A good play mechanic deserving of a better game.
posted by CmndrVideo (SANTA CRUZ, CA) Oct 3, 2006
Member since Jul 2006
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This incredibly pleasurable game was ruined by the final level being astronomically and uncharacteristically hard and the inclusion of Donkey Kong as a license.
The mechanics, as an abstract gameplay idea, were fresh and exciting. Adding Donkey Kong (and arguably any character) only cheapened the core gameplay idea. Don’t get me wrong, I like Donkey Kong as a character, but this game would have been far more interesting had the mechanic been presented in a fresh new way—something like the recent bitGenerations series, for instance. The mechanics were awesome, but how they were surfaced to the player was lacking.
Aside from the above, the overall goals and story seemed afterthoughts and as such, weren’t that interesting or motivational. What kept me going was the gameplay and the gameplay alone. The boss fights were acceptable. The music was insipid. The level design (for the most part) was good[see note below for more on this].
If you want to experience a new gameplay mechanic on your GBA that works very well and is a cool idea, pick this up. If you LOVE the DK world, you should probably also pick this up. For gamers interested in unique gameplay, I this this is a must-play. It is not a must-beat however.
-CommanderVideo
[NOTE (slight spoiler)]: The final level REQUIRES you to use a special move that costs you 20 bananas to execute. As far as I could tell, there is NO OTHER WAY TO GET PAST THE FINAL LEVEL. What this means is that if you make it there with less than 20 bananas (as I did), you will spend hours upon hours trying to make the impossible jump, when really, you need to exit the level and collect bananas and return later. I do not like level design that forces you to use depletable items for critical path unless there’s a way to collect more of them within the level, which in this case there is not.
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