Playing Donkey Kong Country online: Gorillas in the web

Lately I have been on a vintage gaming binge, prompted by two very retro ‘current’ games I am going through, ‘Dragon Quest VI: Dreams of Reverie’ for the Nintendo DS and ‘Strider’ for the PS3. Admittedly, these games have been published in 2011 and 2014 respectively, but all the marketing in the world cannot hide their old school DNA.

That Japanese ‘Strider’ cover…

There is something comforting about retro games, whether you have played them before or not. If you have, there is an uncanny sense of reawakening, like any self-respecting 90s gay listening to Alanis Morissette’s ‘Jagged Little Pill’ nowadays. And if you come to the game with new eyes, ears and hands, you can admire the craft of a gaming era gone by, where games were simpler but by no means easier and achievements were something that existed only in your head before Microsoft spoiled it for everyone (NEVER FORGET).

It is while in this frame of mind that I got chatting to Aldara, a good friend of mine who lives in Spain. We both have a Wii and have enjoyed Monster Hunter sessions in the past, but we were never anywhere near the level of the nerd hordes professional players that populate the online servers of the game, and anyway the point is moot these days since Nintendo decided to close down the Wii Wi-Fi Online Connection a few months ago (thanks, chaps!). We also tried Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS, but once again competing against some of the MK worldwide elites usually involve me and Aldara fighting for that coveted last spot.

Sums up playing Mario Kart online

While I was trying to think of fairer games to play together, it suddenly dawned on me that co-operative multiplayer would be the best arrangement. My long-suffering husband has heavily hinted in the past that I am a terrible winner but a very good loser, so co-op multiplayer sounded perfect, particularly if my partner in crime was not well versed in the game we were playing together: Aldara is a gamer, but does not spend her living daylights grinding her way through Dragon Quest like others *ahem* so the sum of our abilities equals more fun than competing against each other.

Immediately after discussing this with her, I thought of Donkey Kong Country.

“An incredible 3-D (!) adventure in the Kingdom of Kong!”

I know historic revisionism has condemned DKC to the pantheon of Overrated Games, but I disagree strongly with the general sentiment that it was all style over substance. The graphics were very flashy for their time, it’s true, but I never remembered it as a simple press forward and jump affair. If my memory did not deceive me, the game offered plenty of gameplay variety and you could see Rareware consciously trying to do something different for each stage, be it vine jumping, minecarting, diving in toxic waters, barrel blasting or being chased by rodents in gigantic cog wheels (!).

The stuff of nightmares, this

The attention to detail and presentation were also second to very few games of the era, with a cohesive overworld and a wide range of scenarios, from caves, temples and jungles chockful of palm trees to the lofty heights of tree top forests and snowy peaks (surprisingly, no lava levels until the sequel), each of them accompanied by some of the most fitting music ever to grace the Super Nintendo. That it offered, as I remembered, a decent amount of challenge, particularly if played with someone who had never played it before, was extra icing on the cake.

[I know purists will scoff at my suggestion that the game is challenging, but please note I have not used the word hard to describe it. Super Ghouls ‘n Ghouls is hard. With dexterity, focus and a bit of trial and error, most stages in DKC can be cleared in a few tries.]

It is for these reasons that I suggested a playthrough of Donkey Kong Country to Aldara using the wonders of modern technology and she promptly accepted. A trip down nostalgia lane for me, but also a chance to rediscover a much-maligned game through the eyes of someone who by her own admission has only casually played its first few levels. I was intrigued as the last time I had completed Donkey Kong Country had been well over 15 years ago. Had history really been unfair to Rare’s monkey business? Was David Wise’s soundtrack as memorable as I remembered? And more importantly, would we ever get past the infamous Elevator Antics stage?

Me and the left, Aldara on the right, playing handsies

Stay peeled for a walkthrough of our experience playing Donkey Kong Country. Chimp up!