I'm not quite finished with this one - there's a whole new set of levels once you finish the game, and I still want to go back and get platinum ranks on all of the levels I missed. Having said that, I can't see my opinion changing too much.

I bought the DK bongos on a whim off of ebay. They were fairly cheap, and more than anything else, I just wanted to own this item since I was in a DK mood. I was obviously interested in the various Gamecube games that required use of the bongos, but besides Jungle Beat, I wasn't exactly foaming at the mouth to play them.

I always found Jungle Beat peculiar, being a platformer controlled solely with four buttons, though I suppose inputs would be a better term for it. You can run left or right by tapping that side of the bongo, you can jump by slamming your hands on both sides at once, and if you clap into the microphone, Donkey Kong will also clap his hands to interact with certain objects and collect bananas. This input is a tad inconsistent, and caused me some frustrations throughout the course of the game, but not enough that I consider it a significant flaw. With these limitations in place, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat could never test you with quick precision platforming, so the developers took an entirely different approach.

My best comparison, at least of the games I've experienced, is Pizza Tower. Doing certain actions increases your combo counter - ground pounds, wall jumps, swinging from vines, defeating enemies etc. - and the number your combo counter is on is the amount by which the number of bananas you collect is multiplied, and this resulting number is called 'beats'. The aim, then, is to finish each level with the most beats possible, with different medals earned for certain milestones, up to 1200 beats for the coveted platinum medal. The twist is that if your feet touch the ground, the combo counter resets to 0. Additionally, while a combo is still going, any damage taken will deplete every beat you've gotten since you last touched the ground.

There's a nice ebb and flow to Jungle Beat, you look for opportunites for big combos and then carefully position yourself to maximise your combo counter before taking on a tricky execution test where you try to collect as many bananas as possible before that combo ends, as the opportunity likely won't return in most cases. You can eke out some ridiculous combos in odd spaces, using tight inputs to backflip, ground pound and wall jump before messing about with every interactable in the room. Once you set up a tough combo, there's a lot of pressure to execute from then on, collecting as many beats as possible before you're forced to touch the ground again.

Each stage concludes with a boss fight which are never bad by any means, but typically not something to write home about. There's a small selection of 'template' bosses that are remixed throughout the game, but the threat loss isn't dying, it's losing your beats. You don't gain any new beats from boss fights, instead being drained of them every time you take damage. Sometimes this will mean nothing; the surplus of beats is too high for any amount of damage to impact your score. On other occasions, a single hit is enough to kill the run, so you'll be on the edge of your seat during these encounters.

I feel as if I've sold this game, but I can never truly do it justice. You won't get it until you've held the bongos in your hand, you've felt the visceral impact of slamming against them to defeat a boss while on precipice of being knocked down a rank. The bongos are a joy to pound on, and I often worked up quite the sweat chasing high scores in this game. This game will get your blood pumping should you chase after its highest ranks and while there are some slight inconveniences here and there, you're just not going to find another experience like Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.

It is with a heavy heart that I announce that I'm not all too fond of Diddy Kong Racing. This hurts as a fan of the character, as a fan of the Donkey Kong series, as well as a fan of other racing games.

I have not tried this game in multiplayer, which is to say, I haven't experienced this game in arguably its best form. If you'd like, consider this a review solely for the singleplayer offerings. The story mode is both the game's greatest strength while simultaneously holding it back from excellence. Uniquely, there's a hub world for you to explore, and you can do so in a car, boat or even a plane! While there's very little to find or see, the overworld is quaint and it'd be wonderful to see expanded in other Kart racers going forward, though I'm doubtful this will ever come to fruition.

There are smaller hubs within the wider overworld, and these all play out the exact same. First you race on the four tracks, and I hope you like them because as soon as you've gotten first on each, you'll be doing it again! Now, you have to win the race while also collecting some balloons which are placed in awkward spots across the track. The next phase is a boss fight (and I will get to these), followed by a Grand Prix where you race through the four tracks... again. Finally, you take on a more difficult version of the boss and lo and behold, you've cleared the world! There's also a minigame in each hub, but these aren't very enjoyable and barely worth mentioning.

I think the issue is self-evident: this game is incredibly repetitious. There's nothing to set repeat playthroughs of courses apart from another, which is very odd given the game has a built in system for this! The game features three vehicle types, and while I don't know the details of which vehicles can and cannot work on which tracks, why on earth does the game never just switch up your vehicle when possible?? You can choose another vehicle when retrying courses after their current objective has been fulfilled, but at that point there's absolutely no reason to redo the race. I'm flabbergasted by this, you worked so hard to make these tracks traversible in different ways and you aren't going to showcase this during the game's campaign? Baffling!

The tracks overall are pretty good, especially towards the end. I don't love using the planes, but the car and boat handle well and I like the distinct character attributes. The items are nothing special, but being able to upgrade them by running into the same item multiple times is refreshing. Unfortunately, this brings us at last to the boss fights, which are largely terrible. The difficulty spike is brutal and I must confess the first fight with Wizpig contributed to some genuine anger on my end, which I'm not proud to admit. Each boss is uniquely infuriating, with annoying stage hazards and awkward body blocking galore. The precision required for the aforementioned Wizpig is unbelievable for a game this undeniably aimed at children, and while it ultimately only took about 45 minutes worth of attempts, I didn't find the experience of improving at the race at all rewarding.

I think I initially gave this game 2 stars, coming straight off of the first fight against Wizpig. The rematch was ridiculously easy in comparison, and I left it a day before returning to award the game 3 stars instead. I tend not to struggle with scores, but this one really had me conflicted. The core racing mechanics are strong, and the tracks are good enough to bolster this fact. The game is then marred by a poor structure and agonising boss encounters that left me in a bad mood, which impacted how I felt about the game's fundamental elements. There's a good racing game here, but I'd suggest you stay clear of the campaign lest you want to suffer.

You can't discuss Donkey Kong Country 3 without acknowledging its status as the black sheep of the DKC trilogy. Its reputation isn't overwhelmingly negative nor is it overwhelmingly positive, and from reading a lot online, people just tend to be rather mixed on this package. And while there are some aspects I really don't care for, the level design in DKC3 is often the strongest the series.

To begin on a positive note, the world map here is distinct from both everything that came before it as well as most games to follow it. Interactive hub worlds have increased in popularity within the genre, but this strikes me as a pinoeer of the idea. There are some creative utilisations, though nothing extraordinarily unique. We'd obviously see this expanded in Rare's 3D offerings, but it's a shame DKC never revisited the concept. There's still hope, I suppose.

The hub world - visually - is... disappointing. I don't mind this game being a little more light-hearted in nature than its predecessor, but these environments do very little for me. The world feels very Canadian/North American (though I believe it was intended to be inspired by Northern Europe more than anything else) and I really don't care for the aesthetic. We've got from utter whimsy in the second title back to generic lakes, caves and forests in this one. It's reminiscent of the original's pared back locales, but I find these a lot less engaging on a personal level. The waterfall levels are nice, and you can't go wrong with a factory, but I'd argue the only standout are the pipe levels, which feel like nothing I've seen in the series prior. Even the water levels harken back the DKC1, being pretty bog standard swimming affairs as opposed to DKC2's melding of land and sea.

None of this is helped by the soundtrack, which largely underwhelms. I've softened on this a little, but first impressions are important and I cannot stand the openling level's theme, 'Stilt Village'. It truly annoys me, and while nothing else offends me on that level, the rest range from listenable to pretty good. I do not think there's an outstanding song on this OST, which is massive shame coming off of DKC2. I don't want to lump the blame onto Eveline Fischer entirely, she's proven to be a good fit for the franchise in the past and David Wise contributes some poor songs to this game too. I imagine they were given some strange direction which didn't allow them to produce their best work. All of this - as well as the environments - contributes to a vibe I simply do not love. It's tricky for me to elaborate on the point more than I have as I understand this is a huge matter of taste, but the Northern Kremisphere just did not click.

Dixie Kong is joined by a goumless baby ape in this instalment. His name is Kiddy Kong, and while I don't hate him, he's a rather ugly character. The team up feature is expanded a little here, as one primate is bigger than the other. Dixie can't throw Kiddy that far, but he can break certain floors and will turn into a weapon if rolled towards enemies. Kiddy tosses Dixie further, that's about it. The former mechanic is strange, because as far as I'm aware, there's a grand total of one floor in the entire game that can be broken by throwing Kiddy on it, and it's in the first(?) level. I could fact check this, but I do not care to and will continue to believe the mechanic was underutilised regardless of evidence to the contrary.

You're probably reading the above, glancing at the score, and wondering how on Earth I've reached that. While the issues above bothered me, it took very little time to accept them and enjoy the game for what it was, because this is another absolutely top notch platformer. It takes a little time for the game to pick up, but the mechanics introduced really demonstrate Rare at their most creative. Clambering from cover to cover while under the constant barrage of cannon fire, a 'minecart' section that sees you latching onto the ceiling for added verticality, or a level that sees you baiting out lightning strikes to find secrets - DKC3 is brimming with unique ideas that never overstay their welcome. I imagine people have big issues with the likes of Fish Food Frenzy, Poisonous Pipeline or Rocket Rush, but the pacing here is immaculate, and by the time these gimmicks begin to wear down on you, you're onto the next level. I'm glad they tried so much weird shit here, as I find that a ton of it worked. While I do prefer DKC2 overall, I'm almost just as excited to revisit this game in the future.

I'd also like to appluad the secret design here. This was already vastly improved by DKC2, but it's refined elegantly here. Besides the secret final world, each level has two bonus levels and a DK coin. The bonus levels are hidden about as well as they were in DKC2, if not a tad better (minus a couple of exceptions relating to Kiddy Kong's obscure 'Water Skip' ability). These bonus rooms each have a unique challenge and while some could be rather infuriating, I think the level of challenge is a nice thing compared to the offering in 2. The DK coins aren't exactly hidden this time around, with a little shield Kremling protecting them in every level. While these are easy to find, each one is a little puzzle you have to solve, figuring out how to knock out the enemy from a direction his shield isn't facing. While largely trivial, some were real brain teasers, and I appreciated the change of pace they provided as well as feeling like distinct secrets compared to the bonus rooms.

DKC3 is a melting pot of fantastically executed ideas with an overall misguided direction, at least for my money. None of this is to mention the bosses which are better than DKC1's, but worst than 2's. I once again add them as a footnote as they barely impact my overall impressions, and once again I note that Baron K. Roolenstein is the best of the bunch. Donkey Kong Country 3 might be the weakest entry in the trilogy, but I likely believe this for different reasons than everyone else. Unlike the preceding entries, I don't want to spend more time in this world, but I can assure you I do want to spend more time engaging with its mechanics.

I have failed as a fan of Diddy Kong. The fact that it took me this long to finally get around to his headline title is frankly unbelievable. I love Donkey Kong Country, I love Returns and I love Tropical Freeze too. I even had a copy of DKC3 on the Wii's Virtual Console (which, admittedly, I played for very little time). Despite all of that, I never touched Donkey Kong Country 2.

Finally, I decided to stream the game a few years back and... something was wrong. I'd like to come to the defence of streamers here as I really was having a hard time. I was dying a lot and it just wasn't clicking. I stopped playing, barely two worlds in. Was this game truly overhyped?

Obviously fucking not! Donkey Kong Country 2 is one of humanity's greatest achivements, right up there alongside touching down on the moon and building the pyramids. This is DKC1 on steroids, cranking up every aspect to 11, 12, 13 - even 14!

Donkey Kong is gone, and in his place are a couple of smaller primates. The aforementioned and personally beloved Diddy Kong is joined by his talented girlfriend Dixie Kong, who does unfortunately outclass my guy somewhat. While Diddy has his strengths, Dixie can glide using her hair, which - while never trivialising the difficuly - acts as a safety net for trickier jumps, and makes others possible in the first place. She is obviously the stronger option, but this doesn't invalidate Diddy Kong. If you take damage with one simian sidekick, the other will take the lead. If Dixie was up front, you now have to play as Diddy until you find another DK barrel, meaning you can't rely on her abilities forever. There's some minor decision making involved with swapping Kongs, but nothing too thought-provoking.

New to 2 are the team up mechanics. The duo are able to pick their companion up and toss them into the air to access all sorts of things. This makes the process of finding secrets both easier and more satisfying, as stuff can be hidden just a little ways above you without you stumbling into it by accident. I actually made it to 102% completion on this one, which I could not be bothered doing in DKC1 (largely because the game didn't make a note of which levels you had yet to find all the secrets in). Also new are various animal buddies, which find a lot more usage in this instalment. Squitter is the most notable addition to me, as he completely alters how you approach levels, and could work as the protagonist of his own platformer.

I made a big deal about atmosphere in my DKC review, and this game is no slouch in that department. DKC2 doesn't rely on the themes of the original to build its world, instead taking you on an exciting adventure through pirate ships, volcanoes, bee hives and even a theme park. It's a lot more whimsical than its predecessor, which suits the younger heroes perfectly. They like to rock out at the end of levels, and I really appreciated Diddy Kong's vibrant expressions as he flies down rollercoasters. The stakes are higher than ever - and the final levels make this very clear - but these young primates are revelling in their first outing as the 'top dogs' of Donkey Kong Country.

These outlandish level themes couldn't work without the music, and David Wise once again knocks it out of the park with arguably his best work ever. You've heard Stickerbrush Symphony, arguable the greatest song to ever grace my eardrums, but songs like Forest Interlude, Mining Melancholy and Hot-Head Bop continue this trend of relaxing yet groovy tracks that combat the often brutal difficulty present in some levels, whereas others like Crocodile Cocophany and Disco Train just ratchet up the intensity to reflect the dangers these Kongs face. Countless other examples exist, everyone's going to have different favourites but I can confidently say that every song is carrying its weight on this powerhouse of an OST.

Level design is just top notch. This is one area the game doesn't improve massively on its predecessor, but it doesn't have to. Mechanics like the honey walls and all of the different barrel types introduced don't slow the pace down in the slightest, yet you have odd experiments such as Bramble Blast and Rickety Race which have opposing goals, but flow smoothly with the rest of the game. Of course I'm not itching to replay the level where you just wait for barrels to turn before shooting, but to fault the game for this would require me to ignore the intentional placement of this level after the arduous Slime Climb, a peaceful reprieve before you get into the game's tougher worlds while serenaded by the beautiful score. This contrast provides the game with some room to breathe, some time to take in what you've been playing rather than rocketing you through the experience the way you'd expect a 2D Mario game to (yes, I have decided to once again wage war on everyone's favourite plumber).

And once again, I leave the bosses as a footnote. A vast improvement on the original's offering, but not particularly notable in their own right. Kaptain K. Rool is the highlight once again, serving as an impressively intense capstone to the game's story. There's a money system this time around which will waste your time a little, but again introduces an element of stress to the life system, which I appreciate more and more as time goes on. Donkey Kong Country 2 is a masterclass in 2D platformer design that I urge everyone to play. It's likely to be the great ape's pinnacle (despite his lack of screen time in the game) and I think I'll be revisiting this one occasionally in the years to come. Godspeed, Diddy Kong.

I had never played the original Donkey Kong Country before, a statement I can attest is only slightly untrue. This was my first time playing the SNES version of this game, as the GBA remake of DKC was one of my first games. I shared it with my older sister, and we'd try to complete every level with Diddy Kong so his face would appear everywhere on the map screen.

If you know anything about me, you'll know that my admiration for Diddy Kong has only increased.

The original entry in this series stands as a shining example of a 2D platformer done right. I'm going to berate Mario for a second here, so please avert your eyes if this sounds upsetting to you. I started playing through Super Mario Wonder a while ago and enjoyed it, but something just wasn't clicking. The levels in that game, while admittedly tightly designed and polished, wash over me without leaving an impact. I'll likely explore that a little more once I finish the game, but the 2D Mario series has always had this effect on me.

Donkey Kong Country reminds me what 2D platformers can be, in the same ways as Rayman Redemption, Yoshi's Island and a more contemporary example such as Pizza Tower. Levels can hook you atmospherically, an incredible strength of this primate platformer. Words cannot begin to describe how wonderful this soundtrack is, and while we have to attribute most of the credit to David Wise, one of my favourite tracks - Ice Cave Chant - was composed by the oft overlooked Eveline Fischer. The soundscape, combined with the timeless, immersive visuals builds the so-called Donkey Kong Country into a place I can enjoy sitting around in just as much as I do jumping around it.

The jumping is no slouch either; almost every level has you contesting with something unique, and no mechanic overstays its welcome. I'd even say that some levels could have done with expanding their ideas, but it's clear that brevity was one of the team's core goals and I can't blame them for it. Some of these levels are truly brilliant: a creepy cavern filled with kremlings that have to be disabled constantly by touching barrels, a tense floating platform that needs to be refueled lest you be tossed into the void and the myriad of levels that play with the iconic barrel mechanics in new ways. A lot of these are gimmicky, but I don't say that as a bad thing. I appreciate how often the game is willing to toss you into new territory - and isn't all that forgiving at that.

There's a tense balance in the life system here. The game is hard enough that you'll be draining lives likely quicker than you obtain new ones, and due to the absence of save points during certain portions, you're often forced into deeply uncomfortable stretches where one more death could cause you to repeat multiple levels. I'd understand someone using this as a critique, but to me it sucks me into this world. This world has been dominated by a truly cruel leader, and you aren't going to breeze through his forces. You have to work to beat this, yet it's not at all brutal. The game's difficulty hits a sweet spot that I think so many devs have strived to hit themselves, but missed the mark. A truly commendable achievement of design that, unfortunately, we likely won't see these days. I suppose that makes going back to play this even more special, though!

My only major complaint about this first title is that the bosses are rather... shit. I don't even want to dedicate more time to them, besides King K. Rool they have absolutely nothing going for them. Donkey Kong Country is a relic of the past, not every little thing works, but it coalesces into an unforgettable experience, an adventure through a world I'll never cease to love.

The feelings I was hit with during Before the Green Moon were truly overwhelming. I was consistently awash with not only joy and whimsy, but sorrow and regret, and many a contemplation about my own life during the game's quiet moments.

This is a farming game, though not in the same way that Stardew Valley is a farming game. The systems here are not complex; you place a crop in the ground, you water it every day and then you harvest it. Most crops function in this manner, while others can be harvested multiple times throughout the season they grow. You can find chickens too, though this again is a simple system where you place apples in their box to appease their hunger.

Where this game excels is in its setting. The look and feel of this world is distinctly Before the Green Moon. The game looks muddy, with grimy dilapidation visible on every low quality texture. This isn't at all a criticism though, as cleaner looking texture would take away from the vibe this game gives off. This place is new to you, and kinda ugly, but as you continue to explore and integrate into the town, it begins to feel like you belong. The individual textures are less apparent as you take in the bigger picture, appreciating the 'realness' of this landscape.

What enhances the believability is the writing, which is more human than any game I've experienced prior. Inititally, I found it a tad mundane. Characters often have little interesting to say, and the lore of the world unfolds very slowly, and never allows you a full view of what it looks like. Yet, I continued to play and started to buy into it. These conversations remind me of my own, some conversations are boring, and compartively I know very little about my world and the people inside it. I don't need to know these characters' entire backstory, I get bits and pieces the same way I do with my friends. These interactions come at usual intervals as you run around town, but you're able to become closer to any character you like by simply spending more time around time. I personally experienced a lowkey love story that wasn't excessively romantic or dramatic, but it was reflective of my own love life. It was sweet, and I was allowed to bask simply in the presence of my partner, through thick and thin.

There comes a point where progress on the story halts. You no longer see new cutscenes and continue to farm purely to make more money. There is an end goal; to reach the moon, a place abundant with opportunity. I knew I had to go there, until I found happiness in this digital world, deciding that I'd rather stay there forever.

But I reached this point of stagnation that I couldn't overcome. Life had become totally routine, and while there was still joy in that, I started to crave change. I feel this way about my own life, and again this game had me positioning myself in the protagonist's shoes. Could I live this way forever? Ultimately, the answer was no, and the parting was truly heartwrenching. There is no resolution, you say goodbye and the game ends in fairly open ended manner. It's the hardest decision a game has ever had me making, and well over a month later, I still don't know if I made the right choice.

To me, that is the mark of a masterpiece.