Difficulty:

Just Right

Time Spent:

20 to 40 Hours

The Bottom Line:

"Best in series"

Nintendo and Rare did a fantastic job when they made DKC - a commitment to proving the 16-bit operating system could compete with 32-bit systems. Before the series descended into (the tolerable) Dixie Kong and (somewhat babyish) Kiddie Kong, there was the first and greatest, unbeatable DKC. I still call it the greatest Kong game of all time to this day.

What makes it so great?

Introducing a new side-scrolling 2D style for the big ape (that looks more 3D than you'd think was possible, thanks to 3D modelling), Donkey and Diddy awaken one morning to find their banana horde stolen right out from under them. Who would want that many golden bananas? They're full of all the essential vitamins one needs to stay healthy, for starters. But with Cranky laughing out of his rocking chair at the incompetence of youth, you'd be better off hunting down the horde, the trail of which is conveniently littered with bananas.

King K. Rool is behind it, the leader of the kremlings, which are basically crocodiles. All kleverly named so as to start with the letter k. They all look like they're high on something, running about with mouths open in joy, eyes doing something unnatural. The King is no exception. During the fight he will turn to the screen at certain moments, and you'd swear he was on drugs.

So you have your ape friends and your croc enemies. The game is divided into maps, and each map is divided into levels, much like a join-the-dots drawing overlaid onto a stunning landscape representing the map. You unlock the next dot (or level) by finishing the current level. Maps unlock dots that are not levels too - they may represent a save barrel (courtesy of Candy Kong), or a Flight barrel (courtesy of Funky Kong), allowing you to change maps should you wish it. Finished levels will bear the exclamation mark after their name if you finished it and found all the secrets, as do maps. You could visit Cranky too if you wish, the original Donkey Kong, if you believe his boasts. Each map culminates in a boss battle against an unlikely cast of critters that becomes increasingly difficult the more damage they take. My favourite boss is a drum with a skull on it!

The levels themselves are rendered to perfection. The graphics have to be seen to be believed. The frame rate is smooth, the background scrolling environments unique and stimulating. Your characters, Donkey and Diddy Kong, operate as a tag team. You play as one of them, while the other mimics your movements, sometimes humorously. Once you get hit, your current character gets spooked and runs off - and can later be found inside a barrel bearing the initials DK. The sound effects are jaw-dropping. Take your remaining character and walk up to a DK barrel and just listen to him knocking away and making funny noises. Realistic only begins to describe it.

Barrels play a big role in DKC. Not surprising, seeing as his first game had him chucking barrels at Mario. There are barrels you can throw at enemies. Blast barrels that shoot you off into a secret area (secrets count to the overall game percentage completed). There are even steel kegs that just keep on rolling no matter what they hit. There is even a level where some enemies roll barrels at you.

There is a nice range of enemies and environs for you to sink your pleasure into. Jungle, temple ruins, treetops, some underwater levels, the mines, Kremling Industries (they're pretty smart these crocs), icy mountains, and much more. If you think the levels would get boring after a while you are dead wrong. Some interesting points:

-- Minecart Madness puts you in a mine cart on a rickety track that often has bits missing from it. Moments like these make you glad it isn't in first-person perspective.

-- One level features stop lights that control enemies that can't be defeated, so that you can pass them safely.

-- A Kremling Industries level features lights that don't work, leaving the screen in pitch black nine tenths of the time.

-- In the icy mountains, you'll encounter blizzards, pitfalls, slippery surfaces - the slippery ropes not only make you slide down, but up too!

Variety can be found in abundance. There are panic levels that require you to think quick. Underwater levels where you just cant afford to touch anything. Special levels that give you an animal friend to help you through the area. Levels where you spend most of your time in barrels, or on ropes.

You'll never get bored with animal friends! Along the way, you will find crates with an animal picture on the side. Pop it open to reveal a parrot, a rhino, an ostrich, or a frog! There's even an underwater animal to ride, which is good because I suck at swimming! Each have their own helpful abilities you really can't go without. No, the parrot is not a ride.

Whatever your thoughts on Donkey Kong, whatever your thoughts on side-scrolling games, one thing is certain. This game is a work of art, right from the game-play, to the moody music, to the way the characters behave when they win or lose a secret level. It's humorous, it's addictive, it's original. It is the second best-selling game in the SNES library. If you don't have it ... well why not?