Donkey Kong 64

Introduction

Hello again everyone. At long last, I’m finally going to continue my tradition of writing reviews around here.

Donkey Kong 64. This game was a highly anticipated sequel to the Donkey Kong Country series for the SNES, which was very successful back in the mid 1990’s. This game also lets you choose from five different Kongs to play with.

Story

Like before, your main enemy is King K. Rool. His mission is to blow up the island which Donkey Kong and the others inhabit. However, King K. Rool kidnaps DK’s pals. It’s your job to save all four of them, and then defeat King K. Rool for good by using all five Kongs.

Gameplay (6/10)

To be honest, there’s nothing special about your objectives in each level. Each Kong in each level can collect five Golden Bananas and 100 colored bananas each. There’s also one Boss per level, but which Kong actually fights the boss depends on the level. Each Kong has their own special banana color, by the way. Golden bananas are the hardest to get, as they let you enter new levels.

Now let’s talk about the use of colored bananas. Around each level, you’ll probably see a portal with a pig face and a hippo face on it. After you enter, you’ll see a medium-sized hippo and a massive pig, which standing on a scale opposite sides of a giant double-door. Basically, the hippo must be fed bananas in order to gain weight and raise the pig up on the other side to reach a key, which opens the huge double-door. As you progress through the game, the amount of bananas he needs to eat will increase. Color doesn’t matter.

Let’s talk about the bosses. Each level has a boss for you to defeat. After you defeat a boss, you will receive a Boss Key.

What the heck is this? A giant key we know nothing about? Well, outside the island, in a cave, there’s this gigantic croc called Klumsy K. Rool. He is locked up because of his clumsiness. Who would’ve known that would’ve been the reason. Anyways, he says if you get all eight Boss keys and free him, he’ll help you defeat K. Rool. Now, sometimes, when you open a lock, Klumsy will start jumping around for joy. This causes the island to shake because he is so huge. This rumble in the jungle will make paths to new level entrances open up. Happy day.

Now Golden Bananas are exactly like Stars from Super Mario 64. You must somehow find them in each level by either simply going up and collecting them from a hard to reach spot, winning them in a mini-game or finding blueprints from tough enemies and giving them back to this Fox guy, who gives you a Golden banana. There are 25 GBs in each level, five for each Kong. When I say this, I mean that each Kong has 5 GBs that only THEY can get. As you progress through the game, these bananas get more and more difficult to obtain, just like SM64.

The final battle is where I think this game shines. But the way you get to it is really confusing. After you free Klumsy K. Rool, he’ll run around the island, chasing this robotic dragonfly. He will then swat the dragon fly, but trip and fall over a massive rock at the same time. This creates a hole in the ground that leads you to the final battle. This makes no sense whatsoever. What happened to Klumsy? Did his Klutz-like act kill him? How the hell does a robotic dragonfly lead you to a final battle?

Ah, but no matter. The final battle is amazing. It is a “boxing” match between you and K. Rool. The battle consists of five rounds, one for each Kong. Each Kong will do various things in order to knockout K. Rool. Chunky Kong finishes him off by turning huge and using his Primate Punch special attack.

Gameplay isn’t too special, but it has an interesting ending.

Graphics (10/10)

The graphics is where this game shines brightly. Everything is crisp and clear. Much better than SM64 and Starfox64.

Sound (10/10)

Awesome. The music drives this game; it is most noted for its boss battle music which is a “hard-core symphony” track of the level music. Each level has its own unique music to it. Also, the Kongs make sounds as they jump around and accomplish tasks. Everything that makes noise in this game is incredible.

Replayability (9/10)

The ability to play this game again is unreal. Because the first time you beat it, you probably won’t find everything in the game. It’s always fun to through a second or third time to try and beat it 101%. And yes, it is actually possible to do that. To do this, you must find the 201st Golden Banana. I’m not telling you how to do so, though. The game never loses its charm.

Challenge (10/10)

This game is incredibly difficult. The hardest part of this game isn’t the final boss, or finding everything. It’s that dang jetpack game that Cranky lets you play in order to advance in the game. You HAVE to play this game and beat the highscore in order to beat it. This game is almost impossible to beat. It’s an OLD Rare game from the early 80’s, back when Rare’s company name was actually “Ultimate Play the Game”. It’s hard to explain how difficult it is, so just get the game and you’ll find out.

Also, you HAVE to beat the original Donkey Kong arcade game in order to beat the game, too. Another challenge.

Even aside from these old games, DK64 is still a difficult game to beat 100% because once you enter a level, you have NO idea where ANYTHING is.

Frustration (3/10)

I guess you could say I’ve gotten angry over this game a few times in my life. But it’s not what you might think. It’s such a fun game to play, you kind of lose the madness.

Value (6/10)

It’s ok. About $20 used at a used game store. But I think it’s well worth it. Still, it could be lower.

Overall (8/10)

Overall, this game is a must-have. Just make sure you have an Expansion Pak in the N64 and not a Jumper Pak, because the game only works with the former. If you are looking for a game with awesome graphics and sound plus a great ending, this game is for you.

Conclusion

Wow that took awhile. But it feels great to review another great game. Thanks for reading!