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The original Donkey Kong Country has aged incredibly well.

What's your favorite DKC game?

  • DKC

    Votes: 169 23.8%

  • DKC2

    Votes: 302 42.6%

  • DKC3

    Votes: 42 5.9%

  • DKC Returns

    Votes: 20 2.8%

  • DKC: Tropical Freeze

    Votes: 176 24.8%
  • Total voters
    709
entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,010
DKC2 got most of the love during the 16bit era and many years afterward. It is a better game. No doubt about it. However, this is about the original DKC.

I remember in the early to mid-aughts reading many takes that DKC was a poor platformer. Along with unfounded rumors of Miyamoto trashing the game. After putting in some time recently via the SNES classic, the game is still very strong. It also has that really fun speed run feel, something that you don't really get from another lauded SNES platformer released at the time, Yoshi's Island. I love YI, but it's more of a big 2D playground, with nooks and crannies. While DKC feels more like an ancestor of Super Meat Boy.

And let's not forgot the music. Gotdamn it is still very good, Island Swing, Cranky Theme, Mine Cart Madness, Life in the Mines, Forest Frenzy, Treetop Rock, and the beloved Aquatic Ambience.

I still need to play DKC3 for the first time. I have it on my OG Wii and completely missed it since it came out late into the SNES life.

Rankings since everyone loves this stuff lol:

TF>DKC2>DKCR>DKC1

Still all great games. I hope the series continues.
 
Goddo Hando

Goddo Hando

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,714
Chicago
just beat it for the first time last weekend and i loved every minute of it. Thought that the level themes repeated a little too much, and the game ended rather abruptly but it totally holds up after all these years.
 
halcali

halcali

Banned
Nov 7, 2017
6,317
Hong Kong SAR
I'm crazy about the original. Sure, boss battles and hit boxes are kinda bad. However, it has a really great aesthetic and one of the best OSTs of the 16-bit era

Dixie is still the best Kong, so I kinda prefer DKC2. But I always go back and forth on the issue <3
 
DaveB

DaveB

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,513
New Hampshire, USA
Goddo Hando said:
just beat it for the first time last weekend and i loved every minute of it. Thought that the level themes repeated a little too much, and the game ended rather abruptly but it totally holds up after all these years.
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I haven't played the game through since the SNES release. The one thing I never forgot was I used to dread the blizzard levels with the wooden barrels that you have to shoot between. I sucked at timing them.

And mine carts... Ugh!
 
nbnt

nbnt

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,810
Yep. My favorite DKC title and I might even prefer it to SMW as the best SNES platformer. Some of the most innovative level design from that era combined with an incredible atmosphere and music.. It's just really fucking good.
 
Quinton

Quinton

Specialist at TheGamer / Reviewer at RPG Site
Member
Oct 25, 2017
17,256
Midgar, With Love
I've never played any of these but I've got a buddy who's super into the series and I asked him to rank them the other day. He had Tropical Freeze below 2, which seems common, but also 1, which seems less common. He told me Tropical Freeze is solid but it has frustrating stuff and it's just not on 1's level, let alone 2's.

I guess that was the first time I'd ever realized people enjoyed 1 a ton. So yeah, I'd agree that 2 gets the chunk of attention. It seems, at least on Era, to be kind of like... 2 > TF > 1 > R > 3. Maybe.
 
Uncle at Nintendo

Uncle at Nintendo

▲ Legend ▲
Member
Jan 3, 2018
8,581
Some of the levels are just torture. DKC2 is the harder game but feels more rewarding to play, it's hard to put into words but the level design in DKC1 just seems off.
 
Video Games Are Dumb

Video Games Are Dumb

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,033
Milwaukee, WI
I'm gonna say something ya might not like but I swear, I'm being respectful.

That game sucks. It's not a good game. NOW - what I will say is it has excellent presentation. And that went a long way back in the day. Heck I still think Jurassic Park of Genesis amazing! But deep down I know it's terrible.
 
Archduke Kong

Archduke Kong

Member
Feb 2, 2019
2,309
My favorite part of this game (and DK64, while I'm at it) is the sense of community between the Kongs. You've got a persistent companion with Diddy Kong, five different animals show up to help throughout the game multiple times, and having Funky, Candy and Cranky show up every so often to give you help all the way until the end of the game gives you a sort of comfort that the gang has your back while you're making your way to K. Rool. It's a great touch.

Also the Bonus Room music has no business being as catchy as it is. Here's a 30 minute loop of it. You're welcome.

 

Deleted member 18021

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
4,000
The fun part of DKC is when you Git Gud, and the games start to resemble Sonic with how you can blast through levels.

I'd probably put both sequels above the original, if only because DKC2 is just that good, and DKC3 has some interesting ideas, even if they aren't all executed on.
 
ZeoVGM

ZeoVGM

Member
Oct 25, 2017
76,109
Providence, RI
It's still a very good game though I think it's the only one in the original trilogy that has aged a bit and probably the weakest in the series at this point. DKC2 and DKC3 still hold up.

DKC2 > TF > DKC3 > DKCR > DKC

Would be nice if they put them on Switch, eh?

When was the last time we even had an update?
 
wholahay

wholahay

Member
Dec 18, 2017
708
I have no qualms whatsoever with basically any of the original trilogy. I suppose DKC1 has little quirks that I could imagine being frustrating if I was picking up the game for the first time 25 years late.

My least favorite is Donkey Kong Country Returns, which just sort of underwhelms me. I admittedly haven't touched it since the original Wii release, so I'm willing to reevaluate that assessment someday. DKC3 meanwhile gets an absolutely unfair rap--the trading side quests are a bore, but the actual platforming is as solid as 2 is. To be honest, I think people just hate Kiddy Kong.

All that is to say: 2 > TF > 1 > 3 > R.
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,010
mopinks said:
yeah, and then they pulled them from the Wii VC and didn't put them back up for three years

there are complications there
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I updated my post. The entire trilogy on the Wii U and 3DS VC right now I mean. But the Switch is the way more popular and relevant platform, so it's weird.
 
Antydotes

Antydotes

One Winged Slayer
Member
Dec 3, 2017
242
I really enjoyed the Donkey Kong Land trilogy and Returns/Tropical Freeze. However, I've always had trouble getting into the original trilogy. I'm not sure what it has been, but I do want to rectify that at some point.
 

Deleted member 59109

User requested account closure
Banned
Aug 8, 2019
7,877
Tbh, I don't think the original DKC games have aged that well compared to the modern ones by Retro. They're pretty good, but the controls and environments in the Retro DK games are just so much better to me.

Out of the ones I've played, I'd rank them DKCR>DKTF>DKC1>DKC2
 
mopinks

mopinks

Member
Oct 27, 2017
30,563
entremet said:
I updated my post. The entire trilogy on the Wii U and 3DS VC right now I mean. But the Switch is the way more popular and relevant platform, so it's weird.
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yeah, it's definitely not impossible for them to strike a deal with Microsoft and get them on there

I feel like the nature of the service might make it harder to negotiate these deals, though, especially if they want to make sure the games stay on there forever
 
Anth0ny

Anth0ny

Member
Oct 25, 2017
46,834


homer-in-bed-image-si02jqd.jpg
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,010
mopinks said:
yeah, it's definitely not impossible for them to strike a deal with Microsoft and get them on there

I feel like the nature of the service might make it harder to negotiate these deals, though, especially if they want to make sure the games stay on there forever
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I thought Nintendo owned these games completely?

The issue is probably the Rareware license that appears in the game.
 

Deleted member 59109

User requested account closure
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Aug 8, 2019
7,877
Quinton said:
I've never played any of these but I've got a buddy who's super into the series and I asked him to rank them the other day. He had Tropical Freeze below 2, which seems common, but also 1, which seems less common. He told me Tropical Freeze is solid but it has frustrating stuff and it's just not on 1's level, let alone 2's.

I guess that was the first time I'd ever realized people enjoyed 1 a ton. So yeah, I'd agree that 2 gets the chunk of attention. It seems, at least on Era, to be kind of like... 2 > TF > 1 > R > 3. Maybe.
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I feel like TF is seen as the best DK game, I'm not sure if there's been a poll though
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong
Member
Oct 28, 2017
30,377
first game best game
returns is a souless husk of a game and seeing people putting it over the original trilogy is physically painful
 
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entremet

entremet

You wouldn't toast a NES cartridge
Member
Oct 26, 2017
60,010
Starlatine said:
first game best game
returns is a souless husk of a game and seeing people putting it over the original trilogy is physically painful
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I'm not that harsh lol The Returns Duology is very strong. At the same, I feel they are different types of games.

We still don't have a definitive version of the original Returns. The 3DS version added content, had superior controls, but was lower resolution and ran at half the framerate.
 
bionic77

bionic77

Member
Oct 25, 2017
30,888
DKC is a good game but DKC2 is way better. Control, music, art, etc.

And Tropical Freeze takes it to another level again...
 
Starlatine

Starlatine

533.489 paid youtubers cant be wrong
Member
Oct 28, 2017
30,377
entremet said:
I'm not that harsh lol The Returns Duology is very strong. At the same, I feel they are different types of games.

We still don't have a definitive version of the original Returns. The 3DS version added content, had superior controls, but was lower resolution and ran at half the framerate.
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I like tropical freeze, i'm talking only about returns. Its so souless the worlds dont even have names, nothing more bland and boring than "jungle", "beach", "factory". and yes the control sucks

Icedragon said:
I can't think of one way the original is better than Returns tbh
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you need more imagination then
 
Wil Grieve

Wil Grieve

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,055
DKC2 is obviously the best one but the DKC trilogy is phenomenal overall. I thought the third one was a little too easy and I didn't care much for the way they totally shifted the enemy designs. Those buzzsaw bees were a bit lame compared to the OG horror wasps.

It's a shame that that magic was never able to be captured again, despite the two failed Retro attempts.
 
Mandos

Mandos

Member
Nov 27, 2017
30,891
Original is the one I'm most familiar with so gotta go with that. Now when am I getting my new DKC with the grand return of K Rool Nintendo?
 
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