Retro LTTP: Donkey Kong 64 "Where is that last banana balloon?" (test)

[Josh5890]

So I know I make more than my fair share of LTTP threads. I initially wasn't going to make one for this game but after doing a search I couldn't find a LTTP thread on ERA for this game so I figured what the hey.

Personal note: My little brother got this game for Christmas some 20 years ago. I remember playing a bunch of it during the good ol days but neither of us ever finished it. I decided to pick it back up after nearly two decades.

So I have a soft spot for 64 games as well as 3D platformers. I know this game has gotten it's far share of criticism and some of it is deserved, but I think there is a better game here than what some people give it credit for. To my knowledge there has not been another platformer that has succeeded with having five different playable characters, each with their own unique abilities. Every level was set up to where you needed help from other Kongs in order to collect at least some of the golden bananas. I liked that design as it did not allow me to lean on just one Kong to advance through and beat the game. Also, you could really tell that this game was pushing the 64 hardware, even with the expansion back. For example the game really slowed down at points when I was using Diddy's jetpac.

Levels: The seven full worlds were different and vibrant. The teleports were set up very strategically so that any backtracking was mostly ok to deal with. The character change barrels were placed just good enough to where switching out wasn't too annoying. My favorite would would probably end up being Fungai Forest. I loved the day/night changes involved.

The overworld was great. That is one staple from the N64 days that I really miss in modern day platformers. Being able to interact and get extra bananas throughout the travels and exploring are a nice bonus. There was only one or two collectables in the overworld that I had trouble figuring out. Again the teleporting devices made traveling that much easier.

Bosses: More than anything else about this game, I was surprised how much of the bosses I remembered from 20 years ago. The variety from the dragonfly to the jack in the box made for a fun time. I only remember having to do one restart so the bosses for the most part were easy to put down, but they were still fun.

Golden Bananas: Collecting them was fun and fairly easy. There were some that were bunched together like the temple in the desert world. I wasn't sure how I felt about it, but it didn't happen too often so it isn't much to complain about. The mini games that were involved with collecting golden bananas were fun, although I hated the beaver game with a passion. I swear to God so many times the beaver would get pushed to the hole but then there was an invisible forcefield that would keep it from falling in. So annoying Also, I wish more objectives would have included the animals that we have come to love and remember from the series. Overall you only needed 100 to get to the final level so the requirements were not harsh.

Collectables: This is where the hate for the game comes in. Some of it is valid IMO. Overall there was just too much and trimming was needed

Colored bananas- Well lets get this over with. Yes it was very cumbersome collection those retched things but it wasn't as bad as it seems. You didn't need to collect all of them to 101% the game (I wish someone told me that earlier). Also, a lot of times the bananas lead to bananas so they weren't a total waste. Really until you got to the last couple of levels the requirements weren't that high to where you needed to actively search out the bananas only. They should come naturally as long as you keep using all of the Kongs. My plan was to 100% bananas and most levels I was going nuts looking for that last 10-20 bananas for one or two Kongs.

Blueprints- I didn't mind collecting them. It was a nice side-quest (technically main quest too). The annoying part was having to switch out each Kong every time I wanted to redeem them for golden bananas. That was my issue with blueprints.

Fairies- That was a nice side-quest that lead me to getting banana 201. For the most part they were next to golden bananas so it wasn't hard to find them.

Battle crowns- This was definitely one of those things that was too much. Not a terrible thing to collect, just extra fluff that didn't do anything in the long run.

Rare/N64 Coin- Ok, this was my biggest gripe with the collectables. So I have to beat this old Rare game for the Rare coin? Ok whatever. (30 minutes later congrats!). I get to the end and I need a Nintendo 64 coin? What the hell is that? Wait, I have to go back to the Factory level??????? Yea those two coins were definitely annoying.

Side characters: This was where the family came back! The power-ups they all provided were great. The one nice thing that the game did was allow you to just buy upgrades for all Kongs just once, except for some of Cranky's powerups.

Overall after 101%ing the game in just under 29 hours I was surprised that I had more fun that I think some give it credit for. Yes some of the collecting was annoying, but you could get through the game without being totally bogged down by them. This isn't Rare's best platformer or even Donkey Kong game, but it is still a decent game.

One more thing......





Admin Edit : Testing.

 

[Mr_No_U]

I enjoyed my time with the game. I think I still have the promotional VHS cassette somewhere in the house.

 

[hologram]

I have Some Thoughts on this game but I will post more in detail later, haha

 

[Krvavi Abadas]

My favorite would would probably end up being Fungi Forest. I loved the day/night changes involved.

Fun Fact 1: That world was originally intended for Banjo-Kazooie. The level theme even showed up in a trailer for the game.

The variety from the dragonfly to the jack in the box made for a fun time.

Fun Fact 2: The Jack In The Box boss fight was once drastically different, with the more standard gameplay of having to throw TNT barrels at him.

Colored bananas- Well lets get this over with. Yes it was very cumbersome collection those retched things but it wasn't as bad as it seems.

Fun Fact 3: Collecting these was originally much worse, in that the Kongs each had their own individual "exit doors" scattered throughout the level to take them to Toff N Scoff, with no option to swap inside that area. The models for these would go on to be reused for the Wrinkly hint doors.

Ok, this was my biggest gripe with the collectables. So I have to beat this old Rare game for the Rare coin? Ok whatever. (30 minutes later congrats!). I get to the end and I need a Nintendo 64 coin? What the hell is that? Wait, I have to go back to the Factory level???????

Give them some slack, the port of Donkey Kong included was the only Arcade-perfect version of the game out there for many years! Most contemporary ports back when the game was new lacked the "Cement Factory" level, and that's not even getting into the graphics and audio.
Jetpac has been heavily ported (Notably, the Xbox One has two completely separate builds. The version included in Rare Replay, and the version included in Jetpac Refuelled, which is also in Rare Replay) nowadays, but back then it was also somewhat notable. Even if Rare's original plan of including a ZX Spectrum emulator in Goldeneye with multiple games would have been better preservation wise.


and now that all of the cool obscure facts are out of the way. This is the part where i would link to the excellent soundtrack for the game. If it wasn't for the fact Grant Kirkhope took it off his Bandcamp page a few years ago.

 

[Josh5890]

Fun Fact 1: That world was originally intended for Banjo-Kazooie. The level theme even showed up in a trailer for the game.


Fun Fact 2: The Jack In The Box boss fight was once drastically different, with the more standard gameplay of having to throw TNT barrels at him.

Fun Fact 3: Collecting these was originally much worse, in that the Kongs each had their own individual "exit doors" scattered throughout the level to take them to Toff N Scoff, with no option to swap inside that area. The models for these would go on to be reused for the Wrinkly hint doors.

Give them some slack, the port of Donkey Kong included was the only Arcade-perfect version of the game out there for many years! Most contemporary ports back when the game was new lacked the "Cement Factory" level, and that's not even getting into the graphics and audio.
Jetpac has been heavily ported (Notably, the Xbox One has two completely separate builds. The version included in Rare Replay, and the version included in Jetpac Refuelled, which is also in Rare Replay) nowadays, but back then it was also somewhat notable. Even if Rare's original plan of including a ZX Spectrum emulator in Goldeneye with multiple games would have been better preservation wise.


and now that all of the cool obscure facts are out of the way. This is the part where i would link to the excellent soundtrack for the game. If it wasn't for the fact Grant Kirkhope took it off his Bandcamp page a few years ago.

Seriously that was some really cool facts you threw out there. Thanks!

 

[Howard Lincoln IV]

 

[Nabbit]

I misread the title as Donkey Kong '94. Wishful thinking, lol. I do have some fond memories of 64, though, especially the rap and the OST.

Edit: mild spoilers but

To my knowledge there has not been another platformer that has succeeded with having five different playable characters, each with their own unique abilities.

Super Mario

Spoiler

3D World

has this.

 

[Seik]

I have lots of memories playing it with my dad back then, never 101%'d it though.

That opening is scared deep in my brain.

 

[SpringwoodSlasher]

I got 200 bananas but always struggled with the 201st banana in my household…that damn fish mechanical heart that Diddy Kong has to shoot.

 

[PlatinumClover]

This is one of those games that got its fair share of love when released and for some reason people online decided to do some revisionist history saying it was a bad game and such. It's a little like people saying Donkey Kong Country games and Super Mario RPG didn't look good after playing them on emulators or people saying Sonic was never good. Just absolute bonkers hivemind thinking.

DK64 is definitely exaggerated but when you're a kid this is exactly the type of game one'd want. I have very fond memories of it and played it a bunch with my brother and cousins. I think it's a very charming, interesting and laid back game, sans bosses and the retro games which can prove to be quite a challenge. I don't plan on replaying it as an adult, but all in all I really like it.

 

[Phendrift]

I don’t know if anyone else feels this way but something I dislike about rare’s N64 platformers this and Banjo is that they don’t name that damn collectibles.

Like it’s so bizarre. You can name a 64 mission like “Blast Away the Wall” and lots of people will know what star you’re talking about and it’s great for lists and categorizing. Idk why Rare didn’t do it, it bothers my OCD so much lol

 

[Jersh]

I don’t know if anyone else feels this way but something I dislike about rare’s N64 platformers this and Banjo is that they don’t name that damn collectibles.

Like it’s so bizarre. You can name a 64 mission like “Blast Away the Wall” and lots of people will know what star you’re talking about and it’s great for lists and categorizing. Idk why Rare didn’t do it, it bothers my OCD so much lol

I will gladly take that over getting kicked out of the level.

Naming collectibles that don't kick you out of the level is 2017 tech, sorry.

 

[SammyJ9]

One of my favorite random facts about DK64 is how one of the bananas can seem impossible if you do it late game... why? Well, it's really bizarre and hilarious:

 

[Dopply]

This was a game I was obsessed with when I was younger. I beat it 101%. I always dearly loved Rare's take on Donkey Kong, both the atmosphere, lore, all that, plus I just really liked the game. The levels are still some of my favorite in a platformer.

That said, I think it's definitely a game that suffers from nostalgia blinders. There are a lot of frustrating or downright unfair elements to the game design, and this is triply obvious when going for 101%. When I first revisited this game a decade ago, I didn't expect it to be quite so tedious and annoying in this regard.

Speaking of, the game became a joke between my friends and I (both real life and online) due to its ridiculousness in scope and aforementioned annoying elements (the bonus barrels especially). This was before Hbomberguy's legendary charity marathon where the game achieved even wider meme status, so we were ahead of the curve there.

With past community game events (I sent out physical golden bananas and stickers as a prize for one of them) added up plus my childhood playthroughs and the first revisit, I've beaten this game 101% four times now. I intend to make it a fifth when the game comes to Nintendo Switch Online inevitably... and the rest of you will hopefully join in with me. Stay tuned....

 

[xghost777]

I loved Donkey Kong 64 when it came out. The adventure was really fun with a lot of variety, the graphics and animation were impressive, and I think the levels were big without becoming too large as they did in Banjo Tooie. The multiplayer was also a lot of fun at the time since you had a decent amount of abilities. I don’t know exactly how close I got, but I was always sad I never found everything. I tried replaying it multiple times, but I’d always get pulled away for whatever reason and it’s just hard to get back into it if you step away. One day I’ll definitely get everything.

 

[GoGoDezmo]

With past community game events (I sent out physical golden bananas and stickers as a prize for one of them) added up plus my childhood playthroughs and the first revisit, I've beaten this game 101% four times now. I intend to make it a fifth when the game comes to Nintendo Switch Online inevitably... and the rest of you will hopefully join in with me. Stay tuned....

Oh, I absolutely intend to beat this this game 101% when it does make its way to NSO right along with you. I've already beaten all 5 DKC games to the fullest, no way I'm not beating this one too!

Hmm. I've still got DK64 on my Wii U. Maybe I should give it a playthrough before it comes to Switch.

 

[Mekanos]

This is one of those games that got its fair share of love when released and for some reason people online decided to do some revisionist history saying it was a bad game and such. It's a little like people saying Donkey Kong Country games and Super Mario RPG didn't look good after playing them on emulators or people saying Sonic was never good. Just absolute bonkers hivemind thinking.

DK64 is definitely exaggerated but when you're a kid this is exactly the type of game one'd want. I have very fond memories of it and played it a bunch with my brother and cousins. I think it's a very charming, interesting and laid back game, sans bosses and the retro games which can prove to be quite a challenge. I don't plan on replaying it as an adult, but all in all I really like it.

I feel like if you replayed it as an adult you would understand why people slam it now, lol. It's very much a time wasting game, which is great when you're a kid.

At the time of release it seemed ambitious, but going back to it makes the padding incredibly obvious. It's not a Sonic 06 disaster or anything but it's pretty clear at some point the plot got away from the dev team. I'm a huge mark for 90s-era Rare but DK64 definitely hasn't stood the test of time. The Banjo games take the same formula and make it far more efficient, even Tooie which has its own problems is a much tighter, focused, polished game.

Maybe I'll give it another go when it comes to NSO inevitably but by around Gloomy Galleon the backtracking really adds up.