Donkey Kong ’94 on the Game Boy is one of my favourite platformers. After the first four levels, which are the same as the original Donkey Kong arcade game, it becomes this massive puzzle platformer with a very agile Mario up against Donkey Kong. Mario vs. Donkey Kong, the Game Boy Advance sequel, was also great, but it introduced levels with mini Mario toys in it that you have to help to the exit in a very Troddlers/Krusty’s Super Fun …
I am not a big fan of the Donkey Kong Country series of games. I didn’t like the SNES ones, I didn’t like the Game Boy ones, and although Donkey Kong 64 started well, the collecting killed it for me. As a result, I didn’t even have a slight interest in the Wii game “Donkey Kong Country Returns”, of which this is a 3D “remix”. So why then did I play it? Firstly, curiosity. Secondly, it was free. And thirdly? …
So hard. So very, very hard. Any game that causes me to lose over 40 lives in a single level is hard. To have several levels where I lose 40+ lives, is just ridiculous. That said, I’m sticking with it. Even though I did one level today (one in the Cliffs where you get barrel’d into the background and have to quickly run right and reach a platform before the floor disappears) and nearly snapped my 3DS in frustration. Needless …
Until the release of the technically fantastic, utterly huge, and gloriously lovely to look at Donkey Kong 64 for the Nintendo 64, I was a big fan of Rare’s stuff. Or at least, I thought I was. I mean, I did really, really, enjoy Banjo Kazooie. So much so that I almost completed it many times (the end boss proving too much), and even got the XBLA remake – finally 100%ing it. But looking back at their other titles, I’m not …
This was a much longer game than I remember it being, but somehow it seemed much easier. I have memories of having 70-odd lives reaching the final boss, then losing 67 of them on him. That seems like a lot of lives, but they’re very easy to come by (you normally get 2 or 3 each level, then after every four levels when the time score is counted up, you usually get another 5 or 6) and I did die …
I went back to this game this evening, although I’m not really sure why. I should be working my way through Fire Emblem or Warrior Within or something. Anyway. Decided to try and see how far through the Game+ mode I could get. Surprisingly, despite the first level on the first world appearing impossible last time I tried, I’ve managed to get to level 3-2 without much difficulty. Had a quick try on Expert 1 again too, but failed. Rubbish.
Finished the last two worlds today (5 and 6, unsurprisingly), and then defeated the final boss that comes after them. The credits rolled, and the game was over, but then… Then two new modes were opened up – Expert and Plus. Plus is a bit like a cross between the standard levels and the mini-Mario levels, whereas Expert is just a load of difficult levels. Had a go at a few, and may well plough through some more, but for …
Rattled through quite a few more levels today, completing up to World 5. Haven’t had too many taxing levels yet, although 4-MM was difficult until I realised that the Mini-Marios would jump a gap if I jumped it first. Until then it was looking pretty impossible. Tch.
Mario vs Donkey Kong is the sequel (pretty much) to the original Game Boy game Donkey Kong, which in itself was a sort of huge expansion for the even older Donkey Kong arcade game. The GB game was actually the first non-Japanese game to take advantage of the SNES Super Game Boy add-on too. And it was ACES. Mario vs Donkey Kong is also ACES. Basically, you have to travel through puzzley-platformey levels, finding keys to open doors and rescuing …
Two player bongo-tastic hand slapping action! And my hands hurt now. And I’ve managed to cut myself.
Anyone who describes themselves as a gamer, or even those who read a lot of books, collect DVDs (remember them?) or are avid fans of various other arts, know about The Backlog. It is, as a gamer at least, a list of games that have been bought (or acquired – most games are “free” these days) under the full intent to play, but for whatever reason are Pushed on the stack and have not yet reached Pop. Why these games …
I was lucky enough to be given (an original!) one of these, as well a Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong II, this weekend. It’s the best Game & Watch game and although I have a keyring mini replica I haven’t played the G&W classic since it was a Hot Product in the school playground. And it still stands up really well today. Although it was much, much easier than I recall because I managed to complete it on my first …
It’s 2019, and the first game to be completed this year is Super Smash Bros. And by complete, I mean, the MASSIVE new single player mode – “World of Light”. In brief, this mode is a huge map with lots of fight events on it. Some are simple one-on-one brawls, some have quirks like gravity that randomly flips or after a few seconds one hit kills you, and others have a number of unusual fighters such as an army of …
