In 40 side-scrolling levels, the player collects items, defeats enemies and bosses, and finds secrets on their journey to defeat K. Rool. Steve Mayles contributed his mouth, which formed the basis for the other character designs. For instance, platforms took on the appearance of trees in jungles or walkways in mines. [2][43] Exposed, hosted by comedian Josh Wolf, provides a "behind-the-scenes" glimpse of the Treehouse, the Nintendo of America division where games are tested. It was later distributed in limited quantities through Nintendo Power. [83] It also received a Nintendo Power award for Best Overall Game of 1994 and two Kids' Choice awards in 1994 and 1995 for Favorite Video Game. Wise said, "I guess someone thought the music was suitable, as they offered me a full time position at Rare". The Donkey Kong Country GBA Trilogy", "1UP's 2005 list of the 10 most overrated games", "17 videogame soundtracks ahead of their time", "Videogames Vie for Online Eyes: Sega, Nintendo, Acclaim Finding Target Audience in Front of Computer Screen", "Donkey Kong Land Review (3DS eShop / GB)", "Why King K. Rool is dominating Smash fans' attention, and affection", "Nintendo plans to release Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D on May 24", "Test du jeu Donkey Kong Country sur SNES", "Donkey Kong Country for Game Boy Advance", "E3 2010: Shigeru Miyamoto Likes Donkey Kong Country After All", "3DS Virtual Console gets SNES classics – Earthbound Donkey Kong Country, more", "Diddy Kong joins Smash Bros. Brawl roster", "Year of the Monkey: Going ape over Donkey Kong's 25th birthday", "Donkey Kong Country, Streets of Rage, New Adventure Island, The Legend of Kage", "Donkey Kong Country Review (GBA) review", "The Donkey Kong Timeline Is Truly Disturbing", "I only added teeth, bandana and shades to the DK model back in '94, but I still get to claim Funky as mine He looks much better now, btw", "Aping Mario? [7][74][78][76], Wise's atmospheric soundtrack attracted universal acclaim. [34] The "DK Island Swing" was inspired by jungle and tropical-themed music Wise had been listening to,[29] while K. Rool's theme was heavily influenced by the work of Iron Maiden. After developing numerous Nintendo Entertainment System games in the 1980s, Rare, a British studio founded by Tim and Chris Stamper, purchased Silicon Graphics workstations to render 3D models. Reviewers commended the fluid and fast-paced gameplay of both versions,[69][56][70] although some considered the Game Boy Advance graphics disappointing. [20][105] Diddy also joined Donkey Kong as a Super Smash Bros. character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008),[106] while King K. Rool debuted as a Smash character in Super Smash Bros. When he heard Nintendo's composers create music around the NES's limitations, it encouraged him to go back and refine. [19] Gunn added that, in addition to Stamper's pushing, the team was also under significant pressure to finish the game in time for Thanksgiving due to Nintendo's competition with Sega. [22] Donkey Kong Country spawned two sequels for the SNES: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest was released in 1995 to critical and commercial success and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Here's the original version ", "Donkey Kong Country (Wii U VC) Review Mini", "Super NES Retro Review: Donkey Kong Country", "SNES Classic Edition review: Worth it for the games alone", "The 100 Greatest Video Games of All Time", "Sorry, they do talk about tech but there's nothing remotely like that in here", "Remembering Donkey Kong Country Exposed", "Donkey Kong Country (Super Nintendo) Review", "Donkey Kong Country coming to Nintendo Switch Online in July", "Stamped Out! Donkey Kong Country[a] is a 1994 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). [21] Rare finally settled on the roll, which Gregg Mayles noted worked similarly to a bowling ball. [75] Jeff Pearson of Nintendojo also appreciated the immersive background mattes and said Donkey Kong Country was a "visual masterpiece" and the best-looking game on the SNES. [104], This article is about the video game. [81][79] Pearson praised each level's unique musical theme and considered each of them an accurate reflection of their respective environments, while remarking that it pushes the SNES' audio chip to the limit, along with its graphical prowess. [94][95][96][97][98][99], In the years following the game's release, rumours spread that Miyamoto disliked Donkey Kong Country and found it amateurish,[14][100] provoking him to create the hand-drawn art style of Yoshi's Island. [85], Donkey Kong Country was a major factor in keeping sales of the SNES high at a time when the next generation of consoles, including the Sony PlayStation and the Sega Saturn, were being released. The 1987 Official Nintendo Player's Guide advertised a revival for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), The Return of Donkey Kong, that was never released. As Gregg Mayles said, "it was kind of done by getting the framework in place first, and then filling the gaps in later". With the atmospheric score of David Wise, the quirky tunes of Eveline Fischer and the unforgettable melodies of that other guy, it's a franchise full of famous songs. [41], Nintendo of America chairman Howard Lincoln unveiled Donkey Kong Country at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago, which lasted from 23 to 25 June 1994. Donkey Kong (kurz DK; jap. Each level on the map is marked with an icon: unfinished levels are marked by Kremlings, whilst completed areas are marked by Donkey or Diddy. [37] It was one of the earliest video game soundtrack albums released in the United States. Nintendo has announced that Donkey Kong Country 3 will be added to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service this Friday. [29][34] Stamper was also the driving force behind incorporating sound effects in the music, as he wanted them to play in levels but was limited by the SNES hardware. [24] The team planned to have Donkey Kong wear a hard hat in mine levels, but this was replaced by Squawks the Parrot due to palette limitations and animation problems. [14] It has been included in lists compiling the most overrated games of all time;[92][93] Electronic Gaming Monthly's staff summarised it and its sequels as games that "got more respect than [they] truly deserved". [68][52] McDonnell felt that Donkey Kong Country's gameplay held it back from being a Nintendo blockbuster in its own right. 2:45. Cranky, who Rare considered the Donkey Kong character from the arcade games, was intended to be a character who harkened "back to the old times". With Mark Betteridge, Chris Sutherland. [14][86] After selling 9.3 million units, Donkey Kong Country became the third-bestselling SNES game[18][87][88] and set the record for the fastest-selling video game at the time. After a hiatus, during which Rare was acquired by Nintendo competitor Microsoft, Retro Studios revived the series with Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) for the Wii and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (2014) for the Wii U. Donkey Kong Country is a side-scrolling platform game in which the player must complete 40 levels[2] to recover the Kongs' banana hoard, which has been stolen by the crocodilian Kremlings. [19][24] The pre-rendered graphics allowed for a more realistic art style, so the team incorporated what would have simply been floating platforms in the Super Mario games into the surrounding environment. A landmark SNES game featuring the first 32meg cart to be released on the system. Mayles has said that if he were to remake Donkey Kong Country, he would want to implement the simultaneous gameplay. Donkey Kong Country was a revolutionary platformer, going on to spawn two sequels. Donkey Kong and his sidekick, Diddy Kong, star in a computer-generated rendition of the classic video game. Donkey Kong Country is now 25 years old, yet the game is still just as fun and addictive to play now as it was when it first hit store shelves a quarter-century ago. [80] At review aggregator GameRankings, the SNES version received an 89% score, the Game Boy Color version 90%, and the Game Boy Advance version 79%. [18], The SNES version of Donkey Kong Country has been digitally rereleased for later Nintendo consoles via the Virtual Console service. [21] Gregg Mayles also wanted K. Rool and the Kremlings to seem incompetent,[21][24] similar to the villainous cartoon characters Dick Dastardly and Muttley. [4] Likewise, Strauss complimented the "CD-quality" music while Kopalny thought that Wise's "captivating" soundtrack asserted itself as a masterpiece in its own right. [20] Sometimes, artists would shut down other artists' computers in the middle of the process so they could render their models. The ACM process was handled by a designated computer that had a proprietary utility similar to Deluxe Paint. [24] Donkey Kong originally had only three fingers per hand, but a fourth was added when Nintendo informed Rare that individuals with three fingers are commonly associated with the yakuza in Japan. [21] Secret areas were added while designing levels on Post-it Notes, inspired by Super Mario and the Indiana Jones films. Donkey Kong must take care of his nephew, a baby ape called Baby Kong. [18] Adapting to the cutting-edge SGI workstations was difficult;[20] Steve Mayles said they had "a really steep learning curve". Directed by Tim Stamper. It was released in November 1994 to acclaim and sold 9.3 million copies worldwide, making it the third-bestselling SNES game. [15] Nintendo had rebuffed the brothers' efforts for a partnership in 1983, which led Chris Stamper to study the NES hardware for six months. Flight Of The Zinger - Donkey Kong Country 2 by GilvaSunner. Nintendo and Rare called the technique for creating the game's graphics Advanced Computer Modelling (ACM). @NintendoAmerica liked the track enough to use it for DKC promotion at E3...Tim loved it on the promo video and wanted it on the game. [30] Wise started composing as a freelance musician; he originally assumed his music would be replaced with compositions by Koji Kondo, the Super Mario composer, because he understood the importance of the Donkey Kong licence to Nintendo. [18], To showcase the graphical fidelity and immerse the player in the game, Rare chose not to include a heads-up display, with information such as the player's banana and life counts only appearing when relevant. The majority of the game takes place in linear levels, populated with various obstacles and enemies, which mostly involve the player traversing the stages by running, jumping, or defeating enemies by jumping on their heads or rolling into them. [24] Tim Stamper, who spoke with Nintendo of America every night, encouraged the team "to go to the extremes in terms of visuals"; Steve Mayles recalled that Stamper told the team that he wanted the game to still look good two decades in the future. [30] Fischer was less experienced than Wise, who helped teach her as they worked together. At this point, Miyamoto made some last-minute suggestions, such as Donkey Kong's "hand-slap" move, that were incorporated into the game. [24], Bayliss was in charge of redesigning Donkey Kong, and wanted the design to be simplified and compact. [22][24] Gregg Mayles initially intended for the partner to be Donkey Kong Jr. and created Diddy Kong as a redesign of the character. [21] Wise noted this was a challenging, time-consuming process. [19][32] Wise then chose samples and optimised the music to work on the SNES. [20] A rumour suggested that Rare was investigated by the Ministry of Defence for their amount of advanced workstations; although Gregg Mayles said this was false, Rare did receive complaints regarding the amount of power the SGI hardware used. [21][22] However, Nintendo considered the redesign too great a departure from the original, and asked that Rare either rework it or present it as a new character. [84] The Game Boy Color version was a runner-up for GameSpot's annual "Best Game Boy Color Game" and "Best Platform Game" awards, losing to Dragon Warrior I & II and Banjo-Tooie, respectively. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! [43] It is the only video game listed in Time's top ten "Best Products" of 1994. Donkey Kong is a series of video games featuring the adventures of a gorilla called Donkey Kong, conceived by Shigeru Miyamoto in 1981. Play Donkey Kong Country game online in your browser free of charge on Arcade Spot. Donkey Kong Country review", "Rare: Celebrating 30 years of gaming glory", "Month Of Kong: The Making Of Donkey Kong Country", "Anniversary: 20 Years Ago Today, Rare Resurrected The Donkey Kong Brand", "Donkey Kong Country for Game Boy Advance Reviews", "King K. Rool from Donkey Kong Country joins Super Smash Bros. [43] Nintendo anticipated to sell approximately two million Donkey Kong Country units in one month; Main acknowledged this was an unprecedented expectation but said "it's based on the off-the-chart reactions we've received from game players and retailers. [20] Wise cited Kondo's music for the Super Mario and Legend of Zelda games, Tim and Geoff Follin's music for Plok (1993), synthesizer film soundtracks released in the 1980s, 1990s rock and dance music, and his experience with brass instruments as influences. [29] Wise worked separately from the rest of the team[20] in a former cattle shed,[32] visited occasionally by Tim Stamper. Embed Code [46], David DiRienzo, writing for Hardcore Gaming 101, described Nintendo's Donkey Kong Country promotion as "marketing blitzkrieg": "it was everywhere. [4] Multiplayer modes include the competitive "Contest" mode or the cooperative "Team" mode. This week marks the 25th anniversary of the classic and beloved Donkey Kong Country. [2] In Contest, each player controls their own set of Kongs but with different colors to differentiate between players and take turns playing each level as quickly as possible; the objective is to complete the most levels in the fastest time. The show portrays Donkey Kong, an anthropomorphic ape living in the jungle who happens to stumble upon a magic orb called the Crystal Coconut in the temple of Inka Dinka Doo. [64][65][66], The game's novel use of pre-rendered 3D models and visuals were lauded among critics, with many citing that its graphics were the first of its kind and helped set it far apart from its contemporaries. Both characters offer different attributes: Donkey is stronger and can defeat enemies more easily, whilst Diddy moves faster and is more agile. [52] Nadia Oxford from USGamer similarly acknowledged that the game's visual allure helped Nintendo save face in a period of uncertainty for cartridge-based games and gave praise to Rare's execution of 3D rendering. Donkey Kong Country's boss fights also garnered complaints among critics: Oxford, Olney, Pearson and Bianco all found the bosses lacklustre, uninspiring and repetitive. 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