Moving Past Nostalgia | Donkey Kong 64 Retrospective
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- čas přidán 1. 06. 2024
- After the success of the Donkey Kong Country Trilogy and Banjo-Kazooie, Rare and Nintendo followed up with a brand-new collectathon platformer for their beloved monkey - Donkey Kong 64. It brought Donkey Kong and his friends into the 3D realm with sprawling worlds, brand new moves, and LOTS and LOTS of collectables, and even today, many consider it a quality game. However, while it received positive reviews at the time of its launch in 1999, in recent years, the game has been heavily derided by fans and critics alike for being bloated and poorly designed. So is Donkey Kong 64 a Rare classic or a giant misstep? Let's find out. #DonkeyKong64 #Rareware #BanjoKazooie
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TIMECODES
00:00 - INTRO
02:13 - DEVELOPMENT
06:33 - STORY
08:05 - GAMEPLAY
17:35 - GAME DESIGN
26:40 - AESTHETHICS
30:07 - PERFORMANCE AND GLITCHES
35:01 - CONCLUSION
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SOURCES/RECOMMENDED READING
IGN: Donkey Kong Swings to 64DD (bit.ly/2X749H8)
IGN: Donkey Kong Enforces 4MB (bit.ly/2B2K4sW)
IGN: The Beast Is Loose (bit.ly/2XFSz4L)
GamesRadar: As Donkey Kong 64 turns 20, the devs reflect on its design, the infamous DK Rap, and how a shocked Shigeru Miyamoto created the Coconut Shooter (bit.ly/2BbBUyH)
Nintendo Life: Donkey Kong 64 Devs On Bugs, Boxing And 20 Years Of The DK Rap (bit.ly/36EP02Q)
Square Enix Music Online: Interview with Grant Kirkhope (bit.ly/2M5lief)
Nintendo Life: Donkey Kong 64 Required Expansion Pak to Prevent Game-Breaking Bug (bit.ly/2ZJkZgZ)
theballaam96srl: Was the DK64 Expansion Pak REALLY a failure? ( • Video ) - Hry
NOTE: Okay so obviously the number of collectables at 08:24 reads 4,800 (the correct number) but I accidentally said 48,000 (a big wrong number that only a dumb idiot would say). Some of you have already pointed this out, but obviously this is a silly mistake on my part. Just acknowledging it here!
Nobody ever mentions that you’re not actually collecting 100 collectible bananas for every Kong on every level. Yes, they all add up to 100, but you’re only collecting 3 balloons, 9 bunches, and 25 single bananas per kong. So you’re only picking up 37 banana items per Kong, per level. And the total also neglects that some of the coins come in 25 coin variants (gives 5 coins to every Kong when collected). So the total number of collectibles is very inflated.
So, if my math is correct, correct me if I’m wrong, I don’t know if my count of coins is correct as I couldn’t find a list anywhere. However, an article detailing a speedrunner finding that last 5 coin in Fungi forest listed it as 1 extra collectible. Anyway, if I’m correct, there are only 2,491 collectibles in DK64.
201 Golden Bananas
25 Single Bananas, 9 banana bunches, and 3 banana balloons per kong, per 7 levels = 1190
977 banana coins (this number may not be correct)
45 banana medals
45 blueprints
15 banana fairies
8 battle crowns
8 boss keys
1 Nintendo coin
1 Rareware coin
=2,491 total items to collect. Which is still a lot! But not near the crazy inflated number everyone says.
@@GEMGaming_yt Exactly. People seem to parrot that exaggerated number of collectibles because the narrative on this game has turned extremely negative over the years, but it's really not that bad.
It's also worth mentioning that you don't need to get 100% of the items and bananas to beat the game. The option is there for the completionists like all Rare games, but you don't need to if you don't want to.
@@huntercrunch94 yes! And my numbers may still be slightly off. But if anything, they would be lower. I really need to get back to this game and try to play it casually, not trying to collect everything. I really really loved it as a kid.
@@GEMGaming_yt no offense but I’ll take Guinness number over yours
As a kid who grew up in a home without a lot of money floating around, this era of Rare games packed to the brim with collectables were the world to me.
Right? People complain about too many items, it’s called content! What the heck, just heard the video about lack of content, that’s so stupid.
@@gduag64 There’s having a good amount of content, and then there’s cramming literally thousands of collectibles that you can only collect with specific characters, that you can only switch to at specific locations, and forcing you to collect it all to truly finish it. I respect that you enjoy the game (and who knows, it’s coming in the mail in a week, I might too), but you have to admit that it is an objective flaw.
@@stanstanstan2597 meh, if you only were able to get one new game a year as a kid (birthday gift for example), having bloated repetitive content would still be preferable to less, more streamlined content.
This was the same for me. A game for Christmas and maybe one for my birthday. It had to last for months... and this game sure did. I remember getting it for Christmas. Infact i can still remember playing it on Christmas morning while eating my toast and drinking a cup of tea from my star wars episode 1 mug. I always made sure i asked for games that id heard were decent or had decent reviews because i had a long wait if they were not good. Excuse me while i reminisce....
@@stanstanstan2597 nah. you do not have to collect everything to win either thats major hyperbole. i actually enjoyed the challenge of collecting all the coins, bananas and golden bananas i could. it taught me how to strategize before i could even read, gave me a good excuse to fully explore every nook and cranny of these amazing worlds (and listen for hours to the music that i still love) and at least when i was killed or left the world i wouldnt have to collect it all over again like in the first banjo kazooie game lol imagine my surprise growing up and seeing that the general public despises the thing that was the most fun for me. i'm 26 and the 3d platformer collectathon is still my fav genre of video games. but those barrel mini games were torture especially the minecart madness one- and i hated having to play the dk arcade and jetpak games.
In summary: They need to make another 3D Donkey Kong game dammit
One has supposedly been in production for years now.
@@KittSpiken Give me a link to where you found out about that Golden Nugget of Knowledge!
@@shaunm6383 yes
no?! where'd you get that from? the dkc games are all miles better thand DK64 why would anyone want another 3D dk game?
@@shaunm6383 I poked around a little and found some whispers, but for me, it all started here czcams.com/video/6Bx1IKQ1btY/video.html
the "fun" of this game was getting into the mindset of "i am kong now and i collect things"
Me monke, me colecc
*o h b a n a n a*
Reject negativity, return to monke
on point! its such a deep game
It’s meh
The whole time he’s talking crap about the game I’m like wow this game is so awesome.
38:08 I'm so glad you brought up getting scared by the voice yelling "GET OUT!" after some of the challenges in Angry Aztec and Crystal Caves, cause not enough reviewers do. That call out scared the hell out of me the first time I heard it as a kid, and the follow-up target sight zoning in on you with a 30 second timer running had me panicking every time.
I think I nearly crapped myself the first time I heard it
I always muted the TV when I knew it was coming because it traumatized me as a kid
I can never forget that fear I got, when I heard that voice for the first time. I was so confused at first and scared, trying to fight back and find who was trying to kill me. xD
What REALLY scared me was the giant "no entry" symbol and growling laugh when going out of bounds with Rambi or the Rocketbarrel Boost. To this day, I have to look away when I sense it coming in a video. -_-
Maybe not the most polished game BUT the music and character is on point
The multiplayer was certainly fun, particularly the battle arena.
Music by grant kirkhope is instantly great
What are you talking about, this was mind blowing in every aspect for that time
@@lodewijkwerle65 was it though?
I agree
This game literally blew my mind as a kid. I didn’t know anything could be that fun and the open 3D world was magical. I played it on an emulator in college and still had a blast. Would absolutely LOVE a remake with new assets.
Did you try Banjo Kazooie? Similar structure and design but more compact and refined.
@@Savage-- Man, Banjo Tooie cracked me UP when I realized halfway through just how absurdly LARGE the game is!! (And I loved that, btw)
Banjo Kazooie was so amazingly compact and refined, DK64 has the most appealing visuals and audio design for me, and Tooie's crazy cohesive world still blows me away. The amount of times I'd go "Whooaa!" when realizing I just casually waltzed from one world to another via one door/action... adored that the most
I still play it every year or two.
Thee exact same for as well! When things weren't popping in college, popped out the emulator and still had a blast playing this.
Still have never felt a game that was like a full universe. It's hard to express at the time how it felt to have a game so packed with content. Videogames just didn't look or feel like dk64 did at the time.
Everyone has opinions for this game, and i respect their opinion. I grew up playing this game and still playing it until this day.
I played it start to finish like 5 times from young age to early 20's. I am 32 now and still love the game. Lol.
Yeah, regardless of anyone else's thoughts I liked it
My wife loves this game and Majora's Mask, and still plays them.
Best collectithon in my opinion
Such mixed opinions on this one for me as well. I loved the platforming, but as a near-child, found parts of the game too difficult and some of the collectables to be extreme.
This is an S tier masterpiece and I will not tolerate anything less than that. Still waiting on DK 65
Edit: a year later I finally get a notification for this comment and wow some (one) of you take things way too seriously.
Yay, denying the inherent flaws of a game for the sake of blind nostalgia and ignoring blatant flaws so you don’t have to admit your favorite game isn’t perfect. Come on dude, you can like this game and still admit that it has flaws.
@@stanstanstan2597 cry about it
@@stanstanstan2597 what if it's perfect to him?
@@stanstanstan2597 a masterpiece doesn't have to be truly perfect. Objectively it may be flawed, but the feeling it evoques may make it subjectively perfect. You can never taste your favorite ice cream for the fist time again, but you can enjoy it just as much every time
@@stanstanstan2597 This game consumed my entire holiday season and I have nothing but amazing memories from this game. The only gripe I have now going back to it.....is that there isn't a modern update with improved frame rate. Hoping it launches at some point on the Switch Expansion pass to give me a reason to subscribe.
Controversially, this is my favorite game of all time.
I think most complaints about the game can be said about most other popular games in the N64 era.
What I love most about this game is that every single thing about it goes back to the personalities of the characters. Everything down to how they stand when talking to other characters, or how they look when being healed by a banana fairy.
Theoretically, golden bananas could be done by any kong. Some other kong could have helped the mermaid, but it was Tiny. Some other kong could have done the burping Kremlings, but it was Lanky. And it was choices like these that made me absolutely love this game.
My biggest gripe about the game would be the banana barrels, because it was the one aspect of the game completely unconnected to the characters. Which kong did which barrel was an extremely arbitrary decision, and it ruins what makes the game fun.
I personally think the fact that the game has different collectables spread all over the level that can only be picked up by a specific kong actually makes the game fun. To some people, it's tedious, but to me, it makes the game more exciting. When you explore the world with different kongs, you can go, "Oh yeah, I saw that with this kong, but now I can finally pick it up!" And it's that feeling of excitement and satisfaction that gets you to explore the entire level with every kong.
Also, besides the banana coins, there is a celebration of some kind when you collect all of a collectable in a level. I loved hearing that sound when I collected the 100th banana, even if that's all I got for it.
I still play the game with regularity to this day. Fungi Forest is my favorite level and Lanky is my favorite kong :)
While its not my favourite game of all time, i totally agree with your points.
never apologize for your favourite game. DK64 is just a ton of fun. Rare made so many great games.
My FFIV is my favourte game ever. And Dk 64 has personaltiy for days over DKC3
Wow. It's funny how different people react differently to things. I'm a huge DKC fan, however, I don't see myself playing more than 5 minutes of a DK collectathon. Your comment "I've seen this with this kong, now I can collect it" is my worst nightmare when playing any game: having to do the same thing more than once to collect stuff or solve problems that weren't there in the first time. Gee how I dislike that overall, let alone in a DK gaming that I'd expect agility and fluid gameplay. But, to each their own, nice that you like it so much!
@@StewNWTyou should when its something mid like this
a remake / reimagining of this would be great imo
Yeah. The only major change in my opinion would be the ability to hotswap between characters.
@@starmangalaxy2001 i feel like that would make it too easy sort of. maybe as a option in the settings to play with hotswap or the og style. id perfer the original.
You have no idea how much I want that
I want a remake of this and Ape Escape! 🥰💜
Is there a reason we ever got another DK console game? I loved DK64.
“DK64 was the beginning of Rares downfall”
* Rare proceeds to release Tooie & Conker 1/2 years after DK *
@championchap Conker's is overrated? Says who? You? Conker's is great. If you think it's not as good as most people think it is, then good for you. Cool opinion. Do not try to present that opinion as being objective.
Rhialisse Xavorin it might aswell be
Aside from the genius cutscenes and dialogue the actual meat of the game, Yknow..the GAME
Is rather lackluster and even frustratingly bad in parts, specifically the entire first person shooter section due to the terrible shooter controls
You should try watching the remake or rebreak episode on it
It goes way more in depth then I could here
@@fortnitesexman it’s a good dam game. Your gonna let someone else form your opinion for you. That’s hilarious
Night Hawk wrong.
I don't let other people form my opinion
It just so happens that he made points that I agree with
And telling you to go watch his video takes less time then writing nearly all of his script
But oh well, here goes:
all the game is, is a bunch of fetch quests (that are all the same and never get any harder), escort missions (boring slogs comprised of waiting for whatever you're escorting to sloooowly make their way to the goal with little to no obstacles in the way), underdeveloped genre busting, and finally platforming that is hindered by a bad camera
@@fortnitesexman if that’s your critique then you must hate all of the N64. Cause that was the N64. Your hilarious
I don't care about critics, i love it
I agree this guy was reviewing this game as if it were a movie. Games aren’t meant to be realistic all that matters is if the gameplay mechanic is fun and replayable and this game has all of that and then some
As a neutral outsider, I think the complaints seem relevant. Copious amounts of color-coded (character-segregated) collectibles aren’t a good thing.
@@thecollinzboy What? Who was upset at the game for its lack of realism? Most peoples’ main complaint about this game is that the collectibles are segregated by character, meaning that constant backtracking and going back to the same places 5 times over is inevitable.
@@stanstanstan2597 Well those are called flaws. Other "great" games have them too.
I absolutely loved this growing up. It was massive took me ages to complete.
After 22 years, i finally completed the game todas for the 1st time, it was hard a.f. playing this being 3yo and not knowing english as my first lenguage, but BOY it brought back memories
@@juantakito9620 it took you 22 years to beat? man.. you suck.
This game isn’t that hard to beat... 100 percent complete after 22 years of not playing dk1,2 & 3
@@sages101 he could just mean that he picked the game up again recently you know
Playing dk64 is like visiting your grandma for cake
After 1 piece of cake youll gladly take more, after 7 pieces you want to go home
And then there's is the normal person that enjoys what they can and come back for more and not overwhelm themselves
Thanks this comment made me miss my granny
my grandparents died before I could meet them and I would like to learn more about the grandparent grandchild bond.
Then your grandma does and you wish she was still alive despite her annoying shortcomings.
@@Strikerkongrip
There’s a lot that went behind the scenes with this game. The lag part though, they did the best they can to counter it. They couldn’t have the game like they wanted it to without lag, so they created lag frames to where the kong will keep moving even if it isnt rendering, so when the frames drop, they speed up the game to make it as smooth as it can
monke
I always admire the technical wizardry of Rare back in the day. No one could solve a problem or optimize a console like they could.
The downside of optimizing the game on modern hardware is that it makes some of the minigames unbeatable due to them accounting for the lag of the Nintendo 64, one springing to mind where you have to shoot three blinking lights as Diddy while a propeller periodically spins wildly and can obscure one to two of the lights.
Compulsory DK Arcade was the most sadistic thing Rare ever did
This was the part I got stuck on as a kid. Couldn’t beat all those levels and gave up
I had to use save states on Wii u
Never managed it and gave up too.
@@HARRi81_UK noobs.billy mitchell are disappointed in u
I did after quitting the game for months. And funny enough, I had an uncle that could beat it somewhat easily. So, on some repeated play-throughs I had him beat it until I was good enough to not take 5 hours to beat it.
Maybe this is an unpopular opinion but I enjoyed the backtracking in this game. I like the concept of step by step and list of tasks to accomplish the goals.
I agree. I don't mind revisiting areas to see more by using the other Kong's. PersonaIly thought it was genius and well thought out
There's a yes-and-no. The biggest problem I had/have is how the collectables are Kong-Locked and you can only swap at select locations. Thus, if you seek to collect items, you aren't only forced to backtrack for the items you miss, but actually forced to backtrack for items you might very well not be able to get ...on top of backtracking for any items that specific Kong missed.
I loved going back to different levels to see what I would do differently the second time in a old world!
@@onijester56 I mean if any kong could collect everything it defeats the purpose of swapping kongs honestly. It's good that there were kong specific collectables, it makes it so you can't just be one kong until you run into someone elses challenge.
@@zackrose6261 It's a double-edged sword. Yes, it forces diversity because you "can't just be one kong until you run into someone elses challenge".
BUT AT THE SAME TIME, having random collectibles for EVERY OTHER KONG at the end of a specific kong's challenge means every other kong must be able to get there, and thus it's not actually the specific kong's challenge.
Also, there's the "Mario" principle. The star of the game is well-rounded in terms of critical aspects of gameplay. The other characters then provide their own specific benefits which are invoked for their specific challenges. Chunky is stronger so can open secret passages, but is slower. Tiny has more aerial mobility, and while Lanky may be faster than Diddy (who sacrifices some of Donkey's height and weight) he controls a lot more slippery than Diddy.
Unless you need a specific kong's abilities in the first place so as to solve a challenge, you're almost guaranteed to be playing as Donkey Kong (or maybe Diddy)...and then you backtrack with the required other kongs. So the problem the design element is supposed to fix, isn't fixed specifically because of how the game is designed.
The soundtrack to this game is easily in my top 3 of all time. Frantic Factory is a personal favorite
The ID Cards analogy is a really smart way to explain many of the moves
Then again most games back then were about the same love this game but in the way it was said basically every game was like that even zelda ocarina of time which is my favourite by far but you could say the alot of the items you get are gatekeepers and arent useful unless at specific areas its the way things were back then
Mario 64 also has moves you only use if you find certain blocks in levels or overworld which are blockers just to make a little use of it to progress somewhere but otherwise unused and not useful
@Bigbrisk
Mario 64 only has three different hats as opposed to an overload of situational moves. Having just a few situational power ups or upgrades is fine since they generally serve a purpose of varying the game up to keep it interesting. The majority of the time, Mario 64 focusses on using Mario's over the top acrobatic moveset to overcome challenges in order to collect stars, which is more engrossing and rewarding than just being rewarded for exploring big spaces with little challenge. For these reasons, there's only a handful of collectathon platforming games from the 5th Gen that I can still go back to, such as Spyro 1 & 3, and a few really well designed movie based games like Toy Story 2 and A Bug's Life.
The level of depth in this video is insane.
More so than the collectibles that guy was talking about
The level of depth is nice, but their level of research does not go as deep: The bug he mentions as possibly not existing, actually does exist. It's a memory overflow bug. If you emulate the game, and force the game to play without the expansion pak, the bug will happen quite quickly. By having the expansion pak inserted, the bug will still occur: It will take a long time to happen, though. The bug is still observable in the game today, even with an expansion pak.
I still love this game. It’s almost like Mario 64 on steroids. You gotta have the players guide if you play it for the first time
I agree the collect-a-thon aspects of DK64 gets way too far at times as well as certain minigames(Beaver Bother being the bane of my existence), but the minute I started playing this game for the first time, I fell in LOVE with it! And no, I never had this game as a kid let alone an N64.
God, Beaver Bother, that was a frustrating one!
I love this game, but I can't forget its flawed moments especially that one! Get in the hole, dammit!
DK arcade is worst.
@@matthewpatasnik2361 I agree DK arcade is frustrating, but I personally had no real problem with it after a bit of practice. With Beaver Bother however, you literally have no control over where the beavers will go when you scare them. Often times, they'll just run straight into the walls! And the squeaky sounds they make as they move almost makes the minigame unbearable to play! In fact, most of the time I tend to mute the TV whenever I'm about to enter a minigame barrel I know contain Beaver Bother. As much as I love Rare(at least before they were bought by Microsoft) playing Beaver Bother makes me want to track down whoever came up with it and load his/her car with C4!
@@matthewpatasnik2361 At least for the DK Arcade, you can get better with practice (I’ve always been good at the DK Arcade, but having only one life to start with makes it harder than it should be). Beaver Bother is so broken it may as well be luck based. The times where you play Beaver Bother are one of the few bananas I truly loathe getting.
Playing an instrument before entering the water just turns you into Harsh Noise Kong, that was a feature
I once did an entire playthrough of this game where I didn't talk to Snide once. He still showed up im the last level though. Nostalgic feelings might warp my opinion, but I love this game
I did that on my last playthrough as well!
This game was amazing bc of the world imo. I love the characters and the whole vibe of the world as a kid. I didn’t care about like how much stuff I had to collect or whatever I just liked messing around in the world and seeing all the different characters. imo that’s the best part about donkey Kong 64.
That's what made me love it more than SM64. The amount of charm, love, and character packed into every inch of this game. SM64 just feels empty and barren in comparison. It truly deserves a sequel that fixes the issues. At that point it would be the PERFECT 3D platformer. Even without that though, I honestly liked it better than the DKC games, and I enjoyed those too.
"SM64 just feels empty and barren in comparison"
Makes sense considering the levels are paintings in a castle. Still though, the level design in Super Mario 64 is more engrossing because of how there's a lot more to the game than just roam around wide spaces.
@@ultrairrelevantnobody1862 Showing mario 64 (my favorite game) to someone for the first time was surprising because the first thing she said was "where's the coins, why is it so empty?" genuinely questioning it. It made me go like yeah if you're used to the 2d games it must be really strange.
I found this channel just the other day thanks to the excellent Banjo retrospectives, and I must say, this fellow provides some of the better game reviews I've seen in quite a while. Cheers! I am looking forward to more from here on out.
Thanks for the kind words!
Agreed. Replaying DK64 after all these years recently, and noticed a lot of things in this video. It wasn't that I hate the game or find it annoying, but I noticed game design choices stick out as they were described here. Loved this review
"oh the kids like collectathons huh, well lets give them 5 times the collectables"
oh no
“they want collectibles? i’ll *smother them* with collectibles”
@@yourehereforthatarentyou I got 5 times the potassium
This was the greatest DK game ever made. I sank shameful hours into this thing and loved every minute of it.
Nuff said. ✌️
Really enjoyed this video and a good retrospective on the game.
Regarding your point on speedrunners/glitch hunters views of the game being broken, I certainly agree that, for the most part, a casual player will not encounter a glitch. I would certainly not want someone to go away and think of the game negatively because of the glitches that we demonstrate or joke about (some being easy, some requiring scenarios which you would never see in normal gameplay).
Sometimes we exaggerate the idea of "spending 5 minutes in the game and you'll encounter a glitch". However, it's not one which we believe seriously and is meant in the same way as "The game runs at 2fps" (Obviously it doesn't outside of a few special cases, but it's a note on how the game has lag issues as you have mentioned) and is just meant in jest.
In the end, in my eyes, if a glitch doesn't screw you over in terms of preventing completion or making things harder for you, it's no harm in my eyes. There's only one glitch in the game which I would consider negative, and that's because it locks you out of game completion and has happened a number of times to those playing the game casually. The other glitches are just fun ones which are an artifact of it being an old game that was made to push the boundaries at a time when the idea of a 3D Platformer was still somewhat new. In the same sense, we (glitch hunters / speedrunners / TASers) are pushing the boundaries with the game and seeing what we can do within the confines of a game we all enjoy.
Thanks for the comment! I don't know how well I communicated this in the video but I do respect the DK64 speedrunning community and its efforts to test the limits of the game. Your videos in particular were very helpful when researching the game; I even used some stills/footage from you, as you might have noticed, which I hope was okay.
Obviously you and I are coming from different perspectives in relation in the game, and I tried not to sound like I was criticizing DK64 speedrunners and glitch hunters as a whole in this video. I do understand that most speedrunners exaggerate the glitchy nature of the game, and I also acknowledge that A) my technical knowledge of how the game works is nowhere near as deep as yours, and B) most glitches are harmless, barring the example you mentioned (which I should have mentioned in my script, looking back). And I do get that the whole "DK64 is broken" discourse (from your community, at least) is meant as a joke most of the time. It's when people outside the community take those jokes seriously and misconstrue your intentions when they seriously judge the game's quality where I take issue - which is not the speedrunners' fault, of course.
I try to be fair while writing these retrospectives and consider multiple viewpoints, so I'm glad you put forth your own takes here. I want my channel to invite discussion on the topics I cover, and hearing what a non-casual player thinks on a game I talk about is always interesting to read.
@@CloudConnection Yeah, no I'm fine with use of my footage (as long as I'm credited of course, which you did so thank you for that).
With regards to your points, for sure we're both coming from different perspectives of the game. The speedrunning community is in a somewhat bubble, with people only really coming in when they're watching something from a game they have played before, and I'm all for hearing the casual perspective on a game (It's a good way to bring us out of the bubble as much as we can). Watching people play the game for the first time and watching reviews from those who want to look at it from the casual perspective is a good thing (helps bring back childhood memories and a look at what kind of view people are taking of the game), and I commend/thank you for being the first review that I've seen that has taken a serious look at the glitches and the speedrunning community for this game.
Misinformation happens for sure (which is why we try to get things as factually correct as possible when we can), however you raise a good point of people perhaps taking things meant in jest in fully seriousness. I think it's important to look at areas we can improve and reduce the chances of things being misconstrued, and I certainly wouldn't want someone to come away thinking DK64 actually runs at 2fps or is broken to the extent of being unplayable unless the stars align (and therefore be dissuaded from playing the game as a result).
Perhaps this is a lesson that the speedrunning community should take forward to prevent the spread of that kind of misinformation. After all, we don't want another "Expansion Pak was required to fix a game-breaking bug" scenario on our hands :P
For sure, stopping misinformation is always a good thing. That's why I try to be as factually accurate as possible too, although sometimes I make mistakes or don't have all the info in front of me. It's difficult when I only have a limited time to research my subjects, but I strive to do the best I can.
DK64 is filled with nostalgia for me. That being said, I never finished it as a kid. Just a couple years ago I decided to finish it and realized why I never did as a kid. It's more work than fun for me. While I'll always have fond memories of playing the game with my brother, I won't be playing it again anytime soon - if at all.
I didn't beat this game until I was in high school, with my boyfriend and I taking turns collecting banannas and doing phases of the final boss. It felt satisfying to beat it after all this time, and I got to share the memory of it with someone, even if we aren't together any more. That beetle though-
We took turns racing, and he finally ended up winning after a million trys. And I cheered for him, and started cackling. He turns, confused. I burst out laughing. When I finally stop, I say "just wait till ya see the next one!" He was like... "oh God there's another one?!" It was pretty funny. I remember we agreed not to do it just cuz we both got frustrated with the first. A good memory for sure.
I also remember being very restricted on time I was allowed to play video games. I was only allowed one to two hours a day on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. I would read the instruction manuals for hours about these n64 games and the instruction manual for DK 64 was the best one I had. It details a lot of items and Rare collectibles, along with a few jokes here and there. I miss fun instruction manuals, can we bring those back?
I'd classify this game as a broken classic. It's totally broken and flawed, but despite all of them it has its charms and has its moments.
Your reviews are incredible. I love that you give us a behind the scenes look at the making and backstory. you explain the tech issues with a game, not just point out that they are there- you explain why. The amount of research is amazing!!!!
This game deserves a full remake. I really think this game could be an amazing game with some big changes to the game mechanics.
Did you have to look up what a sword fishes sword was called? I never would have thought it was a “bill”
I did. Never let it be said that I don't go the extra mile to ensure authenticity!
*Take a shot for every time he says Banana*
I seem to remember someone making a n64 boot up DK64 without the expansionpack. It could indeed run the game just fine. But would crash within 4 hours or something like that. So the expansion pack fix for a bug could still be true
for me i do kinda remember something like this when i had a n64. we had DK64 but not an expansion pack and after a few hours the game would just freeze and id have to start from the last save point. not 100% sure on it tho cause i was like 4 or 5 lol
Nah been playing this game when I was 7 far as I know there’s no way to bypass the expansion pack screen unless you hack the game
One thing that isn't really thought of now is that back then if you had a game, it was likely one of your only games out five max. Anything that was stuffed with filler things to do was very much appreciated because it felt like more bang for your buck.
Amazed to hear that the unfixable glitch rumor was false.
30:40 I saw it run "otherwise" when my expansion pak died on me in the middle of a session. The game didn't crash, but the framerate was something like 5.
Oof Press F for your N64. Btw, I thought those things were indestructible. Mines still going 20+years later
16:11 which lags the game making a certain golden banana nearly impossible to get if you're using it
I KNOW EXACTLY WHICH ONE YOU MEAN!
There are 48000 collectables
Imagine if there were actually that many things to grab
But really it's 48 hundred
My uncle and I 100% completed this game one summer when I was a kid. It was honestly a really fun game with 2 people. Anytime I would get stuck or frustrated with a challenge then we would trade off. I’ll never forget how hard the end boss was!!! Damn
The soundtrack is stuck in my head to this day
Ahhh yes, Christmas 1999. I was 3 years old and would open up a N64, and a copy of DK64.
Still one of my favorite memories to this day.
Sixty PHWOAR! Thank you! Thank youhhhhh!
I absolutely loved this game as a kid, and now? Still love it.
Thank you for this video. This is the BEST critical assessment of this game I've ever seen. Flawed game, yet still charming and great in it's own ways, especially for people who grew up playing it (such as myself).
Pokemon Sword and Shield: Some crap pushed out to make money off kids.
DK 64: Actually a game, from project to product.
Despite my mixed feelings on DK64, I'd rather a game be ambitious with passion behind it, as opposed to a cash grab made by a team that's fatigued and tired. No disrespect to Game Freak, it is a business after all, but seeing a series like Pokemon grow stagnant and soulless is rather disappointing.
I honestly love the DK rap.
Memes aside, it shows and represents each of the Kongs extremely well, and the animation makes it a joy to watch!
Yooka Laylee's "attempt" at a rap similar to that, has no love or care into it.
My siblings and I couldn't finish the game for 10 years because of the Rare and Nintendo coins were rally hard to get for us back then.
Nowadays, I think I could do everything by myself but, goddamn, is a lot...
The bosses were super fun, that one for sure.
I don't know how or why I got recommended this, but I played the hell out of this game as a kid and really enjoyed this. Gonna check out some more of your videos!
Same here!
Playing this again now. Love it! They don't make em like they used to.
I don't have any childhood nostalgia for this game, but I tried it on the Wii u a couple years ago and I liked it quite a bit. it's flaws were pretty apparent but the amount of charm that each Kong had kept me engaged.
"A game being broken and a game being easy to break are not the same thing." Well said! I'd say the same thing about Sonic Adventure.
Obviously again, I know nothing about Donkey Kong 64 as I didn't grow up with the 64 but what really stood out to me was that last paragraph. Nostalgia is often looked at negatively as you and I both test our own nostalgia for different games. But that doesn't mean nostalgia is a bad thing and you can replay a game that you enjoyed in the past see it's problems more clearly after breaking the game down today but still enjoy it regardless. This game to me, looks janky as hell xD But it was really awesome to hear this in depth break down, acknowledge the problems and still say, hey I still really like this game. This was a great video mate
Couldn't agree more. I admit that DK64 probably is very janky, but I'm so used to DK64's jank that I can't view it from that perspective. But yeah, I was really happy to talk about this game and discuss the nature of nostalgia, even if it was just for a brief moment.
To be honest, the reason why the word "nostalgia" is looked on as negative on the internet, is because most people use it as an excuse to justify why they do this or why they do that, instead of using the correct word, which is "obsession". Nostalgia is comparable to homesickness, longing for something, someone or somewhere, from the past. And it's obvious that you guys go back to playing this game, whenever you're given an opportunity to unwind and look back on how far you've gone in your life.
Nostalgia is a hell of a drug
I love DK64. Did when I was younger and still do.
I don't really see anything wrong with loving this game. Thanks to a majority of negative reviews over the years it seems like it's a crime to even like this game. It just feels like those reviews focused more on the negative while ignoring the positives at the same time. In most cases it just boils down to them saying it's nothing like Banjo Kazooie or Super Mario 64. Did they ever consider that maybe DK64 was trying to do its own instead of emulating the success of those games? It;s why i never took the negative reviews seriously no matter how credible they seemed. Also to those who say it killed the collectathon seem to forget that RARE was the one who mostly making games for this genre at the time. If anything it was Microsoft that killed the genre when purchased RARE.
Been following you since I saw your Banjo Kazooie review almost one year ago! Keep up the good work!
Thanks, I will!
Cannot lie, my cousin and I ADORED this game when we were kids. We obsessed over it, drawing all the bosses and my cousin drove himself nuts playing the DK arcade
Normally these small channel video game reviews/retrospectives are surface level analyses and pop rumors. You did a lot of work making this and this shows. Thank you.
To this day I just still enjoy DK64 more than I do Mario 64.
@Armathyx why wrong? It is his opinion
@@MasiPT no, he dont have own free will
False
I don't care what the internet says. I love DK 64, I've loved it since I got it for Christmas in 1999. The only games I liked more on N64 were Ocarina Of Time and Majora's Mask, for obvious reasons. I don't care about it's flaws, find me a collectathon at the time that didn't have any. I understand why people like Banjo and Kazooie more, it's also very excellent but there's just something about DK 64 that just wins in my book.
@YY BlankyBlank true dat man. I don't even bother with that Social Media crap, it's just another way for people like the Kardashians to rub their fame and fortune in people's faces. I can't imagine how much easier it is for young people to feel depressed with things like Twitter and Instagram shoving socital "expectations" in their faces or how much easier it is to be cyber bullied.
Just bought an n64 yesterday to play this game. I'm pretty excited about it.
Great video! I'm so glad this finally pierced through CZcams's recommendation algorithm, and I'm looking forward to watching more of your stuff!
I was older than you when DK64 came out (16), but at the time I was a HUGE fan of the DKC trilogy and adored Banjo-Kazooie, so I was eagerly anticipating this one. I think I made it to the beginning of Crystal Caves before realizing I wasn't having much fun and putting the game down.
As you point out, the problem isn't that the game is a collect-a-thon, it's that the game isn't a good collect-a-thon. I remember someone on the internet circa 2000 or so giving one example, which I think sums it up really well: In Gloomy Galleon there's a platform with instrument pads for all five Kongs, each one opening a different part of the ship with a golden banana inside. There's no challenge, no puzzle solving, no ambiguity about what you need to do, no fun or engaging gameplay, it's literally just going through the motions of opening each room one-by-one and swimming over to get the bananas. DK64 has many other problems, but that's always stuck out to me as the biggest distillation of everything wrong with the game.
Regarding the glitches/broken section, I definitely see the point you're making, but I think the main issue people have is that it's indicative of the game and its development in general. The game has WAY more glitches and bugs than Banjo or any other similar mid-to-high profile game of that era, and certainly any other Rare game at the time. Yes, in a vacuum that's not going to affect most playthroughs, but I think that's missing the point. The presence of all that stuff points to a rushed, haphazard development cycle, and a team that was either flying by the seat of their pants, showing their inexperience, or didn't have time to test and fix stuff before it was time to push the game out the door. It's not that the glitches are going to crop up for most people, it's that for anyone on the fence about the game, or anyone wrestling with their opinion, it's another indication that it wasn't made with the same level of care, expertise, or design/programming knowledge that people had come to expect from the "Rare" name at the time (as admirable as the team's ambitions may have been). I think that's valid.
Anyway, not sure if you'll see this, but I love that you're an information sponge for the design, history, and discourse surrounding these games the same way I am. Subbed and will definitely be watching more of these :)
Great retrospective, just as the Banjo ones! Hopefully you keep making more retrospectives because these are awesome. Subbed!
I have so much nostalgia to this game. I love it as a normal game and a speedrun
It's nice to see someone actually not over exaggerate the required amount to 101%. The amount of times I've seen people try to make out like you have to get every banana coin, or all 500 bananas in the 7 stages happens a little too often and is very misleading when people do that.
Yes DK64 has a lot of stuff to collect, but it never expected players collect absolutely everything. Great video!
I played this game with my brothers as a kid and part of the fun was assigning a Kong to a brother and letting them play out the parts that were theirs. It really brought us together to beat the game as a team and for that alone, this game beats any of its kind in my eyes. Also the multiplayer parts are hilarious fun with the right minded group of tenacious teenagers, I can't remember how many gut busting laughing moments we had just screwing around with the Kongs. Man gaming used to be fun lol That statement comes from an Older brothers perspective. I see myself less engaged with recent titles because not many of them have that multiplayer on the couch feel anymore and I think the gaming environment has just shifted in a more isolated or over the net experiences.
Dude this was such a comprehensive video and I agree with so much of it. The worlds in dk64 are surely not perfect but they definitely have a charm that you don't get even in lots of banjo worlds
Played through dk 64 last year again on my n64 still holds up for me. Im not big on graphics in games i still play my nes now and again lol
I've been playing DK64 recently as a Patreon-sponsored request. Looking back on the whole experience, I did enjoy it. There are issues, yes but it didn't dissuade me from enjoying the game. Truthfully.
Binging all these retrospectives, such great work! So much coverage and measured critique. As a kid i spent 3 years and 62(!) Hours getting 101%. At the time i thought that was insane, these days 62 hrs in a game seems like rookie numbers!
Love this game, a switch 3d Donkey Kong/spiritual successor to this would be so good!
Jeez why don't you have more subs? Well Done for such a good review bro
The conclusion about nostalgia pretty much perfectly summarized my feelings on this game. I know it has problems - Objective ones at that - but somehow I just can't hate it or even dislike it. My nostalgia is just too strong and I just fondly wander through the worlds, collecting all the bananas along the way. Great video!
I would love to see another open world Donkey Kong game, in this vein. It may or may not be a collectathon, but I think there's a lot of potential. They could always go full Metroidvania and have the Kong abilities unlock new areas, on their own.
Here it is! Been waiting for a while for this one, glad it's out.
I skipped this one growing up, and while there are some problems, after playing it for the first time 2 years ago I have to say there is a lot to like. I love the visuals... the lighting in particular. I don't think you have to have nostalgia for it to enjoy it.
Me and my brothers LOVED the multi-player. We used to play one of the maps that had secret caves hidden behind the walls and we'd claim certain ones as our "homes". We'd collect things and occasionally go back and forth between doing house wars and calling truces to play more house and goof off. There was also a giant log tower in the middle and sometimes we'd have gladiator matches or someone would troll by chucking a ton of grenades around the map. It was silly but a ton of fun as a kid!
This was an excellent video! Breaking it down objectively and subjectively in separate categories. Very detailed and very well editing. Well done!
The quality of your videos is astounding!
Thank you very much!
08:25 Wow, that *is* an enormous number. 😅
This was a really satisfying watch! Holy moly. I remember these games well, growing up. I'm so so glad CZcams recommended this to me. This was fun. Thanks for making this.
You def deserve more subs, I really enjoy your vids, and your voice is perfect for these, and it's nice to listen to a straight forward retrospect.
Too many modern reviews are unfairly negative, while the reviews at the time of release probably looked past many of the games flaws. This is well informed and possibly the most balanced review of this game I've seen.
I feel like a lot of the criticism is either due to the limitation of the console (lag/needing expanded memory) or the fact that 3D platformers were brand new with this gen of consoles. Developers were still working on a completely new way of producing game play and therefore the game play has flaws. Spyro comes to mind as well.
Spyro plays A LOT better and is paced much better than this game🤷♂️🤷♂️
As a kid, when time is plentiful, I love this game. I loved exploring, fighting bosses, etc.
As an adult, my time is at a premium, and the backtracking gets annoying. All those memorable moments of getting to use your cool powers is shown for what you called ID cards, you just remembered them being longer or more plentiful because they were cool, but as you pointed out, you only get to become Rambi and Engarde once each.
When I was having my ex play through Banjo-Kazooie, I also planned on her playing Tooie, but I wasn't going to make her play DK64. I wouldn't wish that on someone now.
For a channel this small, the amount of effort put into the videos is crazy, love your stuff!
Great review! I played this game recently and really enjoyed it. I've never played it before nor any other Rareware 3d platformer. It can be a tedious game though. The ability to switch characters on the fly whenever you want with a button say... The D-pad might have helped cut down the tedium. I think one of the problems is that people who played the previous N64 3D platformers were going into this with huge expectations when it was brand new. They were also burned out by 3d collectathons. As someone who has never experienced that I really liked the game. I think when I go to pick up Banjo and Banjo Tooie those will be a breeze in comparison.
Personally, I’d say Tooie was a lot more tedious to play than DK64.
The levels are larger, and even though there are less collectibles, the missions to get jiggies themselves are so much more padded out than DK64’s.
The most egregious example that comes to mind immediately is a mission where you find a character that’s sick in world 5, pick it up and take a train back to the hub world just so you can switch to another character who can use a context-sensitive pad to heal them, switch back to banjo, get back on the train to the level, walk back to the area you were given in the mission in and you finally get a jiggy. There’s NOTHING that bad in DK64.
Tooie is a great game too, I just think if we’re criticizing DK64 for similar reasons Tooie deserves it as well.
@@huntercrunch94 Really? Didn't know that. I've never played Banjo Kazooie and don't know much about the sequel so yeah.
Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie are much less exhaustive collectible wise and more polished than DK64, the first Banjo is a must, such a joy.
Banjo-Tooie is great too but is bigger and tougher so some prefer the more compact and straight-forwardness of the original which I understand but if you are coming from playing DK64 first they shouldn’t be too hard.
I played Banjo games first so when I played DK64 I couldn’t help but compare it to BK and it does feel very similar.
@@Umbrella2 I can't wait to play the Banjo games myself.
Despite the flaws of the game I still think it’s one of the best games Rare has ever made
dgd fan?
I dunno they’ve made quite a few better games imo, DK64 is like an exhaustive rehash of Banjo-Kazooie. I do like the game though.
DK 64 was the first game I've ever played, and it is an important game to me. I see the flaws and questionable design, but I still love this game for the charm, atmosphere and for how much the game means to me
I loved dk 64. my only complaint is making some of the super hard stuff mandatory
Yesss excited about this one
"Moving past nostalgia"? Where did you get these kinds of powers?
On that note, I never liked DK64
Fun Fact about the lag, the game will increase your movement speed to try hiding the lag. The Wii U version gets rid of the lag, but some of the challenges were designed with the speeding up in mind, making some of them near-impossible.
Indeed. That's why I kind of disagree with him about the ideal version of the game (at least if you're a completionist like me). The near-impossible challenges on the Wii U version are beyond frustrating.
That moonjump caught me way off guard lmfao. It’s like angry gorilla throws a fit and than says F*ck you gravity! 🤣
I still love this game.
Also, hot take, but Diddy’s controls are phenomenal.
I think he specifically plays better than Mario 64. Makes me wish the whole game was Diddy.
DK, Diddy Kong, DK, Diddy Kong is here! He’s finally back, to kick some tail! The other Kong’s are all gone!
Better than Mario in 64? I don’t know about that, chief. To each their own, but I’m still blown away by how well Mario controls in that game to this day. I can’t really say the same about any of Rare’s characters in the N64 era (though they all control well enough).
Started streaming it recently, and I feel the same way about the game. It's kind of a clunky ol' mess, but it's a beautiful mess I love to return to. I feel the adventure element mixed with the aesthetic of the game and its charm make it a fun game.
Just discovered your channel after this vid was recommended to me. I’ve been binging your videos ever since and I really hope to see this channel grow.
My sister and I stayed up all night playing this game when it was new. Its strength was that it was funny, technically impressive and frequently rewarded the player with copious amounts of collectibles; perfect for kids with short attention spans and a love of Saturday morning cartoons.