quiet_tiger (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
quiet_tiger) wrote2011-01-04 09:51 pm
quiet_tiger) wrote2011-01-04 09:51 pm
Donkey Kong Country Returns
I haven't been around much lately for a few reasons. 1) Not much to say 2) Spending time with Dann 3) Bought Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii and put it upon myself to beat the game as quickly as possible.
Which I did--I got it last Sunday and beat it last night.
I was a big fan of the original Donkey Kong Country for Super Nintendo, and had the first GameBoy game, too. They are two of the few video games I've actually beaten, because they were fun enough to keep trying and there wasn't much risk of losing the game entirely due to losing lives. I've even replayed them to completion multiple times.
Same with DKCR. It was really fun to play, even if the motion controls using the Wii remote and Nunchuk are kind of sketchy and I'm not used to joysticks in general (Donkey Kong took many a poorly-executed roll off a cliff). The best part of the game was probably the nostalgia feeling; there's a lot of similar artwork from the original SNES game, and the music is mostly remixed tracks from back then. For some reason a lot of reviews I read online complained about the music not being original, but the music was so good! People seem to be missing the point.
The graphics in the game are really beautiful. Crisp and awesome, and the game makes use of 3D even though it's a 2D side scrolling platformer by having parts of levels in the background, or having enemies attack from the background (which is actually really freaky!).
What I thought was really interesting was that the reviews I read all basically said the game was really difficult, and was intentionally designed for more hardcore gamers. Well, I'm not a hardcore gamer--I've had my Wii for more than a year and have bought two games for it before this and those were Sports Resort and DDR Hottest Party 3 and aren't exactly hardcore games--and I beat the game in eight days. I think most of that is due to familiarity with the concept of the game and the basic controls, because I had a lot of trouble in the new worlds that aren't present in the older game. So either I'm awesome or these gamer people are kind of wusses. =P Like I said before it really helps that there's no risk of losing the game due to lack of lives; there's desire to continue and do better rather than give up out of frustration or be forced to give up due to dying too many times.
Of course, there were parts of the game that were very hard, and I certainly didn't collect all the optional stuff they want you to. Several levels took more than an hour to beat; the last level before the final boss took maybe three hours to beat because I kept screwing up and reached a point where I wasn't sure what to do. There are also these awful "rocket barrel" levels that feel impossible at first. But unlike my experiences with Mario games, I *wanted* to continue. So either the game is more something I want to succeed at, or I'm not a teenager anymore and have more patience. Also, as one reviewer said, the game never feels unfair or like it's cheating you, which I can't say for a lot of other games I've played (though again I'm not really a video game person).
There is also a "Super Guide" feature that will play the level for you if you die a certain number of times in a level. But it happens too quickly; sometimes it took that number of lives just to figure out what to do in a certain spot, and I had to continually watch the stupid Save Pig wave his little white flag asking me to surrender. Never!! ...look online for tips on how to get through certain parts, but I'm not gonna let the game play itself for me.
Anyway, it was a really fun game, and I have to go through it again to try and get more of the secrets. There's a lot of hidden stuff and really-difficult-to-get KONG letters. I wish there were more animal friends and you could play as Diddy (Donkey Kong is sooooo slow and hard to get to jump far enough), but the nostalgia factor is so high and the feeling of accomplishment so good it's easy to overlook the minor things and some of the more frustrating factors.
Which I did--I got it last Sunday and beat it last night.
I was a big fan of the original Donkey Kong Country for Super Nintendo, and had the first GameBoy game, too. They are two of the few video games I've actually beaten, because they were fun enough to keep trying and there wasn't much risk of losing the game entirely due to losing lives. I've even replayed them to completion multiple times.
Same with DKCR. It was really fun to play, even if the motion controls using the Wii remote and Nunchuk are kind of sketchy and I'm not used to joysticks in general (Donkey Kong took many a poorly-executed roll off a cliff). The best part of the game was probably the nostalgia feeling; there's a lot of similar artwork from the original SNES game, and the music is mostly remixed tracks from back then. For some reason a lot of reviews I read online complained about the music not being original, but the music was so good! People seem to be missing the point.
The graphics in the game are really beautiful. Crisp and awesome, and the game makes use of 3D even though it's a 2D side scrolling platformer by having parts of levels in the background, or having enemies attack from the background (which is actually really freaky!).
What I thought was really interesting was that the reviews I read all basically said the game was really difficult, and was intentionally designed for more hardcore gamers. Well, I'm not a hardcore gamer--I've had my Wii for more than a year and have bought two games for it before this and those were Sports Resort and DDR Hottest Party 3 and aren't exactly hardcore games--and I beat the game in eight days. I think most of that is due to familiarity with the concept of the game and the basic controls, because I had a lot of trouble in the new worlds that aren't present in the older game. So either I'm awesome or these gamer people are kind of wusses. =P Like I said before it really helps that there's no risk of losing the game due to lack of lives; there's desire to continue and do better rather than give up out of frustration or be forced to give up due to dying too many times.
Of course, there were parts of the game that were very hard, and I certainly didn't collect all the optional stuff they want you to. Several levels took more than an hour to beat; the last level before the final boss took maybe three hours to beat because I kept screwing up and reached a point where I wasn't sure what to do. There are also these awful "rocket barrel" levels that feel impossible at first. But unlike my experiences with Mario games, I *wanted* to continue. So either the game is more something I want to succeed at, or I'm not a teenager anymore and have more patience. Also, as one reviewer said, the game never feels unfair or like it's cheating you, which I can't say for a lot of other games I've played (though again I'm not really a video game person).
There is also a "Super Guide" feature that will play the level for you if you die a certain number of times in a level. But it happens too quickly; sometimes it took that number of lives just to figure out what to do in a certain spot, and I had to continually watch the stupid Save Pig wave his little white flag asking me to surrender. Never!! ...look online for tips on how to get through certain parts, but I'm not gonna let the game play itself for me.
Anyway, it was a really fun game, and I have to go through it again to try and get more of the secrets. There's a lot of hidden stuff and really-difficult-to-get KONG letters. I wish there were more animal friends and you could play as Diddy (Donkey Kong is sooooo slow and hard to get to jump far enough), but the nostalgia factor is so high and the feeling of accomplishment so good it's easy to overlook the minor things and some of the more frustrating factors.
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Like I said, I'm not a big gamer, but I saw that this was out and I had to have it. If you get a chance to get it for yourself (or get someone else to get it for you), I say go for it!