Returning to Donkey Kong Country

When I was little, Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo (SNES) was my favorite thing in the world. I would sit and play it for hours. I had the gameplay mechanics and patterns down so well I could fly through the levels, making use of a precise rhythm that had developed since before i could remember (I mean that literally, I was about three years old when I started playing). Many of my very best memories growing up are of the Donkey Kong Country series. From the original all the way through Donkey Kong Country III, the series was the pinnacle of my childhood.

Last weekend was my birthday, and I got a Wii. I know the console is going on seven years old. I know that it’s not high def. I know I’m late to the party. But when I first saw the trailer for Donkey Kong Country Returns, I knew that I would end up buying the system before it was all said and done.Other than the original SNES games, I don’t think I’ve ever had as much crazy, silly, non-stop fun playing a video game as I have had the past week playing DKC Returns. It always worries me when movie or game companies decide to bring back some beloved property and try to milk the cash cow one more time. More often than not, they completely miss the point of what made the property so great originally, and if anything they detract from how much I remember loving the original. That was not the case with this game.I feel that Retro Studios respected the originals and approached the new game exactly how they should have. When you first turn it on, the same nostalgic music, albeit with an updated and contemporary sound, brings you right back. The soundtrack alone would be enough for me to say that they nailed the feel of the game. But the gameplay is even more spectacular. The familiar aspects that you know and love from the previous games are all there, plus new ones that makes the game insanely fun to play. The worlds are familiar, but unique at the same time. None are the same as ones you’ve seen before, but many really nice homages to the original are made (for example, like the first level in the original, there is a tire that lets you get back into DK’s house to get a red balloon). Not only that, but the same kinds of levels are all there: jungles, caves, temples, minecarts- you name it. There are also new levels like rocket-barrels and vine-carts, and new controls like pounding and blowing (which are cool ways in which it takes advantage of the WiiMote).Perhaps one of the things that I like most is that it doesn’t take itself too serious. Instead of King K. Rool (the villain of all the other games in the series) kidnapping a character or trying to kill people, the premise is simple: floating masks called Tikis hypnotize all the jungle animals and use them to steal all of Donkey’s bananas (again). It’s never serious, it’s just a lot of darn fun. I could write a book about how much I love Donkey Kong, and how much I’m enjoying this game, but I’ll spare any of you who have managed to make it this far. Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Nintendo Wii is the most fun I’ve ever had playing a video game, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdhH0ApBMKQ&w=640&h=360]