Game: Donkey Kong Country Returns
Ranking: 16/100
Score: 87.79%
Donkey Kong’s got a problem; some Tiki creatures are
stealing the bananas he gets the jungle animals to harvest for him!
Fortunately, these Tiki creatures find out the hard way that they can’t hypnotise
him with their funky brand of musical therapy, so Donkey Kong and his friends
set off to kick ass and take down names for the sake of bananas and small
business ventures. Is this game fun, or will it drive you bananas?
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| Insert joke about spanking monkeys' here. (Source: IGN.com) |
Intro
The manual has a consistent and colourful layout, as well as
making ample use of white space and actually being an entertaining read. Cranky
Kong's sections are particularly amusing as he waxes lyrical about how much
harder things were 'back in the day'. Another good thing it does is reference
relevant pages whenever a power-up or technique is mentioned that you haven't
reached the explanation of. The menus are easy to navigate, as well as being
thematically fitting, and the introduction cutscene is done really well. The
story is conveyed effectively without any use of speech, and the moment where
the enemy who has taken control of the animals tries (and fails) to hypnotise
Donkey Kong in the same way is genuinely funny. I also like the way that the game
play feels really connected to the cutscene - the punchline to the introduction
is a small controlled event that the player gets to control, and you're
straight into the first level.
The manual does have a couple of typos. Tsk, tsk. I also
don't understand why so many of the manuals to Wii games - this one included -
feel the need to show you how to physically insert a disc and navigate the Wii
menu. Even if you don't already know (in which case it might be worth actually
opening up the manual that came with your console), it's incredibly
self-explanatory.
It's very difficult to find things to improve on in an
introduction I thought was handled really well and conveyed both the plot and
tone of the game concisely. I suppose it would have been nice to get a name for
the enemies - it's clear from the intro what they do, but I don't know what
they are. Also, I'd have liked to see something of Cranky Kong - the manual
alone made me anticipate his arrival.
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| Now they're just mocking you, Donkey Kong. (Source: IGN.com) |
Getting Going
The game is easy to get into, as the first few levels
utilise distinct controls to get you used to them; for example, the second
level is centred around climbing vines. The very first level gives you visual
hints on which controls will affect certain areas, by way of a little hint pig
who pops up with an icon demonstrating how to perform a certain action when
you're close to an appropriate object. The hint pig is nicely unobtrusive; you
can see the information but it doesn’t seem to get in the way of what you're
trying to do - even if you choose to ignore it. Another good thing the first
level does is get you used to the idea of exploring each level. The moment you
start the game, it is possible to climb back into your hut and find power ups;
a good way of rewarding you for backtracking and noseying around.
There are some areas where the game simply doesn’t bother to
explain certain unique elements to you as you're playing. For example, there's
a level which involved a lot of being fired between barrel cannons, and you
have to fire yourself out of one and into another in quite a precise manner to
avoid falling to your doom. One of the sections involves a race against falling
totem towers, where you can change the trajectory of the last two barrels using
the control stick; not that the game makes you remotely aware of this. I spend
a good deal of time trying to get through the section as quickly as possible,
until by sheer fluke I managed to make the barrels change direction. Where was
the little hint pig there, huh?
I like the way the game gets you used to the controls
without a formal tutorial, but I think if you're going to introduce any new
element for the first time, it shouldn't be a time-sensitive event - such as
the barrels mentioned above. Introduce
players to new features in a way that gives them time to figure out how it
works; then hit them with a segment that relies on quick timing.
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| 'Well, I'm the King of the Swingers...' Don't fall! (Source: IGN.com) |
Fun
The game provides lots of fun and actively encourages you to
try out as many different routes and passages as possible. There are lots of nooks and crannies to
explored by ground pounding blocks, platforms and walls; some of which will
lead you to timed bonus games. The fact that each level has a very different
feel in terms of the kind of gameplay style you are exposed to certainly makes
things feel varied - in one level you'll be predominately operating a kart, in
another you'll be traversing the level by being fired from cannon to cannon.
Also, the game isn't that easy - even in the early levels. You can die quite
readily, and there are very few checkpoints (in the first world, there is only
ever one per level). This makes certain difficult platforming stretches
genuinely exciting and stressful, because you know that if you die, you're
going to have to start the level all over again (and if you're collecting KONG
letters, you'll need to start that all over again as well). The fact that the
game doesn't spoon-feed you solutions (unless you request them) makes you feel
an extra sense of accomplishment when you find that elusive puzzle piece, or
reach that seemingly impossible to access letter. There is a decent level of
congratulatory animation, as demonstrated by one puzzle I completed in the
first level where you have to collect all the bananas fired by two statues in
an unspecified time limit; I didn't just get a puzzle piece, I got a fanfare
and a swarm of butterflies. The levels are also a decent pace; long enough to
get into the flow, but short enough that you don't find yourself wondering when
you're finally going to get to the end.
There are a lot of bottomless pit areas, and that can get a
little tedious after a while - especially with so few checkpoints. One false
move and you'll potentially have to reply an entire level. Also, once you get
past the novelty of the mine carts you have to keep on the tracks and rhinos
you can charge through everything on, it does start to feel a teeny bit samey.
Most of the time the checkpoints are well placed, but I
think some of the levels could stand to have an additional checkpoint or two;
especially those where you have quite a high risk of falling off into a
bottomless pit. I like the way the first world has some very distinct gameplay
styles in certain levels, and it would be nice to see that expanded on to keep
up the variety.
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| Get the 'O', get the 'O', get the 'O'... Trajectories are important in 'Donkey Kong Country Returns'. (Source: IGN.com) |
Visuals
The graphical theme is carried across in everything from the
menu screen to the gameplay itself; everything is cartoony and humorous. You get interesting features, such as totem
towers which come to life. Another good thing is that it's generally quite easy
to see when you can interact with part of the environment; anything which can
be ground pounded into dust is generally a distinct colour or thickness which
makes it stand out against the rest of the background. The enemies die in a
puff of stars and smoke, and they are generally easy to spot against the
background. The enemies are also very distinctive; there is a level at sunset,
where the dipping sun underexposes everything to the point you can only see silhouettes
(and the red of Donkey Kong's tie), but you can still recognise each enemy
character. The HUD actually keeps your health on display at all times, which is
very handy when you can take a maximum of two hits without any friends such as
Diddy Kong to leech life from.
There were occasions when enemies were irritatingly obscured
by the background; in the jungle cart level, the enemies in mine carts are pale
and stand out against the dark underground cavern. The problem is, these same
enemies are still bothering you when you travel in the cart during daylight - I
managed to collide with one of these simply by virtue of the lack of contrast
(and them being semi-obscured by a leaf). As getting hit on the mine cart
sections is an instant kill, this is particularly frustrating. Also, the vast
majority of your HUD is obscured, which I personally find irritating. What if I
want to know how many bananas or puzzle pieces I've collected thus far, or how
many lives I have left? The game only shows you when you collect a relevant
item.
Why can't we just have an option for displaying HUD
information? That way, people like me can have the full display (which is
really unobtrusive anyway) and people who don't mind not knowing half of the
important statistics can choose to use the obscured HUD. I know it's a trend
nowadays to try and keep the screen as clear as possible, but often it's at the
expense of information you want to see.
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| The sunset has rendered everything in the foreground underexposed; perfect if you're an enemy that looks like a tree in silhouette. (Source: IGN.com) |
Intelligence
The enemies are reasonably varied, in that they attack in
different directions and some have to be avoided rather than killed.
Interestingly, they all have different methods by which they can be hurt; most
can be jumped on, but some have to be knocked out first with the ground pound
attack. Some can just be rolled into, although that can leave you open to
getting hit if there are multiple enemies. The crab creatures actually have to
be jumped on in order to make them vulnerable to a single ground pound attack;
this makes them turn over and expose their undersides, and only then can you
jump on them and kill them. The game leaves you to discover all of these tricks
and requires you to be a little tactical in figuring out the best way to deal
with enemy creatures.
Sadly, the enemies don't really seem to do much except for
move from side to side, or up and down. Some of the enemy types will charge at
you, but this just means they move a little bit quicker when they spot you. The
only time they become a threat is when there are multiples coming towards you,
and a ground pounding generally knocks them out. One other thing that is worth
mentioning are the enemies that require multiple, slightly complicated attacks
to destroy. This is a good challenge, until you get multiples on screen; then
they become deeply irritating. The crabs that you have to carefully ensure you
only hit with the ground pound attack once (each time they are hit, they roll
over - hit one with the ground pound twice, and you'll make it recover) are a
pain when you have more than one coming for you, and it feels like a bit of a
cheap way to lose health when they appear without any way of avoiding them
(such as a platform to stand on).
It would be nice to see a little more variety in the enemy
attacks. There is an enemy in the sunset level that disguises itself as foliage,
and is only revealed when you get close enough and it moves towards you. That
kind of enemy is quite interesting, and more of that sort of thing would be good.
Enemies that run away from you would be interesting as well; ones where you
can't get close enough to ground pound them. So many of the enemies will just
wander towards you as you ground pound in a corner until they fall unconscious
and are easy to kill; any enemies that avoid this would be a unique challenge.
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| The original Angry Bird. (Source: IGN.com) |
Immersion
The game employs that combination of many short levels per
world, so you never feel as though you've been playing for that long. This
encourages you to keep on going and before you know it, an hour or two will
have flown by. There's also more to the game than just getting from one end of
the level to the other; you can collect puzzle pieces and KONG letters. Puzzle
pieces unlock art, music and dioramas - which the menu tantalisingly displays
as locked icons. KONG letters are required to open bonus levels. All of these
items are either well hidden - thus encouraging you to explore every area you
can and solve every puzzle, or they're in awkward to reach areas - encouraging
you to try and use your skills and power ups to access them. Getting involved
in the search for these items can easily triple the length of time it takes to
complete a level. However, you can also ignore these items if you wish and play
a more straight-forward game.
I'm not a fan of this 'several levels to one world' method
of design. It's no doubt cheaper and easier to develop, but after a few levels,
you start to get bored of the surroundings. When you're playing a game and
wondering when the scenery is going to change, it pulls you out of the
experience a little.
This game does try to keep the variation between similar
themed levels by introducing a new gameplay feature per level such as climbing
or cart riding, and even with an unlockable level where everything is silhouetted
out. At the end of the day, you are still playing six levels with the same graphical
theme and the same enemies. I would like to see more worlds with fewer levels
to keep things varied.
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| Ah, a lovely day at the beach. Watch out for the crabs. That water must be very deep if that whale is living it up out there. (Source: IGN.com) |
Cameras
The camera follows your character; as the platforming is 2D,
generally you have few problems seeing what you need to see. The camera also
zooms in and out in appropriate places; for example, when you are fired out of
a barrel to a further away area, the camera will sometimes remain zoomed out,
specifically because there's a hidden puzzle piece that you will only spot how
to reach if you have an overall view.
One area this game falls down on is its vertical view. There
are a lot of platforms above, and well as caverns below, which can be quite
difficult to spot when the camera has decided the view should be zoomed in to
allow you to platform effectively. I might want to see if there's anything of
interest on that platform just above my head that jumping up and down barely
lets me see, or if that weak looking floor will take me to an underground
passage as opposed to a bottomless pit. The way the camera is set up, I can't
do this.
There is a perfectly good control pad on the Wii Remote that
could be used to let the player look up or down and confirm their surroundings.
Even the control stick could be used, as the worst that would happen is that
you have to crouch for a while (the up direction only comes into play if you're
in a doorway which leads anywhere). Just give the camera a slight delay - long
enough to crouch and perform the blowing air action - and it would be fine.
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| Not sure if this water will kill me, or let me swim in it... (Source: IGN.com) |
Controls
The controls feel really intuitive, and the gyroscopic
functions of the Wii Remote are used in quite a fun and natural way. You have
to shake the Wii Remote and nunchuck to use the ground pound, and this feels
like you're hammering on a drum; often you'll find that your movements match up
to the rhythm of the music. In the jungle world, the movement feels especially
apt.
Sometimes it can be awkward to perform the air blowing
action on an object; it's quite precise, and Donkey Kong won't move while
crouching - he'll just get up instead. This means you will sometimes spend a
while tapping the control stick right and left, then very carefully holding
down before shaking the Wii Remote and nunchuck.
Maybe if Donkey Kong could crawl, it would solve this issue.
That way, if you knocked the control stick left or right while holding down,
he'd just shuffle along and still be in a position to perform the air blowing
move. This would certainly be less awkward to correct that having to get up,
realign yourself, and carefully hold down the control stick.
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| 'Our jungle friends have been hypnotised! It will take careful unpicking to free their delicate minds!' 'Hmm. Shall we punch them until they're normal again?' 'I see nothing wrong with this plan.' (Source: IGN.com) |
Ideas
I like the fact that you get an inkling of what you can
unlock by collecting puzzle pieces - the 'Extras' menu teases you with locked
items grouped only by art, music and diorama categories, but it tells you
roughly what you need to do to unlock them. This makes you actually want to
collect the puzzle pieces, rather than finding them and wondering what they're
for. The level set up is really good; although there are a lot of levels per
world, the game keeps things varied by adding a specific new game mechanic in
each. For example, in the six jungle levels (one of which is a bonus level),
you have one straight platforming level, one where you climb vines a lot, one
where you spend almost all of it riding a mine cart, one where you spend a
great deal of the level being fired through cannons, and one where everything
is silhouetted. The fact that the power ups are actually other characters is an
interesting take on the idea; Diddy Kong simultaneously grants you a gliding
ability and doubles your health. There's also a rhino called Rambi, who allows
you to charge through rocks, but disables some of your other powers; as you can
climb on or off him without him running away, it gives you opportunity to
decide when to use him (and be effectively invulnerable to enemies) and when to
leave yourself open to attack by climbing off him. There's also a two-player
co-op mode, where a friend can control Diddy Kong and help you to victory.
Cranky Kong deserves his own section, for he is amazing. He runs the shop where
you can buy items to assist you in a level, and all he does is give you lip for
buying any power ups and tell you how he didn't need all that stuff back in his
day. He is truly hilarious. I also found the boss fights quite entertaining,
simply because they implemented a Mortal Kombat style 'finish him!' QTE at the
end, but in an utterly daft slapstick manner. The humorous tone of the game
runs through every area of the game in one way or another.
I've mentioned this before, but the sheer number of levels
per world means that things get a little boring, graphically. You spend a lot
of time in the same environments, facing the same enemies. You also spend a lot
of time back tracking if you die, due to the very limited checkpoints combined
with plenty of one-mistake deaths.
I would like to see more worlds with fewer levels, to build
on the variety in the game. One thing I also think would have been nice is if
the game remembered when you had collected KONG letters. It will remember your
puzzle pieces, so once you've collected it, you need never do so again even if
you die. KONG letters, however, are only remembered once you pass a checkpoint;
given there is only one checkpoint per level, it makes it quite likely that
you'll have to retrieve them yet again - and they are usually quite awkward to
obtain. I'm not sure what the purpose of making the KONG letters tie in with
the checkpoints is; especially when the HUD only displays information on how
many you've collected when you physically collect one. The way it is currently
set up means it's quite easy to miss a letter.
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| 'Finish him!' (Source: IGN.com) |
Memory
There's an awful lot to like about this game. The levels are
paced well, and variety is introduced by making a specific new mechanic a
feature of one particular level. The world has a great humorous, cartoony feel;
despite being a silent character, Donkey Kong actually has a fair bit of
personality - he loves to fight and cause a ruckus, and that is conveyed
through both the moves he has in gameplay and his behaviour in the cutscenes.
The simple puzzles that are present in each level are a fun way of unlocking
some of the puzzle pieces, and the fact that these are not essential to
complete the game mean they can be easily skipped if you're not in the mood and
just want to smash things. Oh, and Cranky Kong is the most awesome cantankerous
grandfather figure ever.
The fact that there were so many levels in each world did
not appeal to me; encountering the same enemies and obstacles over and over was
a bit wearying. Also, it's too easy to end up backtracking because you died
just before the single checkpoint in the level, or just before the end. It's
good that you get consequences for failure, because it makes dying something to
fear, but the amount of backtracking you have to do is a bit much.
I think the main cause of fatigue for this game comes in the
form of the level to world ratio. Everything else about this game draws you in
and entertains, but when you've completed six levels and a boss fight - levels
where you are strongly encouraged to explore and look around for puzzle pieces
and letters - you're good for the day. The other area that would probably make
this an even more addicting game would be to increase the number of checkpoints
and reduce the amount of time you have to backtrack as the result of death;
especially when there are so many areas where one false move will lead to your
doom, no matter how much energy you have.
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| 'Contender, ready!' 'Hypnotised jungle... thing, ready!' (Source: IGN.com) |
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