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Back in 1994 Nintendo was struggling to gain market share from Sega. Both the Super Nintendo (SNES) and Genesis systems were selling extremely well, but Nintendo needed something to entice more gamers over to its SNES. While Sega took the add-on route with the Sega CD and 32X, Nintendo focused on better software. Nintendo partnered with Rare and a revolutionary looking game called Donkey Kong Country was released in time for Christmas. The game was groundbreaking for its rendered graphics that looked better than anything on Sega’s expensive add-ons. The game sold millions of copies and that year Nintendo took the number one position back from Sega. Flash forward to a couple years back where that same game was released in a watered-down version for the Game Boy Color, but now gamers can play a faithful rendition of Donkey Kong Country on the Game Boy Advance. As soon as the game flashes on the GBA screen, the first thing that pops up on the screen is the Rareware logo. It seems a bit strange to see the logo given that Microsoft now has Rare as a 2nd party. Nintendo has gone and changed the introduction, taking out Cranky Kong playing the phonograph. I rather liked that part of the introduction in the original game, but this new quick and dirty intro works well I guess. The game has seen some visual upgrades in the map screen and in some of the levels. In several scenes the SNES version had somewhat grainy backgrounds, but that’s generally not the case with the GBA version, hence the game looks a bit more polished. The parallax scrolling is still in place and all of the character models and scenery look superb on the portable.
Even more impressive than the graphics are the music tracks and sound effects. I know the GBA isn’t known for extraordinary music, but this game really shows what’s capable out of the little machine. If you’re playing on a GBA SP you’ll notice that the music is very loud and crisp. The SNES soundtrack was one of the best out there and the same is true for this iteration. What’s really cool is the music tracks in the game are very long so they never become tiresome. Donkey Kong Country is a game for all ages. If you like platform games like Mario you’ll enjoy this game. If you were a big fan of the SNES version you won’t want to miss the chance to own it on the GBA. There are some new additions like time attack and a fishing mini-game, but overall it’s pretty much a straight port. If you disliked the game on the SNES then there’s no reason to buy this game. I’m surprised that Donkey Kong Country has aged as well as it has. It’s still a fun action-platform game that’s a good alternative to Mario. It is a tad easy to obtain extra lives (I was up to 20 lives in a little under 20 minutes), but the level design is often challenging enough to keep most gamers from completing the game right away. This game is a great buy for the younger generation of gamers who have never before had a chance to play it. About the only thing that could be improved in this version would be a 2-player co-op link mode where 2 players could play simultaneously. That would rock, but as it is you have to share a GBA and hand it to the other person when you lose a life. While Donkey Kong Country doesn’t have the ageless appeal of say, Super Mario World, it still holds its own. The game would have scored higher had Nintendo added more new features to the game. Since it was just recently available on the GBC, it does feel like Nintendo is trying to milk the franchise, especially when so little new content is added to the package. Perhaps a Donkey Kong All-Stars would have been a better choice? Regardless, Donkey Kong Country is still a fun game to play and comes recommended for fans of the series and for the younger generation. For everyone else, it’s a case of “been there, done that” that is all too common on the GBA system.
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