Topic: Donkey Kong 64

So seems that DK64 forums have been retired.

Here are my thoughts after completing the game for the first time in over 25 years:

The pluses:
The camera I found to be better than in the Banjo games.
The swimming controls were much better than in many 3D platformers.
I had forgotten just how varied and (mostly) fun the bonus rooms are.

I think I would class it as a 3D adventure rather than platformer, but that said I think this can be overstated, there are some interesting platforming challenges.
I like how swinging on vines work and obviously it fits well in a Donkey Kong game.
I think the barrel blast sections were done fairly well also.
The mine cart sections are fantastic, so much better then the button mashing version in Tooie.
The tutorial I found zipped along compared to many games.

DK Isle is one of the best hub worlds in gaming.
It's not jam packed, but there's enough.
It feels vast, but it's actually quite compact.
Much better than the observatory in Galaxy or the lair in Banjo for me.

People have for decades complained about the collectables, but a lot of them are what I would term incidental;
you pick them up if you're going that way, or you see it, and you think you'd need them (more ammo for example).

I do like that there are proper bosses with a proper build up to them, rather than just another objective, occasionally, like in Mario 64 or Banjo.

I really enjoyed using Rambi and Enguarde, felt they were well realised.

Most of the levels start off narrow, then expand, which I think works well.
For the most part the different objectives for all the Kongs are interwoven very nicely, quite an achievement.

Having also recently played Tooie on NSO, I found DK64 a lot clearer, I rarely was at a loss of what to do next, where I was with Tooie, especially the inter-level stuff, and I have fond memories of playing that game.

And... I actually really like Gloomy Galleon, I loved the freedom, and got a real sense of wonder exploring the depths.

Lanky Kong is a great addition.

The minuses:

While I do think most of the gameplay holds up, I would advise using save states.
I'm not sure how I did it all as a child without them to be honest.

The musical instruments are completely unnecessary, they're just another form of switch.

The guns are quite fun, but felt pretty cumbersome at first.

Whilst I liked the bosses, it's a shame they repeated a couple. Of all the things to take from DKC.

I do think Gloomy Galleon is underated, but it was a bit overwhelming to start with.
Most of the levels start limited and gradually tease more, but Galleon rapidly throws you into the deep end, as it were.

By the time I got to Crystal Caves, I had got a little bored of the structure of having some kind of building that each Kong could access individually.

Hideout Helm looks pretty bland.

Snide and the blueprints should not be in the game. It is stupid.
I like the idea of defeating an enemy to get a banana, but just give the player the damn banana.
Handing the blueprints to Snide and watching an animation is just tedious.
Or if you have to have something, have a character we know like Swanky, and in order to do his quizzes you get clues from beaten enemies, or something. I don't know. Anything other than Snide.

Animal buddies are so under utilised.
Rambi and Enguarde are in just one level each.
And Squitter seems like a huge omission. He could have worked so well, using webs in a similar way to Cloud Mario in Galaxy 2.
I'd also have Squawks playable instead of Diddy's rocket barrel.

And I'd rather have had Dixie and Kiddy instead of Chunky and Tiny, but that's a cosmetic thing really.

Final thoughts:

I think these days they'd make it a lot more like the original DKC series, more like a succession of gauntlets, kind of like Mario 3D Land/World.
It's how I imagined a 3D Donkey Kong would be at the time.
What we got was great, and I think it's unfair to call it a Banjo clone,
they are distinct in some ways, but of course are similar.
But back then it was all about making worlds bigger and pushing hardware to the limit. Now such expanse is no longer novel, and when it is done is usually open world style. DK64 is kind of in between open world and gauntlet, which some might say is a disastrous compromise (not me).
That era also had the likes of Crash already, so probably didn't want to repeat that.
Now 3D has been very much done, and 2D games have come back, the likes of Galaxy, Odyssey, and Bananza are confident enough to include 2D sections.
So while I like the barrel blast and mine cart sections in DK64, I think today they would be in 2D and probably be better.

So if you read all that, well done.
I'd like to see your thoughts on what I've said,
or even your own opinion on the game (wowzers!)

I've been pretty hard on this game based on a rather brief experience I had with it, contemporaneously. Your review makes me want to return to it and either confirm my long held beliefs or make new, better ones.

Thanks! ✌️

@-wc-

Be sure to use save states and/or rewind.

I also completed the game for the first time the other day. My previous experience with the game was when it was released on Wii U virtual console, where I remember playing to Gloomy Galleon and ended up stopping for one reason or another. I always meant to return to it but never did. I actually ended up getting the cartridge a couple of years ago, but only finally got around to playing with it's re-release on NSO.

I agree with most of what you wrote. The collectathon wasn't as bad as I expected to the point I did actually 101% the game; though that said, I reckon I would struggle to do that without the save states on a proper N64, and probably why it doesn't have a positive memory for most people whenever I hear them talk about this game. The challenges I struggled with the most were the minecarts and the stupid bonus barrel where you had to hoard the gnawties into the hole with a claptrap, as I felt like pure luck when the gnawties would decide to go into the hole.

I agree with the thing about Snide to an extent; I didn't realise this until practically at the end of the game, but you could just hold onto the blueprints until you had a bunch from all the levels and just visit Snide, so you only had to see the long animation once. I don't entirely regret as it was good seeing each animation for the first time, but after that, being able to skip would have been appreciated.

I really loved the atmosphere of most of the levels and areas, especially the haunted castle and fungi forest. It could feel quite oppressive at times and I loved when at certain points you would be "hunted" essentially. And I really love the charm and character given to the Kongs, especially when simply switching between them in the select barrel. Chunky and Donkey Kong in particular are highlights for the voice clips and gestures.

I really loved Bananza, but I would also love if they could do another Donkey Kong game in a similar style to N64; but I am not sure if it would be possible for anyone to pull it off quite as well today. In which case, I should probably finally play Banjo & Kazooie. I only remember playing the first area for that. Perhaps it is time to revisit.

@MS7000
Interesting, never heard someone say they found the minecart areas most difficult before, it's usually one of the races.

Atmosphere, that's something I didn't quite touch upon.
Agreed, I think they really nailed it.
Jungle Japes is definitive.
And I think atmosphere of Gloomy Galleon is the thing I like most about it;
being lost is almost the point.
In Creepy Castle I especially liked the feel to the Ballroom.
Even Crystal Caves I felt had a good vibe.
And nothing matches the final boss...

Perhaps unusually I wasn't a fan of it when it came out, but I think Kazooie is the best of the Rare N64 platforners, single player anyway.

@Uncle_Franklin I don't know why, but with the Minecart levels, I just struggled with getting enough coins because I would keep hitting the obstacles. The races were a bit difficult, but it helps that you can almost be pushed along by whoever you are racing if you manage to get in front of them, and the coins didn't seem as difficult in the races either.

I really liked the Final Boss, even if it comes out of left field. Good use of all the Kongs.

@MS7000
Obviously it's all whacky and stupid,
but playing it again the final boss made no damn sense.
Like, is the whole downed aircraft just taken up with a boxing ring?
Okay, I get that giant canonballs don't fall from the sky, or that guns don't blast out spinning barrels, but the settings for the K.Rool fights in DKC games matched their map location at least.
It's brilliantly bizarre, and one of the best final boss fights ever I think.

After 2021 when I completed Donkey Kong 64 thrice (Wii U Virtual Console on January, US N64 on June, JP N64 on October) along with Banjo-Kazooie almost twice (US N64 on June and JP N64 on October; had to stop the latter due to the language barrier in Grunty's Furnace Fun), Banjo-Tooie (on January) and Conker's Bad Fur Day (on January; not a collectathon, though) each once, the tediousness of DK64 is not really a problem for me anymore.

Thankfully, I've gotten better at the game and I can somewhat remember where each essential collectible is for each Kong. The same applies to Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie.

With that said, yes, savestates and rewind are a must for some Golden Bananas. The sliding bettle is still an *******.

I'm about to start Crystal Caves and it's taking me more time than I'd like to admit. By now I should've defeated King K. Rool.

Overall, those playthroughs from 2021 made me like the game less than when I was a kid, probably because three playthroughs in one year is not a good idea, but my current playthrough of the NSO version made me appreciate it even more than back then.

About the final boss, the one thing I liked about it is how it sorta follows the theme of a TV show from Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie, but in this case it's a "not-so-much" boxing bout.
Though if there's one thing I wish from it is to have the energy replenished between Rounds when the timer runs out. Either that, or keep K. Rool in the same state as in the previous round.

@HammerGalladeBro

Yeah, I think they do have some continuity in the boxing match,
K.Rool still has the stadium spotlight on him after one round.