Donkey Kong has joined the music genre in a new game in the Nintendo franchise, developed by new-best-buddies Namco, Donkey Konga. So is this game any good? Well, read my review to find out!  Before we get started - the worst part of the game: everything looks average. Donkey and Diddy look the way they should. The background looks ok. The worst part is when you’re playing. On the bottom of the screen, there are some of the most ugliest things I’ve ever seen. A bird fused with a banana?! Overall they’re just average.

The story is very simple. Donkey and Diddy Kong are walking along the beach when they stumble upon an unusual object. The Kongs began pounding on the thing when they noticed that every time they it hit, it would make a sound. Unsure of what this object was or what to do with it, they decided to take it to the ol' miser Cranky Kong. He told them that they were bongo drums and that they were used to make music, some pretty dumb chimps then... Donkey and Diddy both tried playing the drums, but they both sounded awful. Donkey Kong suddenly got a crazy idea, if they could get better at playing, they could get rich and famous and buy all the bananas they want. While the story is far fantastic, at least it's original, and it's not the most necessary of features for a game such as this to begin with.

The music is great, as to be expected. There's a lot of variety, however the licensed music is not licensed to the point of the original artists. Although very pleasings recodrings, it would have been nice of Nintendo to splash out a few extra beans and get the originals for us. The selection of tracks available includes: Alright, Don't Stop Me Now, Cosmic Girl, All The Small Things, Tubthumping and The Locomotion as well as a selection of original Nintendo game Scores. There's quite a party theme going on, but it seems quite suitable for any bodies party.

The game controls are great. You just hit your bongo drums and clap. I can’t think of anything simpler. The pads on the drums are nicely responsive and taught, but the micorphone can be a little eager.  Not hitting the bongo drums hard enough may result in a clap registering. It’s a good thing you can adjust the sensitivity of the microphone.

There are three difficulties: Monkey, Chimp, and Gorilla. You select one song out of thirty, and use the bongo drums to play the song. You have to follow the instructions on the screen or you won’t get any points. At the top right of the screen, there is a bar. You have to fill up the bar in order to complete the song. You only have to fill up three fourths of the bar on Monkey, but this increases with the Difficulty Setting. During each song you get coins for correct hits and if you complete the song you get to keep all the coins you just earned. You can use the coins to purchase mini games, songs for the Gorilla difficulty, or you can buy sounds for your bongo drum. The mini games are pretty fun, but are limited to only three.

As a package there's not a lot more you could expect. Nintendo's answer to the Dance Mat appeals to both kids and adults in equal measure. While the graphics are poor and the tracks are cover versions, the playability of the game cannot be knocked. Easy enough to play with your Granny, or Grandchild.

WorldLeader                                                                                                    Reviews Score Table Interpretation.

09/12/04

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