Donkey Kong 64 (N64)

[Herschie]

I just started playing this for the first time. The intro and beginning are ok. As bad as you want to jump into the game, I actually like how they force you into the training stages because the controls would have been much harder to figure out and the training doesn't last all that long.

The one thing that's killing the experience is the camera. Like many other early 3D titles, the camera can be very awkward, and that can make things like jumping vines and trees much more difficult than they should be.

I'm surprised with all the random jungle noises that my dog isn't going bananas! See what I did there?

[Retro STrife]

I've always struggled to enjoy 3D platformers from that era and Donkey Kong 64 is no exception. I played it back when it was new and could never get into it. It takes a lot for me to give up on a game (especially back then when I had a lot less to play), but DK64 was boring enough that I called it quits after several hours of trying. Keep us posted as you play further in.

[ptdebate]

I, like RetroStrife, never got into the single player mode of this game. My friends and I got a huge kick out of the multiplayer, however. It's extremely chaotic and asymmetrical as all of the characters have widely different abilities. I wouldn't describe it as polished or particularly well thought out, but it is really comical to play with 3 friends. I really miss all of the four-player splitscreen deathmatch games from this time period.

[LoganRuckman]

I actually really love this game, despite the bad rap it gets nowadays. The graphics and soundtrack are incredible for an N64 game.The boss fights are fun as hell. The different modes (4 player split screen, replaying boss fights, etc.) are really fun. But what really impresses me the most is the sheer amount of ambition. Five different characters, all with a large moveset and different skills. Enormous levels that actually had teleportation pads to move through the level faster. The insane amount of collectables, despite being one of the more criticized aspects of the game. Fully playable versions of arcade Donkey Kong and Jetpac. A wide variety of modes and extras. Even with the Expansion Pak, it amazes me they could fit so much content into an N64 cartridge. And I have so much fun playing it, I just can't hate it.

[Gleebergloben123]

Loved Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie, both in my top 5 ever. But with Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Tooie, I didn’t care for having to use a specific character (like one of the five in Donkey Kong 64) to complete a certain level or screen.

My 17 year old son, who loves classic gaming and especially the 64, vehemently disagrees.

[ptdebate]

Loved Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie, both in my top 5 ever. But with Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo Tooie, I didn’t care for having to use a specific character (like one of the five in Donkey Kong 64) to complete a certain level or screen.

My 17 year old son, who loves classic gaming and especially the 64, vehemently disagrees.

That's right! I just had a flashback that reminded me of why I don't like Tooie as much as the original. It's just not fun when the game forces you to switch characters to complete a task in a specific way. Good game design is giving you the option to complete the same puzzle in multiple different ways, using the tools or characters at your disposal.

[Retro STrife]

I googled DK64, and it reminded me of a few things... First, the DK Rap when you turn on the game is great. Second, no doubt, DK64 had easily the best graphics ever seen on the N64 at that time -- a large part of that was because it was the first N64 game to require the Expansion Pak. (Still, the Dreamcast came out a couple months before this game, so DK64 was already outshined a bit upon its release.) Third, a large part of the reason that this game gets a bad rap is because, like many platformers of that era, it way overemphasized collecting items and similar pointless errands. As mentioned on the Wikipedia article for this game: "Donkey Kong 64 is remembered as the emblematic example of Rare's 'collect-a-thon' adventure platformers for the tedium of its collection tasks." That's probably a large part of the reason I got so bored with it.

Fourth, this is probably one of the most disappointing gaming purchases I ever made. N64 games were expensive and I was a typical broke teenager back then. But this game got stellar reviews. GameSpot was my go-to review site back then, it always seemed honest and on point, and very stingy with its grades.. so the rave review and 9 out of 10 score really sold me on the game. Plus I wanted the Expansion Pak, so that accessory helped justify the purchase. And good graphics were a huge selling point back then. So after all that hype, and dropping so much money on the game, it was a real disappointment that it was so unlikable. I was so invested that I really tried my best to like it, and never could. I still don't understand why it got such great reviews.

[ptdebate]

I googled DK64, and it reminded me of a few things... First, the DK Rap when you turn on the game is great. Second, no doubt, DK64 had easily the best graphics ever seen on the N64 at that time -- a large part of that was because it was the first N64 game to require the Expansion Pak.

I forgot about the rap!!! Me and my friends would chime those lyrics back and forth all the time!

I beg to differ on the graphics. I agree that it has a leg up on all of the previous N64 titles, but to me the game that used the Expansion Pak to the fullest was Perfect Dark. Sure the frame rate is a mess, but on high res mode that game goes beyond other N64 games. It's doesn't quite match up to a Dreamcast or PS2 game, but certainly something in between the two generations.

I still don't understand why it got such great reviews.

At the time, every Rare platformer got stellar reviews. The collectathon genre was very popular at the time. Perhaps there was collusion between gaming media and the publishers of strategy guides! (I jest)

[Retro STrife]

I beg to differ on the graphics. I agree that it has a leg up on all of the previous N64 titles, but to me the game that used the Expansion Pak to the fullest was Perfect Dark. Sure the frame rate is a mess, but on high res mode that game goes beyond other N64 games. It's doesn't quite match up to a Dreamcast or PS2 game, but certainly something in between the two generations.

Oh I agree with you on Perfect Dark. The way I worded my last post was confusing.. What I meant is that I think DK64 had the best graphics on the N64 at the time that it was released. So it got a lot of extra hype in marketing and reviews based on its graphics. Perfect Dark eventually surpassed that, but it came out a little over 6 months after DK64.

[Rev]

I think the only reason this game uses the Expansion pack is because of a fatal bug in the game where it crashes without it. Funny thing is the follow up N64 Rare platformers didn't use the Expansion pack at all.