Donkey Kong Jungle Beat Review
April 21, 2005 by Mike Lanier
by Mike Lanier - April 21, 2005
Nintendo has a penchant for making unusual titles. If a plumber gobbling mushrooms set the standard for weirdness, later titles like Pikmin, Wario Ware, and Starfox redefined it (animals flying spaceships, people!). The trend continued with Donkey Konga, released in September 2004. Well friends, it�s time to dust off those DK Bongos and get ready to experience Nintendo bucking the trend once more. Innovation has a new name: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.
Joystick Shmoystick
Jungle Beat is different from any sidescroller you�ve ever played. You�ll still be running and jumping, but you control the action with a set of DK Bongos. For anyone unfamiliar with the peripheral, the DK Bongos are two connected drums that can sense being hit and can detect clapping (it should be noted that one can play Jungle Beat with a normal controller, but it�s not nearly as fun). So how can you control DK with bongos? It�s easier than you might think.
Moving DK around a level is actually fairly simple. Tap the left or right bongo to make DK run in the corresponding direction. How fast you tap directly controls how fast he runs. Hit the left and right bongo simultaneously and DK will jump. Clap and he will perform a clap or grab attack, depending on what�s in his immediate proximity. Controlling DK in water is a little tougher, but works well. Tap the left or right bongo slowly to make DK swim in that direction. Tapping quickly will tilt him further downward. The faster you tap the bongo, the steeper DK�s descent. Hitting the left and right bongos alternately will send him straight down. Conversely, hitting both at the same time will make DK swim upward. DK can also do some special moves like the backflip and wall jump (more on those in a second). If this sounds too hard, don�t worry; it isn�t. After about ten minutes of playing Jungle Beat you�ll be amazed at how natural it feels. After an hour with the game I actually forgot I was using bongos a few times.
Aside from offering a unique control method, Jungle Beat�s core gameplay is surprisingly deep. Jungle Beat is essentially a sidescroller, but it adds a combo system and ingenious boss battles to the mix, creating a brilliant experience that�s (as I said before) unlike anything you�ve ever played.
While running, jumping, swimming, and swinging your way through Jungle Beat you earn �beats.� These beats are totaled up at the end of each Kingdom (two levels followed by a boss battle). Depending on your beat total, you earn bronze, silver, or gold crests. These crests are used to unlock new areas. Needless to say, it is in your best interest to earn as many beats as possible, since merely clearing a kingdom doesn�t guarantee that the next will be unlocked. While working towards crests you could earn one beat per banana. Or you could pull off combos to multiply your beats. Doing so is tied very closely to the clap grab.
Clapping will make DK perform a clap grab/sound wave attack. The range of each is denoted by a circle that emanates from DK when you clap. A small red circle represents DK�s reach and a larger, green circle represents his sound wave range. Clapping will make DK grab anything within the red circle and sonically affect anything within the green circle. How does this relate to combos? Just touching bananas gives you one point per banana. Grabbing multiple bananas at once with a clap grab increases a combo multiplier, giving you more points. This is the most basic part of the combo system. You can further increase your combo multiplier by staying in the air and performing special moves (like backflips and wall jumps) before touching down. In some sections you can get through long stretches of a level without touching down by bouncing off of enemies, being thrown by monkeys, and using tall flowers to slingshot DK forward. The catch here is, if you are hurt by an enemy or a projectile before touching down, you lose all beats earned in the current combo. This system ends up balancing skill and risk assessment in much the same way as a Tony Hawk game. Push DK hard and keep him in the air, but don�t overextend yourself and lose all you�ve earned. After making it through two levels and doing your best to earn combos, it�s time to face a boss.
When entering a boss battle the beat totals for the two levels just completed are added together. Every hit you take in the fight decreases your beat total for the current kingdom. That said, the boss battles range from pretty cool to downright amazing. Some have you running and jumping while trying to throw exploding pineapples or other deadly fruits at various bosses. These are alright, but the hand-to-hand combat levels are truly fantastic. In these battles you hit the bongos to make DK punch and you clap to make him dodge. This sounds simple, and it is. . .at first. As you progress through the game, bosses will block more often and time their attacks better, making it harder to dodge hits. In a battle near the end of Jungle Beat, you must dodge two consecutive attacks before being able to get in any hits. These fights are all about timing and they are ludicrously fun.
Playing through Jungle Beat (with bongos) is an unforgettable experience that tests your timing, reflexes, and general gaming skill. This game combines the best of classic platforming with new elements and a control method that makes even simple things like running and jumping exciting.
A Sidescroller With Great Graphics?
In recent years, console video games have been almost exclusively 3D in both how they are played, and how they are rendered. Sidescrollers have been all but forgotten by console gamers because they don't have the visual �wow� factor of their 3D counterparts. The time was right for Nintendo to prove, once again, how pretty a sidescroller could be. Donkey Kong Country, released in November 1994 for the SNES, changed 2D graphics forever by using highly detailed, pre-rendered backgrounds and sprites. The Smash Bros series showed gamers how good 2D gameplay could look when combined with 3D visuals. Not to be shown up, Donkey Kong has returned in Jungle Beat to set a new standard for graphics in a sidescroller.
Everything in Jungle Beat's visuals is vibrant and polished. DK's character model is so detailed you can actually see the individual hairs on his body. Every enemy sports a comparably rendered character model and the bosses are even more detailed than DK. All the characters in Jungle Beat move with a fluidity reminiscent of recent Pixar films, and the locales they inhabit are equally impressive.
Jungle Beat will take you through jungles (surprise!), caves, floating gelatin worlds, underwater, and into several other diverse environments. Each of these environments is well has been beautifully realized. Besides being colorful and crisp, each level contains a plethora of tiny details that bring it to life. Sliding down vines will cause leaves to dislodge and then float slowly downward. Heat distortion abounds when around lava. Foliage is abundant and detailed in jungle levels while ice shimmers with refracting light in snow-covered levels. In short, the levels are beautiful. What�s more amazing than the superb character models and environments is how they are presented.
In a sidescroller you usually expect the camera to move on a set path that keeps your character in a position on screen that makes sense. Early 3D platformers, like the original Crash Bandicoot, expanded on this by putting the camera behind a character; but it was still on a set path. While locking the camera�s motion does a great job of keeping a character on screen, it can become visually boring. Jungle Beat remedies this by using slow motion effects and quick camera changes. For instance, if DK grabs one of the many warthog-esque enemies, the camera will cut to a much closer view of the captured foe. This allows you to see the individually rendered hairs on the foe�s body and also lets you watch DK beat the snot out of it up close. Once DK defeats an enemy the camera cuts back to a more orthodox sidescroller view. Camera changes like this are frequent and look great, but the camera does even more amazing stuff in some of the boss battles.
In battles where DK must fight a boss hand-to-hand, the camera will stay close on the two combatants. If DK dodges a boss� attack, time will slow down and the camera will pan around to show him duck under (or jump over) the blow. Time immediately switches back to normal speed to show the rapidity of DK�s punches on his temporarily disoriented enemy. These quick camera changes show off some very cool animations that would be missed if seen from different angles and at normal speed. The prevalence of camera motion and the slowing of time show off the character models and environments in a way neither could achieve alone.
Put simply, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is an amazing looking game. It�s colorful levels and characters are a joy to watch, much of the animation (especially in the boss fights) looks as if it belongs in an animated feature film, and the shifting camera angles show off all the best parts. The only real graphical problem with Jungle Beat is repetition. Apart from one huge boss, you will only fight four different types of bosses. These characters are recycled and slightly modified. They are great bosses, but it would have been nice to see more variation. This carries over to the simple enemies as well. You will see a lot of bats, monkeys, and bugs. It is a testament to the graphical beauty of Jungle Beat, though, that this is its only real visual shortcoming.
Grunt to the Beat
Donkey Kong games (aside from Donkey Konga) have never really been known for their sound. Sound effects and music in these games have always been decent, but that�s about it. Some of DK�s grunts are very funny, and enemies will make some cool sounds as well; but these get very repetitious. Each enemy only makes one or two sounds and, since you�re seeing a lot of enemies repeatedly, this can get old. The mediocrity of sound in Jungle Beat is noticeable in both sound and music.
All of the music in Jungle Beat is, appropriately, upbeat and mildly catchy. At some points, when on screen monkeys start clapping along or off screen voices chant �Kong! Kong! Kong,� the music is really fun to listen to and adds to the play experience. More often than not, though, the music is just there, in the background, filling the gaps between grunts. It�s a little disappointing that a game using a faux musical instrument as a controller doesn�t have better sound. This doesn�t effect how fun the game is, it�s just a minor gripe
Jungle Beat is not a bad sounding game. It�s simply not an extraordinary sounding one. Nintendo has managed to hit a sweet spot where the sound effects and music are slightly better than merely tolerable, but don�t expect to be blown away or find yourself humming any Jungle Beat melodies.
Fun is a Warm Bongo
Playing a sidescroller with bongos is more fun than anyone could have guessed. The astoundingly deep combo system and smooth gameplay of Jungle Beat pushes this game past novelty and towards innovation. Getting the hang of DK�s simple movement is a blast, and mastering backflips, ground pounds, and 200+ beat combos will keep any player happily engaged for a long time. That said, if you suffer from an extreme lack of coordination, you might not enjoy this game. Getting started can be a little tricky, but the payoff is something you won�t forget.
Clap if You Like Plasma
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat merges great graphics, an original control method, and innovative gameplay that gradually increases in difficulty. Playing this game is a truly unique experience. Clapping, hitting the bongos, and taking in all the on screen action while trying to string combos and increase your beat total is engaging in a way sidescrollers simply haven�t been in recent years. Nintendo deserves credit for merging new technology with a throwback to old school games that has enough ingenuity and style mixed in to form something unabashedly original.
Visit the Jungle or Just Beat It?
Just being different isn�t enough. Different doesn�t always equal fun (remember virtual boy?). Thankfully, Jungle Beat is a great game and is not original just for the sake of being original. It continues Nintendo�s tradition of innovation and pleasantly surprises by being very accessible and addictive. Playing a sidescroller with bongos might sound crazy, but what�s really crazy is how well it works. If you want a game that will challenge your coordination, reflexes, and present you with an experience unlike any other game, pick this one up.
