Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat
Gibson Guitars Nintendo has a bad track record for following up on unique controllers that they release. After making an initial big splash, the innovation is forgotten and left to gather dust as few new games support the accessory. The Robotic Operating Buddy from the early days of the Nintendo Entertainment System comes to mind almost immediately, as does the NES Zapper, the Super Scope 6, and even the Nintendo 64s Expansion Pak. All are great ideas that, after one or two games that make use of the new peripherals, fell away into the dustbin of history and/or eBay, never to be heard of again. At first glance it would seem that history is about to repeat itself with the upcoming Donkey Konga bongo controller drums, but Nintendo may have learned the lesson by now that special gadgets need as much love as the WaveBird: not only will Konga make use of the drums, but so will Odama and another new Donkey Kong game, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat.
Features
- Side scrollin bongo drummin action for one or two players
- Control Donkey Kong with the bongo controller
- Fight back by generating sound waves to assist and attack
- Venture through various jungle terrains to rescue the baby apes
Gameplay To look at
Jungle Beat is to see what appears to be yet another side scrolling
Donkey Kong Country game. What makes this game stand out from past installments in the series is that youll have to trade in your standard issue GameCube controller and plug in the bongo controller to get the full experience. DK is controlled through your drum beats and claps. Tap the right bongo and DK moves to the right. Tap left and he moves to the left. Beat instead of tap to speed up that walk into a full-on run. Give both bongos a slap at once to make the monkey jump. Clap your hands to punch or give rise to an onscreen sound wave that can damage enemies, create climbing platforms, or any other number of actions. Better yet, combine these moves to create combos in which DK runs over to an enemy, jumps up, and bashes it with a drum-drum-slap-clap. Manic beating on the drums will get you nowhere; the key is formulating your drum beats as a conductor leads an orchestra and not as a monkey beats on drums. This is obviously a unique and interesting control scheme that requires more attention, coordination, and patience than other similar video games.
Once you get your drums warmed up, its time to embark on yet another adventure to test your monkey mettle. This time around Donkey Kong is exploring the jungle in search of some missing baby apes. Nothing is ever easy in Donkey Kongs world, of course, so hell have to collect bananas, swing on vines, spar with angry enemy apes in a toe-to-toe matchup, bounce off barriers like a primate pinball, and hitch rides on various animal creatures both friend and foe. For example, as the game progresses our hero finds himself hitching a ride on a wild wildebeest and it's up to you to beat the right bongo as fast as you can to keep your ride moving ahead of a pursuing avalanche. Then, at the end of the course, you'll believe that apes can fly when an icy ramp sends Donkey Kong flying in a monkey-style long jump event where points are awarded for distance.
Technology Jungle Beat looks downright sharp. Donkey Kong and his world are rendered in 3D as you might expect; characters are smooth and backgrounds are vibrant. Donkey Kong himself hasnt looked this good since
Super Smash Bros. Melee. The camera pulls back and zooms in for dramatic flair and occassionally flips into a
The Matrix-inspired bullet time angle. And dont worry if youre not a drumming pro the game features onscreen guides to teach you the bongo basics and provide a little help when you need it the most.
Specifics on sound are unknown at this point, but its likely to expect a soundtrack thats heavy on percussion. I wouldnt even be surprised if, in order to get Donkey Kong moving in the right sequence, players have to keep the rhythm with the music, thereby adding the percussion line to the song while at the same time keeping our hero on target towards the goal.
Outlook The unique control scheme in
Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat has piqued a lot of curiosity here at GCA and were eager to get our own monkey paws on it. At the very least the game will be a good way to get more use out of those bongo controllers, but knowing Nintendo this game will be able to stand all by itself. The game is planned for release in 2005 and GCA will have more news and images from the game as time goes on.
[ Shirt ] Click to enlarge pad Donkey Kong' shirt in which these Donkey Kong shirts have been screen printed with a Donkey Kong image. These Donkey Kong tshirts are usually made from heavyweight preshrunk 6oz. cotton tee shirt blanks.
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