The first DK title for the N64 is no pushover. After a good, long time in development, DK makes his 4th appearance on the N64, except, this time he is pretty much the star in this game. Much in the same tastes and flavors of Banjo-Kazooie and Super Mario 64, DK64 has that feeling like you have "been there, done that", and pretty much, you have if you've ever played the aforementioned games. Yet, technically, this game is a strong showing of what the N64 is capable of, especially with the expansion pack.

Being a Rare game, this game shares an eerie resemblance to their sleeper hit Banjo Kazooie. Not that it is strange, just a little bit too much like it. And ultimately, this seems to be the major flaw of the games play and re-playability. The similarities are great amongst the 2, with the exception of more things to do in DK64. Then you ask, "More things can only be good, since it adds more playing time." Sadly though, it truly hurts it for those who've played similar games. Read further to find out a little more...

In DK64, much like BK (Banjo Kazooie), you have to collect items within a stage to advance further into the game. In BK, however, you had to basically worry about collecting 2 different things to advance; as with DK64, you have to collect about 5 different things in order to proceed further. Plus there are the secondary items that aren't 'necessary' to proceed, but vital to proceed nonetheless. With those included, that equals somewhere in the range of 15-20 items to collect on the tedious adventure. Now that is a lot! Throw in the fact that the levels are huge, you can collect only certain items with certain characters (there's 5 in all), and items are located and spread in odd places around the stage........and you have multiple upon multiple hours of seamlessly repetitive gameplay.

As in most DK games (starting with Donkey Kong Country on the SNES), you are not only playing as the Donk himself. This time around, he has 4 friends backing him up instead of 1. You have the return of Diddy Kong, the quick and agile chimp; Tiny Kong, a new character that can shrink in size; another new character, Lanky Kong, with stretchy arms; and finally, Chunky Kong, a super strong Kong. Each character has their own unique talents and can be accessed anytime in the stage, providing that you have gotten them and found a 'Kong barrel' to exchange in.

The best feature of this game is easily the graphics. Most notably though is the superlative lighting effects. The programmers at Rare did a flawless job at creating Dreamcast-quality lighting. Thanks to the 4 meg expansion pak, it was possible. You will truly be amazed at the many colors that shade a character in accordance to where they are on particular parts of the game. It is even accurate when the light source is moving. Although, the best showing of the lighting is the 'Lightning flashes'. Whenever it lightning's, you get a real sense that it is an actual storm. The character models have a decent amount of polygons, the bosses look great, and the textures are above average. No real slowdown also, but since you are never really moving fast, it really shouldn't have a reason to slow down much at all. To conclude this section, the graphics are just superbly crafted and greatly detailed.

In this highly criticized title, the music is not what stands out in the audio dept., but the sound fx do. First off, the beginning song, the "DK rap", was inventive. This is not the best rap you'll find, but it is cute and entertaining nevertheless. Then you have the funky voice/sound overs that are also cute just like in BK. To some, it may get annoying, but to others, the weird sounds and noises the characters and enemies make will surely appeal to them. Plus, the sound effects are key to the game, and you shouldn't play it without the volume turned up. Everything seems to be very diverse and different in terms of sound fx.

All in all, DK64 is just an over-hyped, longer rehash of Banjo Kazooie. It doesn't try enough new things to separate it from BK. Once you start the game, expect to play a good long time to totally master it, and just to even finish it. This game is even longer than some RPGs. Besides the insane repetitiveness, this game is pretty decent. With some of the best lighting effects, sound effects, and resolutions around, DK64 is no failure. But with long, mind straining, confusing levels, flawed controls, and a short fun-appeal, DK64 is for those only new to the genre, DK fans, or kids who don't know any better or are too young to get the feelings about games that older gamers tend to get. However, I will say this. If you are looking for a N64, and sorta want or definitely want this game, I highly suggest that you get the DK64 special N64 edition. You get DK64 in a rare 'yellow' cartridge, a 4 meg expansion pack, and a see-through, green N64 and controller, all for the price of 130 dollars. Trust me. You probably won't be disappointed.

Overall: 7.5

Additional Media:

Image 1
Image 2
Image 3
Image 4
Image 5
Image 6
Image 7
Image 8