good as "Bonga Bonga""

Donkey Konga, Where to start on this one. When I bought this after looking like an idiot playing the demo in the store, I didn't know what to expect from the full version. In short this game has something for everyone. You can find all types of music in Donkey Konga from Pop to classical. Even some stuff from the 70's and 80's. And of course, some classic nintendo remixes. though I have trouble understanding why ANYONE would want to bongo to the Pokemon and Kirby: Right back at ya' theme songs, the selection is fairly good but I SWEAR I WILL NEVER PLAY DIDDYS DITTY'S EVER EVER AGAIN! I guess it all depends on your music tastes. I hate pop so it makes the game a bit painful to play at points.

Graphics- Its a rhythm game, what the heck do you want? Seriously though, their backgrounds are FAR FROM par for the Gamecubes powerful Hardware. The dancing elephant and Diddy in the backround have about 5 frames of animation. I feel like i'm playing on the SNES here! Cmon Namco, you can do MUCH better than this! The scrolling backgrounds BEHIND the really bad dancers aren't bad but don't really add much. As I said before, it's a rhythm game, and you will be much too busy concentrating on the beat then to care about the graphics.

Gameplay- This game is truly fun to play. But please, when you play at least have some rhythm skills. The multiple unlockables are a Plus and so are the alternate sound schemes but difficulty is a bit low. On the Monkey (easy) skill level, you will be whipping through the songs like they are nothing. So if you are a die hard DDR/Gitaroo man fan, you wont have the least bit of challenge until Gorilla mode. The alternate JAM modes add some gameplay for those who have mastered the entire game. JAM mode is when you have to have all the notes memorized and can do the song COMPLETELY on your own, with the computer guidance just telling you where the notes go. This game also has BIG multiplayer value. playing this game with 4 players is REALLY fun to do and if they even all only have the standard GCN controller it is still a good experience. And well, if you all have a DK bongo ($30 each) it just adds to the crazyness. There are also 3 minigames to unlock. All of which are OK and fun to play for a bit when you get tired of just playing music with your bongo.

Replay Value- Fairly good, MUCH better if you have 3 friends with DK bongos. You can come back to this game for a long time. even if you are alone, it will still last because it takes quite a while to unlock and beat everything. And even longer to master the JAM modes.

FINAL WORD- Great game but lacking a little in the difficulty department. If you are a rhythm game fan, definitely go for it. If you're not, rent it and see if you like it. I think that the combination of lack of difficulty and couple REALLY BAD songs take it down a point.

SCORE- 8/10

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