Publisher: Nintendo
Ages: ten and up.
Parental
Advisory:
Mild violence
Expanding on a great thing, Nintendo's Donkey Kong Jungle Beat lets players use their DK Bongos Controller to wham, bam and clap their way through a decent side-scrolling game. It's an innovative and fun use of the controller, although game play does feel a bit contrived.
Last Fall, Nintendo released Donkey Konga, an innovative and fun rhythm game that relied on bongos as controllers. Each DK Bongo controller, which resembled a real bongo drum, had a left and right drum. The on-screen musical action instructed players to tap one or both drums to the beat of a song or follow the beat with a clap of the hands, which is picked up by a built-in microphone. We loved Donkey Konga and gave it our highest family recommendation.
Jungle Beat is a side-scroller that uses the DK Bongos as controls. In the game, bananas act as "beats" and players try to make Kong collect all the bananas that he can. At its most basic players tap on the right bongo and Donkey Kong moves right and tap on the left bongo and he goes left. Tap both bongos and he jumps and clap hands and he beats his chest or throws a punch. And there are also advanced combos that players learn along the way.
In some segments, players tap the drums to control the character's speed. The faster they tap, the faster he runs. The environments are varied and Donkey Kong get to swing from vines, parachute through storms, be flung by monkeys, jump on high-wires and more. The game is fun to play.
The graphics are colorful and attractive. While there's the usual violence that one would expect in a side scroller, it's of the bloodless, punching and hitting style.
Unfortunately, the game is short and becomes rather repetitive, which detracts from the experience. We recognize Donkey Kong Jungle Beat as an innovative game that allows for a new and fun way to control its main character. But the game could use more depth to appeal to gamers.
3/23/05 www.daytrum.com Editorial Staff
