Single Player - Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994.  It's your standard platform game, pitting you against enemies and levels you must run, jump, swim, and roll through in order to complete the quest.  It is in no way difficult to learn, and as it was actually a pack in title late in the SNES's life, it had exposure along the same lines as Mario games.  The game quickly turned into a series, spawning two direct sequels and a plethora of other games based on the characters and world.

For this review, we're only going to talk about the first game.  Compared to it's two sequels, it's fairly easy to complete.  The premise is that you play as Donkey Kong and fight aganst the Kremlings and their leader King K. Rool for control of your banana horde which the Kremlings stole for some reason.  To help you in your endeavors is your side kick Diddy Kong, whom you may play as at anytime.  Other Kongs exist too like Funky Kong who will allow you to return to areas you've previously beaten, Candy Kong who lets you save your game, and old ape Cranky Kong who turns out is the original Donkey Kong from Mario's early days (you know, when Mario was known as "Jump Man".  Sounds like a Mega Man Robot Master to me.)

The levels are diverse, ranging from jungles and forests to snowy mountains and damp caves.  Frequently you'll find that you are required to make jumps with special timing, or leap from swinging ropes.  Then there are times when you need to jump into barrels which blast you like cannons around the screen, some of which are automatic in nature.  Tree Top Town in the third area is an example of this, and where I struggled a lot back in my younger days.  Swimming levels also exist as do locations where you have to navigate moving platforms.

While you are struggling to just get to the next safe piece of land you are hounded by enemies that want to end your quest short of your banana bounty.  On top of this you have no power ups like Mario enjoys.  How do you contend with all these hazards?  Well since Donkey and Diddy operate as a team, you have the ability to assume control of whichever is following along should the one you are controlling take a hit.  In essence it's as if you have two hits (barring plummeting into pits, mind you) so you don't just lose immediately.  You can also find boxes that contain animal helpers you can usually ride.  There's Rambi the rhino who is perfect for smashing through any enemy you encounter, then there Expresso the ostrich who runs fast and can flap his wings to lengthen his jumps.  That's not to leave out Winky the frog who can jump high and bounce on enemies the Kongs normally couldn't touch.  Then we have Enguarde the swordfish who makes swimming levels easy to finish with his ramming abilities and superior navigation.  Squawks the parrot is also in this game, but all he does is hold a light in one level, which is lame when compared to his ability to fly the Kongs around and shoot eggs at baddies in later games.

There are plenty of secrets to be found in this game, making it a worthy challenge for !00% completionists.  It's also a fun game to play with a friend, as it offers two types of co-op play.  The music is just awesome, and the graphics are amazingly good for being on the SNES.  There are even some awesome glitches to exploit if you can find them.  It's a solid game, and fortunately it's available on the Wii Shop Channel so it's very easy to go out and get this game.  I would very much recommend it to anyone who enjoys platform games as well as casual gamers who just want to play for a little bit and feel accomplished