Donkey Kong Bananza (Switch 2)

 

The Journey to the Center of the Earth!

Well, it took the postal service a week to get it to my home. It arrived Friday the week after it was supposed to come out. Took me 2 weekends and two hours per day during the week, but now again I have a 100 % cleared games on the Switch 2 (no, don't look at my stack of unfinished or even played Switch 1 games). The game begins on Ingot Island where DK is mining for Golden Bananas until a meteor-looking thing crashes on the island dragging it into the depths of the earth. There he meets a talking crystal person that tries to escape from the Void Company CEO... Void Kong and his two henchmen. First time I've seen evil Kongs in a DK game, but since Metroid have already put in evil Chozos I'm already comfortable with the idea. The crystal person turns out to be Pauline that was kidnapped for her singing voice after you release hr from the crystal. You meet different races on your way to the center of the earth in search of the Banandium Root for a way to get home and stop Void Kongs plans.

It's a rather fun game. You break most things and collect golden bananas in order to upgrade your abilities and then you collect gold to buy stuff and banadium chips to use to get more golden bananas or later musical discs. There are a couple of animal elders that allow you to use the Banaza that transform you into different animals, like snake, zebra, elephant, ostrich... and a gorilla. Gorilla form feels a bit weird since you already are a Kong, maybe I thought it would be a rhino as a callback to Rambi, but since there is a layer where you ride on Rambi they maybe thought it was enough. 

The final stretch of the games just ramps up the intensity. You have defeated Void Kong's henchmen and duke it out with the CEO himself, beat him and suddenly King K. Rool appears, beats up Void and get the Root for himself. That came by surprise. I gather that Cranky might imply him during the talks with him, but I didn't get it until he showed up. And now Kremlings appears and buzzaw bees so suddenly it feels like a Country game again. You corner K. Rool at the center of the earth and defeats him and your wish is about to get you back and credits roll, and it's the Kredits from Donkey Kong Country so you know the fight ain't over. K. Rool follows you with his barrel jet packs and you have to occupy him until you can reach the surface. You get to New Donk City where Pauline lives, K. Rool steals the root again and you have to platform to the boxing ring from Donkey Kong 64 and beat him again. Took me three tries, but I did it. Credits roll again and DK returns to Ingot Island while Pauline stays in NDC. 

After the credits you start at Ingot island again and reunite with Pauline that needs help finding a song she can sing. So you meet the elders again and do their rehearsal which is a gauntlet of platform challanges for each Bananza that forces you to use every power (and hopefully you upgraded every Bananza to the full). Zebra was the worst with the timed I thought, but then elephant wanted me to lure monsters into different areas to change shape and so on. After I remember to use the snake's time stop ability that one wasn't that hard. And after all that you have the Harmoneel. A true test of skills since you had to do it all in one go which I learned when I died on the very last stretch. After getting enough resources and changing outfits I went in again and cleared it. Rewarded with yet another credit scene, but I'm a bit disappointed since I thought I could get to New Donk City and just wander around, but no such luck. After that I cleared out the fossil to get every costume since you just could buy maps for those (and bananas as well, but those could be hard to get). 

So overall it was fun platformer. Some people complained that the ending was a bit to long, and if I had played it at the middle of the night before work and just wanna go to bed I might have felt the same, but instead I did it in the early afternoon so to me it was a great escalation. And here comes a reason why I prefer the Mario team to do these games, the bosses have pretty much a cycle of three which means that I can memorize the sequence within reason. Maybe the fact I played through 4 Donkey Kong Country games before I didn't have that hard of a time. Something I noticed though is that if this was Journey through the Center of the Earth and Mario Odyssey would be Around the World in 80 Days, I assume the devlopers at Nintendo seems to be on a Jules Verne binge. Gotta finish the collection of books I have at the night stand before Star Fox returns as a Captain Nemo rip-off... oh wait, that was Steel Diver for the 3DS. (And to be clear, this was written before the Star Fox game for Switch 2 was announced.)

Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (Switch)

 

And the monkey business returns.

Well, I still haven't gotten Banaza and it's been a week now. At least I had time to play through Donkey Kong Coutry Returns for the first time. I got it for the Wii, 3DS and Switch, but this is the first time I finish it. I think I played through the first two worlds on the Wii, but got stuck on the boss and then gave up. It wasn't that hard when I played it now, but that could be the Modern Mode cause I was ready to give up at some times.

Story is that one day the DK Island volcano explodes and unleashes the Tiki Tribe that begins hypnotize the animals and stealing Donkey's banans. Together with Diddy they set out to get them back and beat up the Tiki's. 8 worlds later you defeat the big boss of the Tiki and everything's great again, except it reveals the Golden Temple, yet another stage. I can't take it anymore and I really hope the new game comes tomorrow. 

I might sound irritated, but I spent 10 minutes on the final hit on the boss and I think levels like the barreljets and rickety rides just is infuriating. I used up something like 30-40 lives on two stages each trying to get through. Glad I got enough Banana coins to just buy more extra lives without problems. It was a struggle for me, and I can't see myself 100 % cause some of the feats to get some of the collectibles are beyond my abilities. I had a hard enough time getting how Rambi and the barreljets worked so I probably had more problem than necessary. Lucky I got the instruction manual from the Wii-version. Remember when games had physical manuals in the box? I do miss those.

Overall I can see the charm of it if you like 2D plattformers, which I do to a degree, but maybe not in 30 degrees Celsius on the first week back at my job after vacation. And a non-functioning postal service for the game I'm actually interested in playing. I find it interesting though that the game had really long load times, especially since I played it on Switch 2 since I thought the console would cut some of these, but maybe there needs to be an update for it first. Another thing I'be been thinking about it that compared to say Super Mario, Donkey Kong very often disrupts the flow in a level. Super Mario feels really great when you just enter the flow and can rush past stage after stage since it just clicks. Maybe I don't know the levels enough or the mechanics, but I just doesn't get that feeling over the game, since when it seems I'm on my way breaking the code, the game changes up and slows down the gameplay, either with the rickety rides or barreljets or something like the barrels that spin... or the bonus stages that constantly take you away from the main game. 

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (Wii U)

 

Shouldn't it be Tripple Trouble?

Well, had to continue and Bananza didn't come to me on the Monday after release so I had one more evening. Didn't feel it as much in this game. On one hand from start to finish it is very close to the second game, but there is a lot more stuff to do, getting items to trade to find your way to the Secret Area and such compared to the second game where you just needed the money to pay. But at the same time it was straightforward. 

Story is that Donkey and Diddy disappeared in this new area so Dixie sets of to find them. Funky Kong gives you vehicles to traverse the area and Dixie Kong's cousin Kiddy Kong joins her. He's a stand in for Donkey. I liked the gameplay in the second game better for some reason. Maybe due to the things they tried was a bit more obnoxious like the area where you constantly gets shoot at or an area where you swim in poison water where your controls are reversed. I also feels that the stages from Donkey Kong Land 3 is rather different which also maybe gives me a pushback (or maybe since I played that game legit on my Game Boy Pocket I replayed the stages so much that it felt like they where more stages).

Maybe I'm fatigued after playing the whole series during a weekend or maybe that review in Super Play was right, it's not that good of a series. Or the fact that temperatures are reaching 30 degrees C might effect my enjoyment of the game.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Wii U)

 

The Revenge of King K. Rool.

Continued playing the second game. Basically Donkey Kong's been kidnapped by King K. Rool so Diddy and his girlfriend Dixie Kong sets out to save him. Cranky and Funky returns with them and some new Kongs like Wrinkly and Swanky. Pretty much returning animal buddies like Rambi, Enquarde, Sqwakes and new ones like the spider and snake. And I enjoy this game much more than the first game.

I think because they made it somewhat easier (still hard levels and such), but other things that helped the enjoyment. For one, every animal buddy can attack, compared to the ostrich in the first game. They made it more obvious where secrets are, both in the levels like with banana arrows or letters indicating what ability to use or hints you can get from Cranky. The bonus stage also had a title card for what you where supposed to do so it wasn't that obtuse. This allowed me get over 60 % this time around and my lives was at a full 99 (well, using the restore point I saved up on unnecessary deaths and such, but compare it to the first game when I only ended the game with something around 50 lives, you where supposed to grind for life I assume). 

On the other hand, since I've played Donkey Kong Land 2 a lot and actually finished that one I might have already learned some of the patterns it wasn't completely new to me. Don't like that you have to pay to save at certain points. Always made me stingy with the collectibles. It could also be that the duo Dixie and Diddy actually plays better. You switch characters with select this time around and can join up for some special move with A if both are in the party. 

So this is clearly a better sequel. Or it can be that I haven't gotten to play these games as much compared to the first one and I'm not good at the first one, meaning I never get past it. But we know that can't be the case.

Donkey Kong Country (Wii U)

Time for some monkey buisness!

I was gonna play Donkey Kong Bananza during my final weekend of my vacation, but yet again the postal services have betrayed me. So it will probably come when I started work again. Thanks for that. So what can I do to occupy myself these last days? Well, I got the whole Country-series on Wii U so that could be something. I got the game on GBA, Wii Virtual Console, 3DS, Wii U and SNES Mini and technically I got the Donkey Kong Land as well, but this is the first time I actually finish it for the first time. Only around 50 % since I haven't gotten all secrets and so on and I won't get them since I really don't like the game.

Story is that King K. Rool and his kremlings have stolen Donkey Kong's banana hoard so DK and Diddy sets out to get them back. Kranky Kong, Funky Kong and Candy Kong sets out to help our primate friends as they traverse all over DK Island in search for the golden bananas. It's rather hard and maybe why I don't like it. To often there is a new gimmick for the stage and you basically have to memorize the stages in order to get past them. I remember reading a review of... maybe the GBA game for the Swedish magazine Super Play where the reviewer apologized for ever thinking this game was good so it might have colored my perception as well. 

I got past the game mostly by abusing the save state function on the Wii U and in total the gameplay ended on less than 2 hours, but I assume that it maybe would have been a couple hours added since I restarted all the time. To finish it legit? Who knows how many hours I had to spend on it. Now, if I was a kid and played it as intended on SNES I might have forced myself to learn the patterns and such and have a completely different appreciation of the game. 

But to be more positive, it looks good with the graphics and the music is really good, but it plays a bit bad in my opinion. And the game is a bit evil with enemy placement, for example there is a couple of stages where before clearing a jump from moving platforms there is a big muscle guy you only can defeat with Donkey Kong since Diddy is to small, if you hit them as Diddy, they push you back into the pit, game over. And the bosses takes a lot of beating and with only two hits it's a question of pattern recognition. So you see, I'm not that impressed by the game.

Mario Kart World (Switch 2)

 

This will not help with the tour.

So like everyone else there is basically one new game for the Switch 2 at launch and as stated, I got it at the launch bundle with my Switch 2. And it's Mario Kart. I drove through the coursers and unlocked the final Grand Prix with Rainbow Road in it. I gathered it was an unlockable course since Mario Kart needs a Rainbow Road as the final. 

Overall, it's Mario Kart and it looks and sound great. I'm not a competitive player or plays online so I don't get as much out of it. My first Mario Kart was Mario Kart 64 and I think the most enjoyment was playing with friends and my sisters. Took years until I managed to unlock mirror mode since we played it more as battle mode or two. Dubble Dash for the GameCube was better that way since we could all four play in the Grand Prix. But what I did when I played on my own was driving around the coursers looking around. The train level I followed the tracks into the tunnel or found Peaches castle at the Mario Circuit level so when this game introduced the Free Roam mode, I would have loved it as a kid. I even got vibes of Diddy Kong Racing and the adventure mode. You got to collect Peach coins, ?-panels and find missions to solve. Meanwhile you can find food that unlocks new costumes for your characters. 

As a kid I would have loved it, as an adult that have a gigantic backlog it's busy work I don't really feel like going through. Meanwhile there isn't anything else to play beside older games and such so what else are you gonna do. I got it was a mirror mode you can unlock as well, but then you have to collect ten off everything in free roam and then beat all coursers in 150cc I think. Maybe I will someday, but we will see. A thing I would have wished they added from Diddy Kong Racing was a plane mode to fly around the stages instead of just gliding. 

Online I gather there is some controversy regarding the intermission tracks, instead of standard 3 laps coursers they put in Intermission tracks where you travel around the world. In one way it showcases the free roam mode, but I get it for those that want to learn the coursers since you need the repeating tracks to do it since the tracks gets long in intermission mode. Especially irritated for people was that there was a workaround, but after a patch people couldn't get past that in the same way I gathered. I can understand peoples irritation over it and maybe this is one of the times when Nintendo maybe should give the people what they want? Then on the other hand, people doesn't always know what they want or what they need? Then again I don't really care since I don't play online.

Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS) (Wii U)

 

All Aboard the Crazy Train!

Thought about playing this after Phantom Hourglass, but other things got in the way and after playing through it again I can say I don't very much like the DS gameplay. Spirit Tracks is a direct sequel to Phantom Hourglass that followed Wind Waker. Story is that after getting his engineer degree to pilot a train, Zelda ask Link to take her to the Spirit Tower to investigate the disappearance of the spirit tracks across the land. Turns out that the chancellor Cole is a demon in disguise that kidnaps Zelda's body to use it for a vessel of the Demon King Malladus (meaning no Ganon in this story). Zelda's spirit follows Link around and after getting to the Spirit Tower they meet Anjean, a lokomo. Apparently the lokomos aided the spirits before the hylians arrived and trapped Malladus by using the Spirit Tracks, but after they eroded away the Chancellor saw his chance to release Malladus. So you set out to restore the spirit tracks by traversing the spirit tower itself and then finding the temples scattered around the land. 

This is the second time I play through it which makes it one of the Zelda games I've played the least. It came out in 2009 and I didn't finish it until I got a 3DS in 2011. Playing it again there is some really fun puzzles and it follows the Zelda-formula. I won't deny that it's quite interesting how they use all of the DS functions, you control Link with the stylus, you gotta use the microphone to play the pan pipes and tell this little girl if she is plain or cute... I don't have the heart to tell her she's plain so it was cute every time I interacted with her. But the stylus shows some real problems since it doesn't always correlate to what I try to do. The pan pipes is a nightmare to try to get working at times, especially the restoration song you need to time trice over each time. And it's even in the final battle with Malladus which makes it one of the harder parts. And the attacks with the stylus get's a bit weird at times when I don't draw the sword or when I try to roll but swing instead and so on. I prefer a normal control scheme thank you very much.

Also, like Phantom Hourglass you follow a set route, of course diminished in this game since you are restricted to the tracks that exists compared to the ocean, but no time limit in the main hub. Overall travel feels so slow compared to a traditional Zelda. There are teleportation points, but you have to pass through them and they are point A to point B. Wished the flute have had some teleportation songs like in the earlier games, but I assume that would be a problem with the transportation quests. Overall, it will probably still be one of the lesser played games in the series just by that. The Save Point on the Wii U at least helps with the minigames and traveling with people or transporting cargo.

On the other hand, music is a bit more distinct than Phantom Hourglass and I do like pan flute music after watching Mysterious Cities of Gold and listening to the Golden Sun Soundtrack.