I never thought I'd play a more enjoyable game than the old school DKC games released back in the 90s. But I thought wrong, because this game was absolutely spectacular! It was as awesome as DKC1 released way back in 1994.
First of all, I loved the gameplay formula and shift in Donkey Kongs relationship with Pauline. In the original 1981 game, DK was a bad guy and Pauline was a woman he kidnapped and played a damsel in distress role. Here, Pauline is a kid and friend to DK, and they work together as a team on a journey to the very center of the planet. It reminded me of Banjo-Kazooie's unique duo-based gameplay. Donkey Kongs uses his tremendous strength to smash walls and objects to dig and uncover bananas and hidden objects and defeat enemies while Pauline utilizes her singing voice. Even better, they progressively get stronger and learn new abilities with skill upgrades you can purchase with Banandium Gems.
This is the first 3D adventure game in the Donkey Kong franchise since Donkey Kong 64. Only this time, thanks to the same crew that gave us Super Mario Odyssey, it was done correctly. Sure, there is some backtracking, but nowhere near as tedious or aggravating, no swapping between five different Kongs in the tag barrel, and no ridiculous number of collectibles to get and keep track of. It was like a dream come true for gamers disappointed in DK64.
The soundtrack is amazing and rich. There's remixed music from the DKC games originally composed by Rare legends Grant Kirkhope and Dave Wise, like Mine Cart Madness, Gangplank Galleon, and the legendary Stickerbush Symphony. They all sounded beautiful!
Finally, there's plenty of characters from DKC thrown in. You can ride Rambi the Rhino in races against Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong, and Cranky Kong will give you Bananium Gems every time you find him in hidden locations. You even encounter classic enemies like Kritters, Neckies, Zingers, Kabooms and even Donkey Kongs arch-nemesis, King K. Rool, as the final boss. It all provided a nice big trip down memory lane for retro gamers who grew with the DKC series in the 90s.
This game was a total blast to play, and anyone who enjoyed Super Mario Odyssey and loves adventure games in general must try this one, because so far, it's the best release on the Switch 2.
