Ah, my five, six years of age... That time when worries were limited to doing school homework and reminding mom to buy cardboard at 9:45 p.m. for the next day. That time of watching cartoons on free-to-air TV, and on more than one channel! That time of coming home from school, throwing your backpack in a corner, pressing a big button on the TV, hearing it turn on and pushing up a purple button on a square device: the Super Nintendo. And then listening to the fanfare of Donkey Kong Country:
Two monkeys around
Donkey Kong Country, or DKC, tells the story of Donkey Kong, a gorilla who has his stock of bananas stolen by the Kremlings, subordinates of King K. Roll, a pirate who is gradually arriving by sea on his ship, the Gangplank Galleon. To help him in his mission to recover his precious fruit, Diddy Kong, his nephew, embarks on this adventure.
Together, they will pass through many different environments, such as forests, mines, snowy peaks, caves, seas and even factories, until they reach their final destination, K. Roll's ship.
The most interesting thing about this adventure is the tone that Rare (the game's developer) has given the game. After all, it's an adventure of two animals with a banal goal and, at that time, the usual thing would have been a very colorful, humorous and childish game. Going in the complete opposite direction, the English decided to create a completely melancholic atmosphere, combining sober settings with music that alternated between fast beats and a certain atmospheric melancholy.
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, the acrobats of the forest
DKC is a 2D platform game, as was quite common at the time of the Super Nintendo, a console full of games like this and also beat'n'up. Released at the end of 1994, at the height of the console, which was no longer in any danger of being overtaken in popularity by its direct competitor (Sega's MegaDrive/Genesis), the adventure of the apes crowned an era of great creativity at Nintendo, with memorable games that are still a reference in the industry today.
To overcome the challenges, the monkeys must, like Super Mario, go through platforming challenges, jumping through holes and leaping over the heads of enemies. They can also do body attacks - DK does a somersault, while Diddy applies a powerful star. Demonstrating plenty of acrobatic ability, they also use anything available in the setting to overcome challenges, such as vines and ropes, treetops and even barrels that launch them away.
Barrels, tires and carts
Perhaps barrels are Donkey Kong's trademark, since he's been using them since 1981, when he threw them at Jumpman, the Mario who wasn't called Mario, in Nintendo's Arcade games. Here, DK and Diddy don't just use them to throw at enemies, but also as cannons to get ahead in the stages. Barrels that spin, automatic barrels, barrels that only shoot to one side... You can't say that there are all kinds of barrels, because in the sequences there are even more.
In addition, the levels have other tools, such as tires that help the monkeys jump higher, some attached to the floor (and even the ceiling), and other furniture, which can reveal secrets and secret passages. These passages hide bonus stages, which always give the player some advantage, such as extra lives.
Some of the stages are in the style of on railIn other words, on rails, because the monkeys are taken to their destination in mine carts and have to jump over obstacles quickly, at the risk of falling over precipices.
Friends along the way
Although basically the entire DK island is against the monkeys, there are some friendly animals along the way. Acting as power-ups, they help DK and Diddy progress through the levels more easily. Want to attack enemies head-on and open secret passages? Rambi, the rhino, can help. How about running and being able to glide between platforms? Get Expresso the ostrich out of the way. There's also a frog (Winky), a swordfish (Enguarde) and a parrot that only appears in one stage, Squawks.
Certainly influenced by Yoshi from Super Mario World, the people at Rare decided to implement several different animals. It's a shame that you can't take them from one stage to another, but only use them in the stage where they appear. It's a design choice and, in a game where everything is so fluid and with such well-balanced challenges, there's nothing to complain about. At least not to the point where it counts as a demerit.
The melancholy of bananas
As previously mentioned, Donkey Kong Country has a melancholy tone throughout its journey. Pastel scenery, dim lighting and music that blends in with the ambience of the stage are all part of the feeling that the game wants to convey.
However, its scenarios and songs marked a generation and still generate considerable buzz on the web and even in the music industry today. Take the impact of Aqutic Ambience, for example, which, in the middle of 2023, 29 years after the game's release, yielded a article exclusive. And we're talking about just one song from the game, or rather a whole classic trilogy with several memorable songs:
"Thirty years after its creation, Aquatic Ambience has taken on a life of its own. It's been sampled by superstars like Childish Gambino, adored by Trent Reznor, played at huge concerts around the world and, of course, remixed in every possible direction once the internet got its hands on it."
This alliance between sober settings and fantastic themes by music wizard David Wise makes a solid game like Donkey Kong Country go further, becoming memorable and timeless. As I often say, the art of a video game is everything, especially for posterity. At this point, Donkey Kong Country joins the list of the video game industry's immortal works.
Revisiting a classic
During this vacation season, what I usually do is play a lot of old stuff. Things I've already played and things I haven't, but feel I should. Donkey Kong Country has been with me since childhood, since an aunt lent me the cartridge and I was able to play it over and over again, endlessly, tirelessly, as we all did. Today, the adventure doesn't take three hours to complete, but everything is so good, so fluid, so wonderful, that it's the only game I've played in all my years. A 20th century creation that is still extremely relevant in the 21st.
I admit it's not the best of the trilogy, but something about it makes me think it's my favorite. And I never had the cartridge (like I had Donkey Kong Country 3). Every time I played it as a child, it was either borrowed or rented. Even so, Donkey and Diddy's adventure in search of a handful of bananas marked me and still does.
It's simply the game that makes me turn on my Super Nintendo every year and remember those childhood moments.
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