Donkey Kong Country (Super Nintendo) Turning 30...

Thirty years and a few short days ago, Donkey Kong Country was released on the Super Nintendo.  At that time, I was in the fourth grade, and I was a little too young to have played the original Donkey Kong in the arcade.  Although, I may have played the original game, but it would have been at the large beach arcades and it was a long time past its prime in the early 80s.  The first time I really remember hearing about or seeing Donkey Kong was in the game Super Mario Kart.  And the Donkey Kong in the SNES Super Mario Kart is actually Donkey Kong Jr., so really that wasn’t even the original ape.

However, by the time 1994 rolled around, I was at the age where trips to the grocery store with my grandmother and mother always involved me making my way over the magazine section of the store, which was almost always inhabited by video game magazines.  Nintendo Power was my favorite at the time naturally, since I had a SNES.  During the trips to the store, scanning the magazines brought to my attention the upcoming game Donkey Kong Country for the holiday season. One issue in particular, the August 1994 issue, I ended up buying. This particular issue has the “Pak Watch” section of upcoming games with Donkey Kong Country as the lead story (followed by Mortal Kombat II which I will post about later).  Just from seeing the few screenshots in the magazine and the description, it looked like a game that I would enjoy playing.  The biggest thing that I can remember from just seeing the screenshots was the 3D sprites, which at the time looked amazing.

This game became an instant ask for my Christmas list that year. When the game released on November 18, it showed up in the Wal-Mart and Toys R Us displays in store to play.  I remember standing there and playing the new Donkey Kong game in the store.  My mom was very familiar with Donkey Kong, as she had played the original arcade game and I think she also looked forward to playing this one with me when I got it for Christmas.  The biggest thing I remember about playing Donkey Kong Country (other than the stunning visuals and brilliant music) was the difficulty.  Coming from playing Super Mario Bros 3 on NES and Super Mario World on SNES, this game was a completely different animal.  The boss fights were difficult, there were tricky platforming sections, and even my mom had a tough time playing this one with me.  Even though the game was challenging though, it did have the ability to save, which made the struggle a bit more rewarding, since you could just pick back up (roughly) where you left off.

It was a long time as a kid before I actually beat Donkey Kong Country because of the difficulty curve.  But one of the great things about the game is the immersive world that comes with it.  Each area had it’s own personality and I found them all to be as interesting as the game itself.  There were jungles and forests, mountains and caves and even a factory.  I always found myself pondering about what was going on in the background as I played the game.  The brilliant and well-composed music was another feature that made the hard struggle to Candy’s Save Spot less tedious.  Some of the music from the game has found its way into things not even video game related.  Aquatic Ambience is probably the most recognizable song from the game, as it made its way into TikToks and Instagram/YouTube shorts as background music.  I’d imagine there are many kids today that know the song and not the game where it came from.

Donkey Kong Country also added new companions to the classic Donkey Kong style of characters.  The first addition was Donkey Kong’s companion in the game, Diddy Kong.  Diddy Kong was smaller than Donkey Kong, but also faster and had a great new spin attack to use against enemies.  When I was a kid I preferred the slower, larger Donkey Kong; I think it was more to do with me being so used to Mario’s jump mechanic to attack enemies.  As an adult however, I have learned that utilizing Diddy Kong’s spin attacks and speed make the game a little easier to complete in certain sections.  There were also animal companions in the game that make certain sections of levels easier.  The animal companions include Rambi the Rhinoceros, Enguarde the Swordfish, Winky the Frog, Expresso the Ostrich and Squawks the Parrot.  I always found that in general, the levels where animal buddies are located are able to be completed without them, but the buddies make the level significantly easier.

Another thing a little different about Donkey Kong Country when comparing it to other popular platformers like the Super Mario games, is the fact that Rare games tend to have a lot of collecting and secret areas.  Donkey Kong Country is not as bad about being a collect-a-thon as later titles in the series, but the first one definitely has a lot of collectables per area, including the bananas, 1-up balloons, K-O-N-G letters, and the golden animal buddies.  It does add some replay value to the game, as the game does track if you 100% a level, and 100% on the whole game is very challenging.

So this year, as I’m nearing my 40^th trip around the Sun in just a few short months, I decided that I’d play some Donkey Kong Country the past week or two.  The game of course is every bit as difficult as I remember it being.  And there were spots even early on in the second world that get very frustrating to play.  But one other great thing in addition to the saves is that there are so many bananas and extra lives around each level that it’s easy to stock up as you play and make your way to each save location.  Playing it now is just as fun as playing it back then, and I think the game does hold up really well even though online it tends to get overshadowed by the sequel.  This game is a shining star that appeared at the end of a very jam packed year of great (especially fighting) games.

So how does it score now?

Graphics 15% - (4) I think the graphics at the time were amazing, though in the modern world, early 3D renders tend to get trashed on.  Me personally though, I still think it holds up pretty well.

Sound 15% - (5) I mean, was there going to be any real doubt about the excellence of this game’s soundtrack? It has some of the most recognizable songs from any video game ever made and has songs that appear in random TikToks/Reels.

Control 25% - (3.75) The control in Donkey Kong Country can be ever so slightly jank at times, but I still think it controls pretty well for 30 year old game.

Fun Factor 45% - (4.5) Donkey Kong Country is arguably one of the best games and one of the absolute best platformers on the Super Nintendo. It was good 30 years ago and it’s good today. There is a reason that it has had multiple games on the Wii, Wii U and Switch in the same old format.

Final Average – 4.3125 One of the best games on the Super Nintendo. If for some reason you’ve never played it and you enjoy platforming games, please check this one out. And if it’s been a while since you’ve played it, go back and check it out. I think you’ll find that it does still hold up.

eBay outlook – cart alone (November 2024) - $14-$20; Complete (November 2024) - $70-$100

Retroachivements (emulation) – 71 total achievements worth 675 (2,808) points

1942 (NES) Review

Today's video game review will be about 1942 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. 

1942 originally appeared in the arcades in 1984. It was released by Capcom and is a top-down (vertical scrolling) shooter set in the Pacific theater of World War II. Your character flies a P-38 Lightning fighter against various era Japanese fighters. The game was ported to the NES on November 7th, 1986 in North America. So the game is relatively early in the game library for the NES (which released in North America on October 18, 1985).

The game itself is fairly simple for a shoot em up. You only have one weapon so to speak (though the weapon does get upgraded) and you have a barrel roll move to avoid enemies. There are 32 stages in the game and essentially, you take off from the aircraft carrier, fly through each stage, and land back on the carrier at the end of the stage. 

As you fly through each stage, look for the swarms of brown airplanes that appear. If you shoot them all down they release a "POW" that will upgrade your weapon to the quad shot and later it will upgrade to two planes that fly on your flanks and shoot. 

The game is quite the grind though, as you'll need to make it through the 32 stages...there isn't a password system, but fortunately you can continue where you left off after a game over. At the end of every stage you land on the aircraft carrier and your points and bonus points are tallied.

The good news is that you also get extra lives based off of the points, so it's good to collect points and shoot down as many planes as you can in each level.

Now let's break down the scores for this game:

Graphics 15% - (3.5) The graphics are nothing bad for the time period. In fact I'd say it looks better than a similar NES game like Xevious. So I'm going to give it a slightly above average score of 3.5

Sound 15% - (1) The absolute worst thing about this game is the sound. The sound effects for the planes and stuff aren't so bad. But the music...if you can call it that...is horrible. It's just a constant high-pitched ring the entire time. This is a game that you'd probably want to turn the volume down for and maybe play some of your own music. It gets a score of 1

Control 25% - (4) Solid, simple, accurate. That's how I can describe the controls in this game. Input is solid and each button only does one thing. The simplicity is part of what makes this a great shoot em up. It's a formula that is found in most popular scrolling shooters. For this, it gets a 4

Fun Factor 45% - (3) Good, solid shoot em up is the best way to describe this game. In fact, I'd say if you were going to play your first shoot em up on the NES, this would be the one to try. It's paced well for a beginner and is a pretty fun game. However, the enemies don't change much and the game can seem repetitive as you go along for 32 levels. I still enjoy it a lot though, so it gets a 3

Final Average - 3.025 Average game, average score. Worth a look if you like shooters or want to get into the shoot em up genre.

eBay outlook - Cart alone (June 2020) - price ranges from $12-$20; Complete (June 2020) - $140-$250

Retroachievements (emulation) - 19 achievements worth 140 points (as of June 2020)

My Rating Scheme Ideas

So. I plan on reviewing games (new and retro) soon. And with that I need a rating scheme. With that being said, I think I'm going to use the old GamePro magazine rating scheme. 

That rating scheme is as follows:

Graphics - 0 to 5

Sound - 0 to 5

Control - 0 to 5

Fun Factor - 0 to 5

I'm going to weigh the scores accordingly though, and I think that may help. I'm going to weigh Graphics at 15%, Sound at 15%, Control at 25% and Fun Factor at 45%. I think that is a fair way to evaluate games. I'm also planning on basing sound and graphics on the time period.

NES USB Controller from Amazon review

So, I got a two-pack of generic NES USB controllers from eBay to play emulators with on my computer. I thought that I would be disappointed considering the last NES USB controller that I inherited...boy was I wrong.

This controller has been fantastic so far. I ordered a two pack as well. The specific seller was "miadore"...but I am impressed. The controllers look like this:

But, these are solid. I'm most impressed with the D-Pad...because that seems to be the general complaint. But it was fantastic. I've probably put at least 3 hours on this controller so far...but so far, recommended for USB NES controllers.

For anyone wanting a purchase link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BQMWZZD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I really am impressed though, the other NES controller that I had with a USB had such an awful D-Pad. This controller feels cheap, but it is nice for the price.

Updates

So I bought Mario Maker 2. And so far, it has been an excellent game. I only have made one level so far. Mostly because I have discovered that the easiest way to make a level is to use the touchscreen on the Nintendo Switch. The touchscreen on the Switch is responsive, but it is a little awkward considering that I haven't used it before. So here I am posting an update saying that I bought it and I will be reviewing it sometime soon, I look forward to it.

In the meantime keep your gaming up, and maybe one of these days, I will commit myself to Twitch streaming.

Atari Fun Continues

The Atari fun continues...

This time...Super Breakout:

I really love playing Super Breakout on doubles. Trying to keep up with both balls is both entertaining and very challenging. And I'm playing it on the computer with a controller. With the joystick on the 2600, I'm sure it's got more nostalgia value. I do really like this game though, I always have.

The first time I can remember actually playing Super Breakout, or any kind of breakout for that matter, was playing the MIDWAY Arcade's Greatest hits. And it was great then...and great now.

Difficult though...but you'd like these games to be a little difficult.

Atari 2600 Centipede

Just play centipede on the Atari 2600. Centipede on this is similar to the arcade game. The graphics are good it's a good clone. I would say this is a pretty good arcade representation of this original game. The first time I played centipede was on the Super Nintendo on a collection of arcade classics. I would say the Atari 2600 version of centipede is pretty good I would recommend it.