Reviews

Donkey Kong 64

By Corey

Donkey, Diddy, and the rest of the gang return with some new faces in order to try and take down King K. Rool and the Kremlings once and for all. Does DK64 live up to all the hype it received, or is just another plain old N64 game?

Graphics: 9

The graphics are a delight, even though they are an updated version of Banjo-Kazooie's The Kongs have are nicely modeled and have a uniqueness about them. The environments have no fog in site, no pop-up, and are heavily detailed themselves.

Game Play: 7

Here is the basic idea: There are 7 main levels. You will collect 5 gold bananas, 100 regular bananas, and a blueprint for each of the 5 characters per level (plus other stuff you get as a group). You will need to solve puzzles, use a variety of moves, and various other things to collect every single item. The levels are big, maybe too big at times, enemies are around every corner, though they are easy to kill, and other objectives stand in your way.

For the most part, that's the basic gameplay. In order to collect some bananas, you must play the repetitive mini-games. Though most around bad, there aren't enough of them so you are forced to play the same one multiple times, sometimes in the same level.

In order to collect other bananas, you will go through other miscellaneous obstacles. These consist of mostly races and mine cart rides. The mini cart rides are great, but they are too few of them. The races are frustrating and boring, and there are too many of them (sill have nightmares about the beetle…) Overall, they are still better than the Beaver Bother mini-game though (don't even get me started on that...).

The control of this game is right on. Performing all the moves in the game, most of which you will have to buy from Cranky Kong using banana coins you find lying around, is usually as simple as pushing 1 or 2 buttons at once. Each Kong has unique moves, though most have the same effect, and you will have to use their individual moves in order to solve puzzles, open doors, etc.

Sound: 8

The music is a little lacking. A couple classic DK tunes make their way in, but the music overall isn't the greatest. Not all the songs set the mood how they should. On the other hand, the Kong's voices can be hilarious at times, and the noises certain objects make sound just like their real-life counter parts.

Lasting Value: 8

If you can stand all the item collecting, this game takes forever to complete. Even though there is little replay once the game is completely beaten, getting to 100% in itself gets you a lot of play time.

Bottom Line

It is a hit and miss type game. Some people will love it, some will hate it. It all depends on how much you like going around collecting items. If you liked Banjo-Kazooie, you should like this game as well. If you never played BK but like platforms, then you should check this game out.

Final Score: 8 out of 10 (this is not an average)