Donkey Kong Country is Pretty Based
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- čas přidán 20. 08. 2020
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An exploration of why Donkey Kong Country feels like an anomaly among platformers.
Ryan Davis (cameraman): / @ryandavis5435
Patreon: / kingdomklannad
Twitter: / kingklonoa
Twitch: / thekingklonoa
Last Life: last-life.net/
Script:
docs.google.com/document/d/17...
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#KingK #DonkeyKongCountry #Sponsored
Donkey Kong Country Retrospective Review Critique KingK - Hry
“Platforms don’t simply float in the air”
- Shows area with floating platforms
I think the difference he was trying to convey is that, while mario has strange rectangular platforms with checkerboard patterns. DKC has rocks, plancks of wood, conveyor belts. Mario's platforms almost look like place holder items, just the bare definition of a platform to stand on
I think you should have listened to the full argument instead of paused in the middle to come here comment. The float platforms are literally rocks, while they're floating, they're grounded to the theme, instead of floating blocks like Mario for example, that's the point: one require more suspension of disbelief than the other.
@@mogalixir the "buying into a game" act you described is called suspension of disbelief, that's exactly his point: DK requires less suspension of disbelief than the Mario games. Doesn't make them better or worse, it really depend on what you like to play and how much you can suspend your disbelief to immerse yourself into a game. I'm from the team that has a hard time suspending disbelief, so needleless to say DK is a more immersive experience to me than the Mario games, including World exactly because of the surreal experience you described. I'm a gamer since the NES generation and when DKC got released it was astonishing to me and it was really the first time a game immersed myself before the 3d era, so while DKC is not my all time favorite game it is the game I have the strongest memory of playing for the fist time.
Plus, this point does actually apply to tropical freeze, more than to DKC.
The thing is, those platforms are't 'floating,' they are wrapped around a tree in a believable, almost treehouse like manner
I love the restored version of the soundtrack, but there's definitely a charm in the compression of the SNES samples. I remember an old Game Informer podcast interview with David Wise where he explained how he selected certain synths and instruments specifically because they sounded good if not better after going through the filters and compression for the SNES. It probably is the best soundtrack on the system whether it's the restored or classic version.
Best soundtrack on the system is very debatable because you also have Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI all of them basically 1994/1995 (maybe the golden age of the SNES, 16 bit gaming and JRPGs).
@@saricubra2867 absolutely
Star masterc yeah definitely, I would also throw Earthbound into that list, and some of the later tracks from DKC2 and 3
i respect that some people prefer the restored osts but, as someone who was obsessed with these games growing up, hearing the instruments be so crisp/clean has been oddly distracting throughout the entire video. i'm sure nostalgia plays a heavy role in this, though
Yeah, the restored versions shown in this video were really garish. Lost that smooth filter.
So, ever since I watched this, I've been playing the original SNES trilogy alongside Returns and Tropical Freeze. You made me want to revisit them, and try to work out what differences might lead someone to strongly prefer one style over the other. And I think, given our similar foundation as Sonic fans, it may come down to replay value and flow.
The SNES trilogy is tough as nails, but as you get better, you start to see how much the level design and character movement leads you to barrage through them, giving you an incredible sense of rhythm and momentum. Particularly when it comes to rolling through enemies, the variable speed you'll pick up from that, the satisfaction in hitting every barrel blast, every jump, every roll in perfect harmony... GAH, even just thinking about it is satisfying. They're games where an intrinsically motivated player can find a TON of value in replaying the game, and the game extrinsically motivates you to do that by hiding bonus barrels and clever secrets throughout. Stages are not so long that replaying them to look for that stuff ever becomes a chore.
Returns and Tropical Freeze have much more modern sensibilities. CONTENT is the primary motivator here, the games are much longer, because individual stages are MUCH longer, but they put that length to incredible use. Stages will often have a sort of "plot-line" throughout. For instance, you start in an alpine environment with balloons in the background, and wind up soaring high over the mountains on those balloons. They're ALSO tougher than nails, and overcoming that challenge is the primary motivator.
But what they gain in breadth, they lose in replayability. And while I still adore the way they control, they undeniably don't have the same sense of flow or momentum that the SNES trilogy does. That's okay, they clearly weren't designed to, and I think what they do works well. But that combined with the MUUUCH longer length of the stages means that replaying them is MUCH more of an investment, both in time and attention, than the SNES games are. It's like replaying an Uncharted game: As impressive as these setpieces were the first time, they lose something when you've seen them before. I also think this makes going back for collectables and bonuses more of a chore, _especially_ because unlike the SNES games, you can't just quit out of a stage once you've found something, you have to FINISH it for it to count. To your point, I _still_ tend to play through the SNES games at least once a year, but I haven't really touched Returns or Tropical Freeze in years. (Since I made the episode on the former and since the Switch version came out for the latter.)
They're also bogged down on a replay by the length of their boss battles. I can't tell you how many times I've loaded up a replay save on one of those games, only to find that of course, I quit playing RIGHT before a boss battle. I don't even think most of 'em are bad, they're just so stretched-out and padded that they feel like a chore compared to the rest of the game.
I think modern game design sometimes prioritizes the experience of a first-time playthrough to the detriment of replay value, and fairly so: Most players aren't like me, and don't replay their favorites nearly as much as I prefer to. I still think Returns and Tropical Freeze are both brilliant, beautiful games that I'd recommend to anyone, but as much as I love 'em, even *I* can't revisit them as much as I wish I could, and I can see why you feel the way you do about 'em.
Read this in your voice, Josh. Excellent points too
@surut arat what kind of pie?
I’m a bit the opposite: I absolutely love both the Rare and Retro games from what I’ve played of them, (which would be DKC 1 and 2 on SNES Online, hopefully DK64-gonna buy a cartridge here soon-on my old N64, and then both Returns and Tropical Freeze. But I do strongly prefer Retro’s take. The SNES titles are terrific, but not in a way that really keeps me coming back. I really love the way the Retro games control, with a more liquid sense of movement, for lack of a better term. Playing the originals felt almost stiff compared to these ones, but not necessarily in a bad way. Tate’s titles are simply built differently, and ultimately I bet it just comes down to which ones you play first. By the way, big fan of your work, man! You introduced me to DK Vine and their material, not to mention your own terrific content! And for that you’ve got my gratitude.
it's impossible to read this without imagining your unique voice, tone and line delivery. I love your style.
It is not like most people CAN replay games nowdays. With the barrage of releases, you have to choose wisely what you are playing to experience all the good games
Hearing your explanation, I'm surprised you didn't enjoy tropical freeze. I think it does everything you praised about DKC better than the original. I think it has a thicker and richer atmosphere and sense of adventure. I hope you continue with the DKC series and give it another chance. DKC2 and Tropical freeze are my favorite Donkey kong games and two of my favorite games in general
Tropical Freeze is an absolute masterpiece in many ways, and this is one of them
I’m with him. I loved DKC1 back then (and it’s two sequels even more) but I couldn’t get into DKCR or DKCTF. I did think TF was a better game than Returns but I could never get into it like I did with the SNES trilogy and I don’t know why.
Tropical Freeze has exceptional music, but feels more like a course of obstacle than a world to explore.
I think the camera plays a big role in this. It is distant in TF so you see each elements to dodge, grab or kill. You come to them. In DKC, the camera is so close that obstacles just run into you. It can help to make you feel as if you were in the middle of a jungle, struggling to find your way out.
Compare tropical freeze with kirby 64. or better yet Mushroom men.
When ya play the first level of kirby 64, yer in a field. a byootiful green field with bricks in the ground. ya take yer stroll through the field, jump over some of the bricks and streams, an' find yerself, a little log cabin! cool! neat!
KILL THE OWNER. upon exiting the cabin, you pass a river, have a fight with one of the neighborhood kids in a little fence area, realise that the field is a public park.
leave the park, and go to the forest, some work has been done there, again, fences on the path, a hollowed out tree with a cable car that the neighborhood kid drives for ya, fight tree inhabitants, and get ambushed by an artist that wants to duel with the arts!
out of the forest and onto the lawn of THE GREAT DEDEDE CASTLE IN ALL IT'S MAJESTY HALLELU-
circle the castle, cross the drawbridge, admire the mosaics, ride the dumbwaiter even though the stairs are right there, climb the fortifications onto the wall, walk 'cross the wall, drop into the forts again, the artist stops ya for
a snack, climb the central tower, and FACE THE MIGHTY KING DEDEDE HALLE- enlist the kings aid to fight a new threat, and depart home to journey across new worlds!
one set of three levels, and the 3d space has been used to imply a living breathing world placed right alongside the invisible path you tread, structures, transports, decor!
Musroom men's first ROAD is even better than that with a village, chieftain's house, statue of honored hero,
and WATERPIPES!
donkey freeze (is that right? eh.) on the oth'r hand does NOT use it's 3d space, opting instead ta make ALLL
of the roads straight lines disconnected from the background.
you cant even say that about kirby OR mushmen
cause the background IS the road!
@@d-n539 It also leads to a lot of cheap death.
It's David Wise's soundtrack that makes this game one of my favourites of all time.
Not mentioning the score upfront is travesty
Soundtrack is so fire
I thought Rare’s music guy was Grant Kirkhope?
@@notSpiritsend maybe nowadays but DKC1 and DKC2 were done by David Wise. They even got him back for Tropical Freeze.
Evaline Fischer also contributed a lot to it. People tend to only credit David Wise
"Platforms don't simply float in the air"
The floating barrels would like to have a word with you...
As would the bananas
dont forget the floating oil barrels
I don't think the barrels count as platforms. They're more like containers and the genre isn't called container-er. Then bananas most definitely aren't platforms, they're collectibles. I too can appreciate the fact that all the platforms in the game feel as if they are cohesive and a physically viable part of each area
@@hbicdavenport3036 A floating barrel is still a floating barrel if we're talking about breaking immersion. There are actually several floating platforms in the game. There's a couple right as he's saying "platforms don't simply float in the air."
Yea but all the platforms are thematic, like rocks or planks and the oil drums are a clever use of the factory theme. I think he’s saying that they are there for a reason and while they don’t make sense literally they make sense in the confines of the levels themselves
I have no idea how you did not feel this way with tropical freeze. I had to stop in some of the levels to take in the scenery + the incredible score by David Wise gave every level a mood (Seashore War?!?!) and i was fully immersed personally. The originals certainly do an excellent job, especially considering their limitations, but Tropical Freeze was on a whole other level for me.
If you'd look in the background of any level you'd see a fully fleshed out world, sometimes with enemies just hanging out back there
I dont know, man. I just think perhaps you should revisit with the volume turned up haha.
Great video 👍
Not to mention how many times you can slap the ground and have stuff actually react to you, over dkc1's ground slam never mentioned by anyone
I think it's because of the camera.
KingK at 16:00 "Hey, I need a cameraman to film me walking like an idiot for a bit, you got me?"
KingK's cameraman: "Yeah, I got you"
I hope Donkey Kong Country II - Diddy's Kong Quest is next! I love that game.
Fav game of all time
I need all 3 DKC's. That shit was my childhood.
Best video game music of all time
Me too, in fact it would be awesome if KingK did a series on Rare's games. Lots of classic games from very different genres. DKC2 is clearly a good game, and I've had fun with it many times, but idk I still prefer the original for some reason. Perhaps DKC2 has some truly "Nintendo hard" moments where the difficulty is so brutal that I rage quit. I love a lot of the new mechanics they introduce, but maybe there's TOO much going on. Sometimes it's better to just keep it simple.
Easily my favorite and most replayed SNES game of all time. It’s remarkable how much better it does all of what DKC1 set out to do and then some. All of KingK’s complaints about the first game are real and legitimate and DKC2 addresses ALL of them. DKC2 deserves a retrospective.
Oh and don’t sleep on DKC3. It may not be as good as part 2 (then again what is) but it’s still amazing. In repeated playthroughs I find myself enjoying DKC3 more than DKC1 which is rudimentary and simplistic in comparison.
Phenomenal my dude, had such a blast filming with you. We’re still gonna get you help with those “primal episodes” though, I mean poor Don can’t even walk after what you did to him 🍌
Mmm... monke
Funny enough I have the exact opposite issue. I’ve started and dropped DKC 1&2 on more occasions than I can count. I didn’t finish a DKC game until Returns and then Tropical Freeze. I’ve always wondered why I never finished the original games when I’m super into platformers.
Have you tried DKC3?
@@k-leb4671 if you don't like DKC2 you won't like DKC3 either. they have very similar gameplay, with the only major difference being the world map.
Lol for me beating the DKC Trilogy is a right of passage for every 90s kid. Plus I like all Rare games. They used to be my fav company until Microsoft ruined them.
I always liked Mario's world as I was in it, even if it didn't stick in my mind much after. The old games really feel like you're bolting through the silent, abstract nonsense world of an early cartoon short. I think of DKC as an evolutionary bridge between that and the cinematic platformer genre established by Jordan Mechner's Prince of Persia, which leaves it feeling kinda like a Saturday morning cartoon, with a consistent, recognizable (but still cartoony) world that you come back to from episode to episode. The sonic comparison you made is pretty apt. There's effort put in to suspend your disbelief instead of just expecting you to vibe with the weirdness, but there's still plenty of weirdness to vibe with, and a rhythm to each level to help you get in that zone. Rayman Origins hits that same weirdly specific target for me, while legends, with its more disconnected world, doesn't.
Hey Jeff
Yoooo jeff!
Except PoP is 5 years older. And even though SMB1 is from 1985, most NES consoles in the US were sold near the end of 1988, so for many people the experience of SMB1 and PoP is roughly from the same year.
Funny that you used Yoshi's Island as a counter-example, since I find that game has the opposite problem: the environments and graphics are gorgeous and immersive, but the game just never felt THAT fun to actually play. On that note, I gotta wonder if you've given Kirby a shot; those are also not built around mechanical enjoyment and more so on Adventure.
Anyways, if this game felt immersive to you, and you found the secrets fun to find, DKC2 should blow your goddamn mind. The secrets are better telegraphed, the environments are prettier, and the music is even better. Seriously, DKC2 probably has one of, if not the, best soundtracks in gaming history.
Yoshi's island has the best set of mechanics for platformer of the 16-bit era. So much expression and freedom
@@osorioace to each their own: I find the level design too shallow if you ignore the secrets, and too annoying if you try to 100% it. And I've never liked the egg mechanic.
New kirby is so far from adventure. There were a few games that managed to be adventures, but now it's just, "have the right copy ability and pass the powerup check"
Nailed it. As much as I love Yoshi's island and it's aesthetics,I just can't play more than a few levels at a time.
The biggest problem I have with Yoshi's Island is that every single level feels like an endurance test. The game would be much better off if its levels were split into multiple smaller ones, so that the player isn't absolutely exhausted by the time they reach the goal.
In defence of smb3, the reason it all feels so constructed is because IT REALLY IS JUST THAT. Shigeru Miyamoto has confirmed that smb3 was a staged play which further explains the showdown on objects and many things in the game looking like props, heck, the hub world looks like map and thats why I’m immersed in that game. It feels like it’s an actual stage play because the developers went out of their way to not just straight up say it in your face, but let you decipher that on your own. The level design is also nothing short of brilliant and changed up the entire genre of platforming.
I can’t believe you didn’t like Tropical Freeze. The last world is ESPECIALLY immersive.
All the worlds are inmersive. A Plane Graveyard located in a Mangrove? I would argue that one is the weakest world with little variety or context. But then we have a German-like island slowly climbing to the skies to reach the peak, a happy Savannah being tornado'd and then catching fire. A Fruit Factory with each level being a processing stage and so on....
He’s a zoomer, give him a break. Platformers filter the wee things.
@@MachiriReviews Wait this guy is younger than me? Jeez...
I didn't like it too, but for me it was because I played the trilogy so much I simply can't bear how slower Tropical Freeze feels.
Yeah he’s got kind of confusing and hard to predict standards, I enjoy the insight for sure but it’s confusing
18:28
“Platforms don’t simply float in the air”
Shows a clip of floating tyre platforms
*tire
I love videos like these! The ones that I couldn't disagree more with personally but argue their points well and help me see a new perspective.
Funnily enough the first DKC is actually my least favorite of the trilogy, and the most "game"-y of the bunch, DKC3, is my favorite. And it's exactly for the kinds of things you talked about: DKC3 makes very little cohesive sense; its story is more fantastical, its levels are really gimmicky, and it focuses very little on the idea of building a world. What it succeeds in is being a collection of incredibly fun and creative obstacle courses, just like the 2D Marios you mentioned never being able to fully get into.
I remember when I made my Mario Odyssey video last year (or the 3D Mario one before that) and we had these passing conversations trying to understand our differing views on those games and what we value more. I think this video sort of neatly packages up your side of those conversations and helped me understand you better.
This is your best video. Fantastic stuff.
Thank you, based Matt 🙏
How did you comment 14 hours ago
@@KingKlonoa I agree with based Matt, it is your best video, which is no easy feat.
Weird, because as a kid I like 3 the most because it felt like a genuine place to me. You could fly and sail freely through the world, it had a lot of secret caves and a whole secret island. And you could only find that island by finishing a trade sequence with the inhabitants of the islands (those bears.)
(And I love all these different takes, so cool to see how the same games effect people differently!)
It was the opposite for me, DKC2 and 3 were my least favorite in that order. I enjoyed the first DKC for it's simplicity and world building themes/levels. There is so much less clutter in DKC compared to DKC3. That game was visually so noisy that it took me out of the experience. All 3 are still great games compared to others out there of course, it's a relative comparison between and inside the trilogies.
I like Donkey Kong. I like video. Good video about Donkey Kong. Happiness. Banana.
I feel that the cornerstone of platformers tends to be their mechanical richness. My go-to example for the genre tends to be Super Mario World - it's got fun little obstacle courses littered about and secrets to find in the Switch Palaces that improve your survivability. However, the more that you press at the edges of its design, the more you're capable of. If you get good enough with the Feather, something initially unintuitive, you can skip entire levels. Secrets are found by pushing what you can do with Yoshi to its logical limit and abandoning him down cliffs and the like. Your spare power-up goes from mana from heaven that gets you through a tough castle to a necessary tool in order to test where a suspicious ledge might lead, often to a key. And this design is all complimented by Boo Houses helping guide the player to think that way. The better you get at the game, the more you can bend it over your knee, and a good platformer will reward that with more content. In that sense, I find that the platforming genre, as a whole, is more akin to the beat 'em up genre or character action genre where level design tends to be in service to the abilities of the character rather than a cohesive whole. Knowing how to handle Chocolate Island 3 or Chemical Plant Zone deftly is akin to knowing where the enemies spawn and when to use your lariat as Haggar in Final Fight, or achieving Smokin' Sexy Style with Dante - it's the proof of your mastery of movement and knowledge.
What Donkey Kong Country does, then, is create a far less forgiving environment with a far stronger toolset, and then encourages you to explore the Hell out of it. I think it's fair to say that it's easier to die in Donkey Kong Country than in most of its contemporaries - two hit points, relatively large sprites creating a zoom in effect, pits just tend to be everywhere and power-ups in the animal buddies do very little to mitigate those in specific. But DK and Diddy, in return, have near instantaneous momentum with an utterly insane speed cap. This is then very neatly mixed in with the delightful, but subtle, environmentalist backdrop of the Kremlings slowly industrializing DK Isle (that's ruined a bit by Chimp Caverns being the last world, I'll admit) paired with the greater focus on the game's environments, with Poison Pond being the most obvious example of Kremling influence corrupting the peaceful landscape. Everything just gets married together in this great package that shows off the characters, environments & graphics, and level design all as one that I honestly don't think would've been a priority if the graphical prowess of DKC wasn't a massive priority. DKC does end up being my least favorite of the original trilogy, as I think the big ape himself is just a bit awkward with how his momentum stops and I really love the changes made to bonus rooms in 2 and 3, but to say it's not an incredibly charming and imaginative, well-realized game is a horrible disservice to what was achieved. You do a fantastic job describing the nearly invisible rhythm of the games and how easy it is to get your groove back, so to speak. I don't find it particularly confusing at all - you do a great job explaining the hooks of a platformer based on its nuance rather than its high concept and the basic appeal of "beat the hard obstacle. You did it!" that classic Mega Man and I Wanna Be The Guy and the like thrive off of.
Consider this a "hey I know you have a lot to do but if you ever look at the sequel I am HEAVILY invested in that idea." Y'did good.
You absolutely nailed it. Echoes my thoughts entirely.
I always thought of Chimp Caverns as a mine feeding the factory with the natural resources at the very heart of DK Island, the ultimate natural conclusion to that environmental fable.
Great explanation. While other platformers are designed around the characters abilities, Donkey Kong is given abilities that allow him to traverse the levels.
@@autobotstarscream765 Hmm I never really got that vibe from Chimp Caverns. Monkey Mines maybe.
@@k-leb4671 Obviously that one's a mine, it's in the name, but when I play through DKC, Chimp Caverns feels like Monkey Mines 2.0 (they even both have versions of the same boss iirc), and I think it's because Rare wanted mine cart stages to be a presence throughout the game.
0:52 well that's kinda sad
Tropical Freeze is one of my favorite games ever
Segata Sanshiro is looking down on you with disapproval. You know why.
For real, excellent work as always! It's really nice to know I'm not the only one who sees a BUNCH of parallels between Sonic and DKC, and adores both series for similar reasons.
It reminded me a lot of something I've talked about with Hyle Russell from off of DK Vine. We both absolutely adore the DKC games, but we enjoy each others' content specifically because he sort of "fills in the gaps" that I don't see, and I do the same for him. I enjoy them primarily for the same reason I like most video games: Challenge, flow, crunch, skill mastery. I've been playing them for nearly my whole life, and DKC2 in particular was the first difficult game I ever actually GOT GOOD at. Gameplay is always paramount for me. Which is not to say I _don't_ enjoy the aesthetic or immersive aspects, but I don't always notice them. Hyle DOES, the characters and worldbuilding are his primary interests and he takes his time with these games. By seeing the series through the lens of someone else's fandom, I get to appreciate it more.
Your experience with Mario 3, by the way, directly parallels my experience with Mario Sunshine. I've tried to pick Sunshine up countless times over the years, and I always wind up bouncing off of it, and I never _quite_ understood why. I wonder if it has something to do with... almost the inverse of your problem with Mario 3. I think in its pursuit of a consistent, immersive setting, Sunshine prioritizes things that most Mario games simply DON'T, and that's why I can't get into it. (And why those who rate it as their favorite are so particularly zealous ABOUT it, because there's no other Mario game like it.)
Side-note, every time I hear anyone say something even SLIGHTLY dismissive of Super Mario Bros. 3, I have to laugh. When I was a young teen, gaming discourse online was entirely shaped by 80s kids, and it was taken as an unquestionable fact that SMB3 was the greatest, most perfect game that had ever been created, as none shall come before the great Miyamoto-san. I'd be all, "But I liked 16-bit better!" and they'd tell me those were easy dumb baby games for babies and write another article about how overrated DKC was.
Time is a flat circle.
You know, I guess Sunshine really is an anomaly in that respect. Though I feel like Odyssey certainly took after it, and 64 planted the seeds. Mario is interesting for me, though, because I think almost all of the 3D Mario games are spectacular... EXCEPT Galaxy 2 and 3D World. I wonder if it's for these same reasons?
That stronger emphasis of immersion and lore filled in via imagination with the likes of Sonic and DK might explain why there was a backlash with their 3D outings (even outside gameplay objections) vs. that of Mario. While the latter leaned closer to being an obstacle course within the context of a few stock backdrops, the former two had a sense of real lands that people could then think about with individual interpretations about tone or story.
Thus the more detailed worlds when both Sonic & DK entered the third dimension created a much more defined idea about the settings they were in, and thus more likely to clash with the concepts a fan might have had about them. Its a dissonance Mario had much less off in his jump to 3D simply because the series never even tried to resemble a fleshed out world till the RPG spin-offs anyway. The DKC trilogy to DK64 feels like an abrupt shift in ways Mario World to Mario 64 never did.
@@KingKlonoa
I prefer more immersion in Mario too, I loved 64 for being more like a real fantasy world, loved Mario World for being set in a connected and established dinosaur island, I don't like Sunshine, but that's because of the difficulty, not the atmosphere.
Odyssey I loved too because of the way you could wear unique clothes specific to the places you visited and how there were specific races and kingdoms in that game. I don't like Galaxy 1 or 2 because I just find them unable to choose a side of linear or non-linear, and the void of space kills the setting for me. But I like 3D World because they accepted their unrealisticness and linearity and embraced it.
@@KingKlonoa you like 3D land more than 3D world?
in all fairness, SMB3 *is* amazing
While DKC's greatest strength is its inmersion and feel of adventure, I do get annoyed with it from time to time with some of its annoying level design quirks. DKC 2 however, feels like the near perfect combination of that inmersion and a solid, consistent and fair play difficulty and gameplay.
DKC2 gives up some of the free flowing/momentum aspect, largely due to introducing verticality, but is basically a better game in nearly every other way I can think of. It's easily my favour SNES game.
@@zanzanzanzan Actually I think the momentum in verticality is preserved quite well thanks to Squacks and Squidder having really useful and skillful abilities. But, even I admit that those guys don't get as much use as they deserved.
@@zanzanzanzan Rolling also doesn't propel you exponentially forward with each enemy you hit anymore.
The original trilogy is probably one of best controlling games of all time: the abundance of frames, the near-zero lag provided by the CRT TV and wired controller, it's just another level of controllability. While emulation and lcd panels have come a long way, if you ever have the chance to play the DK trilogy how it was meant to be played: on original hardware with a CRT TV, don't lose the chance, you'll have a great time! Plus, the SNES sound chip sounds freaking amazing and DK squeezed and pushed the chip to the limit, the soundtrack legit gives me goosebumps.
I'm really glad that my first experience fully playing through the game was on an SNES with a CRT. It's just such an experience.
perhaps the best controlling 2d sidescroller, but plenty of 3d era games surpassed it IMO (super mario 64, quake, jak and daxter, counter-strike 1.6 to name a few)
It's the subtle little things that make the difference. If you want to really feel it: Try playing a rhythm game emulated...it's usually awfull. (I'm playing the thousand year door on my wii, and the timing is off so much it sucks all the fun out of the game!)
Yeah.
Um.... Who even uses a CRT TV now-in-days (nevertheless even has one)?
I literally always tell people this dkc trilogy have the best controls out of any 2d platformers. (number 1 goes to mario 64)
I don’t even wanna admit how many times I’ve listened to that 10 hour version aquatic ambience since quarantine started. I’ve never been able to describe why that song is so calming to me, but hearing you describe it was pretty cool and made me happy that someone else gets it.
I feel like part of why this game s so special is because every piece feels like it was carefully, meticulously, and deliberately put there, and you feel the weight of every instance of the world. Many other games feel like stuff that's there to fill space or be dressing, where this game, just like it's graphics, is very detailed in feeling like everything matters for existing. No extra platforms, items, or space than what's important, and with less it can sometimes feel like more as you can take everything in. It's not DKC assets placed everywhere, each world almost feels build to it's platforms. It's a feeling that Abe's Odyssey/Exodus have, where every piece is so carefully placed that you can feel the soul in each environment. There isn't a feeling of copy/paste.
I am intrigued by your assessment here. 2D platformers were my bread and butter genre, I was glued to New Super Mario Bros. back in 3rd grade the moment I laid hands upon it, yet even the best ones I've played, from Rayman Legends to Super Meat Boy, haven't really "stuck" with me. Yet Mario 64, which I played on my DS back then, is unforgettably burned in my memory. I love these games to death, but I must agree, they lack an immersive quality to me that keeps other games in my memory longer. I can't deny the points others make in these comments about mastery and self-improvement, but that's not what tends to grab me.
I think you just suddenly taught me about my own appreciation of these types of games. I still personally believe Tropical Freeze is one the best games I've played, yet I have to concede that DKC possesses a unique quality that keeps it more fixed in my consciousness. I never expected to get so introspective about a game I've played comparatively less of, but this was very much a well done video. Hats off to you sir, you always manage to effectively communicate what you feel. Great video, and I'm excited to see what's next from you.
This series is proof that an exceptional atmosphere will always make a significant impact.
Not to mention the sick gameplay, genius levels, creative locations, phenomenal music... and the fact that they’re actually challenging!
heres My take on why DKC is such a well-loved game: Platformers are considered "great" when the Reward for skilled play justifies the Cost...for a game like Sonic the Hedgehog, if you can keep enough Momentum while running, youll be able to launch up to 'higher paths', which usually have more items or rings to collect-- the specific route you take during a playthrough is directly linked to how "good" you are at the game...for a game like SuperMarioWorld, if you take your time to crouch on Every Pipe, youll occasionally find secrets or shortcuts-- the exploration of a level is its own reward, as you might find a sub-area youve never come across before...
DKC, in my opinion, combines Both of these elements, either as a way to appeal to Both Sides of the player-spectrum, or as a way to create a 'new' player-spectrum...on the one hand, jumping off of certain "definitely Death" cliffs might end up with you Barrel-Blasting into a secret (or, just Blasting through the entire level for a quick and easy victory), thus rewarding the Exploration aspect...but on the other hand, if you time all of your jumps right, and hit the right 'cycles' (like for Swinging Ropes, or Zinger Movement patterns), its also very satisfying to hit that "groove" and reward the Speed aspect of the game...
of course, Sonic has its 'exploring' factor just like how Mario has its 'speed' factor, but i feel like DKC is still a better "middle-ground" between the two...especially because of the Two Characters you can play as: do you want to Pound the Ground and Clear Enemies as the "Slow n Sturdy" DonkeyKong? or do you want to just jump and cartwheel past the enemies and get straight to the exit as the "Quick n Agile" DiddyKong?
theres enough Variety for the player to choose their own style, yet the 'rules' are rigid enough to punish mistakes-- if one of your Kongs gets hit, youre forced to use the Other one until you smash a DKBarrel to get them back...AnimalBuddies have their own perks, but again, regaining them after being hit can sometimes be impossible (like, if they immediately run off a ledge into a deathpit); yet, keeping that Buddy can reward you with Higher Jumps (and the ability to kill Zingers), Wall-Breaking charge attacks, an actual Underwater Defense, or a Faster Running speed (with a slight glide ability for those extra-long gaps)...
it may take a newcomer a couple of tries to fully understand the mechanics of the game (especially for 'advanced' techniques, like Riding on a Steel Keg), but nailing those critical moments definitely delivers that dopamine rush that people play videogames for in the first place...in other words, it Feels Good, to Be Good...
...but thats just me lol
That’s a really great way to put it. The DKC games do a really great job of accommodating players who want to speed through the game and players that want to take their time and find a bunch of secrets.
This is a really goo explanation, I’m just confused on how he still dislikes TF when TF does almost everything said above better.
King K Rool is only hard because, a minute into that fight, it's full-on air drums/guitar
Glad to see more platformer retrospectives from you. I fondly remember your 3D Mario retrospectives and I’m glad you’re continuing to analyze this genre
I hope you give Tropical Freeze a second look again someday, it really is a marvelous game and captures the immersion you were talking about in this video. Literally every single platform is part of the world, nothing floating in the air, and most level design set ups are brought on logically and organically by the world, and as you travel from land to land, you really feel the progression through the environments. I say give it another go, it's a total joy.
"as stressful as this game once was to me, it now feels like a stress reliever" I can relate to this so much with DK Tropical Freeze. It was tough the first time around. Now I play it to relax on Sunday nights when I'm stressed about the weekend being over. It calms me
I can understand your point about immersion in cases like 3d world or mario 3 where there's almost no context on the platforming whatsoever, but with tropical freeze I don't get it. I find that one much more immersive than the original DKC, instead of each level being made with a tileset, DKCTF has unique assets for every last one of them (much more "soul" if you ask me), not sure why you or anybody else with the mindset presented in the video wouldn't like it.
I don't get it either, really. Tropical freeze is such a great game in every way.
Well he did say he was going to hell for saying that
I never thought I could understand why I love certain games the way they are and others not as much in spite of their solid mechanics but this helped me realise so much!
I think your usage of the word "soul" and the comparison between 2D Mario and DKC helped me realise why I feel a similar way about this game and 2D Mario that you described but I think there's still soul in the 2D Mario games through similar things like secret exits or playing the games as fast as possible as well as the glitches that can be pulled off but on top of that, there are other things mainly found in the "mystery". For example, one day people started speculating that Mario Bros 3 is a stage play, something that was even confirmed by Miyamoto (though I wish he didn't and instead let us continue to speculate). That speculation can keep players playing and falling in love with the games.
There are other odd bits and pieces of Mario series lore that kinda remains a bit mysterious like who exactly Bowser's "kid(s)" are/is even though they're not integral to 2D Mario games. But even a game as dated as Mario 64 both in mechanics and novelty can still have its soul through something like its iceberg. Admittedly not 2D Mario and generally, I don't share those feelings about 2D Mario but I think those things can give these games the soul or something similar to what you described in DKC.
i like this game but i don't feel particularly immersed when playing it and several levels have too many floating barrels, platforms, and illogical tire placements to hold believability, though i do enjoy the island aesthetic
generally immersion doesn't mean too much to me though, so that's probably why i'm so critical of 3 even though it does immersion best
The most recent game, DKC Tropical Freeze, took the world building up to 11. The themes presented in one level are continued and elaborated on throughout much of each world. The jungle factory and savanna worlds being highlights for me.
One of my favorite things about the dkc games is how there aren’t any floating abstract platforms. Everything you platform on feels like part of the world.
I really hope you continue making videos on the series. DKC 2 and DKC Tropical Freeze are by far my favorites.
I feel as though you should have noted he person who does the restored audio and uncompresses the soundfiles, or at least put them in the description. Channel name is Jammin' Sam Miller and has done (I think) all of DKC 1 & 2, as well as most of 3, and all are awesome. I especially recommend his restoration of "Forest Interlude" from the DKC2 OST.
Other than that, the video was as brilliant as always.
Thank you
I don’t think they all hit the mark, there are imo some of them that just kind of come as odd sounding, one that comes to my mind is Mining Melancholy, but it’s mostly because it’s my favorite track of the trilogy
Honestly I think the joy of all the Donkey Kong Country games were that they so easily crafted an experience and world just on the margins of my imaginations while still nailing the heart of 2D (and more linear 3D) platformers; freedom from excess choice.
Certain open world experiences become a burden after a while and the vast exploration and collect a thon elements I once cherished feel more tedious and just time filling now. A great dynamic platformer though can achieve a sense of flow and gameplay momentum that few other genres can match for me. The feeling of going through an intense level in DKC Tropical Freeze and defeating the challenge offered puts me inherently in the moment with far more frequency than many open movement in non-linear landscapes can. The platforming mastery needed for level in Super Mario Galaxy 2 isn't always easy to achieve, but when it happens, its magic.
The DKC games on the SNES still work for me today because (like the best 2D Sonics) I get the best of both worlds. I am in a living breathing land that via its aesthetics still induces various emotions and has details I can gladly fill in via my interpretation, while still giving that focused momentum and sense of reward via reflex. The vastness of a Zelda and the tight design of a Mario.
I really hope dk2 and 3 is next.
Those are really solid games.
Dk though is a really fun game and I grew up in the gbc port.
8/10 you should play this game because it's really good and the graphics are great.
Even for a game so old I'm honestly fine with that score tbh
You mentioned Klonoa so that means I demand a retrospective. Actually though Klonoa 1&2 are my two favorite games of all time, always will be, big thanks for mentioning Klonoa! Also good video. I love this trilogy, and I always like seeing people express their thoughts on the series.
Is there any way to play Klonoa 2 besides for the PS2?
@@yehuda8589 not currently, I don't think so.
@@damienthonk1506 that sucks, I really wish I knew how to ps2 emulators
Totally agree with the immersion and context part of platformers, although I still love games like Super Mario World despite their lack of it. Part of the reason I love Sonic and Metroid is for their focus on making each environment feel believable and lived in to some degree, and not just static game environments made in a computer. That design process is also why I've more recently fallen in love with titles like Dishonored, Prey, Subnautica and Outer Wilds. I also really loved Tropical Freeze so I am a little surprised (like many others in the comments) that you didn't enjoy it that much.
Dude I was listening to aquatic ambiance and then I get a notification saying you are doing this retrospective. What a life.
Excellent. You must be a 90s kid. I still play Aquatic Ambiance for the wash of nostalgia
First let me say i enjoyed watching this video i'm always amazed when people can put their thoughts into a long coherent order that others are able to follow. Whenever i try something comparable i either need hours upon hours or lose any kind of structure and jumble my way back and fourth through my brain.
But if you allow me my two cents. I don't agree that there has to be a "reason" why you felt more immersed in DKC than other platformers. I think sometimes there just isn't a tangible expressible explanation when it comes to taste. I couldn't explain to you why i distinctively hate the taste of coffee while i enjoy a lot of other "similar" tasting foods and drinks. And at the end of the day (at least in my mind) that's what it came down to.
I don't think there is anything that inherently is more or less believable between a plumber saving a princess in a fantasy world or a gorilla chasing after a crocodile that took his banana stash. Sometimes things just click with us. It can be influenced by a lot of little and not so little things. Your health, life situations, age or even just the time of day and when you had your last meal all can influence your perception of things. I like certain songs that are 99% out of my usual "music comfort zone" because i associate a certain event with them. Some of the games i got immersed most in are because i was sick at home at the time and i had nothing else occupying my mind and physically couldn't do much else while i got absolutely lost in their worlds. I don't think they're particularly better crafted than others it was just the right game at the right time.
I just think our brain works so indefinitely complex that you can't really pinpoint a reason as to why game A grabs you more or less than game B. Sure you can narrow it down and give arguments about what grabbed you, but i think ultimately sometimes it just clicks.
That said even without any particular reason or explanation i think it's a real joy to hear someone pick their mind what they liked about a game that you enjoyed yourself.
This kind of video is why I love your channel. There are a lot of games I have reactions to I can never quite puzzle out, and watching someone analyse their own reactions helps me work through it myself.
That whole stretch of the video that talked about immersion made a lot of things really click for me. My approach to games is definitely different to yours, but there are similarities; there always has to be an anchor for me to get into a game. Sometimes it's raw gameplay (though I'm a turn-based RPG fan so that's very much a different kind of gameplay to platformers), something can be like Final Fantasies V or VIII and offer a system that encourages exploration and customisation and I'm hooked, or like Dragon Quest IV where it encourages brute-mastery of the simpler mechanics, but so long as that's there I get into it. Meanwhile there are multiple RPGs, even of that classic style, I've picked up and looked at and just felt... cold. All the associations for the stuff I LOVE is there, but they're all association, there's no unique hook. Thus, I don't get into the game.
Meanwhile the fricking mobile game Final Fantasy Dimensions, that looks like the most generic RPG-maker game ever, hooked me because it threw in a job system I love (and, if I'm honest with myself, was called Final Fantasy).
Ahh, I didn't think I'd be comparing DKC with a JRPG when I woke up today.
I wonder if that's something like your experience. Games with a good setting hook you, games that have a distinct art style get their claws in, encourage you to give them more of a chance. Something like the classic Marios, which have inspired countless games since, lose that uniqueness: their best hook is in nostalgia or historical value which won't always be enough to get you through a whole game. They're not bad by any means, but they'll struggle to stand out when they're surrounded by clones. Monkey Ball right up front presents you with what you're going to get, that's the hook. I think there are people that can love a genre for a genre's sake, the simple fact of a game being a platformer/turn-based/etc is enough to get them into it, but I imagine a lot of people aren't like that.
So for DKC, the art-style, the character inherent in that, gets you hooked, gives you an easy mindset to get into the game, which is something a lot of franchises can struggle doing.
Honestly the way you described a couple of games at the start is kinda how I feel about 90% of platformers. I remember having a blast when I was playing them, enjoying myself a lot, and I have fond memories of so, so many, but the number I actively feel encouraged to go back and play again I can count on one hand. Which, while tastes vary, is something I can put my finger on as because the first games I really got into were story-centric ones, so plot tends to be much more of a hook for me; there's a clear end-goal and character growth over playing the game, more than skill mastery and beating levels faster. That's what I tend to get into, it sounds like immersion fills a similar gap for you.
Man, you really nailed it with Mine Cart Carnage. That shit is brutal. The footage of those up-slope jumps and the "cart on the edge" jumps really make my bum tighten in anxious knots
I'd say it's perfectly fine to like something very specific for one genre, even if it isn't what that genre is known for. My guess is that you just don't like 2D platformers, but enjoy adventure games, so the adventure elements on DKC keeps you in, and I imagine that's pretty normal. ^^
For me, a similar thing happen with RPGs... I love mario branded RPGs very much, but... never got invested in most other notable entries in the genre... Chrono Trigger never hooked me, never played a single final fantasy, I did finish earthbound but I almost had to force myself into it, even if I did enjoy it... And the game to unexpectedly hook me was Dragon Quest 11... the simple, classic, almost relaxing nature of that game just glued itself to me.
So yeah, you are good... but Yoshi's Island is still the best game of all time fight me
I hear what you're saying, I prefer more story-driven games, and as a result I dislike most 3d platformers since the worlds just seem so fake and superfluous but when I played Psychonaughts it took many of things I love about adventure games and just applied it to the template of a 3d platformer and I was left with all the things I love about adventure games on top of the things I liked about 3d platformers, making it one of my favorite games of all time.
I think one of the reasons that it's easy to find platformers, especially 2D ones, soulless, is because the genre originally rooted in arcade games like Donkey kong and Mario bros.
you can look at the game that basically defined the genre, super Mario bros, and say that it's just Mario bros but with levels. of course, it's way more than that but by just looking at the games side by side you could argue that they have a similar base.
however, that quality can detract from the immersion of them. A lot of platformers TO THIS DAY still use a "score" mechanic which was originally rooted in arcades, I don't think that mechanics like these really add anything to platformers nowadays, and things like "dialog" "atmosphere" and "developed characters" which are very rare in these sorts of games definitely don't belong in traditional arcade games.
What I'm trying to say is that I think platformers like super Mario bros or mega man embrace the arcade tropes a lot more than stuff like DKC or Klonoa. (a lot of this could also apply to fighting games but that's a different discussion)
okay??
@@aturchomicz821 What kind of response is that? Did you fail to compute his sentences? What's this about?
@@Arcessitor Hes factually wrong, thats all
@@aturchomicz821 factually wrong about what? He was making a hypothesis.
"my favorite game of all time" could you please tell us more? i would LOVE a video about that.
All in due time. I believe at one point he said all of his favorite games were getting a video.
I think the immersion point you brung up is the exact reason why people universally think that DKC 2 is the best one of the trilogy, I’m not saying that people who think DKC 1 or 3 are the best don’t exist, but most people I’ve known on the internet think that DKC 2 is the best, I’d say the reason why is because it marries the ‘cold and calculated’ level design of the 2D Mario games with the immersive experience that comes from things like the majority of the Metroid series and DKC, the level design of DKC 2 feels like the devs predicted each and every way you can explore the levels while also leaving it up to the player to discover secrets in ways that the devs most likely never thought. I don’t even think I need to mention the soundtracks of the DKC series that I can’t even put into words how god-like it is, although, the soundtracks phenomenal composition I don’t think is the only reason why it is remembered so well, why is it that everyone remembers Aquatic Ambience to the note, why is it that everyone remembers DK Island Swing, it’s because the songs perfectly match the players movement and the given areas theme, personally, I think of jumping around in the trees when I hear DK Island Swing, I think of weaving through coral when I hear Aquatic Ambience, every song perfectly fits with everything, it’s extremely hard to explain but the soundtrack alone immerses me, thank you for reading!
"If only Metroid could craw"
I got that reference
Metroid is my favourite robot, he's so cool.
We might be seeing differently on this front but DKC 1 never clicked with me as DKC 2 or Tropical Freeze did. I personally felt like DKC level design compared to DKC 2 where every level provided a sense of uniqueness, was just pretty bog standard and kind of blended together. My problem with Super Mario World was not the disconnected levels since I can argue that is a strength but just how samey the level design was getting at certain point.
18:30 - 18:34 shows platforms floating in the air while saying platforms don't just float in the air
13:41- "There's almost a healing quality to its steady progression." A very apt description of Aquatic Ambience, which is probably my favorite piece of music in the game, next to Life in the Mines.
I think the most nostalgic aspect of this game is the music. Every level a masterpiece for the years. I used to listen to them before going to bed. They all tell a story. I love it.
I like to see platformers as rythm games. Each level is a unique partition, and it's up to you to go through it as efficiently as you can with the tools given to you. The levels are just a jumping off point for your own expression. It's all about quick reaction, improvisation, knowing when to jump, how to avoid or utilize that enemy to your advantage, how to breeze through a section the fastest way you can,... And all of this feels a lot more satisfying (to me at least) than in other genres due the instantaneous nature of the feedback.
To me the best platformers are ones that have really simple movesets and still manage to have depth. Simply by mixing clever, dynamic level design and the player's own creativity with all of his tools.
And even better to me are platformers that tell their stories through their level design. The DKC games are masterful at doing this, by adding to the mix an atmosphere and rich world building . The kind of atmosphere that makes you say "l want to know everything about this world", where everything feels tangible, cohesive, connected.
So when you add this to the unfiltered raw interactivity of the gameplay, the deceitful simplicity of the movement and the multilayered aspect of the level design and the world around it, you get a damn good game.
Tropical Freeze is the pinnacle of 2D platforming for me, because it pretty much nails all the aspects I previously mentioned, better than DKC 1 imo. So when you're done with the trilogy, maybe consider giving it a second chance? And also DKCR while you're at it?
And as always, damn good video. It made me reflect on why I love platformers so much.
Honestly I’ve been hoping for a high quality review of DKC for such a long time and the quality of reviews I’ve seen from this channel are always fantastic. Thank you for paying so much attention to the music...I’m a little embarrassed to admit how often I listen to the soundtrack of the DKC trilogy (the restored versions) and the care to this topic is greatly appreciated)
I think the idea of the game world feeling like a real fictional world as opposed to just a collection of obstacles is the reason I enjoy Sonic 3 so much. The journey through angel island makes it feel like a real place in Sonics world, and you could even peace together what it could look like thanks to the zone transitions. I love Sonic Mania and it’s so well polished, but the consistency and how connected 3K feels is why it’s my favorite. It’s likely similar as to why you like DKC so much
Everybody reading this should play dkc through the nintendo switch snes emulator if they can. I'm a 2000s kid and never really had a way to play the old games. Instead i used to watch lets plays of them and donkey kong country stuck with me. I tried playing in on an emulator on pc, but its just not the same. I was considering buying an snes but then decided against it. Then when nintendo released the snes emulator i was just waiting every month hoping they'd add donkey kong country... and then they did... Words can not describe how relaxing and infuriating this game is at the same time. I love it.
Honestly, I would point to the New 3DS virtual console, instead, while it still lasts.
Switch Online has been a massive disappointment in term of being a replacement for virtual console. Especially since you only had to buy a retro game once on that specific system and be able to retain access as long as it still worked properly. With Switch Online, you have to fork over additional money yearly just to retain any access to those old games. Don't even get me started with the worse release schedule for Nintendo's own retro games.
Same here man. Love it!
My theory on your platformer engagement goes something like this: The Super Mario platformers are like Saturday morning, episodic cartoons; it'll entertains you in the moment, and the characters are fun and memorable, but there doesn't seem to be any continuity, there's no consequence to anything you see on screen.
A game like DKC is closer to say... something like Yu-Gi-Oh or Batman Beyond, standing out from other cartoons by having a real atmosphere and continuity. It offers something more than just momentary fun and memorable characters, it keeps you thinking about what could be next, it keeps you engaged, it puts you in that world when you're engaging with it
Oh god the Donkey Kong cartoons
Ohhh man i can’t wait for you to do a retrospective of Donkey Kong Country 2 Diddy’s Kong Quest, because this was a great video man, and i loved hearing you talk about the music, but i definitely recommend talking a lot more about the music in the 2nd, games video since that game, and Undertale’s, soundtracks are special to me, and i can understand why you don’t love platforms as much as others because personally i love them as much as RPG’s, and Adventure, games, but despite that i can get how they just feel like a in the moment fun experience, but not long term for you. Also that sketch was really funny thanks for putting that in hah.
9:06 dude even after all these years, this fawking song still gets me man. 20 years older and the feelings this song makes me feel will never change, not in a million years.
This retrospective is real nice. It covers some more than just the one game, compares to other games and establishes (just like the buildup in the music of this game) a narrative. The reason I love Mega Man as well as DKC, is that it makes sense for Mega Man to traverse obstacle courses. It's contextually right.
Hey there from Metcons ;)
@@benox50 I... It's you!
I think you helped me partially figure out why Tropical Freeze didn't stick with me either. It's a great game but...I just don't feel anything for it after beating it which oddly wasn't the case with Returns.
Yooooo! Love your videos
I still don't understand at all, for me it's the exact opposite of what you all describe. I remember every level in that game while the other dkc games don't stick out as much.
@@awesomezilla Same, I think it helps that they try to make each level really distinct in both challange and themes, which in my opinion makes for some of the most memorable levels in the series
As the first video game I ever played, there's something about DKC that you captured, giving words to the feelings I've had bout this game for 25 years. Encountering the game at a demo station at (likely Toys R Us) I played the opening level dozens of times, as the SNES kept malfunctioning and would restart kicking back to the credits and loading screen halfway through the first level.
The exploratory nature of DKC really shines, because even in that first half, there is the banana cave, treetops, lower caves, the multilevel section with patrolling Kremlins, and it didn't occur to 5 year old me what was going on, just that it was fun.
The music especially, like you, I've frequn6 listen to aquatic ambience remixes to calm down or fall asleep, and agree that the 'remastered' versions are amazing.
Even as a kid there was something captivating about the soundtrack, and I have distinct memories of just going to Funky's Flights, putting down the controller and dancing to the music with my brother and friend (in the frantic uncoordinated dancing of children).
Playing it this past winter on the SNES classic, I'm relieved to hear that the minecart level gave someone else as much trouble as it most recently did me, as I was wondering if my reaction time has gotten worse or if I just spent more time grinding it out.
Anyways, great video, and I really enjoy you work. I've been binging your content the last month or so after encountering one of your Zelda videos and was estatic to see this pop up in my notifications.
What's funny is I remember LOVING the minecart levels as a kid. It was always the platforming in the industrial stages of DKC that I struggled with.
It feels weird how much you talk about immersion, but didn't said single sentence about the story of the game. Like I know, "monkey wants his banana" is pretty basic story even for SNES game, but come on. That matter of principles.
Maybe you just didn’t get just how much he wanted the bananas
I think by immersion he meant the gameplay and the environments.
28:56 I really don't want to be THAT guy, but that level is Ice Age Alley.
I hadn’t realized how similar our taste were until the intro, so it was refreshing to have someone explain it in words other than my own.
Needles to say, that similarity made seeing the Arlong Park shirt all the better.
Also I’m not generally a fan of how many CZcamsrs handle introducing sponsors, and even in some of your videos I find them slightly jarring. Not the hugest issue, as it comes with the territory. But there was no better way to choose do a Raycon plug than this! Keep up the quality videos!
13:58 If you're going to look for the restored versions, PLEASE USE Jammin' Sam Miller's CZcams channel. He is the one that actually uploads and makes the restored versions, while TerraBlue just steals the WIPs of his. Thanks!
14:22 The original is better, the restored is missing notes and without compression the synth overpowers the rest of the song and makes everything sound off. I have the same problem with all that restored soundtrack, it sounds way too artificial while Wise's original tunes blend together perfectly.
18:33 This contradicts the fact that you disliked Tropical Freeze, which does the same thing as the previous DKC games creating a contextual journey across its world, but better (And platform DO float in the Rare games, it was Retro who commited to that idea of giving everything a reason to be there).
24:48 There isn't a minecart level in the final world.
I hope you do a video about the sequel, since it corrects pretty much every problem you addressed or tried to shrug off. It's my favorite game of all time for that reason, the perfect platformer IMO.
Phenomenal breakdown of the music. Absolute primo.
Also, mönki
Shout-out to Jammin' Sam Miller for being the guy that actually does all the work when it comes to the restorations
Not only did Donkey Kong Country completely nail the sense of atmosphere in every single level but it was the first game that made me choose 'listening to game music' over ' normal songs on the radio'. To this day I have close to 3000 songs on my playlist and it's all thanks to masterpieces like Aquatic Ambience that fueled that passion. David Wise is a god.
When he dissed 3D world, I didn’t mind. I love that game a lot although I am used to the backlash against it. But I got angry when he said tropical Freeze < DKC1
I never played DKC or any of the games in the whole trilogy, but I do listen to aquatic ambience a lot. I consider it one of the most relaxing songs gaming wise of all time.
I've got a whole list of relaxing video game music that I frequent when I have trouble calming down or sleeping.
Aquatic Ambience (DKC)
Stickerbrush Symphony (DKC2)
Dire Dire Docks (Super Mario 64)
Crossing Those Hills (FFIX)
Seventh Heaven (FFVII)
Into the Wilderness (Wild Arms)
A shit ton of Metroid and Zelda music
I could just list everything but I don't have 4 hours.
@@jacobmonks3722 where is the list?
@@originalgamer4002 I saved a playlist on my channel. It's public if you want to listen.
Cascade Capers from the 3rd game really gets me in a vibe, especially the restored version.
I appreciate you being able to share what doesn’t captivate you about a lot of beloved games like Mario 3, and I can completely get behind that, you made points that illustrate your perspective very well. I personally always gravitate to platformers as simple as Mario simply for the engaging platforming, the challenge, the collectibles, secrets, and in many cases the music. But I am happy you can confidently share what doesn’t click with you, and I always respect when people can do that. Some genres, some series’, some games just don’t click with everybody and I am glad you could share that experience. As always, fantastic video and I cannot wait for the next!
I liked this video just for your King K Rool joke, lol. Just your cadence in introducing him as "the bastard who stole my username" was just perfect. I love it! The rest of the video is great too, but that was one I was not ready for and it really lifted up my spirits after a really mediocre week
"I'LL SHOWER YOU WITH COCONUT CREAM PIE"
- DK
I don't get how you don't care for tropical freeze when it takes the basic concepts of story telling through grounded level design to the next level
I hope he'll at least like DKC2. There is no way he prefers the original, right?
@@legrandliseurtri7495 I couldn't imagine so, but honestly I think tropical freeze just beats out dkc2 they're both amazing. I feel like dktf is a culmination of all donkey kongs strengths taken to the next level with such a great game underneath it all
@@TROBassGuitar Oh, I prefer Tropical freeze too. But returns, DKC2, DKC3 are all very strong games that I'd place leagues above DKC1.
the two arent comparable at all… it just comes down to preference
I think your reasoning explains why I love Mario Sunshine so much. Each stage feels like a real place. It doesn't feel as artificial as most other Mario games. There's no random floating platforms, instead you platform on rooftops, cranes, treetops, hills, boats, carnival rides, ext (the only exception being the special stages). All of the levels make logical sense in relation to the island setting. You have a harbour, a hotel, a volcano, several villages and beaches, ext. Because of this, adventuring through Isle Delfino feels like a more emmersive adventure, rather than just the next set of random floating blocks.
Well, I finished the video. I'd imagine part of why you like games like DKC, Klonoa 2, and Celeste, is that despite being held to the same standards and, debatably, falling for the same tropes that same tropes that most platformers do, they create cohesive, interesting and varied "world"s. Even if it's as simple as an island or mountain, a cohesive and interesting space that ties together well, as opposed to disconnected gauntlets of challenge, can help a lot to sell you and immerse you. That is, of course, if the settings and levels themselves are adequately atmospheric and immersive. Luckily, both Klonoa 2 and DKC have excellently produced music and visuals that fit very well for what they're attempting to do. It makes you think of these areas, places and vistas in your mind. Not just the levels, but the areas themselves speak to you in some way. It makes you want to come back, and makes you long for them when you leave them.
Or I could just be projecting. Good video, anyways.
Please do a Restrosoective of 2 and 3! They both fix and cover many of the flaws of 1. I would argue that 2 has better gameplay, theme, and collectible reward systems, while 3 has better artwork, and final (secret) boss. Also, I’m disappointed that you didn’t delve into the underlying themes of environmentalism in these games. Maybe you’ll do so for the future ones, but it seemed to be a driving force in these games’ narrative and aesthetic.
Your skits are really entertaining! You should consider doing more in the future!
having just played through dkc recently i definitely agree that this game has a great sense of immersion. it's often what carried the last half of the game for me where most of the levels were pretty easy. the game makes you good at it already with levels like snow barrel blast being the first ones in a new world, allowing you to steamroll through the ones in later worlds. (at least, that's what happened with me)
finding all the bonus rooms was an experience in itself, i couldn't find all of them without looking them up (just how are you supposed to know the first bonus room in tanked up trouble is there?) but finding them truly felt like an achievement more than the bonus room itself. it felt like i was inside the mind of the developers thinking what appropriate place would be to place a bonus room on, finding odd things with the levels and investigating them further which almost always resulted in a bonus room
the bosses are just a joke though, and i think the developers must've known that to make the main levels way more challenging. k rool gave me a bit of time to beat, sure, but it only took a few attempts and the rest were easily speedrun through. you don't even have to beat them more than once, just go back to the world you were in, save and go to the plane. they're that much of an afterthought
Some of your points really make a lot of sense! The levels are not only based on real settings, they're built like said settings. It makes sense for them to be like that. Though I always love to find sense and reason in other games that are more, I guess 'gamey' is the word, and I usually focus just on the settings themselves, and how they lead from one to the next, it's also really cool to see games that have machines and platforms in the levels themselves that exist there for a reason, which is why the Donkey Kong Country and the Metroid games have that power of selling the believability of their worlds quite well.
I'm also a sucker for the island aesthetic, I'm not gonna lie. I love me some good old Island Adventures! There are just so many biomes to play around with, especially if artificial structures, both old and new, functional and abandoned, are thrown into the mix.
The rings that this other guy wore are looking sick af
Giving up on buying Rare is probably the worst decision Nintendo ever made.
Tropical freeze wouldn’t have happened if they did, it was a worth sacrifice
Ceelo Gully I would say retro made *the* superior DKC *game* , but not plural, returns is fine but I don’t think it can hold a candle to DKC2 or DKC1 ( well for DKC1 I’d say it depends because the gameplay itself has a lot of flaws ) and that’s coming from someone that started with returns then tropical freeze, then finally the original trilogy
Ceelo Gully me too, as a matter of fact I played every DKC to 100% completion ( or whatever % each individual game calls full completion ) did you not read my comment? I said I played the original trilogy AFTER the two retro studios games, are you so oblivious to another opinion than your own that you immediately qualify it as nostalgia even when it makes absolutely no fucking sense? How is returns underrated? It’s a fairly simple platformer with not that much making it stand out amongst the rest in my opinion, it’s pretty good, but it pales in comparison to the original two on the snes and especially it’s sequel
Ceelo Gully dude wtf, I’ll make a video for you so you can stop trying to make excuses for yourself
There you go, I did it to 100% completion, heck even 200% because I also beat the mirror mode/hard mode, now what?
czcams.com/video/qInxONOfLSU/video.html
Ceelo Gully ok nevermind I’m gonna stop replying, you got me, well done, good troll
I'm vibing so hard.
My favourite moment in all of video games is the second act of Grim Fandango, purely because of the atmosphere and immersion. I can't tell you the exact story beats, the jokes or how to solve the puzzles, but I can gush about the amazing blimp, the jet black sky and ocean, the jazzy soundtrack, the Blue Casket, the casino, how the searchlight from the light house rotates, the sound of the gentle waves clucking against the port, how the camera sells the sense of space, how intimate the colors are.
Atmosphere and immersion is king, and those games that can sell that are the ones I'm most prone to return to
One of my favorite things about Mario 2, 3, and World as a kid was exploring all the levels. Finding all the secrets, shortcuts, and alternate exits. Interesting that never grabbed you for those games.
I think Donkey Kong Country's biggest issue is consistency.
For as incredible as its music, spritework, and immersion is, I actually find that its world-building leaves something to be desired. It feels like the last half of the game is nothing but water and factory levels, all given to you in a seemingly random order. I don't know how these levels connect with each other or how they connect with the world as a whole because of how sporadic they feel. I'm not saying that a mario-esque world with generic themes that correlate with the overworld is necessarily superior, but I think that there should have been more thought put into how the levels mesh together.
The gameplay is also inconsistent. The first half of the game, in my opinion, is fantastic. It's sufficiently challenging, but it also feels like they throw you a lot of bones. Levels tend to be short. Checkpoints and Kong barrels are frequent. Extra lives are neither overly-abundant nor frustratingly scarce but find the perfect balance. I think the first half showed the potential for Rare as a developer and the ability they had to make a game that kicked you in the balls, yet was very forgiving at the same time.
The second half of the game does a massive 180; levels are longer, less checkpoints and/or kong barrels, more annoying gimmicks, more off-screening bullshit, moments where it's impossible to not get hit (specifically in water levels where you're being chased by enemies that are faster than you are in very tight passageways, or maybe I'm just bad and you need animal buddies that I couldn't find but that's still dumb that they're required if that's the case), all seemingly out of nowhere. It feels like a completely different game, and I really don't know what happened.
It's for a lot of these reasons that I prefer Donkey Kong Country Returns. It's my favorite DK game, and it's pretty much just a remake of the original DKC, with all of its strength made better and most of its flaws removed entirely.
Wow, are you someone that prefers Returns to tropical freeze?
legrandliseur tri Yes, I am. I could talk your ear off about how much I hate Tropical Freeze, but I'll be merciful and just say I think it's a major step down from returns.
@@diegolomba2613 No, I'm curious:what are your reasons? I played Returns first so I kinda feel nostalgia towards it, but I've always felt that TF was the better game overall.
legrandliseur tri
1. I hate how the worlds are separated by an endless abyss of ocean instead of creative an immersive, cohesive world like DK island in returns
2. I hate how the game doesn't utilize all four kongs. 95% of the time you will always pick Dixie because she is objectively better than Diddy and there are very few levels where Kranky is needed.
3. Every part of the game outside of the levels feels lazy. The UI and menus use a very generic map paper style instead of the really cool (heheh) tiki carvings from Returns that both looked better and fit the game better because of the tiki villains. Donkey Kong doesn't have a drop shadow on the overworld, making his model clash with the overworld. Funky's shop doesn't have nearly the amount of personality that Kranky's shack did in Returns. The figurines you get from the toy capsule machine are presented very slowly, one at a time, and give nothing but duplicates 80% of the time. When you beat a boss, instead of doing the dramatic zoom in before beating the crap out of them like in returns, there's a very anti-climactic black circle that closes in on the boss like the end of a loony tunes short which happens the exact frame you make contact with the boss (point is it's jarring and lame). Basically, it feels like all of the attention went into the levels and nothing else. Imagine being served a 5-star meal but no effort was but into the presentation of the food or the atmosphere of the restaurant.
4. As someone who 100% both games, there is so much more stopping in Tropical Freeze. In returns, you sometimes have to stop to blow out a dandelion or pound a plant to see if there's a puzzle piece inside, but that takes half a second and then you're on the move again. In Tropical Freeze, all of those moments have been replaced with crappy banana collecting minigames that take 10 seconds each to finish, but if you wanna 100% the game, you won't know if they hold anything worthwhile unless you finish all of them, but more often than not they're useless.
5. The bosses are lame. Returns wasn't some masterpiece of platforming boss design, but the ones in Tropical Freeze are worse.
6. Not a fan of the music. I appreciate that there's actually new music this time unlike returns, but it all feels too laid back instead of the dynamic, energetic tracks of classic donkey kong.
7. I find the levels are much less memorable. This is probably more of a me thing than an actual problem with the game, but I can remember almost every level of returns because of how fun, challenging, and unique each feels. Those adjectives could probably describe most levels in tropical freeze as well, but I just can't remember most of them, and I don't really know why.
Those are all the things that come to mind right away. It's been over a year since I finished tropical freeze, so I'm probably forgetting some things. Anyway, I don't know how much of these are general complaints by other people who prefer returns, but those are my thoughts.
@@diegolomba2613 I'll try to adress a few points:
-Dixie is better if you're playing normally. However, in time attack mode, Cranky and diddy can often time be better. Cranky more so than Diddy(and Dixie, actually), but even he has levels to shine.
-I don't like how the TF bosses all follow the 3 phase-3 hits formula and the final boss is boring because he can only be hurt on one of his attacks, but the other fives made up for that with their nice variety and difficulty. I didn't think they were substantially worse, basically.
-The music is a very subjective thing, obviously. Personnally I prefer it to the old DKCs.
-That point about the bananas minigames is actually very interesting. I don't mind much cause i haven't often replayed this game or DKCR with puzzle pieces, because bonus rooms get very tedious and slow down the game's pacing.
-The levels almost all have many unique things about them. Returns usually had at least one different gameplay element per level, but the environment were less varied and didn't often have this crazy imaginitive thing about them. I think this is only because you played Returns more. I remember being consistently mindblowed when I watch tropical freeze letsplays-that's why I asked for a wiiu on my birthday, when I was 12.
"Needless to say, you`re gonna need some earbuds for this music"
I'm gonna need some drops to unplug me ears
DKC is one of my all-time favorite games. The graphics still hold up and look awesome, they pushed the hardware to its limits. the sound design is moody and memorable and the expertly designed platforming really has a special place in my heart. There was something so cool about how the late SNES games tried their damndest to make the best use of the hardware while providing loyal Nintendo fans with solid games in lieu of buying a PlayStation or N64. Still play all 3 DKC games to this day. Rare was at the top of their game in the 90s. I understand completely where you’re coming from in this video there’s something about this game that just sucks you in and it’s very therapeutic to play nowadays after you’ve mastered the mechanics.
One hundred percent agree, one of my all time favorites. Forever a classic
@KingK Regarding what you talk about around the 18:00 mark (platform levels and immersion), and I have a hypothesis for you:
The problem is that the two dimensions that 2D platformers tend to use is the horizontal and vertical axis. You move forward, backward, up, and down. Why's that an issue? In real life, we tend to maneuver in the lateral and horizontal axis most often. For example, when we draw maps, we almost always do so from the 'bird's eye' view.
This makes translating a 'real' space into a 2D platformer rather difficult. For example, my home could be converted into a section of a 'top-down' game like a Link to The Past just by converting the floor plan. However, converting it into part of platformer level would be very difficult. This is true for most spaces we inhabit.
More immersive games work in large part by designing a space that feels lived in, that feels like it's a place built for a purpose other than to be an obstacle course for the main character. For example, in a Deus Ex game, you might have a level take place in a bank-and that level can easily be made immersive simply by designing it with "let's design a practical bank people would actually use" and then modifying it to be a video game level. This is a lot harder (not impossible, mind you) to do in a 2D platformer game.
"Platforms don't just float in the air"
While literally showing platforms floating in the air.
19:51 "Platformers though? Are so often built around adventure narrative." There's you're problem right there. You're expecting platformers to take advantage of their narrative rather than their mechanics, yet you allow Super Monkey Ball to to be a mechanics focused game. "(Super Monkey Ball) is clearly meant to be an obstacle course" as you said the previous sentence. I can tell you're a person that won't get Super Mario Galaxy 2 either: that Nintendo "ruined" Mario Galaxy by removing the drama of Rosalina or the "cinematic" approach to cutscenes. Mario platformers are NOT about that. They are supposed to be about the joy of MOVEMENT, his first name was JUMPMAN for goodness sake. The level constructs are SUPPOSED to be enjoyable obstacles FIRST.
That isn't to say these games aren't immersive: an intense game of PAC-MAN can be more immersive than any open-world epic if you allow it to be. It's something that games can do over any other medium. Not atmosphere, not graphics, just raw gameplay letting you feel emotions that no other medium could possibly do with because of the the freedom of choice.
The issue with 2D Mario games as opposed to Donkey Kong Country is that they are too easy, and they don't have that rhythm that makes blazing through it so good. Pair that with the art direction that hasn't evolved since 1991, and it's clear to see why DKC is the superior series. Even still, you want challenge in a Mario game, you try to speedrun it and boy does it start making you pull your hair out when you mess up. Not as good as DKC, but it's something.
If you want a 2D Platformer with more world-building, try the Wario Land series. Wario is allowed to show some personality unlike Mr. Mascot and his inherit greed makes motivation very clear. Mario collects coins because they are there: WARIO collects coins 'cause he LOOOVES money. Mario goes on an adventure because it's his job: WARIO goes on an adventure for more money.
On the flip-side, an example of a game with fantastic world-building but absolute GARBAGE level design / mechanics is Donkey Kong 64, but I was planning on doing a video on that one day...
K
@Spaceman Alph k
@Spaceman Alph My point was more focused on this video, in which it's hypocritical to say 2D platformers are soulless but praising Super Monkey Ball for being just about good mechanics. However, I still stand by that Mario is at his best when he is staying true to being purely about platforming. Introducing too much plot inevitably leaves gaping plot holes in a world where mushrooms with eyeballs can revitalize you and a human just happens to become a space goddess for no reason. We're supposed to believe that a woman being kidnapped against her will wouldn't fight back or at the very least, show some damn urgency or raise her security after the 10th game? Even when Mario RPGs focus on world-building, there's still a lot of things off: like that Mario suddenly partners up with a species he's literally SLAUGHTERED for the past decade. Suspension of disbelief can only take me so far...
Mario got most of inspiration from Alice in Wonderland and Popeye: two things based more about character interaction and abstract animation than a cohesive story. It's proven that the evolution of Mario is objectively better when they take more steps towards wackier adventures (Galaxies and Mario Maker) than trying to make a living-breathing world (Sunshine).
I love the world-building in Mario RPGs and the 3D games too. I was pretty peeved when they turned paper Mario into an adventure game. But the more I think about it, the more I realize emphasizing world-building goes against what Mario is as a series. If Mario REALLY wants to evolve as you say, they'd go even crazier with the locales: Kaze Emanuar's Last Impact is a perfect example. There a level on a giant desk, a flooded bathroom, inside a monster fish, in a CIRCUIT BOARD: none of those things would ever make sense in a cohesive story-based adventure, but it would really spice up the platforming.
Also, apparently this IS a "rulebook" somewhere in Nintendo preventing them from changing Mario staples, let's not forget that nonsense. I do think that Odyssey was a great example of platforming WITH good world-building.
My main point is, PLATFORMING should ALWAYS be the #1 priority in a Mario game. Which is why Galaxy 2 is my favorite: it perfected Mario 3D movement and finally made a world that took advantage of that movement while also having a great sense of scope and visual flair. There's floating pancakes in space in one level, that alone made me fall in love with it. It's also not a cakewalk like most of the 2D games, is a blast to try a speedrun, but is equally fun to take your time and soak in the atmosphere. Galaxy 1 was a pretty easy (you almost never NEED to triple jump) and didn't stray too far from the "serene silent space" theme enough, which Galaxy 2 was able to do.
And as I said, you want world-building in a 2D platformer? Let WARIO and DONKEY KONG expand (pun intended).
@Spaceman Alph Did we watch the same video?
Quote: "(Super Monkey Ball) clearly isn't trying to be anything more than an obstacle course"
Mario games that are clearly meant to be nothing more than an obstacle course: they don't click with KingK. He even stated that even HE'S confused on why that is, and I'm trying to explain, it's really the difficulty. What would the difference be if Super Mario Bros. 3 had the same level design but you had to read a page of "immersive" dialogue in between levels? Padding that's what. If the challenge of the games was steeper and made him actually think about the games mechanics, that would be more immersive.
Also you're very wrong about Mario RPGs being separate universe because Bowser flat out says in like every game about how "Mario always beats him". Mario RPG Mario and platforming Mario are the same person. And a world being "too weird" is not my problem, a world being breaking its OWN rules is my problem.
Here's an example:
In the latest Paper Mario game, it's confirmed that Bob-Ombs actually die from their explosion. They have a short life but they make the most of it. Okay, well how can a character like Admiral Bobbery exist if he's not even supposed to be able to explode more than once!? Mario stories end up breaking THEIR OWN RULES. This would also imply that Bowser is a more sick and evil villain than we can imagine, but then we can also go go-karting with the tyrannical dictator with suicide bombers!? Again, that's also referenced between games, so don't give me that "oh it's a separate dimension" argument because it's FALSE!
Sunshine doesn't get a pass because the locals became unlikable because of the story and world-building. They literally witness an evil Mario kidnap Peach in broad damn daylight but MARIO is still arrested. Also the Shine Spites are literally vital tools for the safety of the city, yet some civilians just have em' in their pocket... Sunshine also feels more LIMITED because of the forced island motif, whereas Odyssey was at least able to change up the setting.
And yes, I can try and tell people Mario is about platforming, in the MAIN line games at least. That's like saying I shouldn't criticize people for wanting Goku in Smash, even though it completely disregards that Smash is about GAMING history. They can have that opinion, and Goku would be a cool fighter no doubt... but it's still WRONG! Zelda going open-world wasn't against the idea of an adventure game, real-time combat doesn't shift the focus away from building up your Final Fantasy team. Metal Gear... well that's a whole can of worms that I have little to no experience with, but I'm sure that the immersive storytelling with stealth / survival gameplay has been the focus since the old days.
Mario is a series about platforming: that is not subjective, that is FACT. Whether the platforms are an abstract surreal dream or take place in the balcony of a dramatic crime scene: his mission is only to get from point A to point B.
@Spaceman Alph We really got off topic. My largest point and the whole reason I posted a comment was this question: Why is okay for Monkey Ball to be Obstacle Based for KingK with no cohesion, but not okay for Mario to be obstacle based with no cohesion? Why is he expecting more from Mario and not from Monkey Ball? In this particular case, I think it's the difficulty that makes or breaks an obstacle based game.
You're right, story-telling in Mario games can improve the experience, and I shouldn't be going off on a game I personally cannot accept the flaws in. I just think the wackiness of Mario's universe requires hoops of fire to escape the plot holes. Like they literally have to confirm that separate Mario games are in some pocket dimension! What about Bowser in Color Splash, he asks Mario to go-karting, does that mean Mario Kart and Paper Mario are the same universe? Luigi's Mansion, is it the same Luigi from the games or a separate Luigi that can't jump? Peach clearly remembers each time she gets kidnapped, why hasn't hse at least shown an attempt to stop it? If we accept that EVERY SINGLE MARIO GAME is like a separate universe, then what's the point of world-building at all if they're just gunna scrap it all in the next game? It further proves my point that GAMEPLAY is priority #1 and I still think that just because you're COLLECTING something doesn't change that it's point A to point B.
As someone who legitimately wanted to make a full-blown Mario movie, these are the things I find myself thinking about way too much...
18:34 - I find it interesting that, while discussing how DKC doesn't have platforms just float in the air, KingK uses a clip that both begins and ends with DK bouncing on platforms that are just floating in the air.
13:50 the restored versions you refer are available in Bandcamp as individual albums containing the full soundtrack for each DK game. They were all done by Jamin Sam Miller, who also has a YT account where he shows the process for some of the restorations.
i like this video a lot, though i have to disagree with you on one point. i think the restored soundtrack is inferior to the original SNES quality soundtrack. i don't know why exactly. i'm sure that a small part of nostalgia plays a role too, but i just have the feeling that the restored version just doesn't have the same kind of atmosphere. it sounds.....off. like something isn't right. it's hard to explain. but i immediately felt it when the sound changed from restored to original during the Aquatic Ambience scene in the video. as soon as it switched to the original, within an instant i felt more at ease, more satisfied and calm.
call me crazy, but it really makes a gigantic difference to me :D :D :D
It sounds horrible.
The restored version is missing notes and the uncompressed synth overpowers the rest of the song.
King K: Uses the word "Simulacrum"
Me with a BA In English: "Write that down, WRITE THAT DOWN!"
...how would a BA in English have not heard the word “simulacrum?”
Seriously though great video, also in terms of immersion through platformers you may like Wario Land 3. The way that everything takes place on an island and so much of it connects to each other really gives it life
underrated game series.
I can't imagine kids in the 90s getting through that frozen area, because im over here on the snes app on switch and I'm still struggling a bit because of those damn barrel cannons
90's kids got through challenges like these because there was less things to be distracted by back then - In particular the www wasn't anywhere near as diverse or as ubiquitous.