Even after 17 years, Donkey Kong is an awesome platformer that never gets old.
There's not much to the story. Donkey Kong has to run an errand and left Diddy Kong (his nephew) in charge of guarding the banana horde. While DK's gone, a bunch of reptile-like monsters called Kremlins invade the horde and stuff Diddy in a barrel before he can fight back. When they clear, all of DK's bananas are gone. DK returns to find a trail of bananas and a repeatedly-pounding barrel. Diddy breaks out and explains what happened to DK. They then set off on an epic adventure to get back the bananas from King K. Rool and his Kremlin henchmen. Along the way they meet plenty of characters and companions such as Cranky Kong, Funky Kong, Candy Kong, Rambi the rhino, Expresso the ostrich, Engarde the swordfish, Winky the frog, Squawks the parrot, a variety of Kremlins, beavers, eagles, bees, evil barrels, orangutons, and sea creatures. All of these characters, and the story, are pretty goofy, but it's also pretty corny. The story's a bit typical and some of the characters are a bit creepy, but it's a fine narrative for a big game.
On their journey, DK and Diddy face tons of treacherous challenges and to get past them, they need to jump across pits, blast out of barrels accurately and safely, beat up enemies, and defeat the bosses at the end of each world. To do so, they have to simply run, jump, and roll their way to victory. These controls (along with picking up and throwing barrels) are pretty simple. The B button is used to jump, the control pad to move, the X button to pick up stuff, the A button to roll, the Start button to pause the action, and the Select button to switch characters. They worked just fine back in the mid-90s, and they still work fantastic today. The game's divided into six worlds with six-eight levels in each world. DKC does a great job in level variety because it always throws something new at you. One moment you could be riding a mine cart across a treachous pit, and the next you could be running from numerous numbers of beavers on wheels in a sacred temple.
In each level, your goal is to basically reach the end of the level. There are plenty of monsters and creatures standing in your way, but there are as many goodies and to collect throughout the levels. Many enemies can be beaten by simply jumping on them, but some (like the hornets) need to be hit with barrels or need to be beaten by a specific person (like the punk-rock Kremlin can only be beaten if DK jumps on him). In each level, there are four Kong letters to collect. Some are easy to find while others are hidden deviously in either bonus or certain hard-to-reach areas. Finding all four earns you an extra life, so finding them is always satisfying. And what game starring primates wouldn't have bananas in them? Find 100, earn another life. This may sound difficult, but bananas act like coins in the Mario Bros. games, so there's always plenty to find.
Also, plenty of levels have barrels in them (possibly an homage to the Donkey Kong arcade game). Each barrel varies depending on it's location and symbol. DK barrels can be found in the air and ground, and usually contain your partner if you lost him to an enemy. They can also be thrown, but break upon impact. Barrels with no symbols can be thrown on the ground and can keep rolling until it hits a wall or enemy. In the air, they act as cannons, and you manually shoot out of it. Sometimes, you just reach another barrel or you get back onto the track, but other times, you need to be accurate and shoot out of it at the right time, or you'll fall into the pit below or just the ground. Titanium barrels can be thrown, too, but they never break so they just bounce off walls and keep rolling and rolling. You can also ride on them, which isn't a bad idea unless you're a bad jumper. TNT barrels break upon impact when thrown, and emit a fiery explosion when done so. Other cannon barrels include a explosion symboled one that shoots you out automatically and bonus barrels that look like regular cannon barrels.
Because of these gimmicks, along with excellent level design, awesome boss battles, and nice enemy placement, every level is a winner. Some boss battles are just repeats of earlier boss battles, and the platforming can be a little imprecise, but the gameplay holds up very well.
DKC is famous for its revolutionary pre-rendered CG graphics and environments that wowed players in the mid-90s when no one thought that was possible on a 16-bit console, or any other console (although 1993's StarFox used some 3D polygonal graphics). These still look great today: the sprites are large, the animation is fantastic, and the environments are very life-like (in terms, they look less spritey than the characters). Admittedly, they are old and a little blurry on a higher resolution, larger TV, but they're very pretty. I loved the music, too. I don't know how they did it, but those composers at Rare made one of the best soundtracks on the SNES. Sound effects and small voicework (Gorilla sounds and some chants) are as great. It makes the game even better.
Once done with it, there isn't much to do except go for 100% completion and go after what you possibly missed. But, there are other modes that'll keep you playing, like 1 on 1 to see who'll beat the game first, and co-op as well. It's not Donkey Kong Country Returns co-op, but it's a good addition nonetheless. With it's challenge, it isn't recommended for novices, but advanced and pro players will find it to be quite enticing. So, there isn't a lot of replay value, but there's enough so it's replayable. It's also a lot of fun because of the satisfaction of completing a tough level or boss battle, collecting all those KONG letters, and beating the game. DKC is an old game, but it's a good one because it has exceptional platforming, sweet graphics, and a nice score to exceed far past the few niggling flaws. The original SNES version is very hard to find, but the GBA version is easier to get and downloading it is your best bet. You will love this game, and get the sequels as soon as you beat it. They're even better.
Gameplay: 9.5/10
Graphics: 9/10
Story: 8/10
Sound/Music: 9/10
Replay Value: 8/10
Fun: 9/10
Overall: 9/10
+ Run & jump gameplay still exciting
+ Amazing CG-rendered graphics and wonderful environments
+ Great level design and variety
+ Sweet soundtrack and sound effects
- Story and characters are goofy, but corny
- Challenge can be too much for novices
FINAL WORDS: Oot oot oot oo, oot oot oot. OOT!!!!!