Game Review: Donkey Kong Country

Game: Donkey Kong Country
Console: SNES
Developer: Rare
Release Date: 25th November 1994

Listen to the game OST as you read

Donkey Kong Country was the first game to feature Donkey Kong as a character outside of the arcade series featuring Jumpman, or Mario as he would later be called. Conceptually, the game is a fairly simple platformer where Donkey Kong, accompanied by his sidekick Diddy Kong collects bananas and avoids enemies to get through stages on his way to get back his stash of bananas from the final boss.

There are 33 stages and 7 boss battles to navigate on the way to completing this game, a fairly large amount by the generation's standards (Sonic the Hedgehog by contrast had 18 stages and 6 bosses). The game's difficulty can be a little unnerving at first, its not terribly hard but some stages require a bit of skill and memory to navigate There's a good amount of challenge, and the difficulty curve is almost perfect, making completion of stages rewarding and giving the player an incentive to keep trying on harder stages.

Graphically, the game was the first major game to have pre-rendered back grounds, behind the sprites. The game looks great because of this, way ahead of other games for the SNES, all the gameplay areas have interesting and visually pleasing backgrounds and objects. The game controls well, the player is able to swap between Diddy and Donkey Kong easily, the jump is responsive and there's the option to dash through parts of the stage. 

There's a lot of variation in level design, with overground, underwater, minecart and other special level types. This keeps the game interesting and challenging to play, throughout the stages and although some ideas are repeated at later stages, with slight twists, in a game with as many levels as this, it's expected that some parts will featured variations on ideas. One interesting level design in particular is one featuring stop and go signs, which when red stop enemies from moving. The level features fast moving enemies and buttons to change the signs, it takes a while to master but is one of the most fun levels in the game. 

Musically the game has one of my favourite soundtracks of all time, composed by David Wise. The level themes really amplify the ambiance of the scenery and area, and ties the game together where the different areas might feel somewhat unrelated to one another. There's a great variety of types of music also, from funky themes to relaxed underwater music. 

Overall this is a game that feels ahead of its time both graphically and in level design, with a great soundtrack and controls. The difficulty is fairly high but it gets easier with repeated tries and its a game that makes you want to play until you succeed. With hidden shortcuts and bonus levels to explore, as well as the fun main levels, its got a lot to offer, even today. 

Rating: 90/100

Grade: A