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Donkey Kong Jet Import Hands-On

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  • Wii
By Justin Calvert, GameSpot, Posted Jul 6, 2007 1:52 am GMT

We check out the Japanese retail version of this bongo-beating racer.

Gameplay Footage

The competition is hot in this race around a volcano.

Originally announced for the GameCube as DK Bongo Blast at last year's E3, Donkey Kong Jet is a racing game in which the titular gorilla and friends fly using bongo-powered jetpacks. Originally designed to take advantage of the GameCube's bongo drum controllers, Donkey Kong Jet is no longer a game that will make the owners of said underused peripherals feel better about themselves. Rather, it's a Mario Kart-style racer that, at least based on our time with it thus far, would be a lot more fun if it offered something resembling a conventional control system.

Like other racing games of its ilk, Donkey Kong Jet features a sizeable roster of recognizable characters from its game universe. There appear to be a total of 16 characters including eight good guys and eight bad guys, though only three from each group are unlocked at the outset. Each character handles a little differently because they have ratings of between one and five stars for power, speed, and turning. With that said, none of them handle as well as they would with a regular control setup; call us crazy, but pretending that Wii Remotes and Nunchuks are drumsticks just doesn't feel like an obvious or particularly enjoyable way to control a flying primate.

If you've played any racing game before, ever, you know that a single button makes a perfectly adequate accelerator, and if you've ever played a game in which you needed to jump, you'll know that this particular action is every bit as easy to control using a single digit. Donkey Kong Jet does away with these long-established control conventions in favor of a system that requires you to repeatedly move the Wii Remote and Nunchuk up and down alternately when you want to accelerate (which is pretty much all the time), move them both up and down simultaneously when you want to jump and, just for good measure, move only the one in your left or right hand up and down when you want to steer in that direction. The controls for the game's jetpacks are perhaps best compared to those of a rowboat or a canoe, although moving either of those in real life is arguably far less taxing.

Many of the game's features will be familiar to fans of the Donkey Kong country series.

Many of the game's features will be familiar to fans of the Donkey Kong country series.

The course designs in Donkey Kong Jet, at least those that we've raced on to date, are more or less what you'd expect from a racing game that's inspired by a series of platform games. Circuits weave their way through jungles, around lava-spewing volcanoes, along beaches, and even underwater. We've yet to encounter an icy or snow-covered circuit, but we wouldn't bet against there being at least one in there--you get the idea. Things to look out for as you're racing include bananas that can be collected to power turbo boosts, balloons that contain any of around 16 different power-ups, and various barrels that need to be either avoided or aimed for depending on their markings and on your current status. Most of the barrels are simply obstacles that will slow you down if you collide with them, for example, but hitting those same barrels while using one of the aforementioned turbo boosts extends the boost's duration. Those of you who've played any of the Donkey Kong Country platform games will have no trouble spotting the barrels that you should try to jump into in order to be propelled forward while bypassing obstacles, though you'll find that many of them are positioned in such a way that their reward doesn't come without some risk.

Donkey Kong Jet supports up to four players simultaneously in split-screen modes of play, and unless we're very much mistaken, one of the screenshots in the Japanese manual shows a ghost mode that will let you compete against your own best times. We'll bring you more information on Donkey Kong Jet as soon as it becomes available (read: until we find someone who can translate the manual); maybe we'll even get to see an English-language version at E3 next week. Fingers crossed.

72 Comments

  • packster

    Posted Mar 26, 2008 3:58 pm GMT

    What are you guys talking about? Yah the ratings are bad, It made me unsure, but Im a big DK fan and I trust Nintendo, it's just so underappreciated, I love this game, it isnt supposed to be Mario Kart, its a unique new game that has it's complete differences, it rocks, get it!

  • BMTHx3

    Posted Oct 12, 2007 1:42 pm GMT

    This game looked repeatitive and boring even before it came out... The rating shows that it really is. ^^

  • Packfan104L4

    Posted Oct 8, 2007 3:13 pm GMT

    Too much work to play a game. LAME!

  • seniorDK

    Posted Aug 6, 2007 9:22 am GMT

    yay we need another dk64 type game

  • Alejandro206

    Posted Jul 21, 2007 9:13 pm GMT

    sounds good, but i wish that you (nintendo) can make a game such good as donkey kong 64. come on man, from Super Mario 64 to mario galaxy was the S**t but this now, i know that yall can do better. still i'ma try this game.

  • ookami-gamer

    Posted Jul 17, 2007 5:15 pm GMT

    HOORAY NINTENDO!!!
    you managed to ruin yet another classic game character. i miss the old donky kong country games. come on nintendo. the game was doing fine up until donkey kong 64....since then, the classic gorilla's good name has been destroyed. the shame -.-

  • supergoku203

    Posted Jul 14, 2007 10:33 pm GMT

    not buying this

  • acu02151

    Posted Jul 11, 2007 2:54 am GMT

    Well it might be kinda fun with 4 people around the tv.

  • sheep_go_meep

    Posted Jul 10, 2007 5:14 pm GMT

    So... you can't use the bongos as an optional control scheme?

  • xtiansk8

    Posted Jul 10, 2007 2:33 pm GMT

    if the dk bongos were compatible, i'd buy it, but it's too idiotic to play it with the wiimote

  • shadowboi456

    Posted Jul 10, 2007 9:14 am GMT

    [QUOTE] This game would be much better if it lets you have the option to use the DK Bongos as a controller. Otherwise, they should have made this for the GameCube.......for cryin' out loud, give the lunchbox one more chance to live!!!!!!!!!

    They've discontinued the Gamecube but i think adding the bongo's would be a great idea.

  • GreenXMega

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 6:12 pm GMT

    This game would be much better if it lets you have the option to use the DK Bongos as a controller. Otherwise, they should have made this for the GameCube.......for cryin' out loud, give the lunchbox one more chance to live!!!!!!!!!!

  • Killer_Dodds

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 5:44 pm GMT

    what the hell is this? sonic ...the nintendo monkey edition?

  • BoogleandFoogi

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 2:27 pm GMT

    this doesn't seem like it'll turn out too good, but you never know

  • cosmothehound

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 2:05 pm GMT

    lol jeff gerstmann bashed this on on the spot hilarious.

  • HardCor1981

    Posted Jul 9, 2007 12:50 pm GMT

    videogame + wrist exercise = hmmm...I can think of something more exciting.

  • DVF44

    Posted Jul 8, 2007 8:24 pm GMT

    this will no doubt be a great game but come one better than mario cat ill believe it when i see it

  • xtiansk8

    Posted Jul 8, 2007 11:25 am GMT

    looks cool

  • QualityJeverage

    Posted Jul 8, 2007 11:13 am GMT

    @meesey01

    You're right, there won't be any Rare games on Nintendo's home consoles. Microsoft owns Rare but has still allowed them to develop games for Nintendo's handhelds, since there's no direct competition there. Seeing Rare develop a game on the Wii is be about as likely as Duke Nukem Forever and Freespace 3 both being released this year (If at all).

  • walkerctranger

    Posted Jul 8, 2007 8:37 am GMT

    you know how tired you would get just constantly waving the wiimote and nunchuck? what the point.

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