Donkey Kong 64

The game I’ve been playing the most lately is Donkey Kong 64. Another gem from the golden age of Rare as a second party developer for Nintendo. Taking the same basic mechanics of 3D platformers like Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie it’s basically the same old thing. Personally I have nothing wrong with that as I find 3D platformers to be some of the most fun and lively romps through nearly cartoon worlds. Especially the ones from Rare, Nintendo, and Sega. And maybe not especially Ninjabread Man...With this game you’re continuing the story of Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong and Company from the brilliant masterpieces of 2D platforming, The Donkey Kong Country Trilogy. King K. Rool the master of the lizard race the Kremlings (Who would later be replaced by weird drums with eyes in DKCR) basically parks his house boat right in front of the island I’ve always assumed was called Donkey Kong Country, and obviously having major butthurt from the previous 3 times you’ve kicked his ass. Is planning on firing a giant laser right in the giant Donkey Kong Mountain’s face. So needless to say it’s up to Donkey Kong and the Four other playable monkeys to run around both the island and the k.rool ship through different themed levels. A lot of them taking design cues from the levels from the old SNES Donkey Kong Country Games like stages with Minecarts, Jungles, Crystal Caves, Ancient Ruins, etc. This game is a collectors paradise. Currently I’m playing through it the way I never had the patience to as a kid and going through every level with one of the five kongs at a time collecting the 75 bananas, 5 golden bananas, banana coins, laser blueprints, banana fairies, crystal coconuts, ammo, and watermelons needed to get a 101% in the game. Some of my favorite parts about the game are the challenge barrels that require you to play mini games like firing watermelons out of a cannon, or playing a slot machine and winning 3 times in a row within a certain time period. There are also some playable retro throwbacks in the form of the original Donkey Kong for Arcade and the old Jetpac game by rare that got remade into a DLC title for Xbox Live Arcade. If you have a Nintendo 64, like 3D platformers and still haven’t played this game. You definitely owe it to yourself to find a copy.