As a hardcore rhythm game enthusiast I can safely say that Donkey Konga is probably the worst rhythm game I have ever played in my life. Despite being based on Taiko No Tatsujin it has none of that games production value.

Notes scoll past the hitbox even when you hit them, full combos aren't acknowledged by the game seemingly at all (you just get a gold DK icon if the bar is full at the end, silver if not), the music consists mostly of low quality covers of songs for Grandad and any hit sound that isn't default bongos is like having nails shoved in your ears

I thought for the longest time that Museca was the worst rhythm game ever made but I had no idea Donkey Konga was this miserable

This is an early impressions review of a game I plan to come back to way down the line, but I tried a European copy of the game and a Japanese copy just because I got some actual DK Bongos in the mail as a gift.

It's Donkey Kong-themed Taiko, with an occasional "clap" input instead of just left, right, and both. Maybe placebo effect, but I felt as though my clap inputs were not accurate/not read well in the Japanese version, and were being read better on the European one. Considering the one song I played on the European version was way harder than any of the several tracks I tried from the Japanese version, and had several clap inputs inbetween actual notes, I'm thankful it reads my inputs better.

Regardless of how well the game detects the clapping, I feel like it's really flimsy whether or not it hears your clap at all, and another button would've been better. For most of the Japanese version tracks, you can get away with slapping the microphone between the two bongos as if it were a button and it's reliable.

Every region comes with its own track list. For Japan, they have some nice pop songs in there (as a KH fan, I love Hikaru Utada, so I was pleasantly surprised to see Colors on the track list), some anime openings like Kirby and Detective Conan, and they have the ED to Abaranger. The funniest this version gets is having Mambo No. 5 in it.

This is what the European version has, and I think I like this better just for the pure absurdity:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCJDXPv8oGk

Oh, also the European version has a 50 Hz and 60 Hz option on boot-up for people who don't play the game with PAL TVs, which was appreciated.

Donkey konga but JPN-adjacent, yall know the drill by now, same vibes, same engine, donkey kong bongo times.

This versions setlist is a pretty standard taiko-esque affair; you've got your anime music, J-pop, classical, variety, etc. Definitely more kid-core picks overall, but I do like donkin to the hamtaro theme and the second kirby OP. They even got galaxy express 999 and hikaru utada in here, hell yea. Not much really else to say, I've played enough taiko games to really know a taiko setlist when I see one and this is pretty much that. The charts here are a bit on the easy side, which makes things a bit boring. I do wish someone could make a taikojiro or osu equivalent of donkey konga tbh, as not only would it have that meme popularity bump for being bongos but I do think you can do some interesting things with the kind of rhythm game here.

So I bought a pair of DK Bongos recently, because I needed to prove I'm a true motherfucking Gamecube-head. Three games were released in North America that are compatible with the bongos, this being the first one released. This and Donkey Konga 2 are rhythm in which you hit the left or right drum or clap in time with the music, while the last one is Jungle Beat, a platformer controlled with these three options, and I gotta say I hope Jungle Beat is a lot better than this.

Playing these bongos in tune with the music is really awkward, mostly because slapping the bongos like you would an actual bongo isn't the right way to play this. If you play like that you'll lose once the notes start getting faster, so instead you have to basically "click" on each drum like a big button, which isn't nearly as fun as what I thought it would be like to play them. This game also has a weird idea about how long it takes to go from pressing the bongo to clapping, and it really feels like it expects you to be hovering over the bongos ready to smack them like actual bongos, making it easier to go into a clap, when in reality I have both hands and the bongo ready to "click" them. It's to the point that there were some songs where shouting into the mic that registers the clap is easier than going into a clap. I was completely ready to admit that maybe my setup wasn't great for a rhythm game, and the lag was all my fault, but then I played the game with a controller and did better with the timing than I ever did with the bongos, so I think the bongos might just be bad for a rhythm game.

As for the tracklist, it seems like Nintendo was aiming extremely for family friendly, as it's a lot very boomer-core Oldies But Goodies stuff from the 50's and 60's. I need less of that and a lot more The Impression That I Get and Rock Lobster. Also this game has several tracks that are just a bunch of nursery rhymes in a row and like, you know what keep those, having the nerve to make my play my bongos to Happy Birthday is just funny. The Pokemon anime theme song and Kirby Right Back At Ya theme song are also appreciated.

Overall, this is kind of a not great rhythm game, where the funny peripheral you've been given doesn't really feel that good to play with the music. It's fun to play and laugh at with your friends, but trying to get actual enjoyment out of it is tough. The bongos are just a fun item to own though, I don't regret buying these bongos.