Best Platformer
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (GC)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Read our preview from E3 2004 >>
The platformer genre is currently shooting off into a lot of different directions. Games like Ratchet & Clank are expanding online, and they're practically turning into third-person shooters in the process. But there was still a great deal of platforming action to be found on the show floor. The one that caught our eye the most was Nintendo's utterly insane Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
What makes Jungle Beat stand out? You control it with the same bongo drum controller that will power the rhythm game Donkey Konga. You slap one drum to run one way, slap the other to head back, hit both drums to jump, and clap your hands to make Donkey Kong clap. It's a simple control scheme that would be very easy to write off as a dumb gimmick, but the game works surprisingly well.
The game's simple yet fun control and the variety of things to do in the three-area demo shown at E3 made it stand out from the crowd. Not only do you have your basic side-scrolling 2D platform action, but the game also pulls out of that perspective to do things like let you get into fistfights with other monkeys.
There are a bunch of games with platformer roots coming out in 2004, but Donkey Kong Jungle Beat stood out because of its originality. It has the potential to be extremely exciting when it's released next year.
The other Best Platformer finalists:
Jak 3 (PS2)
Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal (PS2)
Sly 2: Band of Thieves (PS2)
Super Mario 64x4 (DS)
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