Donkey Kong 64

DK, DONKEY KONG!!! Yes yes boys and girls it's your favorite monkey
and his friends gracing a N64 near you.

In Donkey Kong 64 you start of as (you'll never guess it...) donkey
kong when one day you're relaxing in the comfort of your own tree house
when all of a sudden K.Rool and his reptilian kremlings are terrorizing
your home yet again. It's up to you and the help of some old and new
friends to rid the DK Isles of evil. As you go along you'll unlock
different kongs with different abilities. Diddy Kong you're trusty
side-kick of past games is here again, Lanky Kong (my personal
favorite)an acrobatic, stretchy, and inflatable orangoutang, Tiny Kong
a tenny-bopper esque simian who can shrink in size, and the towering,
muscley Chunky Kong are all here to help you on you're voyage. All of
these unique Kongs have different projectile weapons, attacks, and
instruments fitting there styles. There are tons of inside-jokes and nods
and previous games, remember the barrel game from the Donkey Kong Country
games? Well that's hear now in 3-D and it never looked better.
Cranky, Funky, Candy and even the recently passed Wrinkly Kong are in this
game to provide you with tips, weapons, attacks, and instruments. I could
go through and tell you about all the weapons, instruments, and attacks
but I don't wish to have carpo tunnel syndrome, so we'll just leave it
at that.

Gameplay:
Since there are five playable kongs in the game you'd think the control
would be outstanding...and it is. Each Kong walks, jumps, hits,
butt-stomps, and even dances different. The controls for each Kong is
responsive and on the money; if you're not in water that is. See when you're
under water sometimes you feel like the game is swiming for you. The
controls are very loose and somewhat out of control underwater. Just be
thankful there aren't to many times when you'll be forced to be
underwater.

Graphics:
These graphics are one of the if not the best for the N64. You'll
doubt this is a 64-bit game by the expanding and extordinary visuals.
Since the new "Expansion Pack" is used the graphics are lush, vibrant, and
down right purdy no matter what level you're on, but at times like when
you're under-water or in a rainy enviroment it can be too dark. At
times I was forced to squint to see where a door was or if I was getting
anywhere instead of walking into a wall. A minor set back that doesn't
happen too much, but when it does it can get frustrating.

Sound:
The sound, and in game music in this game is quirky, and well fitting
to each and every level. For example when you're in a jungle level
there's a bongo being played in the background, and birds chirping. All of
the kongs have differnt sound's they make when puching or jumping.
Lanky makes a "Noony boo" sound when ever he does a handstand and Chunky
grunts when jumping (poor guy can't get 2 feet off the air). This game
also supports dolby digital sound, so every sound in the game be it a
kremling chomping or the sound when you recieve a golden banana sounds
crisp and well delivered. But it would be nice to see some voice work
other than grunts and chirps. The cut-scenes are just plain text with
some sound effects to jazz it up.

Lasting Appeal:
This game is HUGE. Think Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64 put
together. There are eight huge levels broken up into the DK Isles to go back
and forth from and you'll be playing this for a very long time. 200
golden bananas, dozens of mini-games, hundreds of bananas for each
kong,blueprints, and banana fairies, are to be collected in this game. Once I
recieved my 100th banana I was only 46% done with the whole game!There
is also a solid multi-player in which you can play as any Kong and frag
you're other Kong buddies. This game is also very addictive. I found
myself playing it for hours on end. Go ahead and disconnect the phone,
and put a "Do Not Disturb" sign on the door because you're not going to
stop playing this for a very long time, and that's not a bad thing.

Overall:
This game is a great game for anyone looking for an adventure that will keep them busy for a good while. Even though the game is a bit too similar to other games in the genre, like Banjo-Kazooie, the game is still great and is a must-buy for any Nintendo 64 owner in your life.

9.1/10

-Blake Becker (GoinCommando)