Re: Donkey Kong Country (La-Banana)(The Great Kongo Bongo Civil War)(LP Subforum Thread one thou- er, make that 999)

[SAJewers]

I can't wait to see how raocow's playthrough of

goes

i'm personally more hype for

[J. J. W. Mezun]

Hey, guys, I'm back from the Warped Void. Sorry I've been so busy & that I'm leaving you guys with such a short post. But you know what they say: brevity is encapsulated within the soul o' the heart o' that which can be defined as wit.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see raocow is playing this series. I always thought he should, considering how oft the series comes up in rom hacks.

I feel this series is underrated, 'specially with how hip it is to call this series o'errated 'cause it had fancy graphics or requires you to get every single banana to 100% it ( I actually read a journalist claim this — though to be fair, 1up took the review down since then ). To be fair, the 1st game is o'errated compared to the sequels, which I think are better.

The reason this series is so oft viewed as ho-hum is 'cause Donkey Kong Country's quality is subtle: while it doesn't make anything particularly new in the platformer genre, it refines it mo' than any other series ( including classic Mario games ). The original Donkey Kong Country had excellent controls, physics, &, as controversial as it may sound, I'll say hit boxes, too. While the characters has fuzzy outlines due to the graphics, the game gives you a lot o' leeway, as any good game should, unlike a lot o' novice fan or indie games or Returns, which has enemies so cheap they can reach back & backhand you. ( I could go on a long tangent on 'nother controversial opinion: that the Returns series' gameplay is not nearly as creative or well-designed as the original trilogy ). &... Well, Diddy's Kong Quest had some o' the best level design o' any platformer. Though I will defend the 2nd bonus in "Ropey Rampage" ( not the 1st 1 — that's legit guessing game ): if you pay close attention, you can see the very top o' the barrel @ the bottom o' the screen.

& despite complaints o' unoriginality, the Donkey Kong Country series had some o' the most creative level gimmicks. This is 'nother case wherein the Returns don't come close: name a single level in the new games as creative as having to lead a big muncher fish into other fish to feed it & avoid having it attack you in ravenous hunger. It's fitting that this game comes after Mice, as I feel like DKC sort o' invented, or a'least codified, the big, weird gimmick level that the VIPs & Mice are full o'. & much like those games, e'en when the DKCs are janky, a'least they're janky in an interesting way.

TL;DR

Donkey Kong Country is truly perfect. If you do not get this amazing new generation of Donkey Kong madness, you are stupid.

[KobaBeach]

I feel this series is underrated, 'specially with how hip it is to call this series o'errated 'cause it had fancy graphics or requires you to get every single banana to 100% it ( I actually read a journalist claim this — though to be fair, 1up took the review down since then ).

A lot of gaming journalists are completely ignorant buffoons.
They are however above gamers.

It's fitting that this game comes after Mice, as I feel like DKC sort o' invented, or a'least codified, the big, weird gimmick level that the VIPs & Mice are full o'.

I feel it also helped codify the Kishōtenketsu style of level design the modern Marios later took off of.

VIP, DKC2 and Mischief Makers have taught me to prefer big weird gimmick levels over traditional levels. Makes them feel fresher. They should build on and complement the game's core mechanics rather than just pull shit out of thin air though.

i cant believe sebby wants to kiss candy kong

Stop projecting.

i want to kiss funky and donkey actually, they have more meat on their bones (also candy is too overly sexualized)

[morsel/morceau]

I didn't know raocow was a Donkey Kong maven, familiar with every hidden barrel and secret area. It's usually more enjoyable to watch when he's utterly at sea. Ah well, perhaps he'll get annoyed at hit boxes or momentum mechanics or the camera in water levels.

[KobaBeach]

I didn't know raocow was a Donkey Kong maven, familiar with every hidden barrel and secret area. It's usually more enjoyable to watch when he's utterly at sea. Ah well, perhaps he'll get annoyed at hit boxes or momentum mechanics or the camera in water levels.

He said he 101%'d DKC1 as a kid. He hasn't said anything about DKC2 or 3. That said, if that's the case, let's keep hush-hush about bonus,

DK Coin

and

Banana Bird Cave

locations and

the Zelda-style item trade sidequest

.

The games have hint systems for that, so let's use them! I have a huge soft spot for DKC1-3, sorry.

Also, regarding DKC3 percentages, slight spoiler, but would be nice to know? @ raocow

You gonna be using the TUFST cheat code to go for 105%, or are you gonna play the game normally and stick with 103%? I never did 105%, I think it just removes midpoints and has less DK barrels, it's really dumb. I hope you're not gonna force yourself to play the game twice hahaha

[Awoo]

Welcome back, J. J. W. Mezun! I wasn't sure if you were going to be back since raocow stopped playing the Wario Land games (at least for now).

14% completion in two videos? Must be a short game :(

I've never beat any of the DKC games

[strongbadman]

I like the occasional raocow lp where he knows the game pretty well. That was the same with Mibibli's Quest and some other games I'm super blanking on

[Sebby19]

Huh, J.J.W. is back. You wouldn't happen to have a DKC fansite like WL3, eh?

Since we've finally met Candy Kong, I just want to say I think her design in the cartoon is way better better than... this.

[KobaBeach]

Since we've finally met Candy Kong, I just want to say I think her design in the cartoon is way better better than... this.

all of candy's designs and tiny's aged-up one are hot garbage lol

14% completion in two videos? Must be a short game :(

I've never beat any of the DKC games

They're of about average length for a 2D Nintendo platformer, which would err more towards short these days.

More details under the spoiler:

DKC1 should take around 13-14 videos.
34 levels, 7 bosses, we're at 5 stages and 1 boss clear.

DKC2 should take 15 videos.
39 levels, 7 bosses, 1 empty cutscene stage.
GBA version has an extra boss replacing the cutscene stage in the form of Kerosene. Whether raocow wants to play that or not is his choice.

DKC3 should take 16 videos, assuming raocow doesn't include the Banana Birds in his 3 level per video quota.
40 levels, 8 bosses, with 13 Banana Bird Caves.
GBA version has an extra 6 stages and 1 boss in the form of Pacifica and Kroctopus Krush as well as an extra Banana Bird in said world and an extra Brother Bear where Barnacle used to be. Again, whether raocow wants to play that or not is his choice.

[Alice]

14% completion in two videos? Must be a short game :(

I've never beat any of the DKC games

It's a bit disproportionate. Later levels tend to be more difficult and longer but they also have better hidden secrets. Though since raocow has fully completed DKC before, that latter point may be a bit moot.

[Blivsey]

More GBA goodness! You could get these photographs now:

• Complete every level in a world with Donkey Kong in the lead (so that every level has his head as its map icon)
  

• Do exactly the same but with Diddy
  

• Collect 600 tokens in the Espresso bonus stage (rao only got ~500)
  
  There's one of these for each bonus stage, and they're all pretty tight goals to reach under the time limit: 400 for Enguarde, and 600 for everyone else. Gotta get that x2 at the very last second.

• Swim into a hidden alcove near the G in Coral Capers
  
  I believe this secret's in the original, just without the photo.

We've also reached Funky's hut and Candy's studio, which were totally revamped in the port. Funky's hut still gets you access to Funky's Flights, but now it's a permanent unlock added to your pause menu on the world/level map, so you can fast-travel anytime after visiting the hut. Candy no longer saves your game, as you can do that from the menu from the start.

Instead, these are now minigame areas! Funky's Fishing is an actual fun minigame where you go fishing in an area themed around each world. Every world presents you with a different challenge, and clearing each gets you extra lives based on how well you completed it, as well as a photograph for each. Get all of them to form a complete picture! Here's the Fishing challenge for world 1:

Diddy just kinda drifts along unless you get a combo, at which point he follows you so you can more easily bag catches. You can tell from the video, but there's a lot of momentum and angling to the hook, so you can use that to your advantage to hook several fish at once. Also the music is real good.

Meanwhile, Candy's Dance Studio is... dancing. It's the lamest DDR you can imagine, but at least there's a new, themed song for each world, and they aren't half-bad either. Again, you get extra lives and a partial photograph for each. Here's the dance for world 1!

Yes it gets faster and uses more buttons I promise

By the way:

• Catch a rare crab in Funky's Fishing
  

• Get a perfect score on one of Candy's dances
  

leaving the q here so rao doesnt look like hes hallucinating:
By the way, would anyone be opposed if I started posting the pictures you get rather than just describing them?

[raocow]

I'm totally okay with that

[Petzi]

I didn't know raocow was a Donkey Kong maven, familiar with every hidden barrel and secret area. It's usually more enjoyable to watch when he's utterly at sea. Ah well, perhaps he'll get annoyed at hit boxes or momentum mechanics or the camera in water levels.

I'm half expecting him to struggle with remembering all the secrets in the later worlds, but you never know with these professional let's-players with decades of experience

[Lockirby2]

I think it's cool seeing raocow know where all the secrets are almost without thinking about them. It's a refreshing change of pace after looking for all the coins in 3mix.

[Awoo]

I think it's cool seeing raocow know where all the secrets are almost without thinking about them. It's a refreshing change of pace after looking for all the coins in 3mix.

It's a really neat change of pace!

seriously, I love it. keep being the best, raocow!

[Blivsey]

The deed is done, I edited my two posts to add pictures. BASK IN THE LOW-RES GOODNESS BASK IN IT

[raocow]

The deed is done, I edited my two posts to add pictures. BASK IN THE LOW-RES GOODNESS BASK IN IT

these are looking way worse than I was imagining

[Awoo]

The deed is done, I edited my two posts to add pictures. BASK IN THE LOW-RES GOODNESS BASK IN IT

these are looking way worse than I was imagining

[Blivsey]

The deed is done, I edited my two posts to add pictures. BASK IN THE LOW-RES GOODNESS BASK IN IT

these are looking way worse than I was imagining

yyyyyup

in order to make things easier to see on a non-backlit standard!GBA screen, their solution was to jack up the contrast on all the graphics. the game looks fine when viewed as intended but obviously does not translate to modern screens very gracefully, especially since everything is also shrunk down to avoid screen crunch (which, impressively, worked). you can see in the videos I linked that dk has no eyes most of the time

this, this is the game that made me like donkey kong country. marvel at it

... Actually, speaking of characters having no eyes, there's another GBA game from my childhood with the exact same issue. It also happens to have Donkey Kong in it, as it may have a connection to a certain '94 game rao played a while back. One day, I'll have the money to put it up for the patapoll.

[KobaBeach]

Legit did not know about that shortcut in Mine Cart Carnage, just the one in

Snow Barrel Blast

.
The personal anecdote was really cute and relatable.

Super enjoying this superplay-type LP, reminds me a lot of the informative style of LPing from SomethingAwful.

[strongbadman]

Three level videos are going to be perfect for this game. Possibly the series as a whole.

[Alice]

Legit did not know about that shortcut in Mine Cart Carnage, just the one in

Snow Barrel Blast

.

The DKC games have some really oddball shortcuts. Like the one in Stop & Go I think it was where you literally just go in the entrance and come out near the end of the level. The one in Mine Cart Carnage I accidentally discovered while racing through the game against a friend years after first beating the game. Accidentally managed to completely overshoot the barrel at the beginning and in my panic to try and get back to it I discovered that shortcut barrel.

The ones in DKC2 and DKC3 are just as weirdly obscure too. One of the ship levels in DKC2, for example, has one that's so completely out of the way that it's difficult to reach even when you know where it is making you wonder just how they expected someone to discover it to begin with. Or the one in the swamp world where you have to jump down a hole using Dixie and helicopter to an invisible barrel that's just barely above the bottom of the screen.

[Sebby19]

I wonder how good rao's knowledge of all the shortcuts are. Because some require you to reach a certain invisible point, as a certain kong, under a time limit.

Like just who expects that kind of crazy stuff to be discovered?

[freshtalk]

You had me actually convinced of that 'spell' for the minecart level up until the part about the preloaded song.

[J. J. W. Mezun]

Sorry I'm so late that this is irrelevant, but I fell asleep last night & raocow stealthily added a new video while I was asleep. But since everyone was meming up the place, I had to make this graphic for raocow's point in yesterday's video:



Also, raocow: I don't think you need all those ground pounds to make the secret in "Mine Cart Carnage" work. I think you just need the 20-minutes' Speak-'n'-Spell thing & it'll still work.