"So very addictive this little gem is..."

A game where you bang bongos to the beat of the music. Yes, another music game. Music games have often taken part in the gaming universe, and they have often been pretty mediocre. Following in the success of such games as Dance Dance Revolution Nintendo unleashes their own music game..and this one is holds its own in the genre.

GRAPHICS

Exactly what you expect. This game consists of a few differently colored shapes moving across the screen. Graphics are bland and, but they fit the genre. Music games never really excelled in the graphics, but they do not need to. That is not what this game is about. It would have been nice to have some background things going on instead of just a still picture.

SOUND

It is all about the music. This game consists of 33 various songs ranging in MANY different genres. There are classic songs and then more modern rock music. Of course it would be hard to have many different genres of music and have you like them all. Expect to dislike at least five of the songs. Some recognizable music would be "All The Small Things" by Blink 182. Or "We Will Rock You" by Queen. Then there are your worse songs like "I've Been Working On the Railroad" or Yankee Doodle." It depends on your taste of music, but you may find these songs fun to beat by.

GAMEPLAY

The most important aspect of any game is the game play. Yes, Donkey Konga delivers. This is one of the most addictive games of the year. You may need to quit because your hands may be hurting. The game consists of circles that appear across the screen. A red icon, a yellow, icon, a blue icon, or a pink icon will appear. Blue is clap, which the bongos have a sound receptor on them to pick up noise. Yellow is the left drum and red is the right drum. Pink would be both left and right. Now Donkey Konga is a whole lot of fun, and eventually you should be able to buy extra drum peripherals by themselves for the excellent multiplayer mode. That is where the replay value comes in. My main problem is once you beat every song, which does not take long, you have no incentive to go back. There are different sounds to buy and every song in hard mode must be purchased, but once that is done...And also this game is hard. The idea of bongos does sound childish but by no means is this game for children. The hardest mode in the game, gorilla, takes some serious skill and a lot of practice.

FINAL THOUGHT?

Donkey Konga is an extremely fun game. You will enjoy almost every aspect of Donkey Konga. Though the songs may be limited, and the graphics are below average, there is a solid music game here. Donkey Konga offers up little to add to the music genre, and there is nothing here that has not been done before in some way or another. But you can always rely on Nintendo to take on the challenge, and produce a fun for the whole family game.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/23/05