this game ain't nearly as bad as some people will try and tell you it is, i get the impression someone just said "yeah this game is endless and bloated" and people took that at face value without actually playing the game for themselves - sure it's got quite a lot of fat and even the developers of the game have said if they could go back they'd do things slightly differently, but that's ok, that doesn't mean the game is unplayable today, far from it.
donkey kong 64 is actually a pretty fun 3D platformer and it certainly didn't "kill the collecathon" genre, those existed on 6th generation consoles too lol. gaming simply shifted away from those and this so happens to be one of the later games in that genre.
so, should you play it if you haven't before? well, it's not as good as any of the original DKC games in my opinion but it slightly takes the edge on DKCR. if you don't care about DKC games, then let me compare it to another game that is very similar to DK64, banjo-kazooie. that game is basically the same game but with a smaller scope, with only 1 playable character, banjo-kazooie is definitely more digestible but i actually found myself way more burned out by the end of banjo-kazooie than i did with DK64. DK64 in my opinion, has waaaay more fun and memorable levels, whilst being designed almost identically to banjo-kazooie in structure and layout, the atmosphere of DK64 is unmatched, it is potentially my favorite atmosphere captured on the N64, supported by the fact the game famously uses vertex/dynamic lighting which really provides a pretty look for a game on one of the ugliest systems ever. (sorry)
despite the praise, the collectables ARE overwhelming, even if you're not going for 101%. i didn't go for 101% and ended my playthrough with 129 bananas, 25 hours, and 61% overall completion, that's quite a lot just to beat the game, and the requirement of the nintendo coin and the rareware coin was just pushing it man, i don't wanna have to beat 2 arcade games, 1 of them twice, just to beat the main game i'm tryna play, that ain't fun; but yeah, the bananas are placed poorly, everyone knows that, and it's not exactly fun to backtrack and stuff, even if people do greatly over-exaggerate just how much backtracking is required - i mean, seriously, there are tag barrels around every corner - the collectables still aren't excusable and underneath all of those collectables is a way better game.
the level-designs/themes are by far the strongest part of this game for me, and the characters and whatnot are all really fun too, lanky being my favorite. if i were to rank the levels from most favorite to least favorite, i'd do:
-frantic factory (such a fun concept)
-crystal caves
-jungle japes
-creepy castle
-fungi forest
-angry aztec (i just hate desert themes, dude)
-gloomy galleon (only thing worse than deserts is water...)
i guess DK isles and hideout helm count as their own levels, but i just wanted to count the main levels with collectables. DK isles and hideout helm are good in their own right though, i guess (although DK isles is probably my least favorite hub world in any N64 game).
overall, a pretty good with some big flaws, but still nowhere near as large as people like to make them out to be. play DK64 if you enjoy 3D-platformers. also the music's phenomenal, grant killed it once again. :)
donkey kong 64 is actually a pretty fun 3D platformer and it certainly didn't "kill the collecathon" genre, those existed on 6th generation consoles too lol. gaming simply shifted away from those and this so happens to be one of the later games in that genre.
so, should you play it if you haven't before? well, it's not as good as any of the original DKC games in my opinion but it slightly takes the edge on DKCR. if you don't care about DKC games, then let me compare it to another game that is very similar to DK64, banjo-kazooie. that game is basically the same game but with a smaller scope, with only 1 playable character, banjo-kazooie is definitely more digestible but i actually found myself way more burned out by the end of banjo-kazooie than i did with DK64. DK64 in my opinion, has waaaay more fun and memorable levels, whilst being designed almost identically to banjo-kazooie in structure and layout, the atmosphere of DK64 is unmatched, it is potentially my favorite atmosphere captured on the N64, supported by the fact the game famously uses vertex/dynamic lighting which really provides a pretty look for a game on one of the ugliest systems ever. (sorry)
despite the praise, the collectables ARE overwhelming, even if you're not going for 101%. i didn't go for 101% and ended my playthrough with 129 bananas, 25 hours, and 61% overall completion, that's quite a lot just to beat the game, and the requirement of the nintendo coin and the rareware coin was just pushing it man, i don't wanna have to beat 2 arcade games, 1 of them twice, just to beat the main game i'm tryna play, that ain't fun; but yeah, the bananas are placed poorly, everyone knows that, and it's not exactly fun to backtrack and stuff, even if people do greatly over-exaggerate just how much backtracking is required - i mean, seriously, there are tag barrels around every corner - the collectables still aren't excusable and underneath all of those collectables is a way better game.
the level-designs/themes are by far the strongest part of this game for me, and the characters and whatnot are all really fun too, lanky being my favorite. if i were to rank the levels from most favorite to least favorite, i'd do:
-frantic factory (such a fun concept)
-crystal caves
-jungle japes
-creepy castle
-fungi forest
-angry aztec (i just hate desert themes, dude)
-gloomy galleon (only thing worse than deserts is water...)
i guess DK isles and hideout helm count as their own levels, but i just wanted to count the main levels with collectables. DK isles and hideout helm are good in their own right though, i guess (although DK isles is probably my least favorite hub world in any N64 game).
overall, a pretty good with some big flaws, but still nowhere near as large as people like to make them out to be. play DK64 if you enjoy 3D-platformers. also the music's phenomenal, grant killed it once again. :)