Donkey Kong Country Returns

[Invader_Quirk]

I also dislike DK64 and I have long lamented its influence on the series beyond that point. It was much too goofy. I have never thought Rare was funny, certainly not as much as they thought they were. 64's tired and obnoxious jokes really felt out of place for DK for me, a series I always associated with beautiful environments and incredible, tuba-less music. Fart jokes are lame and so are a-large-and-strong-character-that-is-a-coward jokes. You may argue that the series was already headed in the goofy direction with DKC3 and you'd be right. The stupid characters (Kiddy and Baron K. Roolenstein at the forefront) and lame dialog almost ruined 3 for me with it only being saved by the excellent level design. DK64, however, took the goofiness to the next level and also failed to impress me gameplay-wise, what with Rare's typical collecting fetish and their insistence on only giving you powers that you can only use in VERY specific places.

To bring all of this back to DKCR, I am looking forward to it, but it's not a complete return to form. The goofy deflating frogs disappoint me to no end. I'd really like to see enemies more in line with the relatively realistic animal enemies from DKC. Alas, DK is now a goofy series that I fear I may never be fully happy with ever again.

Curse you, DK64.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Dude, you can't get goofier than pirate crocodiles and googly eyes.

[Mirby]

Did you EVER read any of Cranky's opening lines? There was some goofy stuff there in the first DKC.

I think it looks great, and DK64 was fun, imo.

[JCvgluvr]

2 points:

A) Gamefaqs? I don't even

Oh come on, it's not 4Chan (even though that isn't saying much).

The reason is because Nintendo hasn't developed a bad habit of periodically shitting all over their best franchises. They're in stark contrast compared to Sega, in the fact that every so often they might make a bad game, whereas in Sega's case, every now and then they might make an ok Sonic game.

Because Donkey Konga, DKonga2, DK: Kind of Swing (and it's sequel), and Barrel Blast were all stellar releases, am I right? Face it: DK's post 64 career has been just as bad as Sonic's post Adventure career, if not worse. The only difference is, nobody talked about DK's career.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I also dislike DK64 and I have long lamented its influence on the series beyond that point. It was much too goofy. I have never thought Rare was funny, certainly not as much as they thought they were. 64's tired and obnoxious jokes really felt out of place for DK for me, a series I always associated with beautiful environments and incredible, tuba-less music. Fart jokes are lame and so are a-large-and-strong-character-that-is-a-coward jokes. You may argue that the series was already headed in the goofy direction with DKC3 and you'd be right. The stupid characters (Kiddy and Baron K. Roolenstein at the forefront) and lame dialog almost ruined 3 for me with it only being saved by the excellent level design. DK64, however, took the goofiness to the next level and also failed to impress me gameplay-wise, what with Rare's typical collecting fetish and their insistence on only giving you powers that you can only use in VERY specific places.

To bring all of this back to DKCR, I am looking forward to it, but it's not a complete return to form. The goofy deflating frogs disappoint me to no end. I'd really like to see enemies more in line with the relatively realistic animal enemies from DKC. Alas, DK is now a goofy series that I fear I may never be fully happy with ever again.

Curse you, DK64.

Agreed completely.

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

But it isn't like they told the fans "this is gonna be just like all the awesome oldschool games! You'll see!", and then proceeded to sodomize said fans' imaginations.

You're right that they weren't stellar games, but the key is that Nintendo was trying to take divergent paths with the series, and nobody bought the idea. Sega was constantly trying to strike gold over and over again and failed.

To put it another way, this is the first time we've seen a "traditional" Donkey Kong game in awhile. If it sucks, then we'll start lumping it together with Sonic, but it deserves the benefit of the doubt for its first outing.

[Thalzon]

Because Donkey Konga, DKonga2, DK: Kind of Swing (and it's sequel), and Barrel Blast were all stellar releases, am I right? Face it: DK's post 64 career has been just as bad as Sonic's post Adventure career, if not worse. The only difference is, nobody talked about DK's career.

Can't speak for the bongo games (though they got decent reviews and seem to be enjoyable enough to re-release with wii controls) but I played Barrel Blast, which was a competent Mario Kart clone and fun to play with friends.

DK's games have been different but not sloppy or anything of the sort. Sonic games keep making the same lazy mistakes caused by the same development mistakes.

[Invader_Quirk]

I like all the Bongo games, especially Jungle Beat, and I think they've gotten pretty good scores. Only real bad thing to say about Donkey Konga is that they cut the songs short. I HAD heard that Barrel Blast was incredibly sloppy control-wise.

[EC2151]

People bitching about goofy enemy design should have started hating the series about an eighth of the way through Donkey Kong Country 1, and those same people would have thought the series irredeemable after DKC2.

I mean, really?

[Mirby]

People bitching about goofy enemy design should have started hating the series about an eighth of the way through Donkey Kong Country 1, and those same people would have thought the series irredeemable after DKC2.

I mean, really?

Exactamundo.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

People bitching about goofy enemy design should have started hating the series about an eighth of the way through Donkey Kong Country 1, and those same people would have thought the series irredeemable after DKC2.

I mean, really?

It's not so much goofy enemy design -- it's the whole goofy atmosphere of the rest of the game.

Look at DKC1 and 2. Yes, they had some goofy enemies, but the games still felt like they took themselves seriously. They weren't trying to be funny.

DKC3 and DK64 tried to hard to be funny -- and both completely failed at it.

I think the difference can be pretty well summarized by listening to the first level themes from DKC and DKC3.

DKC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx7mI1rdykw "gorilla with massive testicles romping through the jungle. Everything in this jungle exists solely for him to swing on, climb on, or pound mercilessly." DKC followed this attitude throughout the game. While I wouldn't call the game "dark," per se, it at least takes itself seriously. It's not trying to be funny.

DKC3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOEU4a1IXMY "HEY KIDDIES! I'M GONNA HIT MYSELF IN THE FACE WITH A PIE! THEN MAYBE I'LL SLIP ON A BANANA!" It's like the fucking Jar-Jar Binx of the DKC trilogy.

Most of the game feels like this. Though there are select portions with darker music, the game overall feels like a little kid's birthday party. Also, after DKC1 and ESPECIALLY DKC2, this game was almost insultingly easy.

It had some decent level design and some creative mechanics, and was still fun to play, but the constant clown-like attempts at slapstick humor really pulled me out of the experience.

[Invader_Quirk]

Sure, the first two games had some exaggerated enemies, but I never ever felt they were silly or goofy. They were pretty much all cool. They had some dignity. They didn't all have comically large chins like in 3.

Taucer and I pretty much agree exactly except that I felt like a good deal of the atmosphere in DKC3 was decent and moody, excepting the aforementioned first level and a few other instances. The attempts at humor are all awful, though. 64 for me is the game that just crams silliness down your throat from start to finish.

[Bleck]

DKC3 music gets a bad rap because of that first level song

if you listen to the rest of the soundtrack there are some real gems in there with probably the best sounding drum samples of the entire snes library

[Hobocop]

I guess I can understand where some negativity stems from in regards to the third game of the series, but it really wasn't that bad. At times, the game was rather difficult (double bouncing on one of the first levels wasn't easy, I recall, and that lightning level and the inverted pipes were tricky as well), and regardless it had a lot of content for completionists. There were also a few levels with a bit more pressure (like the riverside race and the ripsaw levels) than before.

It may not have been as 'serious' as the previous two but it was still DKC. The music was again really well done, and reflected the levels well. I saw the first game as rather varied, with the second having the obvious pirate overtones, while the third was more North-western... I thought the game pulled off the environments well overall.

This new game, on the other hand, just seems to be missing something here and there. I feel that the Smash Bros series recreated the atmosphere of DKC better than this one apparently does; then again, the more I see of it the more I feel I should not be so worried. In the previous games, once you saw a level's background you could attach music to it and recreate the environment in your mind, but it doesn't seem this game will follow that. Also, an interview with the developers on gametrailers confirmed that K Rool isn't in the game, which if true, is a sad prospect when combined with the lack of David Wise... even if the music is really well done he should be involved if only in a ceremonial capacity If nothing else, I hope they credit his work once you beat the game.

I'm just happy this game is happening, since I was beginning to think it never would. As a result, I feel I shouldn't be looking at the negatives, but part of me hopes the title sticks and this is a test game to see the response, and a DKC4 will come after. I'm not sure if I can consider this game as following in the tradition of the previous three.

[Invader_Quirk]

I thought it was a little bit humorous, albeit cruel, that Retro got this project after RARE went on record saying they'd make DKC4 if Nintendo asked them to. Wonder what they're thinking now, especially since the new Goldeneye is being done by another team as well.

[EC2151]

They're thinking "Hey how can we make another shitty game and tarnish our legacy further?"

Seriously, Rare is dead to me.

Also:

I see what you are saying Geoffrey, but as an aside I'll say that one of the most fun things to do in DKC2 was just killing the enemies because they were so cartoony, made such awesome death SKRONKs, and were just zany to the point of just being fun to kill.

Of course there were some creepy enemies (like Kreepy Krow and that one ghost Kremling who chased you in the minecart... yikes!), but the atmosphere was definitely one of fun throughout.

[cobaltstarfire]

DKC3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOEU4a1IXMY "HEY KIDDIES! I'M GONNA HIT MYSELF IN THE FACE WITH A PIE! THEN MAYBE I'LL SLIP ON A BANANA!" It's like the fucking Jar-Jar Binx of the DKC trilogy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIAoOcIJeq4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPnMDpklsmw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX6qkbEvuzw

I don't know how you guys are getting off saying the original DKC took itself seriously, I'm pretty sure one of the bosses in that game was a giant giggling beaver. But I am going to try to not really get into this lol. Games are games and I will play them! :3

Edit: because I'm bored and apparently still awake.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc2bNs8qbek

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_8x1TanzgQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9-mZAxPFe8

[Hobocop]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIAoOcIJeq4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPnMDpklsmw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iX6qkbEvuzw

I don't know how you guys are getting off saying the original DKC took itself seriously, I'm pretty sure one of the bosses in that game was a giant giggling beaver. But I am going to try to not really get into this lol. Games are games and I will play them! :3

Hehe I was going to link the boss music, it's great

[Mirby]

Don't forget that the beavers were named Gnawty and the boss was Very Gnawty (and I think Really Gnawty too... not sure)

That's pretty silly if you ask me. All the enemy names were silly, actually. Klaptrap, Klomp, Zinger... just a few of the top of my head...

[Hobocop]

Don't forget that the beavers were named Gnawty and the boss was Very Gnawty (and I think Really Gnawty too... not sure)

That's pretty silly if you ask me. All the enemy names were silly, actually. Klaptrap, Klomp, Zinger... just a few of the top of my head...

Don't forget Dumb Drum and King Zing Sting!

[Mirby]

Level names were pretty silly too. Klomp's Romp, Animal Antics, Rattle Battle... they tended to have either rhyming or alliteration. If that's not serious, I don't know what is.

Also, fighting a giant oil drum? Really?

[Tinus]

Obviously there's cartoony silliness in every Donkey Kong Country game. He's a Mario character in the Mario universe.

Still, it's all about balance. There are quite a few levels in Donkey Kong Country 1 that are extremely moody and immersive, and that was a big part of what set it apart from (other) Mario games. The series slowly lost more of that as it went on, until Donkey Kong 64 which was, from start till finish, just as brightly colored and cheerful as Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie.

I still enjoyed all four games.

Also, there have been good Donkey Kong games since then. Mario vs. Donkey Kong, DK King of Swing and (especially) Donkey Kong Jungle Beat were all great. Maybe not classics like DKC 1 and 2, but still.

[ftninja]

Just throwing in my two cents. DKC3 is said to be terrible, but I still had fun with it, as a gamer. Sure they let go of Diddy and threw in...Kiddy Kong?

I liked the game, even though i was annoyed by Kiddy's heaviness. And aside from the Jib Jigs and jungle tracks from the first two games, I really enjoyed the waterfall track from DKC3. I mean, come on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YP0qBEZosM

I really got into that track. I'm surprised nobody's remixed it yet, but that's another beef for another time.

[Toadofsky]

They're thinking "Hey how can we make another shitty game and tarnish our legacy further?"

Seriously, Rare is dead to me.

I stand by that statement. Rare is a shell of what it was almost 10 years ago. Now they're relegated to making Wii knockoffs, and since none of their new games sold well at all, I don't see them making a comeback anytime soon.

I feel that Nintendo was wise to let them go, even though I didn't feel that way originally.

Reportedly, David Wise is a freelance composer now, so maybe they can havehim come in and oversee or even compose the music for the game. I saw a report that Nintendo acknowledged that the music from the Super NES games were a fond memory for many, so take that as you will.

I'm definitely buying this game.

If it sells well (as it should), Retro needs to make a 2D Metroid, considerring they seem to know Metroid better than Sakamoto himself.

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Just throwing in my two cents. DKC3 is said to be terrible, but I still had fun with it, as a gamer. Sure they let go of Diddy and threw in...Kiddy Kong?

I liked the game, even though i was annoyed by Kiddy's heaviness. And aside from the Jib Jigs and jungle tracks from the first two games, I really enjoyed the waterfall track from DKC3. I mean, come on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YP0qBEZosM

I really got into that track. I'm surprised nobody's remixed it yet, but that's another beef for another time.

Waterfall theme was pretty badass, I will say.

DKC3 was not a terrible game. It just wasn't on par with 1 and 2.