30-Jul-2003 Return of the original junglists with a remake
of a remake
Back in the dying days of the SNES, Rare produced a solid gold classic by the name of Donkey Kong Country and miraculously staved off the platform's death throes. Nintendo was so pleased with the game's life-extending properties, it tried the same thing on Game Boy Color just a few years ago.
Now here comes a Game Boy Advance incarnation of the same game, and with it a suggestion of over-milking the exploits of two apes in search of their stolen banana stash.
Simian High-Jinks Nintendo would no doubt counter by saying this is a classic that many will never have played. And it'd be right: the original is a classic. Its six worlds of multi-layered platform rompery looked as good as they played.
But the killer punch was the way Donkey and Diddy appeared on screen together, one cavorting perfectly behind the other, and how you could switch between them at any time, taking advantage of their distinct skills. It was this simple ploy that elevated the game from a blatant Mario pastiche into something altogether more engaging and individual.
The GBA version manages to capture the splendidly fluid gameplay in all its silly banana-hunt glory. And it even throws in some extras, with a couple of typically dippy two-player mini-games, hidden character art and a handy save-anywhere function.
But for all the game's bountiful charms it can't match the original's vibrant visuals. With a slew of skilfully converted classics under its belt, you'd expect Nintendo to do better. It's still worth a look for 2D gaming tourists, but not those with rose-tinted nostalgia.
A fine example of a two-dimensional platformer, but the fact remains Donkey Kong Country, the third version of the game, is not the prettiest of the bunch.
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