Donkey Kong 64

I loved Donkey Kong since I first played DKC way back in 1994. Since then, I treasured the franchise. So, when I first played this back in the day, I wasn't disappointed in the least. I enjoyed playing it as much as Banjo Kazooie.

King K. Rool returns once again in his mechanical Crocodile Isle, seeking to destroy DK Island with his new weapon, the Blast-o-Matic. To hinder Donkey Kong's progress, K. Rool's minions capture and imprison his four companions and steal his horde of golden bananas. Now, DK must set out to rescue and rally his friends to retrieve his banana horde and stop K. Rool once and for all.

Accompanying Donkey Kong are Diddy Kong, the small but spunky Tiny Kong, the clownish orangutan Lanky Kong, and the cowardly but superstrong Chunky Kong. Each Kong has their own unique attributes, weapons, moves, and musical instruments to wield against the Kremlings. Occasionally you'll be able to play as classic animal friends like Rambi the Rhino and Enguarde the Swordfish. Plus, Squawks the parrot frequently shows up to give you advice.

Being a Rare game from the late 90s, DK64's gameplay borrows many elements from Banjo Kazooie. New moves can be learned by buying Cranky Kongs potions, while you'll need to collect Golden Bananas and ordinary bananas to respectively unlock new levels and access the games bosses, which progressively get tougher. Funky Kong sells you weapons and ammo upgrades, while Candy provides musical instruments and additional health.

The graphics and level designs are beautiful with a wide variety of colors and textures that bring the world and characters of Donkey Kong to life like never before. All of the characters, both Kongs and Kremlings, emitted quirky and cartoonish voice effects fitting for a Rare game. There was even some limited voice acting in the opening cutscene.

Rare legend Grant Kirkhope once again outdid himself as a composer. All of the game's music is excellent and matches each level's atmosphere. DK Island has a soft tranquil theme, Jungle Japes has jaunty and modernized version of from DKC1, Aztec Temple is mysterious and Egyptian sounding, and Creepy Castles sounds dark and ominous. But rounding them out is the DK Rap that's so cheesy and jarring, it's hilarious to listen to.

There were downsides, though. The game was infamous for the sheer number of collectibles, which made it time-consuming and frustrating. You don't only collect bananas, but coins, blueprints, crowns, and even banana fairies you'll capture by taking photographs of them. Plus, the levels were enormous and required a lot of exploration, backtracking, and swapping Kongs via the tag barrel to get everything. While it isn't necessary to beat the game, any completionist could spend days' worth of gameplay to achieve 100% with this game.

Nevertheless, Donkey Kong 64 is as great as other Rare titles like Banjo Kazooie and it's still enjoyable today for true fans of the franchise. I'm hoping it's released on the Nintendo Switch.

The Donkey Kong series is one of the most different adventure video games! The characters, the action, and the sure thrill of adventure makes this game a fun non-stop playing time! Below is a brief look how I think the game is!

Game Play: The game play is very good. There is really basic controls here and is easy to perform. Novice gamers should have a good time here!

Graphics: The graphics are wonderful especially for the N64! The backgrounds are really beautiful! The expansion Pak that come with the game make the graphics superb!

Difficulty: The game is easy but as it goes on you find out that it will become more difficult!

Music: The music is great! Just fantastic catchy tunes through out the game! In My opinion its some of the best music ever in a video game!

Sound: The sound is great. Nuff said!

Overall: I have always loved Donkey Kong 64! If you like excellent adventure up games then I strongly recommend you play this game!

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What can I say? Rare does it again! Every time you plug in a Rare Game you know you're in for a real treat! The detail they manage to put into a game...it's simply awesome! I kind of suspected to meet the original Donkey Kong (1981) somewhere in the game, and when i did it was so unreal. Suddently your television is transformed into an arcade machine from 1981...and of course you have to beat the game. So huge hugs from me to all from Rare...though i have to admit that i sometimes want to do some kicking as well...those bonus-rounds can be very frustrating....

No I believe you mean this game was one of the last games for the N64 to be released, as the N64 was released in 1996. It was, however, one of the first to use the N64's Expansion Pack, and also was one of the best looking games on the N64. Other than that, however, the game isn't that great. Basically you travel to eight areas, all very large. After the fourth world I was getting tired of the game. There is a lot of stuff to collect however, so that's a plus if your into that kind of thing. Basically it was just very basic to me, the multiplayer is pretty cool however. A large cast of characters you play as too, which is nice. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are present, as are newcomers Tiny Kong, which is Dixie Kong's sister, Lenny, and Chunky Kong, who I have no idea where they fit in at. If you missed this game the first time in the 90's, then by all means try it out, if you want the best of 90's Donkey Kong action, go for Donkey Kong Country 1-3 on the SNES.

What is with those game critics, this game rox!!! And no, it is not a B-K copy-off. Why?

1. Banjo-Kazooie had no mini-games. 2. B-K does not have 2-D Platformer elements incorporated into it. 3. DK64 frustrates the @#*! out of you at times. 4. Hard to believe but DK64 is even funnier than B-K! A cinematic triumph, Dolby Surround Sound included!

Rare has made a terrific game, despite the deeply disturbing DK Rap. If gamers of the SNES era want a 3-D Platformer suited to their needs, they must look no further than DONKEY KONG 64!!!!!!!

Rating: 10.0 / 10.0

JetDog (Y2Kong)