Topic: Donkey Kong Country Returns

The things you say...they upset me

I DIDN'T SAY THAT! It was a quote! Why you always misinterpret me! D:

No, you did say that, look here.

Good point there, many people do seem to think that. Which, in most cases, is wrong. Concerning polish, I can't say for certain, but it's not hard to believe that DKCR is more polished than the first one (and had it definitely had more resources thrown into it). Ultimately though, fun comes down to preference. That's the most common thing people look for in a game methinks, not necessarily polish.

You never indicated where the quote stopped in your original post. The quote was also incredibly vague to begin with, since you simply said it was a quote "from someone else," and since the last paragraph said "no one on this board will probably agree" I obviously assumed that you wrote it, since we are, in fact, on a message board. Didn't mean to misinterpret you, but you made it difficult not to. Sorry.

We're all getting a bit off topic here, and it'd be a shame for a 34 page thread to get locked simply because we couldn't escape some argument about opinions vs. facts. Some people think that the original Donkey Kong Country was a better game. Some people think the new one is. Either way, it's impossible to factually and definitively prove one to be superior to the other. It's all subjective, which means it's all opinion. Let's please move past this?

The quote hasn't ending yet so I am not talking!"

There it ended...

Dear both of you,

People have opinions. What one person thinks does not determine what other people may be thinking. Don't just say things like "if you think the modern games blow the old ones away...you're living in a dream world" or "I am also not saying this as an opinion, it's a fact" after stating which game you think is better. There are many people who believe both ways. They are allowed to think those things if they want. Now go play the games that YOU enjoy.

EDIT: I started typing before Kid_A posted. Listen to him, he is quite wise.

In other news, Donkey Kong Country Returns has (supposedly) already sold (worldwide) nearly half the amount of Donkey Kong Country 1, nearly as much as 2, and more than 3. Chance of a sequel, perhaps?

....link please?

That would be awesome. I'm enjoying this game way more then Kirby's Epic Yarn.

Well, I have DK Country Returns. I haven't been playing it lately though.

BTW, I'm new here.

I wouldn't be entirely surprised if that was true. It was #6 for the month in November in NA and has regularly been near the top of the Japan charts since it came out. So it's selling pretty well.

At the risk of having my head chewed off and spat directly into a garbage can, here you go:
http://gamrreview.vgchartz.com/sales/45674/donkey-kong-countr...
It's probably not accurate (hence my use of "supposedly" ) but we do know for sure that it sold a bunch in Japan, a bunch in Europe, and a bunch in America.

Oh, and welcome to you, razor10000.

You can call me Dominic. That is my real name.

I try to figure out which one is better, the games of the original DKC trilogy, or Returns... and I can't get to an end with that.

I guess I like the original DKC much more because I was 15 at the time, and it was my first self-bought SNES game, and I was blown away by its graphics, musics and gameplay.

Maybe I'm too old for DKC games now, but Returns motion controlled rolling and blowing just feels wrong to me but yes, Returns does a few things better than the old games: a fantastic co-op mode, much better boss fights, and more content.

Still... these controls! These controls!! Controls are the parents of gameplay, and motion based rolling simply isn't as precise as a button press. But DKCR is fun and challenging. I really don't know what to prefer. Personally, I couldn't put the original DKC down and have completed it a million times with 101% and I still get back to it and want more. I also completed DKC2 and DKC3 with their respective 102% and 103% multiple times, but DKCR is different. After about 130% I'm not interested to get back to it for completion. I've grown old and lazy maybe. I wish DKC1 had a mirror mode and time trials.

Not hard at all you were most likely barely 4 when the first came out and a 4 year old can't yet appreciate the game. I was almost 10 when it came out and it sticks in my brain like glue...as does the 2nd gem. I'm not picking and twisting what you say, I'm directly quoting you. You stated your opinion as fact...and I'm calling you out. Plus you're just quoting others and trying to apply it to a game that you weren't even old enough to remember.

Plus my point is that retro just copied what Rare did and updated" the graphics...even though I like the realistic grittier ones of the SNES. These ones are far too shiney, clean, and toon like for me. Adding 2.5 perspective or adding two planes to the same gameplay mechanics does nothing. The game is in no way bad, but living up to the hype, and delivering for me it just didn't. And trust me DKC 1 and 2 are two of my favorite games ever. I waited over 15 years for this and it let me down in almost every regard.

My other point all along has been that this game lacks an identity. It feels like a remake or update of the first game really, but not as good. Each game had it's theme and an identity with it, DKC 2 was so good because it felt fresh and new but familiar at the same time. The new levels, animal buddies, gameplay mechanics, the pirate theme, new world, etc. DKCR basically has the same levels for the most part throughout...a jungle, a forest, a factory, etc. 90% of the music is rehashed, all the same old mechanics, more barrels and minecarts. Those are great and staples but don't over use them and let that not be the only thing you have to bring to the table retro. I was expecting a whole new game. And I guess if you can't see this then your missing it, or never played the original enough.

Errr...weren't we supposed to break this up? :S

I'm with this guy. Opinion vs opinion makes for an argument that goes absolutely nowhere.

Agreed but it does remind me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BysLCCLdWKA

There's nothing wrong with discussing, in an intelligent and respectful manner, which game is better. It's the "you're wrong! My opinion is better" kind of argument that will get the thread locked (and it's irritating, to boot).

Personally, I think that Returns is the best game in the series, although the first game is still very close. The level design in the new one was just constantly innovative and surprising. Sure, Retro is doing stuff that the SNES couldn't possibly handle, but that doesn't mean that the SNES was unable to create innovative and surprising levels. Super Mario World is a game that's constantly throwing crazy new gameplay mechanics and highly imaginative level designs at the player, and the game is still better than 95% of platformers today. Donkey Kong Country was great, and it's level designs were great, but they weren't great because of they were imaginative. They were great because they were fiendishly challenging. The new game was able to capture that magic, and throw in some "Wow, I have never seen anything like this in a videogame" moments.

This, of course, is my opinion
I think there's quite a few solid arguments for the original DKC being better. For example, a better execution of core gameplay mechanics. The controls weren't hindered by things like unresponsive Wii remote shaking, or the game getting "jet pack" confused with "well-timed-enemy-stomp-for-extra-air". For me, the original was also better in the fact that it had a really good over-arching sense of progression. Each world felt harder than the last in DKC, while DKCR started out hard, got harder, but then kind of flatlined at world 4 or so. The levels got crazier, but the difficulty felt largely even the whole time (which isn't to say that it wasn't difficult--in fact it's ridiculously challenging. I just mean that it got really difficult and then stayed there).

Anyway, just my thoughts