Remember The Game #42 - Donkey Kong Country

I say it almost every episode, but I'm really excited to talk about this week's game. Donkey Kong Country is easily on  "10 favourite games of all-time" list. It's a masterpiece.

 

Donkey Kong Country is just one of those games that everybody has played. It's one of the best selling video games in history, and at one point it was even been packaged with the Super Nintendo itself. At a time when people were looking at the Sega Genesis and it's graphical capabilities, this game was the SNES's way of pushing back. It's absolutely gorgeous, and as far as I'm concerned it looks as good today as it did twenty-five years ago. 

 

I've said it a million times, but Super Mario World is my favourite game ever. I think it's literally the perfect video game. Donkey Kong Country is just as good. Frankly, it looks better and it has better music than Mario does. The 16-bit era of video games is still the golden age in this old timer's mind, and this game is one of the crown jewels of that generation. I don't even know what to say about, I just love it that much. 

 

I've beaten this game a million times, and I find myself going back to it again and again. The gameplay is tight, it's fun to play, it's perfect. It introduced us to Diddy Kong, and it showed the world why Cranky Kong (who's the original Donkey Kong, FYI) is the best character in gaming history. 

 

And we got Funky Kong. And Donkey Kong is a boss. King K Rool is a dope villain. The mine cart levels! Shooting from barrel to barrel! In a blizzard!! You can ride a swordfish! So damned good.

 

Games like Donkey Kong Country are why I started this podcast in the first place. I have so many great memories of playing it as a kid. And this week, my buddy Henry came by to listen to me talk about some of them. He had a few of his own too. Great game, great guest, great episode. Check it out.