# Retro Game Review #5



## Hadrian (Mar 19, 2009)

<img src="http://jph.gbatemp.net/retroreviewlogo.png" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Welcome to another issue of Retro Game Review.  There was a few more reviews to add to this but I wasn't able to get on the forum in time to put them in and find media for each game so you'll have to make do with what we've got. Thanks to jesuschristmonkeyballs, Granville & P1ngy for getting me the reviews.  For those who missed the deadline, I'll take your review for the next issue.

In the meantime enjoy what we have for you!


Reviewed in this issue:
Below The Root - Commodore 64
Uniracers - Super Nintendo
Kirby's Block Ball - Gameboy
Fury of the Furries - Amiga/PC/Mac

And a look at the Donkey Kong Country trilogy on the Super Nintendo



<b>Review By <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Jesuschristmonkeyballs' target=_blank title='View profile for member Jesuschristmonkeyballs'}>Jesuschristmonkeyballs</a></b>


<img src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/50/Below_the_Root_box_art.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

<b>Game:</b> Below The Root  <b>Format:</b> Commodore 64 <b>Genre:</b> Adventure
<b>Publisher:</b>  Windham Classics  <b>Developer</b> Windham Classics  <b>Year Released:</b> 1984

Before the word "Epic" was ever erroneously applied to mediocrity like Coldplay, 4chan or Kristin Stewart movies, it meant something special, sprawling and spectacular. It described a Greek Tragedy, a Classical Overture, a Transcontinental Journey by burro or even rukus videos of homeless people enticed to fight each another for a bottle of rutgut. Below the Root is certainly epic.

Based on The Green Sky Trilogy by Zilpha Keatley Snyder, this game is a journey mostly atop trees (called Grunds) by a hero of your choice (but seriously, choose Pomma) to save a boy named Ra'amo who was kidnapped. During this adventure, you will collect helpful items, increase your spirit energy used for magic-type actions, talk to people to gain clues and explore a platform world that was the non-linear sandbox of its day.

Before or after you talk to people, you can "pense" them to read their thoughts. In this manner you can find out about their intentions which may vary from offering you tokens (money) or food to kidnapping you and hiding you away in a remote cottage where the game gives no specifics on what transpired, but let's think happy thoughts. Damn you, Uncle Cecil.

<img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/11h9n68.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

If you "pense" animals like monkeys and rabbits, you get a permanent increase in spirit energy. When your spirit energy gets higher you can learn cool tricks like teleporting objects or even yourself. There are animals that you can't pense such as snakes and I suppose you can't read their thoughts because they would be thinking something to the effect of "Your Honor, Prosecuting Council offers you exhibit A...". 

When you fall from great heights, with a button press, you can float to safety with your parachute-like "shuba" (also the Russian word for coat). Your shuba can tear buy walking into thorny patches, bad animals or taking an unprepared fall. When that happens, your character sits down comically rubbing their head. You will want to soon invest a token on a new shuba. Other items for sale include a Trencher Beak for cutting, a Vine Rope for crossing chasms and Lamps to see in the dark.

You go to the menu by pressing down plus the button (yes, for any young folks reading, the C64 joystick only had one button and we didn't complain.) When you go to the menu, you will want to check "status" periodically. This shows you how much food and rest you have/require. If you get too low on either you will find yourself back at your house in your bed (or hammock rather) after being found unconscious. That's a time waster and the point is to beat the game as quickly as possible because it will rate you on how adept of an adventurer you are. A high score obviously equates to confidence, respect from your peers and the collective adoration of the opposite sex.

<img src="http://i39.tinypic.com/242h1sn.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

I'll be honest here, it doesn't matter if you can jam every level of that toy guitar game or unlocked all cars in Need for Speed Bling Edition. I don't care if you've developed your own working console out of Lego blocks or built a homebrew software empire. You NEED to play this game to know the complete gaming experience. Please play this game if you have any interest in Retro titles whatsoever. This game is like a tobacco chaw to a NASCAR fan. Lifeblood. It is Zen, Kung-Fu and Flying Monkeys all rolled into one.  This game is Bacon - the food of the gods. 

10/10.

Bacon, people.

Click Spoiler For Video:


Spoiler



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<b>Review By <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=p1ngpong' target=_blank title='View profile for member p1ngpong'}>p1ngpong</a></b>


<img src="http://www.racketboy.com/retro/uniracers-cover.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

<b>Game:</b> Uniracers (Unirally PAL regions) <b>Format:</b> SNES <b>Genre:</b> Stunt Racing 
<b>Developer:</b> DMA Design (now Rockstar North)  <b>Publisher:</b> Nintendo  <b>Release date:</b> 1994

Uniracers is a funny old game. Developed by DMA Design in 1994 near the end of the SNES's life, before DMA decided they were Rockstars, and before they realised mass murder is the path to tons of cash. Published by Nintendo its a quirky, stunt based racing game. This game is a sort of prelude to the Tony Hawks games in a way. Imagine if Sonic and the Tony Hawks games had a child, in 16 bit, and the child was a unicycle, and they made a stunt based racing game out of it. That game would be Uniracers. Confused? Sure, Im talking nonsense, so time for the review.

<img src="http://www.oneupgamers.com/images/Uniracers%200000.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Uniracers_SNES_ScreenShot2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://www.coolrom.com/screenshots/snes/Uniracers%20(2).gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> 

So your looking at the screenshots above and thinking, "Wow what a pile of crap!" Well you are in fact not looking at crap you idiot, dont let those screenshots fool you, Uniracers is a very pretty game when its moving. Its got a cool pseudo 3D look to it, even though the gameplay is 100% 2D. The unicycles are very smoothly animated, with a lot of nice animations and detail which gives them their own character. You might be racing with an opponent gaining on you and your unicycle will look back at him, or when you win your cycle breaks into a little victory dance, or you lose and your cycle bangs its "head" (?) against the floor. And although the cycles look to be completely 3D they are not rendered, hundreds of frames of animation are used to give this effect. 

The tracks are graphically very simple, with not much going on. All the tracks are laid out in 2D, but are multi layered and quite distinctive. You race on a tube type surface, which is color coded to alert you of upcoming hazards, shortcuts, boosts  and so on. The backgrounds are also very simple, and generally show pretty much nothing but 3Dish patterns. But you are moving so fast most of the time that the simplicity is understandable, and any more detail would be pretty pointless. Like I said although very simple, the speed, colorfulness  and character of the game make the graphics quite eye catching and pleasing overall.

<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bkXSb_ljt9A/SEITaHOzs4I/AAAAAAAAAgk/wo_NrozQgFQ/s320/Uniracers%20(U)%20[!]%200002.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			








The single player game is divided up into tours, each tour is progressively harder then the last and has five events. The events comprise of two races, two circuits and a stunt section where you need to score a set amount of points to pass. When you race, you race against just one AI cycle. There are 16 unicycles for you to choose from at the start, but color aside the cycles are completely the same. (from what I noticed anyway) The tracks are varied and become more complex the further you get into the game, and comprise of various straights, ramps, twists jumps and so on. 

When you are racing there is a heavy emphasis on performing stunts, the more stunts you string together the faster your cycle goes. And when you string a few stunts together this game flies, I mean its really really fast, when bombing along at full speed the simple tracks are really hectic. With quick changes of direction, fast twists, turns and loops and huge jumps that let you string together massive combos. So when you are racing an opponent both of you will be trying to outperform each other stunt wise in order to win the race. This is the sort of game thats really easy to pick up, but tricky to master. Within a few minutes you will be quite good at doing the basic stunts like flips and twists, but the more tricky ones take some practice to master. While performing a stunt if you dont land on your wheels you will wipe out. This will slow you down back to your original speed. 

There is also a split screen two player option that is very fun. All the tracks you unlocked in single player become available in the two player, and it plays exactly the same as the single player mode. The split screen mode is very fun, and there is no reduction in the quality of the graphics or game speed when you play on two player.

<img src="http://ui10.gamefaqs.com/2185/gfs_47191_2_9.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://ui16.gamefaqs.com/527/gfs_47191_2_2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://ui04.gamefaqs.com/259/gfs_47191_2_4.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Another good point of the game is the music, the tunes are really nice and suit the style of the game. Its a sort of techno rock type soundtrack that really fits the pace of the game well, and gets you pumped when your racing. Sound wise there isnt much there, the odd screech and other effects is all you get really.  Uniracers is definitely one of the better racing games on the SNES. Its quite unique in style and concept, its fun for the most part, doing tricks is satisfying, and its very very fast. Its the sort of game you dont want to play for an extended period of time though. The simplicity behind it, although part of the games charm, means that if you play for too long repetitiveness will set in. Simplicity aside though the game looks nice, is bright and colorful, with very smooth animations. The music is really great, and the split screen mode a lot of fun. This is definitely a game I would recommend to people, especially if they only associate Rockstar North with murders and car jackings.

So Uniracers is definitely one to check out, I like it and you wont find anything similar to it on the SNES anyway.  I rate this game a 7/10, its still good but loses out some points for lack of variety in the cycles available for you to choose, being almost to basic at times and for being repetitive after extended play.  <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yaypsp.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="yaypsp.gif" /> 

Click for video!


Spoiler



<object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/woUGi98xav0&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/woUGi98xav0&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>





<b>Review By <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=p1ngypong' target=_blank title='View profile for member p1ngypong'}>p1ngypong</a></b>

<img src="http://www.racketboy.com/retro/uniracers-cover.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

<b>Game:</b> Uniracers (Unirally PAL regions) <b>Format:</b> SNES <b>Genre:</b> Stunt Racing
<b>Developer:</b> DMA Design (now Rockstar North) <b>Publisher:</b> Nintendo <b>Release date:</b> 1994

Uniracers is a funny old game. Developed by DMA Design in 1994 near the end of the SNES's life, before DMA decided they were Rockstars, and before they realised mass murder is the path to tons of cash. Published by Nintendo its a quirky, stunt based racing game. This game is a sort of prelude to the Tony Hawks games in a way. Imagine if Sonic and the Tony Hawks games had a child, in 16 bit, and the child was a unicycle, and they made a stunt based racing game out of it. That game would be Uniracers. Confused? Sure, Im talking nonsense, so time for the review.

<img src="http://www.oneupgamers.com/images/Uniracers%200000.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Uniracers_SNES_ScreenShot2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://www.coolrom.com/screenshots/snes/Uniracers%20(2).gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> 

So your looking at the screenshots above and thinking, "Wow what a pile of crap!" Well you are in fact not looking at crap you idiot, dont let those screenshots fool you, Uniracers is a very pretty game when its moving. Its got a cool pseudo 3D look to it, even though the gameplay is 100% 2D. The unicycles are very smoothly animated, with a lot of nice animations and detail which gives them their own character. You might be racing with an opponent gaining on you and your unicycle will look back at him, or when you win your cycle breaks into a little victory dance, or you lose and your cycle bangs its "head" (?) against the floor. And although the cycles look to be completely 3D they are not rendered, hundreds of frames of animation are used to give this effect. 

The tracks are graphically very simple, with not much going on. All the tracks are laid out in 2D, but are multi layered and quite distinctive. You race on a tube type surface, which is color coded to alert you of upcoming hazards, shortcuts, boosts  and so on. The backgrounds are also very simple, and generally show pretty much nothing but 3Dish patterns. But you are moving so fast most of the time that the simplicity is understandable, and any more detail would be pretty pointless. Like I said although very simple, the speed, colorfulness  and character of the game make the graphics quite eye catching and pleasing overall.

<img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bkXSb_ljt9A/SEITaHOzs4I/AAAAAAAAAgk/wo_NrozQgFQ/s320/Uniracers%20(U)%20[!]%200002.png" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://www.consoleclassix.com/info_img/Uniracers_SNES_ScreenShot3.gif" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://ui30.gamefaqs.com/2045/gfs_47191_1_2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

The single player game is divided up into tours, each tour is progressively harder then the last and has five events. The events comprise of two races, two circuits and a stunt section where you need to score a set amount of points to pass. When you race, you race against just one AI cycle. There are 16 unicycles for you to choose from at the start, but color aside the cycles are completely the same. (from what I noticed anyway) The tracks are varied and become more complex the further you get into the game, and comprise of various straights, ramps, twists jumps and so on. 

When you are racing there is a heavy emphasis on performing stunts, the more stunts you string together the faster your cycle goes. And when you string a few stunts together this game flies, I mean its really really fast, when bombing along at full speed the simple tracks are really hectic. With quick changes of direction, fast twists, turns and loops and huge jumps that let you string together massive combos. So when you are racing an opponent both of you will be trying to outperform each other stunt wise in order to win the race. This is the sort of game thats really easy to pick up, but tricky to master. Within a few minutes you will be quite good at doing the basic stunts like flips and twists, but the more tricky ones take some practice to master. While performing a stunt if you dont land on your wheels you will wipe out. This will slow you down back to your original speed. 

There is also a split screen two player option that is very fun. All the tracks you unlocked in single player become available in the two player, and it plays exactly the same as the single player mode. The split screen mode is very fun, and there is no reduction in the quality of the graphics or game speed when you play on two player.

<img src="http://ui10.gamefaqs.com/2185/gfs_47191_2_9.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://ui16.gamefaqs.com/527/gfs_47191_2_2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" /> <img src="http://ui04.gamefaqs.com/259/gfs_47191_2_4.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Another good point of the game is the music, the tunes are really nice and suit the style of the game. Its a sort of techno rock type soundtrack that really fits the pace of the game well, and gets you pumped when your racing. Sound wise there isnt much there, the odd screech and other effects is all you get really.

Uniracers is definitely one of the better racing games on the SNES. Its quite unique in style and concept, its fun for the most part, doing tricks is satisfying, and its very very fast. Its the sort of game you dont want to play for an extended period of time though. The simplicity behind it, although part of the games charm, means that if you play for too long repetitiveness will set in. Simplicity aside though the game looks nice, is bright and colorful, with very smooth animations. The music is really great, and the split screen mode a lot of fun. This is definitely a game I would recommend to people, especially if they only associate Rockstar North with murders and car jackings.

So Uniracers is definitely one to check out, I like it and you wont find anything similar to it on the SNES anyway.

I rate this game a 7/10, its still good but loses out some points for lack of variety in the cycles available for you to choose, being almost to basic at times and for being repetitive after extended play.  <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/yaypsp.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="yaypsp.gif" /> 

Click for video!


Spoiler



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<b>Reviews By <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Hadrian Uranium' target=_blank title='View profile for member Hadrian Uranium'}>Hadrian Uranium</a></b>


<img src="http://image.com.com/gamespot/images/bigboxshots/7/585777_46681_front.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

<b>Game:</b> Kirby's Block Ball  <b>Format:</b> Gameboy <b>Genre:</b> Break Out
<b>Developer:</b> HAL Laboratory  <b>Publisher:</b> Nintendo  <b>Release date:</b> 1995

When a videogame character gets put into a spin off game, the results aren't always great...unless you're Kirby.  This virsitile pink chaps spin offs are actually mostly better than the games in his main series and this game is no exception.  Released late December pretty much everywhere at the arse end of the monocrome GB's lifespan, HAL Labs decided to put our pink blob in a Break Out clone but add a style and charm that Kirby games have had before hand.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/KB1.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Anyone who has played a Break Out clone will know what to do with the game.  Demolish all of the bricks ahead of you to get ahead of the game.  Along the way there are enemies for you to kill, and being a Kirby game, these enemies have abilities to steal too which will help you clear levels much quicker.  If you press the A button when Kirby hits a paddle, the little chap will puff up which in turn will fire him upwars quicker and will destroy more troublesome blocks.

There are eleven stages and each stage has four levels to go through, with the exception to Stage 11 which is just you going against King Dede.  At the end of each stage there is a boss to defeat and that essentially just hitting a moving target with the Kirbster.  You can also collect stars in this game, however this makes this game really easy as like in the Sonic games, when you get harmed you lose your stars so as long as you have at least one star, you can't die.  A lot of the levels will sometimes have you controlling up to four paddles so you can save Kirby from spikes on the left and right as well as up and down.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/KB2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

As well as the regular Break Out style levels there are mini games which help you claim more lives:

Star Catcher:  This one is actually fairly difficult compared to the rest of the games.  Kirby chucks a load of stars at you and with your paddle you must catch them.  He also chucks bombs...and sometimes they are fast so its frantic having to try and catch a star and then quickly avoiding a bomb that is right behind it.

Air Hockey:  You know what this is, its Air Hockey...with Kirby.  No need to explain.

Up Down: You can't lose this one at all.  You make sure Kirby hits the cards to match them and thats it.

Up Cloud: You have to knock the clouds with the ball in order to move them up to claim a prize.  These clouds can also be moved downwards which will make you lose.

All in all these games are nice little diversions which don't hinder the gameplay at all and don't require you to learn any new controls or anything.  They pretty much play the same as the main game only you have different strategies.

Graphically, you can't really get much better for this sort of game with this theme on the classic GB.  Everything is crisp and clear and all of the characters, backgrounds etc really tie the game in with the rest of the Kirby franchise.  Even if you haven't seen these screens shown here, you can pretty much guess what a Break Out Kirby spin off would look like on a GB.  The level design is just top notch too as unlike other Break Out clones, not two levels ever look the same.  Being released in the later datys of the GB, this is compatible with the Super Gameboy adapter for the SNES.  While graphically there wasn't much different apart from different shades of colour, it does have a pelasing background so those with emulators may wanna play this with the Super Gameboy mode on.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/KB3.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

The music is very pleasing, like with most Kirby titles you'll find some tunes stuck in your head though some people will be looking for something to get these tunes out of their skull after a while.  Its not just the same tune over and over either as there is a nice amount of variety in them.  The sound effects themselves are just right for the game, pleasing boings here & there.  I may go so far and say that a lot of people will want to turn the volume up and just enjoy the sound with this game.

All in all this is exactly how a Kirby variation of Break Out should look, sound and play.  My only quibble with this is that its pretty short but you can try and beat each of your highscores on each level and its one of those games you'll always keep as its just so damn good and easy to pick up & play.  FFS Nintendo make this for DS or WiiWare! <b>8</b> out of <b>10</b>

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/KB4.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

Click spoiler to view video:


Spoiler



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<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/fotf1.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

<b>Game:</b> Fury of the Furries  <b>Format:</b> Amiga 500/PC DOS/Mac <b>Genre:</b> Platform Puzzler
<b>Developer:</b>  Kalisto  <b>Publisher:</b> Mindscape <b>Release date:</b> 1993

Ah Kalisto did you make an absolute beauty here!  Why this game isn't world famous is an absolute mystery to me and it actually does sadden me somewhat.  The game may also be known to most console gamers & PC gamers outside of Europe as Pac-In-Time on the GB, PC & Mac and it is exactly the same game only you play as Pac-Man. There was SNES version too but it was far more cartoony and way too polished for my liking.  The sprites were made bigger and it just lost a certain charm I feel.

So in Fury of the Furries you play this piece of fluff with arms, legs & a face called Tiny.  Tiny and his other furry friends come back from a holiday only to find that some evil bastard called "The Wicked One" has ruined their home planet and also corrupted the minds of the other tiny creatures on their planet into these monsters.  As Tiny you have to defeat "The Wicked One" to restore the planet and its inhabitants to the way they were.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/fotf2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

There are eight different types of levels and they are Desert, Forest, Water, Pyramids, Lagoon, Village & Castle.  The eight I wont tell you as it'll spoil the ending.  These levels are of quite good length, not too short and not too long.  They are filled with the corrupted furry creatures, traps, acid pools & spikes.  This isn't no simple run & jump platformer, this is oen that requires a little brain power in order to get through these levels.  These levels are also timed so to to rush the player a little to make mistakes, this really adds to the difficulty.

Tiny is resourceful. Oh he can bounce like a little mofo & hadouken a ton of fire out of his hands to kill baddies but that isn't enough!  There is land, water as well as obstacles & high places to try and get over.  Luckily Tiny can change forms!  Turn him red and he can eat the earth and dig his way through various pieces of scenary that get in his way.  Turn green and you can shoot out rope which will help you swing and climb around the place (I have too much fun in this form, seriously) and also you can use the rope to pull big boulders but these three forms can't swim well in water...well turn blue and you can swim and blow bubbles to defend yourself against the seas dirty little monsters.  Sometimes you have to go through coloured fields in the game and these said fields sometimes take the ability to change into certain forms away from you, especially when you have to solve certain puzzles but the forms you can choose are just right for the task at hand and allow the game to have the right challenge needed in a game.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/fotf3.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

The game has a lot of pop culture references to the likes of Batman, Ninja Turtles, Cool Spot (kinda obscure reference nowadays but Cool Spot was well known back then) and even Pac-Man (they made this game before they sold it to Namco).  As well as that you can play the game in Fremen which most Frank Herbert fans know is a lanaguage from the Dune universe.  

Graphically this game is a treat for me.  Well detailed levels & nicely animated sprites that are brimming over with character.  These screens and the video don't really give the game much justice.  The level design is well thought out, there is no filler here folks.  The sounds are great.  The little tuneful ditties end up being hummed when you go about your "real life" business but they are essentially naff muzak tunes.  The sound effects are exactly what you want in a game of this type and are cute but not too cute.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/fotf4.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

The game is a very good length with eighty or so levels to get through.  The learning curve is just perfect and it has the right difficulty.  It controls exactly how it should and the mistakes are purely down to the player and not down to the games design.  Each of the puzzles in the levels never really feel like a chore to get through and are not always the same ones over and over.  Overall this is a game that should be bigger than it is, it would still be as good if released today as it was back then, hell I reckon it would be more appreciated in fact.  Though my fondest memories of this game are on the Amiga it'll probably be easier for you to play the DOS version via DosBox.  Whoever owns the rights to this needs to get this out again, otherwise we'll have that cartoony SNES Pac-In-Time version that people of today would remember.  <b>9</b> out of <b>10</b>



Spoiler



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<b>Donkey Kong Country Trilogy Retrospective by <a href='http://gbatemp.net/member.php?name=Granville' target=_blank title='View profile for member Granville'}>Granville</a></b>


Rewind back the the early 1990's. A fierce war was waged between two gaming companies, Nintendo and Sega. Although the SNES had a strong hold on the market at the time, Sega was beginning to gain the upper hand through declaration of their their system's power. Nintendo decided that they needed a big game to recapture the audiences' attention. Their solution would become a game trilogy we know as Donkey Kong Country, developed by Britain-based game company Rareware. The game series would span 3 years from 1994-1996, each year receiving a new entry in the series, and each one proving that the old Super Nintendo still had what it takes to be great.

The premise of the story was simple. A gorilla named Donkey Kong has a huge hoard of bananas which he cherishes. Along come this army of crocodile warriors called Kremlings and their leader King K Rool. They envy the banana hoard and steal it for themselves. Donkey Kong must reclaim his “treasure” and teach the reptiles a lesson. 

- In the first game Donkey is joined by his little chimp friend Diddy Kong and traverses DK isle's varied environments. He'll meet his grumpy old grandfather Cranky Kong who is a true genius of comedy, often breaking the game barrier to actually criticize the GAME and its makers for having too much fancy graphical “nonsense” (and occasionally giving some vague advice on the game).  Also Funky Kong, a cool surfer gorilla who gives you rides to anywhere you've been on the isle. And then Candy Kong, DK's girlfriend. Candy saves the game for you.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/DK1.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

- The second game takes a darker theme. The kremlings are back this time as pirate crocodiles. They've brought their new mechanical island in an attempt to try to take back the banana hoard. The catch is that they have also kidnapped Donkey Kong. It's up to Diddy to save him. We are introduced to Diddy's girlfriend and partner, Dixie Kong. Cranky and Funky are back in their roles, but their services are no longer free. There are also two newcomers. Wrinkly Kong, an elderly grandmother schoolteacher, giving tips and saving the game. There's also Swanky Kong, a game show host gorilla who lets you win extra lives with trivia. And there's even a new secret area called the Lost World, which holds the game's true ending. The goal is to defeat Kaptain K Rool (the king in disguise) and save DK and his bananas.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/DK2.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

- The third and final game brings us back to DK isle in a previously unexplored location, Southern Kremisphere. A “new” enemy, the robotic kremling king Kaos appears. This time both Donkey AND Diddy are captured. It's Dixie Kong's turn to be the hero. She is partnered with her toddler cousin, a baboon named Kiddy Kong. Funky is a blacksmith, still providing transportation. His services are usually free, provided you have the parts to build the water craft. Wrinkly returns as a Nintendo 64 playing old lady. She'll save your game for free this time. Swanky returns with a target hitting minigame with Cranky as your opponent. The new characters are the Bear Brothers. Every world has a shop-keeping bear who will provide random information or services. The lost world returns once again.

<img src="http://i413.photobucket.com/albums/pp215/hadrianofthedead/DK3.jpg" border="0" class="linked-image" />

What can I say about these games? First thing you noticed were the graphics. The three DKC games were developed using an advanced (for the time) supercomputer called Silicon Graphics. Rare modeled all the environments and characters in full high-quality 3D and took snapshot images of the models, making them 2 dimensional objects. They then compressed the images into a format for SNES. Using this method, Donkey Kong Country looked good back in 1994, and it STILL manages to retain its good looks here in 2009. But without any variation or movement in the backgrounds, the game environments would lack depth. Lastly were the environmental touches. Rain effects were added, as well as day and night shifts during the levels. The environments and characters reacted to the dynamic shifts in lighting, changing palettes depending on the current light source. Little subdued effects like this lit up the game. Whether it was snow, shimmering ice, or rippled coral reefs, the games were probably the most atmospheric revelations ever made in gaming. You have to remember that these effects were some that had never been seen before. Also equally impressive were the characters themselves. Each one was animated to perfectly match their personality. There are few games with as many 2D frames of sprite animation as the DKC games. I don't see much of a reason to keep on here, as this is a game best left to your own viewing and not my descriptions.

Surprisingly, the sound is equally engrossing. Filled ambient sounds and full of dynamic instruments. The first game is more ambient, the second more symphonic, the third returns to some of the ambience. The second game arguably has the best sound. Some of the songs in DKC2 are the best game tunes ever made. The sound effects are equally awesome, with monkey sounds and alligator noises alike. There's so much to like in all of these games. Music composed by David Wise, and he did spectacularly.

What is a game without gameplay? A sad game. Shigeru Miyamoto once made a statement about DKC that went something like this- “DKC proves that gamers are willing to put up with mediocre gameplay as long as it's pretty”. I must say, I truly don't know what he is talking about. He later apologized and said he didn't mean it (outcry from angry fans no doubt). These games have spectacular level design, there are secrets everywhere, they are challenging in all the right ways, and most importantly they are just FUN. There were two characters on screen at once. It even had a very nice multiplayer mode. If player 1 died, player 2 could pick up where he left off. The partner system was even further explored in the sequels. The monkeys could carry each other on their backs and throw themselves upwards to reach high places. There are the classic head stomps and rolls to kill enemies. There are also a bunch of barrel types in the game. You've got regular breaking barrels, indestructable steel kegs, and TNT exploding barrels. You can jump into cannon blast barrels and shoot your monkeys around the levels. There are so many things to do in these games. The secret rooms and areas are everywhere The 3 Donkey Kong Country games are 3 of the finest and deepest 2D platformers ever made. In fact, they are some of the finest GAMES ever made.

In conclusion, I can recommend these games to ANYONE who is into games. More specifically, 2D platformers, but I think many people could enjoy these without knowing much about classic games. There are always some people, even people we owe for the game industry such as Miyamoto, who say that the game itself isn't that great. Well, the fact that they could water down the handheld versions so much and still return as awesome games proves that they have the gameplay to back up the graphics and sound. Even the third DKC game is a classic, even though it came out as the Nintendo 64 was beginning with real 3D graphics.



Again thank you to everyone who took part.  Issue #6 will be out around mid to late April, if you want to post a review then PM me and I'll add it.  It would help if you have some screenshots and a video but no biggy if you don't have them.  

Previous editions:
#1:
* Indiana Jones' Greatest Adventures - Super Nintendo
* Mr Bones - Sega Saturn, written by TrolleyDave
* Spider-Man 2: The Sinister Six - GBC
* Sam & Max Hit The Road - PC, written by Cockroachman
* Films to Games That Don't Suck: New Ghostbusters II
* Random Game: Ball Jacks - Mega Drive/Genesis
* Port Comparison: Kirby Super Star - Super Nintendo & Kirby Super Star Ultra - Nintendo DS, written by Granville.

#2: 
* Chuckie Egg - Sinclair ZX Spectrum
* Donkey Kong 64 - Nintendo 64, written by TrolleyDave
* The Punisher - Arcade
* Grim Fandango - PC, written by Cockroachman
* Star Wars: Dark Forces II - PC, written by Cockroachman
* Metal Slug 1st Mission - Neo Geo Pocket Colour
* Crystalis - NES, written by Vulpes Abnocto.

#3:
*  Superfrog (Amiga)
* Little Nemo: The Dream Master (NES)
* Medal of Honor (Playstation)
* Cho Aniki (PC Engine Super CD)
* Animaniacs (Mega Drive/Genesis) by CockroachMan
* Ultima: Exodos (NES) by Jesuschristmonkeyballs
* M.U.L.E. (NES) by Jesuschristmonkeyballs.

#4:
* Secret of Evermore (Super Nintendo) 
* Creatures (Commodore 64)
* Yuu Yuu Hakusho: Makyou Toitsusen (Mega Drive/Genesis) by CockroachMan
* Dragon Ball Z - Buyuu Retsuden (Mega Drive/Genesis) by CockroachMan
* Rock n' Roll Racing (Super Nintendo) by P1ngpong
* 2400 A.D. (Apple II) by jesuschristmonkeyballs
* Arkanoid (Atari ST) by TrolleyDave
* A rant about Tomb Raider by TrolleyDave

These can all be fount on the <a href="http://gbatemp.net/?dynamic=74" target="_blank">mini page.</a>


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## Noitora (Mar 19, 2009)

Woah, Uniracers seems to be a good game.


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## Domination (Mar 19, 2009)

Donkey Kong Country made the list! I really like it.


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## mario5555 (Mar 19, 2009)

No offense to those who like it, but Miyamoto was right.  (He isn't one of the most revered game designers ever for nothin'. ) 

It has all the hallmarks of Rare's 2D titles, sloppy play control, the gfx while advanced are muddied, and was one of the games that started the look everywhere, collect everything trend (ala Crash, ect) which I find tedious. 

I played through the first one but was so turned off by it after beating it, than I never had any ambition to play the other two, and to this day I have never even finished DK64 or Jet Force Gemini, must be my complicated relationship with Rare games. 

That's just my take, I'm glad people enjoy it, even though I really don't, but I will say if someone is going to go back and play them anyway, play the SNES games, not the atrocious ugly looking GBC games. 

Looking forward to the next retro games review. Cheers.


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## Sstew (Mar 19, 2009)

Agreed, I LOVED Donkey Kong Country, Wasn't a fan of the third one though, Didn't mind Dixie, it was the fat monkey i couldn't stand. 

I think the first was the best, but the 2nd DK country was a close first.


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## granville (Mar 19, 2009)

No offense to mario5555, but in regards to the comment about collecting, it's just not true. While DK64 was indeed focused around collecting in order to even play, you can play through all 3 DKC games without collecting a single thing. It IS an option to collect things to get a better ending in DKC 2 and 3, but it's pretty much optional. 

At any rate, these games' "faults" as you call them are no different than Mario 64's basic gameplay elements (Mario 64 was itself a collectathon and regarded as one of the greatest game ever). So Miyamoto is a hypocrite for his comments bashing the DKC games. He later apologized about the comment calling DKC mediocre and admitted to the foolishness of the statement. After all, he was most likely rather jealous of the games himself. Likely he was rather irritated he himself didn't create the games that would later inspire his own work.

It basically went like this. Mario inspired DKC which inspired Mario 64. He had the basics of 2D platformers down, and DKC actually expanded them to the highest we've seen. So Miyamoto used the best ideas of the best 2D platformers to create the basis of almost every 3D platformer to come.

And I can't believe I was forgetful enough to leave out one of the funnest parts of the DKC games- the animal buddies. Oh well. I guess that's screwed me.


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## Pizzaroo (Mar 19, 2009)

Uniracers is fun, but pretty hard. It's like racing on a sonic course, without the flashiness.


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## Hillsy_ (Mar 20, 2009)

Always nice to see abit of Retro 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  Hmmm... I didn't like Uniracers, I don't know why..just didn't like it.  Donkey Kong Country is a Classic for the Super Nintendo.  The Aquatic music was timeless 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




  Donkey Kong Country 2 was equally as good, didn't care much for the third outing though.  Nice collection, brings back some fond memories.


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## jesuschristmonke (Mar 20, 2009)

Wow. Going to check out the Furry one.

The game, I mean.


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## redact (Mar 20, 2009)

i remember playing uniracers on a snes emulator as a kid, that game rocked


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## dkwz (Mar 20, 2009)

Aaah, "Below the Root", awesome! Thanks fo the good memories 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



"Alice in Wonderland" was very similar and a great game too, both were released on Apple II as well.


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## Satangel (Mar 20, 2009)

I heard of Uniracers before, and I played it on my Wii then. Fantastic game, everyone should play it!


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## jesuschristmonke (Mar 20, 2009)

dkwz said:
			
		

> Aaah, "Below the Root", awesome! Thanks fo the good memories
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Yeah, I remember that now but I only played it a little.

Those were the days *snif*


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## RexNebular (Mar 21, 2009)

Fury of the Furries is great.  I've never tried Pac-In-Time, so I had no idea it was the same game.


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## loading (Mar 21, 2009)

The best dkc part is arguably the 2nd one with a lot of varied themes like winds to fly up, poison filling tower, seals freezing water, the typical donkey coster levels. 1 and 3 don't even come close to that and i really agree with shiggy what made these games great were mostly gfx + and decent (not great) leveldesign.

yoshi's island tops all of these games (even if back in the snes days i'd argue otherwise which kinda shows that graphics DO matter even if wii fanboys will tell you otherwise).


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## jesuschristmonke (Mar 21, 2009)

loading said:
			
		

> graphics DO matter even if wii fanboys will tell you otherwise



How ironic that you would state this on a Retro Thread.


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## thegame07 (Mar 21, 2009)

OMFG, I forgot all about uniracers untill now. I used to play it with my family when I was a kid, awesome game.


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## granville (Mar 21, 2009)

The problem is that graphics NEVER matter when judging a game. That's WHY the Wii sells so well in comparison to PS3 or 360. most gamers (at least intelligent ones) know that gameplay is what matters. Same in regards to DS selling over the PSP. Great graphics are welcome only if they are an ADDITION to the game, not the only thing good about the game. DKC trilogy had incredible varied gameplay. Even a cut down version on GBC with all of the fancy graphics missing, it was still an incredibly fun game to play. Sure, it was a severe downgrade, but the game was still fun, proving that gameplay is ALWAYS better than graphics.

I say all this as a person who grew up in the "BIT wars" of the 90's. A time when some systems began to hype themselves with their power (Sega Genesis, PS1, Jaguar). I can see a good game when I play it, and can assure any naysayers that you could strip all the graphics out of the DKC trilogy as well as the music, and replace them with 8bit style graphics and sound and the game would still be awesomely fun to play. As long as the gameplay remains the same, the game would still be a winner.


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## Hillsy_ (Mar 22, 2009)

QUOTE said:
			
		

> naysayers that you could strip all the graphics out of the DKC trilogy as well as the music, and replace them with 8bit style graphics and sound and the game would still be awesomely fun to play. As long as the gameplay remains the same, the game would still be a winner.



I disagree, yes the gameplay would be intact but....it wouldn't be accepted now, times have changed; and children now expect more in terms of graphics and technology.

I believe the Wii sells so well because of the parents looking for a games machine for there children, also they are attracted to the likes of Wii Fit, Wii Music themselves.  It is a family machine and it brings the family closer together, socially more than the other consoles.  It also has from a sales point of view the 'gimmicks' too.  Nothing at all to do with graphics or gameplay.

I believe the best that video games had to offer has already gone.  People accept what is given now whether it is on the Wii, 360 or PS3.


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## cosmiccow (Apr 6, 2009)

the kirby breakout is great. also thanks for the other recommendations, these are always appreciated!

well, the gameboy kirby game looks really cute in action - proof that graphics do matter


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## TrolleyDave (Apr 13, 2009)

Great job as usual guys!  Uniracers is one of my all time favourite games, me and my mate Pat wasted many hours playing it head to head.  Fast, slick, original and fun.


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