There is no question that "Donkey Kong Country" is one of the best adventure games ever created on any platform. It was easily better than any Mario game the SNES put out and really raised the bar for what side-scrolling games could do. One can have hours of fun immersed in the DK world. The only problem? Hours of gnashed teeth will also be spent re-beating levels because of the stupid saving mechanism.
The best part of the "DK Country" experience is that it is so unique. It was kind of like playing a Mario game...but with new challenges and characters. I liked how Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong both had unique abilities better suited for certain situations, making you (the gamer) figure out when to use each character. The game is also quite challenging, but not to the breaking point. After enough practice, most levels can be beaten before the hair-pulling stage. It terms of gameplay and presentation, this is a 5-star effort all the way.
The HUGE negative? Having to beat multiple levels before being able to save a game. Now, I realize that I have reviewed many NES games and never complained about the saving, but that was because the NES technology just did not allow for "anytime saving". By the time the SNES came around, though, one could have saved the game after every level. However, the game designers decided to make you "earn" save points by beating a number of levels at a time. In the beginning this is fine, as you whip through the levels and pile up the bananas/balloons without hardly a second thought. Once you get to the ice-levels stage, though, the game requires you to beat 4-5 extremely difficult levels before saving is possible. By this time in the game, the player is operating on more like a 4-5 turn basis per lifespan. I realize the "collecting bananas and trying to get specials" argument for racking up multiple lives, but that isn't why I wanted to play the game. I just want to beat each level and move onto the next without all the "monkey business" (pardon the pun). This issue decreases the whole experience for me by an entire star.
Thus, "Donkey Kong Country" is a classic in the canon of video game adventures. A very frustrating save mechanism does put a damper on the experience for all but the experts, but overall it is still a fun game.
