Donkey Kong Country Game Boy Advance Review

When Donkey Kong Country was ported to the Game Boy Color in 2000, it became a far worse game than the original Super NES masterpiece. Awful hit detection, artificially difficult sections, and having to play through the game three times just to obtain the maximum score were among the features that brought it down. A mere three years would pass before Rare decided to give the game another port, this time for the Game Boy Advance. Although they were now a part of Microsoft, they could still create hand held games for Nintendo, and they could port classic Donkey Kong games to the Game Boy Advance. Donkey Kong Country was Rare's first GBA game, and their first title since leaving Nintendo for Microsoft. Thankfully, this port is more faithful to the original while adding new features that make it even more fun and exciting.

The story has not changed, and this time, Rare included a brief cut scene that shows why Donkey Kong is heading out on a big adventure. One day, he decides to train his partner, Diddy Kong, on how to be a hero by having him guard his precious banana hoard. Unfortunately, the lizard-like Kremlings attack that night, and Diddy is soon overpowered as the creatures proceed to steal the bananas. Realizing that Diddy has been captured and his bananas have been stolen, Donkey vows to explore the entire island, not resting until the Kremlings are vanquished and his bananas have been retrieved. Just as in the first two versions, there is not much of a story here, but in many Rare games, the story line tends to take a backseat to excellent game play.

Speaking of the game play, it involves Donkey and Diddy having to explore over thirty levels' worth of jungle, caves, forests, factories, and other types of environments. On the way, there are plenty on enemies and obstacles to deal with, and they are sometimes difficult to avoid. Donkey is the stronger ape, and can lift up barrels and take out most stronger enemies with ease. Diddy is smaller, but he can jump farther and use barrels as a shield. The latter action is especially useful when it comes to breaking weak walls and finding bonus areas (more on that later). As they race to the end of the stages, our heroes can also collect golden letters that spell the word Kong and can grant them an extra life, golden tokens that can send them to bonus stages, and balloons worth between 1-3 extra lives.

From time to time, the Kongs can rely on animal friends to aid them on their journey. Break open the crates in which these creatures hide, and you can ride on them and use their abilities to discover secrets and have an easier time against enemies. Rambi the rhinoceros can knock down foes and uncover hidden entrances. Expresso the ostrich can glide through the air and run quite fast. Winky the frog jumps extra high and can knock out airborne foes with ease. Enguarde the swordfish can use his bill to pulverize many underwater enemies. Lastly, Squawks the parrot uses his flashlight to light the way through dark areas. Use the animals' abilities well, and you will surely attain 101%.

To obtain the maximum percentage will take plenty of effort. First and foremost, you will need to search for the bonus areas hidden in most stages. They often require you to break walls or seek out special bonus barrels. Inside the bonus areas are mini games and rooms filled with special items. You can collect and win extra lives and other prizes, and most bonus stages will warp you to a later part of the stage. New to the Game Boy Advance version is the option of re-entering a bonus room immediately, so that you can try a mini game again if you lose. However, it is not necessary to win a mini game in order to achieve 101%...you simply need to find the bonus room.

Another way to increase the overall percentage is by collecting cameras hidden throughout the game. Another new feature for the Game Boy Advance version, you can find cameras hidden in various spots, earned by defeating enemies a certain way, and by winning mini games not seen in previous versions of the game. Each camera that you find not only adds to your percentage, but also unlocks pictures that you can check out in your scrapbook while on the map screens. This adds replay value to the game, and is a nice addition for those who wish to complete the game with everything.

As for those new mini games, they are run by Funky Kong and Candy Kong, both of whom can be encountered in each world. In Funky's Fishing, you job is to catch a certain number and type of fish. The more fish you catch, the better your reward. In Candy's Dance Studio, you will need to press the buttons as they appear on-screen (a la Dance Dance Revolution) in order to become the best dancer. Again, you earn better prizes if you can dance very well. Both mini games are fun and get more challenging as you go, and those who want to achieve the highest percentage will want to beat the games in every world. In the original game, Funky ran an airport in which you could use his plane to fly to already completed stages, while Candy ran save points. Now, you unlock the ability to use the plane at any time by simply visiting Funky once, while saving the game can now be done on the map screens at any time.

As fun as the game is, and as faithful to the original as it is aside from the great new features, I consider the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country to be slightly inferior to the original. It is still a bit short, and some areas seem to have been made a bit harder. It is all too easy to earn extra lives and very hard to lose all of them, especially since the game saves the amount of lives that you have. Some of the tunes from the original game have been taken out, and the new ending is not very special save for the fact that it sort of sets up the inevitable Donkey Kong Country 2 port. However, the game is still one of Rare's better games from the post-Nintendo 64 era, and should be considered the superior and definitive hand held version of a 16-bit classic.

Being on a hand held system, the graphics which rocked the world nine years earlier are slightly worse than before. Some areas are a bit too bright, and some of the more impressive effects, such as the sun setting in some areas, have been removed. On the plus side, there is not even a hint of slowdown, the graphics look at least fairly faithful to the original, and the maps are greatly improved. The classic soundtrack is also downgraded due to the system's limited audio capabilities, but the tracks are still great to listen to, and some of them have even received nice, catchy remixes. A few new tracks are added to the mix, as well. Particularly enjoyable are some of Candy's dance songs, the Funky's Fishing music, and a mystic tune that plays when you use special barrels to warp to the end of some stages. As a whole, the soundtrack is another fine example of Rare's musical talents.

Who could have imagined that Rare's first game since leaving Nintendo for Microsoft would be on a Nintendo system? It is ironic, to be sure, but it did result in an excellent port of an already enjoyable game. With all the excitement of the original, as well as plenty of great new features, this version of Donkey Kong Country is a close second just behind the original as far as which version is the best. If you can find a copy of this superior hand held version, be sure to check it out. Now if only Rare would go back to making new Donkey Kong games...