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Donkey Kong Country (SNES) Rare/Nintendo
The 16-bit era was nearing its end, and Nintendo needed something to bridge the gap between the present and its far-off Ultra 64. It found that something in its long-time development partner, Rare, which had been experimenting with translating 3D computer renders into a format more palatable to the 2D Super Nintendo (SNES). Nintendo tossed out the long-neglected Donkey Kong license, Rare put together a platformer with its new technology, and the rest is very lucrative history.
The resultant game, Donkey Kong Country, was a smash hit, and is commonly credited with finally pushing total American SNES sales above those of the competing Sega Genesis. Rare quickly pumped out two sequels, resulting in a trilogy of terror that saw the SNES through to its end. But did DKC, the game, merit all that excitement? Frankly, no.
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Ben: DKC's supposed technological innovation was blown way out of proportion. It was just a typical sprite-based platformer, with the only real difference being that the sprites were generated from images rendered on Silicon Graphics workstations. This resulted in a shiny, "plasticy" look that supposedly represented high-tech trickery; in reality, it was just one of the first of many games that would have tacky-looking pre-rendered sprites.
Diddy Kong rides a rhino for some ramming action.
Ugly graphics would have been fine if the gameplay was special, but DKC's brand of platforming was nothing, if not average. It was an uninspired game with unique, if not completely appealing, graphics. Sadly, that and a big marketing blitz were all it took to achieve major success and hoodwink a large portion of the gaming population, press included. Meanwhile, genuinely fun and innovative games like Nintendo's own Yoshi's Island would get lost in the shuffle.
Unfortunately, DKC is still doing damage today. The abhorrent DK character design that Rare cooked up has become the standard, replacing the cute but rebellious cartoon gorilla of the DK series' earlier days. Nintendo also saw fit to bring DKC to the Game Boy Advance, albeit with a noticeable knock to the graphics. Thankfully, this time reviewers did a better job of seeing through the "revolutionary" veneer, and scored the game more appropriately.
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hardcore_pawn: I simply don't understand the frenzied adoration that was bestowed on this 2D platformer for the SNES. Obviously, Rare has its large share of fans (myself included), but there should have been a bit more than just cool pre-rendered graphics and basic level design incorporated into DKC in order for it to be as popular as it was. The recent re-release on the GBA was surely evidence enough of this. Maybe gamers back in the day were hankering for a good-looking platformer. But really, DKC has got nothing on the likes of Super Mario World and Yoshi's Island.
It went on to spawn a few sequels which were, for all intents and purposes, the same game rehashed slightly. DKC seemed really stale to me. There was nothing that stood out in terms of gameplay, progression, or innovation at all. I'll just chalk it up to a little bit of hype plus a lot of "seen-it-all-before" for this one.
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ferricide: I am forced to admit that I've always thought that DKC was immensely overrated. I didn't even understand what the big deal was at the time. I rented the game and certainly had fun with it, but it seemed to totally pale in comparison to the Nintendo-developed platformers for the SNES. I thought the graphics were also no big deal -- rendering something and then slapping it onto the SNES didn't do a thing for me; I preferred (and still prefer) the clean and bright look of real 2D game art. When it comes to looks, Yoshi's Island absolutely slays DKC as far as I'm concerned. It's a big case of right place, right time.
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