Donkey Kong Country Returns with old-school style

Let me explain my history with Donkey Kong Country. The first game came out about the time when I entered high school and, being the same video game nerd then as I am now, I loved it so much, I even stuck a microphone next to the TV speaker and recorded clips of the soundtrack onto a cassette so I could listen to my favorite tracks while on the bus to school.

So imagine my excitement when I heard the franchise was getting a Wii release.

The game is a magnificent throwback to the original trilogy of 2D sidescrolling SNES games. The gameplay, levels, puzzles and music are all familiar to those who played the old games made by Rare. Classic platforming during the height of the genre, pre-3D Mario 64-inspired games.

Retro Studios, the guys who made the Metroid Prime trilogy, took over the franchise from once-unstoppable Rare, which Nintendo sold like a red-headed stepchild to Microsoft several years back (with sad results). They have made a wonderful port paying homage to the originals while still including enough unique elements to keep it fresh.

The story this time around is that nasty voodoo Tiki masks have enslaved Kong Island’s native animals to steal Donkey’s epic banana hoard. Not one to take that lightly, Donkey sets out to reclaim his property via many well-placed punches.

The music is instantly recognizable Donkey Kong Country. Nearly every track is heavily influenced by the original soundtrack, to the point that I first took it to be a port. I found myself humming the tunes throughout the day, they have become so ingrained in my memories of Donkey Kong. I haven’t found game credits yet online (or beaten the game), so I don’t know if David Wise, who wrote the original score, gets the credit due him.

The main draw to this game for newcomers is the level design. Some of the levels are fantastic both in design and visuals, offering some truly challenging gameplay. Think Prince of Persia without that cheap rewind-to-get-back-our-life trick. Many levels will have you punching the sofa in frustration after spending 10+ lives on on problem. Using a clever combination of 2D and 3D elements, Donkey and son Diddy can jump into the foreground or background, while cannons, roller coaster rails and palm tree fronds jump out at the screen.

Several levels show off the artistic side as well (see the article posted on “Are video games art?”) with the characters shown as shadowed outlines, lit from behind, as if this were a “Game And Watch” game. It particularly comes through during a level in the Factory world, where a yellowy fog swirls throughout, obscuring the player as well as enemies and platforms.

The similarities between this game and the originals are overwhelming. And that is the problem. This is not so much a new game as an homage to the old ones. The same characters, moves, levels, music all return. The only significant difference is lack of Kremlings as baddies, which is another problem. There is no variation of villains. The same 10 or so enemies keep popping up and they are almost all taken care of by one bop to the head. The level design mostly makes up for this, but it’s hard to ignore.

The aforementioned frustration of very difficult levels highlights another problem – it’s too easy to get extra lives and swag. I routinely had more than 40 lives in stock. Banana coins can be collected throughout the game to purchase goodies from old man Cranky’s shop. But when nothing costs more than 20 coins and you’re sitting on a wallet of more than 200, cost becomes somewhat meaningless.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is indeed a return to the classic age of sidescrolling platformers.It’s also the newest in a recent batch of similar games, mostly by Nintendo (New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Kirby’s Epic Yarn, etc). All that’s needed now is a top-down Zelda game, and Nintendo’s property will have all received the flattening treatment. It works, it’s fun, it’s exciting.

And the music is good too. Now all I have to do is find my tape deck.