Overall 9.1 Graphics 9 Sound 10 Addictive 8.5 Story 4.5 Depth 8 Difficulty 7.5
8.9
Donkey Kong Country Returns Patrick Star
Donkey Kong Country returns for another game and I just love it. This game was especially good for being on a mobile system unlike the other games. All though it does have a few down sides to it, it does carry a lot in the nostalgia factor for everyone who has played the original Donkey Kong Country. This game also does change a few things around to make it differ from the originals and some of them I really do not like very much. Well now onto my review of Donkey Kong Country Returns. Things I like and dislike: So there are a few things about the game that just stand out in good ways and some in bad ways here are a few. Good: Added cutscenes: There are cutscenes in the game before each boss and at the opening and the end. These cutscenes feature really good graphics and do not seem like they were not needed. They also give you a brief showing of what the boss is instead of it just being there like in the last games. New kinds of stages: I am not sure but something about the stages just seem different giving this game a unique touch. Like stages where you fly on a rocket barrel. New gallery: There are still the collectibles everybody enjoyed in the last games. There are puzzle pieces that once you find all of them in a stage you unlock music,art,etc. Bad: Other kong not playable: Instead of when you crack open a barrel diddy kong comes out and becomes playable when donkey kong loses he is just another health bar but adds a sort of gliding ability with his jetpack. No kremlings: Instead of kremlings there are now random tikis that I think just came out of nowhere. Seriously I do not even know where they came from. Super kong: They added a new thing called Super kong. If you die enough times in a stage you get the offer to have Super kong do the entire stage for you leaving out the challenge of the game in my opinion. All though people who are not as good at video games and need help might like it. Type of game: Donkey Kong Country Returns is a platformer that has many collectibles. Graphics: The graphics are really good for the 3ds all though if you turn on 3d with this game in particular you may just see double like I do a lot of the times. Everything runs really smoothly like when you use your pounding attack on a platform that moves down and activates a different one it just does it with no signs of it lagging or anything. The graphics are just lovely in my opinion. They also have something that I see in barely any other platformer. That is the background moving. Sometimes when the background moves you can even see secrets and other cool things. No parts of the game are too dark for you to not see anything and nothing is too bright for your eyes to hurt or anything like that. Some people might just not like how cartoony the graphics are but I on the other hand love them and I think the graphics deserve a 10 out of 10. Gameplay: So as I said it is a platformer. You have to make it to the end of each stage and hit the barrel at the end. The barrel contains coins and other things such as a bananas or extra lives. There are some enemies along the way though so you have to roll or jump on them. Most of it is platforming though. The bosses just do not seem as good as before for a reason I do not know why. I think it is just the nostalgia of the original but one boss I just think was a bad idea because it is a copy of the first boss only new attacks and it is way harder. You can press R to grab things such as vines,barrels and leaves on the ceiling. There is also now a shop where you can buy stuff from krankey kong. He can sell you things to help you along your journey but most of it I did not buy and just bought balloons aka extra lives. Sound: Well the sound just really is good and they even brought back some of the music from the original Donkey Kong Country which I really enjoy hearing again. All though none of the characters talk krankey does have a text box. I think giving them actual speech would be a bad idea anyway because they are gorillas and monkeys. The bosses have specific music and they have music before each boss as well kind of as a starting theme for the battle. None of the sound seems off beat or anything. They also have kind of a wide variety of music to keep you entertained with the game. That is why I give the sound a perfect score of 10 out of 10. Addictiveness: I will play this game again for sure because of all the collectibles it has to offer and because of some of the great music it has. The nostalgia factor is the main reason why I would keep coming back though. You can play this game for hours because of how much fun it is to replay the levels even. In most games I play such as New Super Mario Bros only a few of the levels I enjoy replaying. All though the boss levels are not as fulfilling to replay as most other games. Most games the bosses are like the only thing I replay but in this game they just come out as a one time thing for me at least. I give the addictiveness a 9 out of 10 for stunning me with the actual levels but not the boss fights. Story: Well the story is not good really at all but the story is that apparently a huge tiki is sitting on top of a volcano and sends smaller tikies to steal your bananas and hypnotize animals in the jungle once they fail to hypnotize you. They then send those animals at you and they are the enemies in the game. This story is not really that great and not that shocking so I gave it a 5 out of 10. Depth: Well this game offers a lot and takes a while to beat even if you are not collecting everything but if you are going to collect everything then this game will take you hours upon hours to get 100%. It has the regular game and then it has going back through the levels and collecting everything which is kind of disappointing because it could have had bonus levels or something. You also can go back through the levels only doing time trials but you do not need to do these to get 100%. I am really proud of that because the times they ask you to beat are just outrageous to beat such as 40 seconds for a boss. I give the depth an 8 out of 10 for offering a lot but not enough. Difficulty:This game is one of those games that is just agonizingly hard at first but then once you get the hang of it,it starts to get easier like at first when I started the game I just sucked at it but now I can go through the levels pretty easily. The one thing I liked about the difficulty was that when I started to get better the levels started to come on to my skill level and still made the game pretty challenging for me. I think it has a pretty default but hard difficulty level so I will give the difficulty a 6 out of 10. So overall I recommend this game to you and I give it an 8.9 as my rating.
Graphics 10 Sound 10 Addictive 9 Story 5 Depth 8 Difficulty 6
Review Rating: 4.5/5
Submitted: 02-21-14
Review Replies: 1
8.5
HOO HAH! BANANA SLAMMA! supernerd117
HOO HAH, BANANA SLAMMA! THE KING OF SWING IS BACK IN A NEW ADVENTURE!
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D sees the return of Donkey Kong to his roots. New things are added, and the difficulty is greater than ever, but there are new additions to mix things up. There are more things to collect and more levels than in any other DK game. For those up to the challenge, it will likely be well worth their time.
Let’s go over the basic controls: In regular levels, use the circle pad to move, X to roll and B to jump. L or R is to grab (and hold) items.
For those used to Mario games, DK’s controls may seem a bit clunky. DK can only jump once (but may gain extra airtime with Diddy’s rocketbarrels), and momentum can be difficult to halt, at least comparatively. However, DK can go far by rolling before jumping, and can even jump in midair if he rolls off a platform.
But these mechanics are often put to good use. Platforms appear at the edge of jumping range, may appear at the last minute, and many secrets can be found. DKC is not meant to be Mario; the game is much more intense. It is not a cinematic game all the time, but on many occasions, you may feel like you need to step away and take a break. While coins and lives are fairly scattered throughout levels, you may lose upwards of 20 lives on a single level, on occasion.
Much of the game is simple trial and error. You try something in a level, find it doesn’t work, then try something else. This often leads to the discovery of secrets and/or hidden areas, and is at many times necessary to complete a level, especially the more intense ones.
The levels are split into 6 different types:
Regular:
Just get to the end of the level and smash the roulette barrel
If you hit the “DK”, then you gain the same number of items as the number of hits you score on the barrel before it breaks.
Minecart:
Make it to the end alive in a mine cart!
Can duck and jump outside the mine cart, sometimes to other minecarts.
Rocket barrel:
Make it to the end alive in a rocket barrel!
There are two types: upwards and side-scrolling. The former has you going upward towards a goal, and is less common. In these levels, you can hold B to go faster and move left and right. The latter is more common. In these you simply move up and down at a constant speed.
Dash:
Get to the end of the level ASAP!
In these levels, you have to hurry or lose a life. It may be lava or spider-like creatures after you, but if you don’t hurry, you will die. It can be very difficult to get all the puzzle pieces and KONG letters in these levels.
Boss:
Basically, boss levels. Defeat the boss to unlock the next world.
At the end of the level, “hits” may be made against enemies that had the bosses under mind control. The number is counted as a record, but little else.
Extra:
Key: These levels require you to buy a key from Cranky to unlock them. You may have to clear levels as well. There is one per world.
Temple: Get all the KONG letters in each level of a world to unlock the “temple” of the world. Beat the level to gain an orb.
Golden Temple: These levels are exclusive to the 3DS game, except for one. All 8 orbs are required to unlock this world. Orbs can be bought from Cranky if unlocking/beating the “temple” levels is not possible or desired.
The difficulty of these levels is often intense, but can be offset by the use of up to 3 of these items per level:
Green Balloon:
Saves you once from a fall (not every time)
Crash Guard:
Protects against two hits in a minecart or rocketbarrel
Banana Juice:
Protects against 5 regular hits.
Heart Boost:
Gives an extra heart.
This heart can be refilled by collecting dropped hearts in a level.
Squawks:
Squawks, well, squawks when you’re near a puzzle piece.
DK Barrel:
Tap the screen to activate a DK Barrel (gives you Diddy and full health if he “died”)
An additional “mirror mode” is unlocked upon completing the Golden Temple. This allows you to play levels mirrored, and adds even more replayability to the game. There are around 70+ levels, and every one is mirrored, to give you an idea.
There are also time trials. These time trials test you to your limit. You have to complete a level within a certain amount of time to get a gold medal. The window of opportunity is not very generous. You have to be quick to score gold. One big mistake, and you’ll have to start over.
In addition, collecting all the puzzle pieces in a level scores bonus content. Figuring out how to gain the puzzle pieces is one of the more enjoyable aspects of the game. Sometimes you have to collect all the bananas in a string of bananas. Sometimes you’ll have to defeat certain baddies. Sometimes you’ll have to solve small puzzles. In most levels, there are “bonus” levels. By collecting all the items in these levels, you gain a puzzle piece. These levels are among the most disappointing. There are a certain number of “stock” bonus levels, and each level is just a variant of one of those. There’s no “find the token” or “defeat the baddies” here. These are fun, but arguably, the game could have been better for a wider audience if there was more variety in these.
Getting all four KONG letters in a level before completing it also scores bonus content.
Another disappointment is the absence of all animals except Rambi, and even then, there is little inclusion of him. I miss Squawks and Enguarde as playable characters, although the latter was likely excluded because there are no underwater levels. Perhaps that is for the best. But I hope they are brought back in a future game.
I also need to cover coins, hearts, and health:
Coins:
Can be found throughout levels
Also found by defeating 3+ enemies in a row without touching the ground
Can be spent at Cranky’s shop for items, lives, and orbs once the main game is complete
Hearts:
Can be found throughout levels
Most commonly found by defeating enemies
Will replenish one heart on the meter
Heart Meter:
Shows how many hits you can take
DK and Diddy take 3 each. Once Diddy takes 3, DK can take up to three before you die. Certain hazards can insta-kill (a fall, and being squished in some areas).
Notably, things are different in the “Wii” or “Original” version of the game. Item
selection is smaller, you can’t buy orbs, and only two hearts per character.
One last note: The 3D is terribly glaring throughout, with the exception of the cutscenes and certain effects from time to time. It is highly suggested that you play in 2D, with the exception of cutscenes.
To conclude, DK will appeal to a more hardcore audience. Those who prefer to chillax and take their time will find this game hard to swallow. But those looking to challenge themselves and develop their gaming skills will find something that pushes them to grow better at them. Understandably, many people avoid the game. You have to adapt to its pace. It will not adapt to yours for a great portion of the time. But if you are willing, you might find one of the most frustrating and most rewarding games out there.
Overall score: 8.5/10
Graphics 8 Sound 10 Addictive 8 Story 4 Depth 8 Difficulty 9
Review Rating: 3/5
Submitted: 03-31-15
Review Replies: 1
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