Donkey Kong 64

"A decent game, with the expansion pack a good bonus"

This review is for the game Donkey Kong 64, a game for the Nintendo 64. It was made by Rare, a second party company that was eventually sold off to Microsoft. Rare now makes games for the Xbox and Xbox360, but the rights of Donkey Kong still remain with Nintendo. Donkey Kong 64 is classified as a 3D platformer. It is the first game to use the expansion pack for the Nintendo 64. As a result of this piece of additional hardware, Donkey Kong 64 has great graphics, good gameplay, and awesome features that make this game worth playing.

Donkey Kong 64 is a 3D platformer, and it features some elements seen in Super Mario 64. Unlike Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong includes more content that makes it worth of trying out. As such, I would prefer Donkey Kong 64 over Super Mario 64 just because this game has more features than Super Mario 64.

In this game, there are five playable characters. Each character has unique moves and abilities that give the game more depth. The starting character you get is Donkey Kong, the star of the game. He is first playable at the beginning of the game. The other four characters were captured by King K. Rool, the main villain of the game. As you progress through the game, you will unlock each one of them one by one.

Something not seen in Super Mario 64 is that there are a large variety of abilities in this game. Each of the five Kongs have unique power ups that are bought from Crank Kong. These power ups are unique to each character so each one has a different style of play. Off course, some of the abilities are shared as some of them are absolutely necessary for each character to possess.

Donkey Kong 64 is a game that makes full use of the controller. When playing the game, all of the buttons are used with the exception of the L button. In this game, there are simple button combinations usually involving the Z button which adds to the gameplay of this game.

For a 3D platformer, camera controls are essential. Donkey Kong 64 does well in this department as it is easy to use and the camera is rarely in odd positions. With a good camera, it makes seeing the environment a lot easier and makes gameplay more enjoyable. I have played other games where the disastrous handling of the camera just ruined whatever good was in it. Overall, Donkey Kong's camera is good enough that it doesn't cause too much interference and it makes gameplay smoother.

In addition to the normal platforming elements of this game, Donkey Kong also features mini games. Most of these mini games are one time only and the rewards of clearing them is usually a gold banana. By the way, gold bananas are necessary to advance to new worlds. The most memorable mini games are the classic Donkey Kong mini game and the jet pack game. In the classic Donkey Kong mini game, it is exactly like the first Mario game ever released on the arcade and the NES. The jet pack game is also a classic title, but I do not remember what it originated from.

Something innovative in this 3D platformer is the addition of a multiplayer mode. Normally, adventure games do not feature multiplayer compatibility, nor is it something highly necessary. Well this game has this feature and it allows for up to four players to play. Although this Donkey Kong 64 does not feature the best multiplayer system, the inclusion of this is quite surprising to me and it adds to the gameplay and the replay value of this game.

Donkey Kong 64 is probably one of the biggest games in terms of game time. For an adventure game, it is quite long as there are many collectable items and many large worlds to explore. In terms of length, it is perhaps one of the longest adventure games of all time. The only games that might have a longer play time are RPGs. With so many collectables and things to do, you would be busy with this game for a long time.

A long game does have its weaknesses though, but length is not detrimental for Donkey Kong 64. For some players, excessive length may make the game hard to complete especially if it is not very fun. Donkey Kong might be long, but it is quite fun as it is filled with many puzzles and entertaining mini games. With its long length, there are few complaints of players saying, “This game was fun, but this game was too short.” Overall, extending the length of this game was a good choice by the developers as they did it in a fun way.

Good games not only have great gameplay, but they also need good graphics and Donkey Kong 64 delivers. With the use of the expansion pack, the developers had more system resources to work with and thus, were able to improve the texture of characters and environments.

In terms of character design, the common flaws of rough polygons or excessively pixilated characters are within acceptable limits. Each of the Kongs are modeled quite well and they feature a cartoonish design. This type of style helps develop the theme of good comical fun. Enemies are portrayed well too as they look great with excellent modeling. Overall, the character design is good for this game and it makes the graphics awesome.

Contrary to the character design, Donkey Kong 64 had mediocre environment graphics. The only thing good about the environments was that the worlds were large with little to no loading sequences. Other than that, the exact textures were not that sharp, but at least the general shape of objects were done right. Overall, the only good thing about the environment was size. As a result, the environment only added to Donkey Kong 64's length.

Donkey Kong 64 also features a good soundtrack. The music score feature remixes of old tunes from the Super Nintendo days with a few additional tracks. My favourite level theme was for the first world as the music reminded me of the good old days of Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo. For the sound effects, some are not that realistic, but this game is meant to be kid friendly and somewhat cartoonish. Overall, the sound adds a retro feeling to this game that brings back fond memories of the Super Nintendo days.

The storyline of this game is mentioned slightly in Donkey Kong 64, but probably not as much as I expected. There is a cut scene in the beginning where it shows King K. Rool wanting to defeat Donkey Kong and his pals, but it doesn't really show what his motives are. In essence, the story is somewhat mentioned, but not fully developed. In the instruction manual and supporting text, little to no reference is made to the storyline and thus this game lacks in this department. Although a storyline isn't too necessary in a 3D platformer, it would have been better if it was more present.

This game only has an average replay value. One of the reasons I might decide not to replay this game after I have beaten it is because of how long it is. It took me a long time to get to the end and it is going to take a very long time for me to beat it again so it isn't really worth the effort. For the most part, this game is only worth going through once as going through it a second time would be like doing chores. Another reason this game might not be worth playing a second time is that it is hard to fully complete it. Some of the gold bananas are incredibly difficult to obtain and I eventually gave up on getting them. Overall, Donkey Kong 64 might be one of those games you play for a long time and then shelve it. Although you might shelve it, at least you will be using the expansion pack a lot.

Something to note about this game is that it comes with a free expansion pack. As the first game to require it, this move by Nintendo was a good one as it helped make the cost of gaming less. Another fact about the expansion pack was that it was necessary for the games Perfect Dark and The Legend of Zelda, Majora's Mask. These two games sold quite well and the expansion pack was necessary. At the time of its release, the expansion pack cost about half a game, so it getting this game was like getting a game and the expansion pack for half price. Overall, the expansion pack was an important factor in my decision of buying this game.

Overall, is this game worth it? Although the game is quite good, the added bonus of an expansion pack makes this game totally worth it. To tell you the truth, the main reason why I bought this game is so that I could get the expansion pack to play Majora's mask. Since this game came with the pack, it was a sound financial decision to get it with the game. Inadvertently, after I played Majora's mask, I started this game and found it to be quite good. In other words, if you don't like this game, at least you will like the fact that it comes with the expansion pack.

The numbers as everybody loves them:

Gameplay: 9/10
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 7/10
Storyline: 4/10
Replay: 5/10

Originally submitted November 29, 2006

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 11/30/06