Donkey Kong Country

 Game Boy Advance
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 89 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 78 out of 89
  2. Mixed: 8 out of 89
  3. Negative: 3 out of 89
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  1. rapidrack
    Sep 23, 2012
    4
    I never really liked this game, and I don't understand why it was so popular. The first few worlds are okay, and they have a certain original charm about them, but from about halfway on, the level design takes a turn for the abysmal. I found myself experiencing not fun, but mostly frustration, just like I did when this first came out on the SNES. There were countless times when I put myI never really liked this game, and I don't understand why it was so popular. The first few worlds are okay, and they have a certain original charm about them, but from about halfway on, the level design takes a turn for the abysmal. I found myself experiencing not fun, but mostly frustration, just like I did when this first came out on the SNES. There were countless times when I put my whole heart into getting through a tough portion of a level, only to get killed by a tiny projectile rocketing into the screen too fast to react to. It seems to be a theme throughout the game, and it gives the feeling that the developers just don't like you. On top of that, you may find like I did that the levels become too long, and it is no fun playing a good while getting through one part, dying because of one tiny mistake, and having to repeat a huge portion all over again. I frequently found myself edging along slowly and carefully through a level because there is no way of reacting to some of the things that are thrown at you apart from memorizing them. I don't think Rare playtested these levels with a normal audience.

    Play the first three worlds and you've essentially seen everything you're going to see in this game of heavily recycled graphics. It is just aesthetic, but I have an aesthetic side I can't ignore, and it does affect me when the first level feels extremely similar to the fifteenth, or the fiftieth. Even the bosses suffer from recycling, and they're not that interesting to begin with.

    Aside from that, the hitboxes aren't clear. The shape of the characters and level elements makes it very hard to tell exactly where you'll get hit, or where you can stand. It may sound minor, but for me it was a constant annoyance throughout the game. I can't count the times I was hit or missed a platform because I wrongly estimated the position of hitboxes

    The bright patch in the game for me was figuring out the "puzzle" like elements in the levels. They really do require you to think and act carefully, and it feels great when you overcome an obstacle. Unfortunately, the very un-puzzle-like deaths you usually suffer afterwards overshadow it with a feeling of being cheated, losing progress through no fault of your own, and then having to redo the puzzles you already solved. This could have been avoided with more checkpoints, and less reflex-based obstacles.

    Rare to me has always seemed like that developer who is convinced in his own mind that he's just as good or better than all the others, and you feel bad for them because they're embarrassing themselves without knowing it. Rare games have every appearance of being good, but look a little deeper and you usually find they're just mimicing other good games

    I do feel very negatively about DKC games, and I'm not being hateful, I really do just think they're bad, and I can't see how anyone could enjoy them for any considerable amount of time.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

27
#27 Best Game Boy Advance Game of 2003
14
#14 Most Discussed Game Boy Advance Game of 2003
34
#34 Most Shared Game Boy Advance Game of 2003

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
78

Generally favorable reviews - based on 26 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 26
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 26
  3. Negative: 0 out of 26
  1. Eurogamer
    80
    Fun though DKC is, it is - as many have said in the past - rather on the short side. Stumbling through the game with a fairly good idea of where everything was, it took us about four hours to get to the final boss and dispatch him, picking up some 70 per cent of the game's secrets along the way.
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  2. Gamestyle
    70
    A game of this overall technical sheen that can really make you smile and take notice, doesn't come along every day... in fact it comes along every nine years. If you've not sampled it before, now is the time.
    Read full review
  3. Game Informer
    90
    There's a certain intensity of action and sense of urgency that only a 2D platformer can deliver. This game is a great way to rediscover that feeling for yourself. [June 2003, p.118]
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