The History of Donkey Kong Country
In 1994 Nintendo released the Super Nintendo hit Donkey Kong Country.
The game used ACM (Advanced Computer Modeling) for the graphics
produced. A wireframe of the characters was used to build the
characters, then
they were filled and textured. Next, the characters would be animated
by moving the
limbs and so forth. ACM was way better than digitizing film, as was
done in
early Mortal Kombat games. With DKC they digitized 3D rendered images, but still ended up producing the best 2D game graphics (at
the time). However, graphics
weren't the only high marks of this game, it was complete with a
variety of moves,
bonus levels, animals to ride, a nice soundtrack, and challenge.
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"The making of Donkey Kong Country isn't only about technology. It is partially
a matter of luck, perserverance and a ton of creative effort. In the summer of 1993,
Tony Harman, Product Acquisitions and Development Manager at Nintendo of America,
was visiting Rare during one of his globe-spanning journeys to find the best games
in development. He saw a simple project in the works showing a boxer with about ten frames of animations
that utilized computer modeling techniques. He realized that the Stampers were on the something revolutionary
when Rare was able to convert that boxer to the Super NES, but to make the dream come alive Rare needed help.
When Tony returned to the U.S., he championed the cause and with the backing of Mr. Takeda and Mr. Miyamoto
of Nintendo in Japan obtained the go-ahead to allocate funds to apply the new technique to a Nintendo game. It was
decided to return to Nintendo's roots by using Donkey Kong as the hero because he
had less background than the other Nintendo characters, and that meant that Rare could have greater
freedom in creating a new DK world. Mr.
Miyamoto, Nintendo's ace game creator, designed a modernized
DK and Tim Stamper put him into the SGI system. The other pieces of the
puzzle began coming together during the fall of '93 and winter of '94. The legion of Kremlings, the crocodile-like enemies of DK Country, had been created for another game
in development, but they turned out to be perfect for DK. As of August, Tim Stamper estimated that the development team had logged 18
man-years of effort, probably the most time ever spent on a single game."
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| "Once it had been decided that the arcade gorilla who
Nintendo put on the map
more than a decade ago would break ground again with this new game,
Nintendo and Rare had to invest heavily in equipment and talent. The
first step was to create
the ultimate game studio. As luck would have it, Nintendo had already
been moving in the right direction by forging a relationship
with Silicon Graphics for the Ultra 64. This partnership paid off for
Rare when more than a truckload of Silicon Graphics equipment worth
millions
arrived. |
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Even so there were practical problems. Before the
computers could even come on-line, Rare had to make further investment
by providing more raw electrical power
to the building. And not only did the SGI behemoths suck energy, they
also produced so much heat that the during the summer months the studio
building's
temperature would soar to over 90 degrees inside, requiring an army of
huge fans to cool both the equipment and the programmers. Although the
computers had been
envisioned for developmental use for the Ultra 64, the computer
modeling techniques also worked for the Super NES. The conversion to
16-bit graphics, according to Tim Stamper
was the single biggest problem, because it was pushing the Super NES
far beyond what anyone thought it could do, sort of like building an
engine that could propel a Chevy to the moon."
Nintendo Power Vol. 64 September 1994.
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DKC ReviewDKC FAQ by Andy Eddy |
 The
first in the series, DKC was a revolution in console gaming, noteably
in graphics. DKC also was packed with hidden bonus rooms in levels
throughout the game. The old score was gone and replaced by the time
you've played and the percentage of bonus rooms you found. One of the
nice features, is that the screen isn't clutered with a score, number
of lives and bananas, instead it shows up breifly when you get a banana
or die and then hides again, leaving you with the whole screen, which
is filled with the amazing graphics. The barrel blasting required
timing to end up shooting out where and when you wanted to. Your
primary weapons, barrels. DK throws overhead and Diddy threw from his
chest, making you need to learn the angles at which they are thrown at.
DK being stronger, he can topple Krusha with a jump, while Diddy is
bounced back. Also DK has a underused and almost worthless groundslap
which uncovers hidden bananas in the ground or can be used against
enemies. Diddy can jump higher, do a roll jump very easily and his
small size makes
him more likely to avoid hits.
The 2 kongs also have a roll attack in which they can knock their enemy
senseless. Standard jumping also works. The ability to switch
characters anytime as long as you have both is also useful. As a two
player game, you can pick 2 different playing options, the somewhat
simultaneous (the players dont take turns they tag anytime
in the game or take over when one dies); and the alternating (each
player plays until they die or complete a level then the other person plays). Cranky adds a sense of humor and
some tips in the game. Candy saves the game
in different locations and Funky allows you to go back to previous
areas to replay levels. Animals can be ridden on and have a different
'feel' for each. Winky being a little too bouncy, and Expresso being a
bit fast. Squawks shows up lighting one level up from darkness and when
you turn he blinds the screen momentarily just like he really turned
around. Over 30 levels and lots of Bonus rooms. Eight million copies
have been sold. |
| Positive |
Negetive |
| Graphics and animation are very nice and smooth, nice sound and bonus levels. |
The bosses are repeated in this game, its rather short, and can be called another platform game. |
DKC2 History/ReviewDKC2 FAQ by ?? |
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 Rare knew better than to make a complete rehash of the original and
to not make the sequel completely new also. So they kept some old things and added more new stuff. This time the battle is
in the Kremlings territory. All the Kremlings looked like pirates, complete with hooks, peglegs, bandanas, and eye patches.
 Dixie, Wrinkly, and
Swanky were new,
along with some new animal characters as well. You could now throw your
partner at enemies, Dixie could hover and the animals had special power
moves.
ACM had advanced to the point where they could render hair, although
not real noticable on the SNES, it provided better artwork. There are
many more objects to collect, along with a
more challenging Lost World. 47 levels plus tons of bonus rooms. Five
million copies have been sold.
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| Positive
| Negetive
|
| Longer and more challenging than the original, Sound Effects and Background Music are very high quality.
| Can't play as Donkey Kong.
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DKC3 History/ReviewDKC3 FAQ by Ian Maw |
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 The
third game of the trilogy, Rare had decided to put new designers,
artists and programmers to
work on this game so it would not be just a rehash of the previous
games. The balance of the original, one large character and one small,
returned. Kiddy
(who's name was decided over been Dinky Kong, Baby Kong, Tiny Kong, DJ
Kong and Bibby Kong) replaced Diddy. This game has an adventure twist
to it, in that
you have to go around getting things and talking to the Bears. Vehicles
are used to access different areas of the world map. The bonus game
offers a unique 3D
ball toss event in which you face Cranky. Along with trying to figure
out how to beat Koin, to get the DK coin located in levels, this game
has even more items
to collect. ACM improvements and new and enhanced compression
techniques, make the graphics of DKC3 outstanding. Less popular than
the first two, due to the N64 recieving
a lot of attention, 600,000 copies were produced. 48 levels and a bunch
of bonus levels.
 Dixie and Kiddy
make a good team, Dixie can throw Kiddy to make him smash through weak
floors, and she can even roll on him like a barrel.
Kiddy can also do a roll jump and can even skim over the water by using
it. Kiddy carries the barrel in front, like Diddy did, but has a
underhand toss. A few new animal friends appear, along with
a whole clan of Kremlings. The levels are much more interesting, such
as the buzz-saw, target, rope-on-fire, beat the time, and many other
levels.
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| Positive |
Negetive |
| Unique levels, rpg-element, the bosses are more complex, and the game on whole is more challenging. |
The artwork and sound isn't as interesting, and you still can't play as Donkey Kong. |
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