By Pirate_Higemaru
Overall Grade: D+
The Donkey Kong Country series is a series that is often praised as being one of the most solid platforming series on the SNES. The first and second ones in particular have been called some of the best of their kind. But what about that third game, Donkey Kong Country 3? Is there a reason that it's rarely mentioned alongside it's brethren?
Plot:
Donkey Kong Country games aren't really known for their plot. It's generally "something gets kidnapped, you have to rescue it" and the formula repeats. There are a couple of plot twists here and there but they're predictable and they aren't exactly anything impressive. Compared to the past two games, it's pretty dull and it probably won't stay with you for a while.
The dialogue in DKC3 is also pretty disappointing. The past two games had Cranky Kong saying a bunch of somewhat amusing lines that poked fun of the idea of the "new" games being too easy. The lines were always somewhat memorable and a few of the lines should amuse the average gamer. However, the dialogue in this game just didn't feel right. Cranky Kong doesn't appear nearly as much and when he does, his dialogue just isn't as funny. Wrinkly Kong probably has the largest amount of dialogue and most of it seems like it's trying to be funny but it just fails and falls flat on its face. The main villain has some amusing dialogue but aside from that the game is pretty humorless even if it tries to crack jokes on occasion.
The new characters are bursting with subdued personalities with one exception; Kiddy Kong. Kiddy Kong is a baby Kong that is pretty much a Donkey Kong expy. He acts as most babies acts and while it can be amusing to see how curious he is, he is almost devoid of any personality which is disappointing. A race of anthropomorphic bears are also added. They all have different traits such as one being a botanist and another one being a hiker. Like I said before, they're pretty bland as well. It's disappointing really. They added a bunch of new characters and almost none of them are unique in any way.
Graphics:
The graphic style of this game closely follows that of its two predecessors. It uses a nice bright color palette and detailed backgrounds to bring the environment to life. It looks really nice and it's a nice step up from the depressing, dark Donkey Kong Country 2. The forests look nice and bright, the mountains are bright as well. It's just a very bright and cheerful game....when it wants to be. Certain levels are fairly dark and somewhat grim and they look pretty good too. They also look really nice which is a good bonus.
The sprites don't look half-bad either. They're very well animated and quite impressive for the SNES. The Kongs, in particular, are very detailed and have many different expressions. The Kongs may have some of the most emotive faces on SNES. They looked shocked when they get hurt, the look impatient when they get bored and the list goes on. It's not like it hasn't been done before but there is a certain charm to these emotions that makes them last.
The enemy sprites also look good. There aren't nearly as many re-colors as past games which is a nice display of effort on Rare's part. They aren't exactly unique per-say but a decent amount of effort was put into them. There are very few, if any enemies that make a repeat appearance in this game. Even Zingers are replaced by mechanical counterparts! The enemies aren't exactly creative but neither were the enemies in the past games. They aim to get the job done and they're definitely able to get the job done.
All-in-all, the graphics are pretty good. It's a step up from both of the prequels which impressive considering how cutting-edge those games were considered at the time. The enemies, while not creative, look half decent and like I said before, they get the job done. The normal sprites are detailed and show a lot of expressions which is always a nice bonus. The stages themselves look fantastic and the backgrounds are detailed and generally nice looking.
Music:
The Donkey Kong Country games have always been highly praised for their music. In fact, Donkey Kong Country 2's soundtrack is widely considered to be one of the greatest soundtracks in a Nintendo game. This was mostly due to one man's musical genius. That man's name was David Wise. However, he didn't have nearly as much involvement as he did with the last two games.
Instead, fellow composer, Eveline Fischer took over. She had worked on the Donkey Kong Country soundtrack series before and she had proven herself to be a quite good composer. Her songs were generally more quaint and peaceful that David's were and it really shows in this game. The songs go from being dark, tense and high energy to be slow, cheerful and relaxing. It's a sudden change from DKC2's dark and moody soundtrack and some may not like the change. Personally, I hated it at first. I passed if off as too different from Donkey Kong Country 2's and therefore inferior. However, it quickly grew on me and soon I began to love the relaxing melodies in each song. That's not to say every song is great, there are certainly songs that aren't quite "Donkey Kong Country" quality.
Now I'm going to admit that sound effects aren't really something I comment on. It generally seems pointless to write about them, most are uninspired and they rarely leave an impact. This game is a special case though. This game has one of the worst sounds in video game history. That sound in particular is the sound KiddyKiddy Kong (the new playable character) dies, he starts throwing a fit as most babies do. The thing is, who wants to hear that replicated in a video game? It's almost as bad as Baby Mario's crying in Super Mario World 2. Other than that, the sound effects are pretty unmemorable. The only one I can think of is the noise Kremlings make when they die. It's an amusing noise but it's recycled from the past two games.
Donkey Kong Country 3's soundtrack probably has the weakest soundtrack in the Donkey Kong Country series but it's by no means horrible. Give it a chance as you may not like it at first. Like I said, it's a pretty sudden change and one that will take some time to get used to. Also, the sound effects are pretty unremarkable with the exception of Kiddy Kong.
Gameplay:
The Donkey Kong Country series is remembered for its fun (albeit gimmicky) levels. Donkey Kong Country 3 is no different. You'll travel to from point A to point B with enemies, stage hazards and other things trying to stop you from reaching your destination. Much like the games before it, Donkey Kong Country 3 has a unique gimmick in almost every level. It can range from having to feed a fish so it won't attack you to having to dodge lightning strikes. It creates a nice sense of variety and while some may appreciate it, I felt that the levels in this game just didn't compare to the levels of Donkey Kong Country 2.
The levels are just disappointing. Most of the gimmicks used are very boring and shallow and don't really display and imagination. A lot of the gimmicks are new spins on previous gimmicks and while this could possibly be cool, it just ends up falling on its face because most of levels just aren't fun. There's just something that's lacking about them. They just feel stale and somewhat rushed. They also feel unbalanced. What I mean is Dixie Kong can generally just float around every enemy and due to her small size, she's able to get past certain parts fairly easily. Kiddy Kong on the other hand is huge, slow and at a major disadvantage at all times. Using him is pretty much surrendering. He makes it very hard to get to the end due to how large and bulky he feels.
I have my doubts that Kiddy Kong was even supposed to be in the game. A decent amount of the levels just don't feel like they were designed for a character of such size. I wouldn't be surprised if I heard that Diddy Kong was supposed to be in the game but they switched over to Kiddy Kong halfway through development. Some of the earlier levels just don't work like they should when you use them. Now I'm not saying DKC2 didn't have a balance issue but it's far more evident in this game.
This game also added an interactive world map that you could travel around. This is both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because it adds to the game's replayability factor. It allows for exploration which is always nice and offers some nice environments to look at. However, it's a curse because the overworld really doesn't have much to explore and it makes the game too easy. I know that sounds weird but there's a save point that doesn't take any effort to get to and is doesn't charge you for using it. If you have a decent amount of self-control, you may be able to overlook this but it's still annoying that it's even there.
Even if that save point wasn't there, the game would still be pretty easy. For whatever reason, Rare decided to put most of the save points near the beginning of each world. In most other Donkey Kong Country games, you had sometimes had to go three, four levels before reaching a checkpoint. In this game, most worlds have their checkpoints within the first two levels. The levels themselves aren't that hard either. Most of them have one slightly difficult part and a good half of them are really short. It's incredibly disappointing.
Donkey Kong Country's bosses were nothing to write home about. Aside from the final-boss battle, most of them were unmemorable and incredibly formulaic. That trend is (surprisingly) stopped here. The bosses in this game all have unique ways of defeating them including blowing water at them with a new animal buddy or throwing snowballs at them. Unfortunately, none of these are particularly interesting or very fun. Some of them are unique but they quite frankly, just weren't interesting. The final boss was probably good though, right? Unfortunately, the final boss was a huge let-down. Unlike the other two that pulled a couple of punches and tried to put a new spin on the standard boss fight, this one doesn't try any new tricks nor does it try and play tricks from previous games. It was just another standard, boring Donkey Kong Country boss and that shouldn't be.
The new animal buddies were pretty cool though. The new elephant animal buddy, Ellie, is pretty much a Rambi replacement. And by Rambi replacement, I mean a cheap Rambi replacement. Don't get me wrong, Ellie's gimmicks are creative but they just don't work that well. Her primary gimmick is that she can suck up water and fire it at enemies. This is a pretty creative gimmick and I love that Rare included it but aiming can be finicky at times which can lead to some tense situations that shouldn't be tense. Her secondary gimmick is that she's scared of mice. Obviously, this stems from the myth that elephants are scared of mice and I absolutely love the idea behind the gimmick. Unfortunately, this is a really annoying gimmick as it can make certain parts a pain to get through. Obviously, this was the intention but it just proves to be annoying. Other animal buddies such as Squitter and Squawks make their return and pretty inoffensive and they're still fun to use. Another animal buddy is introduced named Parry who is mostly there for collecting things. He is pretty inoffensive too and I have to admit that he's probably my favorite animal buddy in the game.
Donkey Kong Country 3 is heavily flawed. The levels are dull and uninteresting and many of them use tired, old gimmicks. The new animal buddies, while creative, can have a tendency to be annoying and somewhat of a burden. Kiddy Kong is a burden no matter how you look at it. Most of the bosses are unique as well but they aren't much fun to fight. The overworld map is unnecessary and can end up making the game far easier than it should be. It's not a broken game, it's just an incredibly dull game.
Overall:
Donkey Kong Country 3 is average. It does nothing new or different and the gimmicks are (for the most part) stale and standard fare. The music is pretty good although it isn't nearly as memorable or catchy. The sound effects can be downright annoying at times however. The graphics are pretty good. The backgrounds are well done, the enemies look nice and aren't just re-colored versions of old enemies. The Kongs are well animated and offer some great facial animations. The story is standard and nothing to write home about although in a game like this, who cares about the story? The game's jokes are also horribly unfunny and they certainly don't compare to the jokes told in the first two games.
As much as I hate to say this, Donkey Kong Country 3 does more wrong than it does right. There are good levels here and there but they are few in number. With that being said, Donkey Kong Country 3 is by no means a "terrible game". It's just a standard 16-bit platformer much like one of those boring "mascot platformers" that populated the SNES and the Genesis. I'm only being so hard on it because it comes from such a high pedigree. If you think you can tolerate it's flaws, go ahead and play it. If you're a Donkey Kong Country fan who wants to try it out, go right on ahead. It's a perfectly fine game that's just incredibly inferior to its predecessors.
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