Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)

My youngest child is only 9 and is too young to remember the original Donkey Kong but we have spent hours and hours playing the new Donkey Kong on Wii tonight and had a great time.
I am sure you can use the Wii controller independently during the game as you would have done an old controller but we found the crazy shaking of the controlls to get a monkey on the screen to pound the floor to kill a crab or get some bananas incredibly funny!
I expect we will get absoloutly nothing done this weekend and will all end up having a few great laughs together playing this game before returning to work/school Monday to tell everyone about it! The graphics are great, just they way they always were! You still get to ride a rhino who can smash up everything in its path but there are a few new challenges some of which can be harder but are fun to work through with the kids!
Definately recommend it as a fun family game. It even has the same great music! It is great - honest!
As I said we have been playing for hours and are no-where near completing the game so I expect many more hours of fun with this game.
Well worth the money I have paid for it already!
Now how about we get a few more good old time games back on the TV screen Nintendo!

Donkey Kong Country, for the orignal Snes, was my first game ever. I recieved it in a bundle for christmas, back in the year 1990 something, and frankly, few games have recreated the joy, and fun i have had with not the first game, but the following two as well. Thankfully, this is one nostalgia trip that is very well worth taking. The classic, run, jump and timing gameplay is in tact, the search for bananas, coins, and various bits and bobs is very much evident, the graphics are splendid, involving, and charming, and the classic theme tunes are very much at the foreground of your experience.

This is just not a re-hash though, a certain level in the first world, shows the love and care that the developer has put into recreating that special donkey Kong feel. Theres enough new platform mechanics in the game that adds a lot of value to the original concepts and ideas, - grass ledges, wheels, and roofs you can grab to navigate around, balance ledges that rely on the characters sense of balance. This is all tied in with the series, perfectly weighted jump mechanics, which on the first few goes seem somewhat heavy. The level design in this game, is nothing short of exemplary, levels get into a nice rhythm, and theres always something that brings a smile to your face.

The controls, are for the most part good, although not as great as they should be, - learning the moves takes some getting used to, especially for seasoned players- the roll mechanics in particular, but after a few hour play, the momentum that this game relies on becomes apparent. I don't have a classic controller, so would like to know if the controls are mapped out more effeiciently. EDIT: I also had issues with the down button, mainly on the cart levels that requires a certain amount of ducking. Donkey kong would duck, then pop back up at the critical time, which meant losing several lives.

Also, with exception of 2 player, there seems to be no way to play as the light and nimble Diddy Kong, instead he is rather a tool for Donkey to get around to the higher and just out of reach areas. But as you get further into the game, his presence is invaluable. Not only does he give you a extra 2 hearts, but his ability to hang in the air and glide over too ledges makes a very tough game that bit easier. The game to some extent relies on you memorising certain parts of the level to get through, but there within lies the joy, where thought and application go into beating video game.

To be honest, these are minor gripes, i have rarely touched my wii, but this is well worth the purchase, with recently getting broadband at home i have reverted to playing the annual franchise's (fifa, cod online), but this has really reminded me , what gaming is all about. This is a great starting point, and re-introduction of a great gaming franchise, and very much looking forward to seeing what they have lined up for a sure second release. Great stuff.

One of the best things about having a SNES was the fact that we got Donkey Kong Country exclusively for the 16-bit console. Nintendo and Rare produced such a winner with their radical reinvention of the ape who once nabbed Mario's ex-beloved Pauline. They gave us a new Donkey Kong, complete with loveable sidekick Diddy, and put them in a platform setting that spanned across several challenging continents with a mad variety of useful items and (at the time) groundbreaking visuals that made the original Donkey Kong Country an instant classic.

Not only that, it created yet another brand new franchise for Nintendo to market, and we've seen many more Donkey Kong sequels for a variety of formats since then. All with the mark of quality, yet not quite matching the magic of the original.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is an appropriate title for this Wii release. It truly feels like a return home to the gameplay of the first SNES classic, capturing the spirit and subtly reinventing it for this generation.

The premise is virtually identical to the original. Donkey Kong's prestigious banana horde has been swiped, and he and Diddy are once again ticked-off and chasing after the notorious baddies to get the overly massive collection of fruit back. Only this time, it's not those notorious Kremlings that are responsible. It's a brand new army of critters known as the Tiki Tak Tribe, whose hypnotic musical spells have enslaved the animal population of Donkey Kong Island to do their evil, fruit-snatching bidding.

Now, because the story is more-or-less the same, you can expect the gameplay to be the same also. Control-wise, the Wii game feels as nice and responsive as the original, with all manner of moves and jumping techniques at your disposal. You can do barrel rolls, you can do ground pound attacks, you can grab and throw barrels, climb vines, Diddy Kong has a handy Peanut Popgun at his disposal, along with his trusty Barrel Jet to see them safely to the other side of nasty crevices...long story short, the game plays like it should and feels just like the Donkey Kong we were all playing fifteen years ago.

As for the challenge factor, there's all manner of tricky obstacles and platform conundrums to overcome as you progress, becoming more difficult along the way. Expect to take rides in the dangerous mine cart levels once again, as well as riding the tough Barrel Rocket. But it's all totally enjoyable and utterly gripping to embark on the quest, again thanks to the beautiful simplicity of the controls. Like Punch Out, players have the option to chose which style works best for them. The Wii Remote and Nunchuk option was the one I preferred, but retro gamers may prefer the method of holding just the Remote horizontally, hearkening back to the days of the SNES joypad. Either way, it's great fun.

Plus, there's all manner of useful items and old friends to help you out along the way, such as Cranky Kong, Squawks the Parrot and the ultimate animal friend, Rambi the Rhinoceros, who you once again sit on and ride, charging through in a delightful stampede of destruction. And you WILL need your buddies (along with extra lives and banana coins) if you're going to fight off the Tiki Tak Tribe, uncover all the island's secrets and unlock all the delightful assortment of extras on offer.

Donkey Kong Country Returns also has replay factor for gamers looking for more of a challenge. There's a special Time Attack mode to complete levels as fast as possible, along with Kong Letters and Puzzle Pieces to acquire, which you'll NEED to get if you want to unlock bonus levels and special features. There's a Two-Player Cooperative Mode so you and a friend can play together, challenging boss battles and a huge secret right at the end that will really test you game prowess like never before.

In closing, Donkey Kong Country Returns is one of those games that I really, really enjoyed playing. The main reason was because I felt like I was a happy eleven-year-old again, so the fact that this Wii game manages to capture the essence of its SNES ancestor will be remarkable in the eyes of old fans. But in its own right, Donkey Kong Country Returns was highly addictive. Graphically, it's a treat to look at, and the sound is very much true to the original game also. Today's generation of gamers will surely warm to it as well. An absolutely excellent treat.