I have always been a rhythm gamer at heart, since I have been a music lover most of my life. Stomping or slapping buttons to music is something that has always appealed to me when I first found out about this genre. Donkey Konga is the latest game in the Donkey Kong saga. It's the first time that he has taken a crack at this style of gameplay, and it's a moderate accomplishment.
When you first open the hefty package, you'll notice two large drums. This is the controller that Donkey Konga uses. The drums are a bit obtuse to hold in your hands like a regular Gamecube pad, so the best option is to keep them in your lap.
Once you start up the Donkey Konga, you'll notice several different game types. The first of which is Street Performance, where you drum to earn coins for spending in DK Town (more on that later). Street Performance has several different difficulty levels like Monkey, Chimp, and Gorilla. Monkey is the easiest, and Gorilla is the hardest. Challenge is another game type. Here, you go for as many song completions in a row without your life gauge running dry. There's no real reason for you to touch this one other than bragging rights. Battle is the multi-player mode here, but since I don't own two drum sets (or a friend), I can't tell you about this. Jam Session is one of the more fun game modes here. From here, you can chose to jam out on your own, drum with computer controlled helpers. It's also great for beginners, since you can't fail the song. Ape Arcade is the mini-game section of Donkey Konga. There are only three diversions, and they aren't all that great. Still, if you don't feel like drumming to music, this is always here to distract you.
Once you select a song from Street Performance, Jam Session, etc., you'll be thrown into a drumming frenzy. Different icons will pass through a white circle, and it is your job to hit the corresponding drum that matches that icon. The yellow half-circle means left drum, the red half-circle means right drum, the pink full-circle means hit both drums at the same time, and the blue star means clap, or hit the side of the drum. This gets pretty intense at higher difficulty levels, and you probably won't master each song the first time. Also, there is no penalty for hitting both drums at once even when the icon suggests that you shouldn't. I am guilty of this, but the price I pay is the blank stares I get from my family and the shouts from my neighbors late at night.
Donkey Konga doesn't disappoint in offering lots replay value, and it delivers in the form of purchasable sound sets for your drums, mini-games, and new drum patterns for different songs. This is great since it won't take you long to get through every tune this game has to offer.
Rhythm titles aren't really known for memorable visuals, but this is poor even for N64 standards. Each character only has 6 animations, and they severely lack detail. Even the menus are as drab as rainy day. Then again; we don't play these kinds of games for their cosmetic appeal.
Sound is where most of the game disappoints. All 33 songs are available from the start, and like I said before, you will get through all of them quickly. However, there are pop hits on here such as Blink 182's "All the Small Things" and the Stray Cats' "Rock This Town." There are plenty other former top 40 songs, but none of them are done by the original artists. If you're a parent and have small children, you just might appreciate that Donkey Konga has famous kid songs such as "Bingo" and "Campfire Melody" which is a mix of all sorts of lullabies. There are even some Nintendo songs on here such as the Super Mario Bros. theme, and The Legend of Zelda theme. Even the DK Rap from DK 64 is on here!
The Gamecube is a platform pretty much starved of these types of games, and Donkey Konga is a decent game to introduce a whole new demographic to the rhythm genre. If Namco would have doubled the song count, made the graphics look a shade better, and got the original artists version of the songs, we would have been looking at a serious game of the year contender. As it stands, we just have a decent rhythm title with a light learning curve that's easy for newcomers, and slightly unsatisfying for veterans.
Create an Account
Member Login
