Jungle hijinx at their finest.
Gone are the days when Donkey Kong was you’re enemy who threw barrels at you. Donkey Kong Country propelled him and his nephew Diddy Kong in the role of the protagonist. King K. Rool, king of the Kremlings (basically humanoid crocodiles) has stolen Donkey Kong’s banana stash, and DK will have to traverse through a multitude of environments to get them back.
Along the way, he’s going to have to collect bananas, stomp on Kremlings, climb ropes, jump from platform to platform over deadly gaps, ride animals, dive and swim, and shoot himself out of moving barrels. Similarly to most platformers, in DKC, you’ll have to travel from one side of the level to the other. Take a hit and either Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong will be out of action. Lose them both and you’ll lose a life. You’ll be able to recover your team-mate in DK barrels scattered around the levels. On the way you’ll be able to collect bananas, collect 100 and you’ll earn yourself another life. Collect different coloured balloons to also score yourself a life. Each level also has K-O-N-G letters, collect all four and you’ll gain a life as well.
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong will have a variety of tricks at their disposal along the way as well. While Donkey Kong is larger and more suited to take on larger enemies, Diddy Kong is more agile. They can both jump on enemies, or roll into them. They can also grab and throw barrels at enemies which are spined or too tough. Their animal buddies will occasionally be available to help them too. Ranging from Rambi the rhino, to Enguarde the Swordfish, these fellas will help take out enemies and unlock secret areas. And there a multitude of secret areas which are hidden for you to explore. Only by finding everything the game has to offer will you complete it 100%.
DKC’s graphics are simply amazing. These are really the pinnacle of SNES graphics. You won’t believe the incredible detail in these rendered sprites. They are a level above almost anything else you’ll see from the SNES. They have an almost 3D feel to them, and everything ranging from the backgrounds to Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong themselves looks amazing. It all fits into universally into its own graphical style, which makes the game both technically and artistically amazing.
DKC’s sound is also top notch. You won’t believe the sounds they are able to get out of the SNES for this game. Gone are the synthesised sounds you’ll be used to from Mario. You’ll get great sounding drum beats, monkey squeals and grunts. Small touches like the muffled sounds of a monkey, when you approach a DK barrel, all add to the great atmosphere created by the audio. The music itself is brilliant, some highly addictive tunes of quality that surpasses most SNES games.
This game is massive for what you can fit on a SNES cartridge. You’ll have 40 levels to beat, many of them containing numerous secret areas for you to explore fully. You’re going to replay levels and re-replay them until you can unlock all that DKC has to offer, and you’ll enjoy every moment of it. DKC also extends the fun to two-players, where you can either play co-operatively with a friend, each person controlling one character (although only one will be playing at any one time), or in contest, as each of you race to beat the game in the quickest time.
Donkey Kong Country is certainly one of the greatest platforming experiences the SNES era has to offer. At the time it was unparalleled in graphics, audio and gameplay. This game has had a number of ports to different platforms, but the SNES original remains a classic in its purest form. If you ever get a chance to play it, you’ll discover what sets this above the rest.