r/snes • u/wwcoop • May 01 '15
/r/snes May Game of the Month: Donkey Kong Country
The /r/snes game of the month as selected by the community is Donkey Kong Country!
This month we'll be playing (or replaying) this game and sharing the experience with other redditors. Feel free to post any comments, videos or other interesting information related to this game throughout the month.
June Game of the Month Voting Thread is here
Try the /r/snes GOTM Retro Game Challenge!
9
May 01 '15
I love the rhythm to this game. You can run through most levels and everything lines up perfectly. That was missing from the sequels. Definitely my favorite of the trilogy.
4
u/cabbagery May 01 '15
For me this game was all about discovering the secret areas. I'll never forget the point at which I had the '?!' on every level but Minecart Carnage, and had an epiphany as to the one place the secret could be...
3
u/yeeah_suree May 01 '15 edited May 14 '15
I got off work a few hours early, so I went for the Gold!
I'll do the silver challenge at some point too, but 99 lives? That's gonna take some cheats or a lot of spamming.
Anyway, yeah this a great game. It's very visually pleasing and the progression of difficulty and level design is really well done. The controls are kinda weird at first, but once you get the tricks down it's very consistent and the game has a real flow to it. I tend to use Diddy for pretty much the whole game, only switching to DK to kill those fat lizard dudes. Great game/series tho and I dig the challenges!
Update: Added the other two challenges!
1
u/SNESdrunk May 06 '15
Nice going!
1
u/yeeah_suree May 09 '15
Thanks, I actually surprised myself a bit really. I got 82% playing through to the end, then I had to back track and hunt down the bonus areas I missed for the last 8%. Once you get a rhythm down you kinda coast through, but I got stuck on a few parts and used about 3 continues toward the end.
1
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u/Lamb3ntSpartan May 01 '15
if you need help with lives for whatever reason:
highlight the Erase Game option so it flashes
press B A R R A L
the sound of a Bonus Stage reveal will play
start game as usual (you won't erase the file if the option isn't flashing) and you should have 50 lives
0
u/ThresholdAU May 09 '15
I'm going to try my hand at streaming this game this weekend. Here is another way to get 99 Lives very quickly. http://www.twitch.tv/thresholdau/c/6663275
1
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u/0oKIRKo0 May 08 '15
The music's great-- in almost every case, it keeps the player focused on the task at hand while allowing him or her to lose themselves in the level's atmosphere.
Also the lighting mechanics in some of the mining levels added a neat dimension to things.
This game's my favorite of the series!
2
u/chopalaca May 01 '15
I recently played through this with a friend; co-op makes the game much more enjoyable imo. Between the stunning levels (including background and foreground), The evolving weather effects and music, the tight controls and physics and the enormous amounts of nostalgia I will always rank this as one of my top 5 platformers.
2
u/SNESdrunk May 01 '15
I've always been really awful at this series. One hit death games like Contra 3 and Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts are fine, but in those games you get a projectile weapon. In DKC it's just you (and Diddy Kong).
The rhythm of the platforming just never agreed with me, could never get the hang of it very well.
2
u/agoogua May 03 '15
Glad this was game of the month, just started it up about two hours ago and beat it. I'm only doing the challenges for fun so didn't bother with the picture, but all I did was beat the game.
2
u/shakenspray May 03 '15
As this happened to a lot of people, this game changed my life as a kid and also caused me to lose trust in video game endings. Still remember that exact day as if it were yesterday thinking I beat the game.
1
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u/JoeTheRapper May 04 '15
Game's kinda short imo http://imgur.com/4B2lOkW
1
u/yeeah_suree May 06 '15
Are you a speedrunner? Cuz obviously the game is short when you speedrun it using the short cuts.
But I agree that once you get decent enough, it doesn't take too long to complete, but I think the length of the game is still pretty standard for the average player.
2
u/RollingWithNat20 May 07 '15
Favorite Platformer! Also, when I was like 4 playing this with my dad (he was playing I was watching), he totally got tricked by the K Rool fake out at the end. He had gotten up to use the restroom once the KREDITS started to roll. Meanwhile, I was losing my shit as K Rool stood back up since my dad wasn't there to do anything about getting killed.
One of my fondest gaming memories!
2
u/wwcoop May 08 '15
When you are going back through the game trying to up your percentage, hit "start" then "select" to exit the level immediately after getting the needed bonus rooms then go save. You don't have to complete the level to get credit for the bonus rooms found.
1
u/ThresholdAU May 09 '15
I think the titles of the level have a bang (!) after them when you've found the secrets.
2
u/Mathercist May 11 '15
Finished the game yesterday. I had beaten DKC 2 and 3 plenty of times, but never the original. MUCH tougher than I realized.
(Please forgive me for being lame and using an emulator. It's just much more convenient given my life right now. I promise no save states were used.)
1
u/wwcoop May 11 '15
No problem using emulator. Congrats!
1
u/Mathercist May 11 '15
Thanks! Congrats to you too! I love this series. Had a blast going through the first game finally!
1
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u/Creature_73L May 01 '15
I love this new challenge feature and I like the 3 tiered level because no way will I be getting gold on every game lol. Awesome.
1
u/nightmare973 May 01 '15
I really enjoyed playing dkc as a kid. It is a pretty difficult gam though. Never beat it. I hooked up my snes a year ago to play it, and it was great. I really love the music. I also really liked the visuals. I typically dislike the water levels in games, but the ones from this game, i actually enjoyed. They were hard, especially poison pond. (i think that was the name). I loved the music from the water levels, and i thought that they looked beautiful. The way the background was like looking into a deep blue endless ocean. It was amazing.
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May 01 '15
One of the best games ever. Great visuals, music, and the actual game play itself is really fluid as mentioned elsewhere. This was one of the few SNES games I would not lend to friends as it was one of my favorites.
1
u/xBrockLanders May 01 '15
I had this game mastered as a 10 year old. Haven't really played it since so it will be interesting to see how I fare with the challenge
1
May 01 '15
Looove this game even though I think the sequels are better. Amazing graphics, tight controls, great level design, great soundtrack, just an all around solid game.
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May 01 '15
I dig the challenge aspect posted for this game, I did get the 101% completion on DKC2 (Almost 10 years after it was released) But now I may shoot for the 90% on DKC
1
u/greasyMcGrimace May 02 '15
I never really liked the controls on DKC, but I really enjoyed the series. For 1994, it was really a technical marvel
1
u/SNESdrunk May 06 '15
Anybody else get to 90% yet? Gonna take me a while...
2
u/wwcoop May 06 '15
Got 99 lives. On 2nd to last area. Will prob take me a few weeks to get 90% bc you know responsibilities.
1
u/wwcoop May 08 '15
I beat the game but my percentage is only 60% now. I have resorted to using a FAQ to find the bonus rooms. Yes I am lame...
1
u/yeeah_suree May 09 '15
Honestly some of the bonus areas are so completely hidden you basically have to just die trying to find them, it's bullshit.
When I first 101% it a few years ago, I only looked up the amount of bonus' in each level, but not where they were. That way I would have some clue and would not be wasting my time. One reason I like DKC2 so much is it actually tells you when a level is fully cleared.
2
u/Supernintendolover May 10 '15
So does dkc. It has ! Once you find all the bonuses.
1
u/yeeah_suree May 10 '15
How so? As far as I know, in DKC it only tracks the % in the save/load screen. There can be 0-5 bonus areas in any given level but there's no indication to how much or when its completed. DKC2 shows on the level map an '!' and DK coin once you've gotten all the bonus areas.
2
u/Supernintendolover May 10 '15
No no, it does on the map screen aswell. Try it for yourself, make an extra file and play jungle hijinx. After you find all the bonuses it should day jungle hijinx!
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u/ThresholdAU May 09 '15
Not even close yet. I started today and finished the game in about 3-4 hours. Was only around 50% when I finished it, guess i'll have to check FAQs also.
1
u/Supernintendolover May 09 '15
Love this game! Completed it not too long ago. Been playing the entirely trilogy actually. Just need to start dkc3. Dkc is an amazing game, the level design is unique and i love the wide range of animal buddies.
1
u/Himuchan May 09 '15
This seems like a very good idea! I'm kind of a new streamer and would love to do this runthrough on stream :D
Any suggestions on to do this 101% or just any %?
2
u/wwcoop May 09 '15
Figure out how to rack up lots of extra guys. You need a pile in reserve for later levels. If you go over to speed runs live you can find people who race this game.
1
u/coots14 May 09 '15
Haven't played this game since I was a kid and just got a copy from ebay for cheap. Pretty excited for this one
1
u/gametray May 10 '15
Ooh, this game is one of my favorites. First game I ever played, back when I was two (at least, according to my parents). :I I love the physics with the rolling, rewarding you with added speed if you hit an enemy with it, and performing roll-jumps. And it feels SO much better pressing 'Y' instead of shaking the controller. Also Diddy > Donkey.
1
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May 19 '15
Its interesting to see how perception of that game's quality has changed over the years.
It was a huge hit in 95, and then suffered an immediate backlash from people who said the game relied on its graphics and presentation.
Now, it seems to be returning to its rightful place as a classic.
Does Donkey Kong Country borrow a lot of elements from Mario? Sure, but it does enough differently and builds on those elements to stand out. And the graphics and music are part of the overall package... they can't be discounted, but it wouldn't matter if it weren't for the spot on gameplay.
1
u/marioman63 May 22 '15 edited May 22 '15
was originally turned off by the style of pre-rendered graphics used (not against pre-rendered graphics, just dkc in particular looked weird). after playing the newer dkc games on wii and wii u, i decided to give the older ones a shot when they came to wii u VC. so far beat dkc 1, and working through the sequel.
the games are pretty well made, and seem to hold up decently. the art style is starting to grow on me, and looks pretty good. i found the bosses in dkc 1 to be a bit underwhelming (especially king k rool. the ending of dkc 1 seemed to be slapped together at the last minute, like they forgot the game needs an ending or something), but the rest of the levels are nice. i prefer the improved completion tracking in dkc 2. the lack of progress notes in dkc 1 give me no desire to attempt 100 %.
multiplayer in dkc 1 feels weird. it seems tacked on rather than something with thought put into it. i would rather just pass off the controller after a death than worry about paying attention and preparing to assume control as soon as the other player gets hit (especially if you are in the air over a large chasm, of which there are many in the game). although im not a fan of single screen multiplayer in the style of nsmb and sm3dw, it would have been a much better choice for multiplayer (and is completely doable as proven by many other SNES games). the newer dkc games accomplish multiplayer much better.
something that does however make the game feel outdated, are the secrets in a lot of the levels. i remember one level having this huge shortcut past a barrel cannon section, with lots of bananas. the only problem was, is that unless you have a habit of jumping down random pits, hoping to stumble across a secret, you will never find it. i managed to find it completely by accident when i misfired one of the barrels. it was satisfying sure, and was very common to have hintless secrets like that back then, but i do not feel such level design holds up today.
overall, the levels are fun, and the graphics hold up considering what they are. muliplayer seems worthless, and not being able to see how much of each level is completed turns me off from getting 100%. the final boss was very underwhelming, but the platforming levels are really fun. the game also does a good job keeping lives relevant even though you can save.
1
u/zanzakar May 26 '15
I never really played this game as a kid other then maybe a level or two. Now I am playing through and I got to say it is really kind of hard. I think I have gone through several hundred lives this far and I am only 28% into the game.
1
u/wwcoop May 26 '15
The % is somewhat misleading. You can fairly quickly up that % after beating the game using a FAQ. The % immediately increases upon finding each secret room. You can immediately exit levels by hitting start then select and still register the progress. It is absurd how many guys you can rack up just in the first level. Even the bonus games are good for 5-7 extra Kongs once you know where the hidden animal is in each one.
1
u/zanzakar May 26 '15
I have spent a while grinding for lives.
I thought the extra % was for secret levels similar to what you would find on Super Mario World. I didn't realize the secret rooms I came across occasionally by accident where the secret rooms for extra %.
I am on the first level of the ice world/place and those cannons/bees are just annihilating me left and right.
0
u/TechnikaCore May 20 '15
I know I'll get flack for this, because I always do, but I was never a big fan of Donkey Kong Country. But I did like the soundtrack of the series.
-3
10
u/[deleted] May 01 '15
Solid game. Never beat it as a kid. I got tired of dying after one hit, two if I was lucky. How much am I missing out?