The SNES is absolutely loaded with classic platformers. Games that have transcended the limited, archaic hardware of the console and gone on to become all-time favorites that folks still love and regularly talk about to this day. We all know Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Kirby Super Star, Mega Man X, Super Castlevania IV and so many other icons of the genre. Donkey Kong Country (along with its two sequels) has gone on to become one of my most beloved games from this pantheon of classic games.
Donkey Kong Country is a fantastic game through and through, and perhaps even more importantly, this game helped rehabilitate the image of Mario's one-time villain into a full-blown character, and then into a proper icon in Nintendo's roster. Rare took the undefined, King Kong-adjacent character and redesigned him, also giving him a whole cast of supporting characters like Cranky and Diddy Kong and King K. Rool and a new tropical jungle setting. Their vision for Donkey Kong is really how we have the modern Donkey Kong today, as these characters and how they're depicted, as well as their setting have become synonymous with the name Donkey Kong.
At the time that Donkey Kong Country released, these pre-rendered, 3D graphics were completely mind-boggling. We weren't really seeing games that looked like this. In the thirty years since, people haven't been as kind to the game's aesthetics, but I personally maintain the opinion that this game still looks great all these years later. Given the tropical and jungle locales that you explore in the game, they went for a lot of rich, vibrant, beautiful colors that still look breathtaking. The stylized art that they went for has kept the game looking great and incredibly unique. As a child of the nineties, and an extremely nostalgic person, I love this bold, borderline experimental approach to the art. It felt like we were getting a lot of innovative, creative artistic expression back then, and Donkey Kong Country helped lead the charge on the video game front.
Gameplay wise, Donkey Kong Country was also unlike anything we'd experienced before. While we had obviously seen and played amazing 2D platformers before this, this game brought a fresh energy to the genre. For one thing, you control simultaneously control two characters, in the titular Donkey Kong and his nephew Diddy Kong, both of them having distinct traits. Our lead gorilla is stronger and slightly more capable in combat, while Diddy is the quicker and more agile of the two. They are both capable of all of the core functions necessary for navigating through any given stage. I'll say the platforming isn't as satisfying or polished feeling as a peer like Super Mario World, but the moment to moment gameplay feels significantly more dynamic than something like a Mario title.
Like with any platforming game, you're regularly jumping and ducking over obstacles and enemies. Both Kongs are also capable of attacking, rolling and picking up and hurling barrels at enemies as well. Many of the stages feature brief, yet really enjoyable departures from the traditional platforming sequences, in which you're riding in mine carts through volcanic caves, like something from Indiana Jones. There are also some cool instances where you're climbing into some sort of barrel cannon and being shot through the air.
The Kongs also have a few different animal friends scattered throughout the stages that you can free and then ride, almost akin to Mario with Yoshi. There's Rambi the rhino, who can ram into enemies and also through walls to find secret areas. Enguarde is a swordfish who can stab enemies to make the challenging underwater sections a bit less painful. Squawks is a parrot that carries a lantern and lights your path through dark cave stages. Expresso is a huge ostrich that can fly short distances and run fast. And lastly, there's a frog named Winky who can leap great heights and get the Kongs to otherwise unreachable places. I always loved the inclusion of these animal friends, both for their utility and just for their cute designs. They add another dimension to Donkey Kong Country that I appreciate.
I would be committing a grievous sin to not mention this game's completely phenomenal soundtrack, composed largely by my favorite video game composer, David Wise. The Donkey Kong Country soundtrack has gone on to create a life of its own, divorced even from discussion about the game itself. David Wise went for this incredibly ambient, naturalistic sound, where he tried to match the music to the exotic environments and it worked so well. Aquatic Ambience, probably the most famous track from this game, is frequently cited one of the most gorgeous songs ever composed for a video game. I'll say for myself, I listen to the entire Donkey Kong Country franchise's soundtracks every time that I'm writing. David Wise composed the soundtracks for each game, and they're all just sublime. Something about the instrumental, mellow, ambient tracks just fuels my mind's creativity.
Related: Donkey Kong Bananza Review
I write this review honestly assuming that the reader has already played this game at some point in his or her life, as it is a genuine landmark title in Nintendo's catalog, and a must play; remaining so over three decades later. If you haven't played it, you need to fix that. Donkey Kong Country is a wonderful, innovative and unique platformer from the golden age of the genre.
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