Donkey Kong 64

"Pretty good, but not good enough for Rare."

I must admit, for a platformer as heavily hyped as it was, DK64 was a bit of a disappointment for me. Now, I’ll be the first to say that it’s a very good game, and more than worth the 65 bucks (especially considering you could easily spend 65 hours on the game, and since you get a free Expansion Pak). However, considering that it was supposed to be one of Rare’s three Triple-A titles of 1999-2000 (the other two being Jet Force Gemini and Perfect Dark) and the fact that it was a sequel to one of the best series of all time, the Donkey Kong Country series for SNES, I must say that this game isn’t the best platformer out there. Or even close to the best. Sure, it’s still in the upper echelon, but this is a bit sub-par for Rare.

Gameplay: 8-

Why isn’t the game as good as the DKC series? Well, because the overall style of this game is totally different. It’s like Banjo-Kazooie with different characters. While DKC was about pure platforming – swimming, jumping, and climbing, all while dodging obstacles and killing enemies – DK64 is much more of a scavenger-fest. There are items in DKC, but those are merely bonuses that aren’t vital to any part of the game, except for getting the Lost World. In contrast, DK64 revolves around collecting items – 200 golden bananas to be specific. This isn’t necessarily bad, but it means that for the whole game you’re basically navigating the levels, looking for bonus barrels to complete mini-games to win bananas.

While you’re navigating these levels, you’ll have fun knocking over various enemies, swimming (nice fishies!), swinging on vines, and jumping off high platforms to flatten yourself. The scenery is quite good, as is the music, so you’ll be having fun by discovering various nooks and crannies in the levels. Now, for the complaints…

First off, navigating the worlds is humiliatingly easy. While I am pretty good at platformers, it still takes me a lot of effort to beat most of them, especially the DKC series. In contrast, DK64 basically poses no challenge, bonus levels excluded. None of the enemies are particularly dangerous, and they’re all easy to avoid and kill. Plus, you get anywhere from four to twelve slices of watermelon – meaning that you can be hit four to twelve times before you die. This doesn’t seem like too much, until you realize that almost every enemy gives you a slice or two of watermelon when they die. Luckily, the bosses are rather challenging, but that’s about it.

Unfortunately, in an attempt to make the game harder, Rare has made many of the mini-games (which you must beat to earn golden bananas) challenging. Very challenging. A better description would be “excruciatingly frustrating”. Now, 80% of the bonus games are either easy or challenging but fun. It’s the other 20% that get tiresome, because they’re challenging due to frustrating problems, not lack of skill. For example, in one you have to herd copious numbers of beavers into a hole. While I didn’t have undue difficulty with this one, lots of other people did, and for good reason: there’s only one correct strategy, and that one’s hard to get right, especially since the most logical way isn’t the best way. In another bonus game, you have to swim around collecting coins. Sounds easy, and should be, except the ***damn camera angle is so screwed up that you won’t be able to judge your (or the rings’) depth reliably, making collecting the rings extremelyfrustrating. Rare also put two classic arcade games in; at least one of them is quite challenging, long, and nerve-racking. IMHO, all these minigames don’t belong here.

Why? Because this is a platformer, for goodness sake. I wanted something in the vein of DKC, or at least Mario 64: tough levels, tough enemies, lots of variations (running, swimming, flying, changing into parrots, rhinos, swordfish etc.), etc. What I got was a primate version of BK, which, while certainly good, is not as fun or as original as DKC.

Graphics: 9+

The graphics really shine. Everything is nice, crisp, and frooty. The Kong Klan are nice and detailed and their animations are smooth. The enemies all move clumsily and in a cartoony style suitable with the overall tone of the game, and are all rendered well. With the careful use of “fog” (there isn’t really any, but faraway details such as trees will disappear) Rare manages to keep this game flowing smoothly, even though the levels look very nice and are very big. One consists of a tropical jungle, with cliffs above, a waterfall and pool below, and caves criss-crossing everywhere. Another consists of a spooky forest that literally changes faces from day to night, and that houses a hedge maze, giant mushroom, and more, while another world is basically just an immense, deep, pool of water with little islands and lighthouses in the middle. There is a lot (maybe too much) of dynamic lighting, visual effects, etc. The water and little fishes look especially nice. As can be expected from a Donkey Kong game, there are lots of environments: toxic slime, fire, ice, water, sand, and grass. These all look very nice – not too realistic, but good effects, a la Rayman.

Sound: 9-

The music is pretty good, but a bit limited. There is only one theme for each world. Thankfully the themes are nice and long, and don’t get repetitive. There are many variations of the overworld theme, which play during all of the “gateways” to the various other worlds. The theme also changes from a nice frooty happy tune on DK Isle, to a much gloomier, more ominous tune on K. Rool’s floating ship. There’s nice use of piccolos and lower brass to accent the changes.

As for the sound effects, they’re pretty good and mostly cartoony. The audio is pretty nice and well acted. You’ll have a laugh at K. Rool’s gruff voice, but unfortunately, there’s relatively little speech in the game. Still, the audio that’s present is well done, and coupled with the pleasant musical score, enhances your trip in DK Isle.

Multiplayer: 5+

Average, really. Don’t expect anything close to typical FPS multi, and you might be pleasantly surprised. You’re basically just running through several nicely designed but rather small arenas, collecting ammo, homing ammo, oranges (grenades) and health. You can also jump around and hurt others with physical attacks. It’s not that good, but quite original and with four players you can have a bit of fun. However, I’d definitely opt for the multiplayer of PD/GE/SSB. The multi in DK64 almost seems to be saying, “Hey, look, we put in a decent multi in a platformer, which no one ever expected. It’s not addictive, but it’s decent…so there.”

Presentation: 9

Nice, tongue-in-cheek manual (continuing with tradition, Cranky is the “author”); nice opening scene; original/funny/excruciatingly bad opening rap. There is no in-game tutorial – let’s face it, you don’t need one – but Squawks is there to help you through your little training session at the start of the game, which should get you used to all the basic controls. As you progress further, you’ll be introduced to more advanced moves by our favorite parrot Squawks, who unfortunately isn’t playable in the game. Sob.

Anyway, there are lots of options, a nice menu (with humorous background antics), and the in-game cutscenes and cinemas are very nicely done.

Overall: 8+

Like I said, it’s well worth your money, but you might want to rent it first to see if it’s your style. DKC fans beware – it’s not as good as the SNES series, but otherwise, most platforming fans will like the game. The main problem with DK64 is that it’s both easy and frustratingly hard, and strays a little from the simple yet challenging and fun gameplay introduced by DKC. Still, it’s a pretty good game and I must admit, it was (generally) fun while it lasted. And, it lasted around 60 hours…

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 05/25/01, Updated 09/03/01