Every once in a while a game will come out that shocks you. It might be innovative, fun to play, have great visuals, a great soundtrack, or many other great features. There will always be video games that just generally ‘wow’ people. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a game that ‘wowed’ many people. Resident Evil 4 is a game that ‘wowed’ many people. Whatever the case, there will always be surprises in the videogame industry that shock us, and Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is no exception.

Many GameCube owners are familiar with the videogame Donkey Konga which utilizes a bongo controller and lets players beat along to the rhythm of numerous songs. It was a fun run with Donkey Kong, but many people have been waiting for a stylish Donkey Kong platformer to return to the new generation of consoles. After the letdown that was ultimately Donkey Kong 64, many thirsted for Donkey Kong to return to his platforming roots. We’ve seen ports of Rare’s great Donkey Kong platformers from the SNES on the GBA, but they were not new adventures for many who had played those games years ago.

The void that is left with players who still wish for a new Donkey Kong platformer have been filled with the release of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat on the GameCube. Nintendo has decided to give us a brand new Donkey Kong platforming adventure that not only presents us with fresh, new gameplay features, but an adventure that does the past Donkey Kong platforming games justice. Utilizing a bongo controller, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is one of the most fun, rewarding, and refreshingly engaging platformers to come out this generation.

Features

• A new platforming adventure in the Donkey Kong series.
  
• Use the bongos to make Donkey Kong run, jump, kick, punch, pound, clap, and many other moves.
  
• Explore many unique kingdoms, such as running through a lava pit and even swimming in the deep blue sea.
  
• Beat your way through various kingdoms collecting bananas and raking in large combos to earn crests.
  
• Kingdoms can be played over and over again to let the player earn more crests which are used to unlock new kingdoms.
  
• Fight bosses larger than Donkey Kong himself as you use a variety of different tactics to achieve victory.
  
• Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is available for sell with or without the bongos.
  
• Uses 3 blocks of memory to save data.
  

Gameplay
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat isn’t your ‘everyday run-of-the-mill’ platformer. Utilizing the bongo drums, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat will have you swinging from ropes, mounting animals, swimming in the sea, jumping over lava pits…you name it. One might think that the bongo drums would be difficult to use with platforming, but they couldn’t be further from the truth. Controlling Donkey Kong with the bongo drums is a breeze, and making him run and jump upon other things by beating on the bongo drums delivers a very refreshing experience.

There is no actual story in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. There is an opening sequence that introduces you to many little monkeys, and here is where Donkey Kong begins his adventure and ends his adventure. Even though the story is not presented to you clearly, believing that Donkey Kong is on a mission to rid the kingdoms of evil to save these little monkeys is not too far fetched of an opinionated guess. While in each kingdom there are two sublevels, and most of the time these levels prepare you for the boss fight ahead by introducing new tactics to use on enemies and bosses. Along with these two sublevels is the finale, which is a boss fight against a large opponent, such as a huge bird carrying a smoking egg or an elephant that serves more as a tank than an actual animal. One downside to this approach is that out of the numerous kingdoms, bosses are recycled constantly. You will meet your old foe again, and again, and again. It isn’t all bad though. As you progress further into Donkey Kong Jungle Beat each boss, though recycled, will seem harder than the last. The boss fights are very climactic, and serve as one of the many areas where Donkey Kong Jungle Beat excels and truly shines.


Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is one of the most fun and rewarding titles on the GameCube.

Each kingdom in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is contained in a certain barrel, which usually hold around four different kingdoms. All of the kingdoms are mainly named after certain fruit types, such as the ‘Orange Kingdom’ or the ‘Watermelon Kingdom’. None of the kingdom names bare any relationship to the levels within, other than the player jumping in the corresponding fruit at the end of a level. In each kingdom you can receive crests, including copper crest, a silver crest, and a gold crest. To achieve a higher crest value, one will need to use combos to their advantage. Way to increase you combos are by successfully landing certain moves, such as wall jumping up an abyss, flipping over an age and clapping at the bananas that hover in front of you. It is vital to keep your combo score reeling so that you may earn more crests to unlock new kingdoms. Each kingdom can be replayed in the event that you do not earn enough crests to unlock more kingdoms.