Donkey Kong Land

"Surprisingly good"

I take it that most of us have fond memories of Donkey Kong Country when it first hit the SNES over 10 years ago. Not only did it feature never before seen visuals that simply blew away its competition on any console back then, developer Rare also managed to create a game that was easily able to rank in the same league as the Super Mario series in terms of sheer gameplay quality. So, with graphics of this phenomenal quality, formidable and nearly perfect gameplay as well as the name Donkey Kong being a crowd puller, the game became an incredible success worldwide.

So naturally, a sequel was only a matter of time, and it indeed happened one year later with Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy´s Kong Quest. But only few people would have expected Rare to create a Game Boy game based on DKC, considering that the Game Boy is not exactly a powerful machine. But to be precise, Donkey Kong Land is not just some downgraded port of the SNES version, far from it.

The gameplay itself has not changed much, though. It´s still the same old 2D Jump & Run formula that has been reused in dozens of other games before, and since this game here has been developed by Rare, it does not really come off as a surprise that the gameplay experience is quite similar to the feeling of Donkey Kong Country, only in portable form. You still run through levels in the 2D plane, hopping on enemies whenever they should get in your way. Admittedly, the level design is pretty good here, especially since most of the stages are not lame rehashes of the original DKC, but newly designed ones, just for this port. They´re pretty creative and quite some fun to explore, which makes the old fashioned gameplay still pretty enjoyable. Another nice touch to the game is the fact that just like in its bigger brother, you are able to play as either Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong, a feature I really did in this port. The control scheme of this game is pretty solid, making it quite easy to get into it, even though at times, it feels like your characters are a little too slow. Also worth mentioning is that the difficulty of the game actually even surpasses that of its SNES brother, making it a little too tough at least for beginners, even though once you really get into it, it should be that much of a problem.

But now for the visuals, perhaps the most interesting aspect of the game. At first glance, they´re absolutely astonishing for a Game Boy title, having been created with the same engine like its SNES counterpart. Surely, it does not even look remotely as good as DKC, but what we have here is amazing for GB standards: the characters are pretty detailed and have been animated very smoothly, and the backgrounds abound with details you can only seldom find in any Game Boy game. But unfortunately, the visuals are being harmed by one sad fact: it´s sometimes really difficult to see anything on the Game Boy screen, and the visuals can even seem a little blurred, forcing you into making adjustments on the GB. This flaw overshadows the otherwise brilliant visuals that are unmatched at least on the old Game Boy, and in a certain way, it makes you wonder whether this game might have been a little too powerful for the Game Boy.

As far as the music goes, Donkey Kong Land is quite a nice surprise. We all know that the sound chip of the original Game Boy is pretty bad, and a hell lot of games can penetrate you with music that has sometimes been reduced to mere bleeps and blips. Fortunately, that´s not the case with DKL. The music is enjoyable to listen to, and not only does it not annoy you to death while playing, it sometimes even adds to the gaming experience with melodies you can find yourselves humming after a while. That rarely happens in a Game Boy game, and DKL certainly deserves some credit for its achievements in terms of music.

Donkey Kong Land may be weaker than Donkey Kong Country in every single aspect, but as a Game Boy game, it fares pretty well, and even though the visuals have their small problems, the game ultimately does not suffer from it too much. All in all, Donkey Kong Land is an enjoyable and rather difficult experiences every Donkey Kong fan should at least give a try. It´s worth it.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/25/06