![]() Kong's little pal, Diddy, plays differently from the big ape: Whereas Kong's weight makes it easier to dispatch big foes and hurl barrels with devastating strength, Diddy specializes in quick movements and high jumps that are ideal for finding hidden areas. Aquatic Ambiance is remixed to this day, and Wise himself re-visited Fear Factory in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.ĭonkey Kong Country also benefits from its "buddy tag" system. Veteran Rare composer David Wise still deserves props for Donkey Kong Country's soundtrack, as it lends favorably to the game's memorably oppressive atmosphere. Still a safer ride than your average wooden coaster from the '70s. You can practically feel the bits of ice and snow sting your eyelids while you play. Snow Barrel Blast, a personal favorite, gradually smothers you in a snowstorm as you progress through the level. Rather, Donkey Kong Country eschews other platformers' sunny skies and green hills for dripping caverns, dimly-lit treetops, rainstorms, and industrial zones. That's not to suggest Donkey Kong Country is a "dark" or "gritty" game in any form the main plot deals with Donkey Kong trying to rescue his stolen banana horde. Still, Donkey Kong Country's gameplay flows well, and its levels boast a surprisingly oppressive atmosphere that was uncommon in platformers at the time. True, its platforming isn't as complex or interesting as Super Mario World's or Mega Man X's most of the levels push you from left to right and don't encourage much exploration beyond "find breakable walls for bonus rooms" (and said bonus rooms only offer one-dimensional puzzle games for extra lives and other unimpressive prizes). While Donkey Kong Country 2 improves over its predecessor in wide strides, the first game is a solid 2D action title that's still enjoyable to play through. It's trendy to look back at Donkey Kong Country and say "Boy, were we taken for a ride! The graphics were great for the time, but nothing about the game has held up. Moreover, "computer rendering" was a hot buzz term thanks to Jurassic Park's much-publicized dinosaur effects (the best of which were executed using puppetry, but that's a kitchen-raptor of a different color), and that did a lot to bolster Donkey Kong Country's hype and subsequent sales. While the game's pre-rendered sprites look frayed by today's standards, there was nothing else like it on the SNES – and certainly not on the Sega Genesis, Nintendo gloated. Nintendo had to keep the SNES' momentum going, and it did so by convincing the masses that next-gen graphics were possible on its system.Īnd, honestly, Rare's Donkey Kong Country made a good argument for Nintendo's case. ![]() Sega was ready with the Saturn, but the N64 was still some miles down the road. Nintendo did its best to stay calm its efforts to seem as hip and cool as the Sega Genesis were finally starting to pay off (even though looking at " Play it Loud" commercials today makes me take a deep breath and press my lips together in a straight line). Not simply for 16-bit systems, but for cartridge-based games, period. Developers were nearly done squeezing every drop of power from the SNES and Genesis' plucky little processors, and the PlayStation's siren song was drifting in loud and clear from overseas. However, 1994 was also a troubling year for the 16-bit market in general. Now, decades later, we still sing songs of praise for '94 gems like Super Metroid and Final Fantasy III. Three from the SNES, and one more from the NES.Join us as we review all the games on the SNES Classic Mini Edition in chronological order!ġ994 was an incredible year for SNES games. Nevertheless, four new games are coming to NSO later this month. However, hopes that Nintendo 64 games would soon be joining the fray have been dashed after Super Mario 64 was included as a part of Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Classics from just the NES at first, but now the SNES too. ![]() NSO's only real saving grace is the games it offers free of charge. RELATED: There's A Nintendo Direct Mini For Third-Party Developers Tomorrow Anyone who has tried to use Nintendo's online voice chat app will likely back that cause. So much so that some have lobbied for it to be free of charge. Not only will Xbox Series X All Access cost just $35 a month, but before the end of 2020 Game Pass will also include EA Play for no added charge.Īlthough Nintendo's Switch is doing more than alright for itself thus far, its accompanying online service has been heavily criticized. That has never been more relevant than it is right now as Xbox attempts to give its consumers a better online service than ever before. Many of today's gamers will decide which console to buy based on the online service its creator offers. The console war is no longer about hardware and titles alone. Donkey Kong Country 2 is just one of four classic Nintendo games that NSO subscribers will be able to play from next week. ![]()
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