DK is back for some more swingin’ action
Recently, Donkey Kong has become a guinea pig of sorts for crazy new Nintendo ideas and innovations. From playing the bongos, to racing with Wii remote waggling, to unique bongo platforming, DK has seen it all.
Back on the Gameboy Advance, DK made a return to his simian roots with a swinging platformer; however, his adventure was anything but typical. In DK: King of Swing, Nintendo had DK swinging around with only the use of the L and R buttons. Each button controlled one of DK’s hands and allowed him to grab pegs and swing himself in every imaginable direction toward the exit of the level. Now that DK is back again, Paon has taken the formula one step further on the DS for Nintendo, with DK: Jungle Climber.
The premise of DK's adventure is simple; King K. Rool has once again stirred up trouble, this time at Sun Sun Beach. While DK is on vacation there, he discovers that Rool has stolen 5 Crystal Bananas from Xananab, the banana-shaped alien who possessed them. These Crystal Bananas, according to Xananab, hold mythical powers, which Rool desires to harness. DK, with Diddy and Cranky by his side, decide to help Xananab retrieve the Crystal Bananas back from King K. Rool. DK’s decision will carry him across the many island locales bordering Sun Sun Beach.
DK: Jungle Climber is truly a unique experience that melds together advanced platforming, trajectory physics, and puzzle elements. As mentioned earlier, DK's adventure requires the player to control DK with solely the L and R buttons. The L button will make DK grab with his left hand, and the R button will make DK grab with his right. A simultaneous tap on the L and R buttons will allow DK to perform a standard jump. However, unlike it’s predecessor, you can now take use of the A button to perform an attack. When DK doesn't have Diddy by his side, the A button will simply make DK perform an attack in the direction he is pointed. If Diddy is on hand, the player can tap the A button twice consecutively to hurl Diddy, performing a secondary attack. There is a slight learning curve on the controls, although after about an hour of playtime, players should be zipping around the pegboards with ease.
The paint job on DK Jungle Climber should look familiar to anyone who has played the SNES Donkey Kong Country games. Similar sprites are used for the Kong family and many of the locales have a familiar edge to them. The graphical depiction of the game is not the only piece brought back from Donkey Kong Country, many other relics from the series have made their way into Jungle Climber. The patented DK barrel is back, which will store Diddy when he is not present with DK. The life system works the same in Jungle Climber as it did in the series of DKC games; DK dies in a single hit, and the assist character, in this case Diddy, serves as yet another hit point. DK Coins are also back in each level for pick up, along with 5 Banana Coins, the K-O-N-G Letters and of course, bananas. Jungle Climber also adds in an Oil Drum to each level that is used to fuel Funky's plane in order to gain access to the secret level found on each island. You can only take the flight to the secret level if you have collected every oil drum on the island. This gives the player an incentive to put the effort forth to find the oil drum in each level. Along with the Oil Drum, jewels have also been added to the game. These jewels can be collected from enemies upon defeating them and are also found scattered throughout the level. Collect enough of these jewels and the player will earn a crystal star which, when activated by a tap on the touch screen, will give DK the ability to fly invincibly through the air. This is a useful tactic for completing a particularly hard section of a level, or grabbing that hard-to-reach item. Up to 3 crystal stars can be housed at a time.
If you are familiar with the DKC games, you should know by now that item collection in the games never devolves into a collect-a-thon. All items are placed with careful intent and require you to either solve a puzzle to reach a particular item, or perform a set of motions with absolute precision. Because it is easy to miss items on your first run through, the game encourages you to replay the level to collect all of the missed items.
Item collection forces the player to take use of an interesting play mechanic that involves remotely controlling Diddy Kong with the actions and movements of DK. When you toss Diddy Kong onto a platform that DK cannot reach, Diddy Kong will not automatically come back to DK as he normally does. In this case he will continue on his own path, mimicking the motions of DK. Essentially, DK will act as a remote control for Diddy Kong. Often times this gets tricky due to the fact that DK is forced to control Diddy within a very small area, all the while avoiding the normal hazards of the level. The controls of both DK and Diddy could’ve easily been unlinked; thus granting the player direct control of Diddy, but clearly this would ruin the fun of the concept.
Thankfully, with the extremely unique and unconventional style of the DK: Jungle Climber control scheme, the game starts off nice and easy. Though, as you progress through the game, the difficulty increases significantly. Although the difficulty definitely ramps up, it does so nicely; never once does the game feel too hard or too easy.
Like many of Nintendo’s other games, collecting the items becomes the higher difficulty level of the game. The average player will most likely not concern themselves with collecting all items, yet those looking for a greater challenge can definitely take use of those presented by item collection to get their fix. In addition, the secret level on each island will really test the skills you've learned and provide another challenge for the advanced player.
If you are unable to hone your skills with the offerings in adventure mode, an array of mini games are offered to perfect your skills in the Challenge Mode. These include speed climbing, speed banana collection, banana juggling, barrel jumping and others. They are the perfect solution for those looking for a fun way to truly master the wacky control style of Jungle Climber.
The challenges also cater to the advanced player, giving them the ability to max out high scores and race ghost data to achieve the best possible run. The challenge mini games are a nice diversion from the adventure mode and compliment the game well.
Along with a solid single player offering, DK Jungle Climber offers a fun, race style multiplayer mode. With single card, 4-player download play, it should be no problem at all to get together 4 friends to enjoy the multiplayer offerings of DK Jungle Climber.
Closing Comments
DK Jungle Climber is another unique entry in the long line of DK offerings from Nintendo. Though a direct sequel of DK King of Swing, in many ways, Jungle Climber spiritually feels like a successor to the Donkey Kong Country series, featuring a number of it's staple designs, characters and items. If you’re a fan of unique platforming and are willing to take a chance on a very original title, you can't go wrong with DK Jungle Climber. From an Adventure Mode chock full of unlockables, to a well-implemented Challenge Mode, and the 4-player, single-cart multiplayer, there is plenty to come back to in DK Jungle Climber.
Pros:
• An extremely unique experience
• Lots of unlockables and replay value
• Single Card, 4-player Multiplayer
• Significant upgrade from its predecessor
Cons:
• Can be a very challenging at times
• Might be too unconventional for most gamers
Graphics: 8.0
The graphical presentation of the game seems to bring back memories of Donkey Kong Country. All of the characters look very similar, however the worlds and backgrounds are far more vibrant and colorful than they are in DKC. It definitely gets the job done and fits the mood of the game. It is a significant departure from the style of King of Swing, but isn’t any better or worse. Fortunately Paon took use of both screens to give you a much larger view of the world.
Sound: 6.0
The music in Jungle Climber is ultimately forgettable. It has some decent sound effects but nothing spectacular. It isn’t necessarily bad, but it is a far cry from being good.
Control: 9.0
The control of the game is obviously the main attraction of the game. It will remind the veterans of Clu Clu Land, but applied much better. Once you get over the learning curve for the game, the controls will feel very natural. If they operated in any other fashion, the game wouldn’t be the gem it is.
Gameplay: 9.0
Though challenging at times, the game is very rewarding. As you get to the end of some of the later levels, or the hidden levels, you definitely feel as if you have completed a true feat. Collecting is done well, providing extra challenge rather than just a checklist of things left to collect. Challenge mode is a nice practice ground to build your skills, or another set of mastery exercises for the expert gamer.
Lastability: 8.0
All of the collectibles, the challenge mode, the multiplayer and the lengthy single player, this game will not be finished quickly. Once you complete the game once, you may be compelled to beat it again simply because you can really enjoy the levels that were previously a learning process.
Final: 8.5
This DK entry is definitely one of a kind. Its platforming action is unlike anything you have played before, and once you get the hang of it, you’ll be coming back for more. With tons of replayability, and a certain level of challenge, it would definitely make a great addition to your game collection. Casual gamers beware though; this one might not be up your alley.
Topic: DK Jungle Climber Review (Read 5003 times)
