Donkey Kong Country: The Start Of A New Series

 I have been in the mood lately to play retro games, whether they are older titles I never got around to or revisiting an old favorite; in this case, it is the latter. I love so many games from the Donkey Kong series, and I plan on talking about quite a few of his gaming adventures, starting with his first platforming outing on the Super Nintendo. I grew up with the entire Donkey Kong Country series of games, owning all three of those classic cartridges, and these games, along with Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Kirby Superstar, and many other games on the system, were my first foray into gaming. The Super Nintendo remains one of my favorite gaming systems and gaming libraries of all time. This game is one of the many reasons why I love it so much.

When Donkey Kong was in the arcades, he was the villain of the story. That Kong ended up becoming Cranky Kong, this new DK, now the hero of the narrative, must platform through multiple levels, spanning multiple worlds, to reclaim his banana hoard that was stolen from King K. Rool and his crew. But DK isn't alone, Diddy Kong is along as well, for player two to control. or two swap in when you take a hit if flying solo. That is all the story this game has to offer; it is all about going on an adventure. There aren't many cutscenes, and most of the dialogue comes from NPCS that you have to go out of your way to interact with. Most of the experience comes from the presentation and gameplay.

You can run, jump, roll, grab, and throw barrels, and find some animal buddies that can help you along the way, from Engarde the fish, for under water levels, Winky the frog, Expresso the ostrich,  to Rambi the rhino, all of them able to take a hit for you but also can deal with enemies and add to your abilities, most of the time, Squawks the bird just lights up one level. Each level you navigate has DK barrels where you can recover DK or Diddy if you lost them, one hit and you lose one of your two Kongs. There are also four letters that spell out Kong that give you an extra life, extra lives in the form of balloons, bananas, which if you collect 100 net you an extra life, and bonus rooms. These can help you get tokens that unlock bonus rooms where you play as the animal buddies and collect bananas, bananas, and lives. All of these add up to 100 percent on your save file, which I never go for as there is no real bonus; I just enjoy the game. There are NPCS such as Cranky Kong, the original DK, who gives you advice, Funky Kong, who takes you to past worlds and levels, and Candy Kong, who saves your game.

As you go from level to level, you will swim, ride mine carts, do tons of platforming challenges, and if you don't go for all the bonuses can easily finish this game in a couple of hours. There are a couple of bosses to face who are easy to deal with; the only challenging one is truly the final boss of this game. This game is still fun today as it was when I was a kid. This game has such solid platforming and great level design, the levels don't overstay their welcome, and the presentation helps make each level pop in just the right ways. The game can have levels that are more fun then others, and some of them have gimmicks that are not fun at all, but there are so many levels that are well designed and have such good variety that I find myself replaying this game alongside Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Megaman X, and more. Games that are so short that they fill a lazy afternoon perfectly, that are fun on the first playthrough or the fifteenth. 

The music and graphics were groundbreaking at the time; the backgrounds of each level are so vibrant, and the music fits each stage so well. Whether listening to the songs in the game or on their own, this soundtrack is incredible. The presentation makes the levels memorable alongside the incredibly fun gameplay. The look and sound of this game is still incredible and even if games look better now, the visuals of this game still stand out. The sound design is also incredible for the sound effects of enemies or the interactions with the environments. is Both Kongs are fun to play as, each with its advantages, and the animal buddies are genuinely fun power-ups. The barrel canon levels and mine cart levels add challenge and precision while still being so fun to play. The controls are tight and responsive, and as I mentioned, many of the stages are well designed. 

I grew up with so many games on the SNES, including this one, and I have so much nostalgia for this game and the entire series. There are flaws, there are levels or gimmicks that just do not work, but the presentation, music, and so many of the levels that do work, make this game shine. This game is still fun to run through and just enjoy the presentation and the gameplay. When Rare made these games, they made something special and this game stands alongside some of their best work. I still love this game just as much as I did back then, appreciating a game I can finish on a day when there isn't much to do. Sometimes it's fun to go back to a classic game where the story was held in the manual, and the gameplay told the rest. Games that had challenge and heart, there are plenty of games that still hold that today from teams both big and small, but sometimes there's something special, about the classics.