Donkey Kong (Game Boy) Review

 

Donkey Kong (Game Boy) Review

Release Date: 1994

Date Played: 25 July 2022

Donkey Kong on the Game Boy, A.K.A. Donkey Kong ‘94, is one of the best games on the entire console.  When I first received it as a present back when I was a kid, I wasn’t too thrilled about it.  “Donkey Kong is lame… and old,” I thought to myself.  In the world of Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat, who wanted to play some stupid arcade game from over a decade ago.  Begrudgingly, and mostly because I didn’t have anything else to do, I popped the game into my Game Boy and was greeted by the same opening stage that I had seen countless times.  After a few attempts, I had managed to play through the 4 stages of the arcade game, and as I saw DK plummet to the bottom of the screen, I was expecting the game to loop as it always does.  But, there before my eyes, the big ape got up, climbed back up the screen, grabbed Pauline, and escaped with her.  What greeted me next, was a totally different game. I was shocked, as were a lot of people who played it at the time. It never occurred to me that the opening 4 stages of Donkey Kong ‘94 were nothing more than a ruse to subvert your expectations before thrusting you into one of the best puzzle platformers ever made. The game that greeted me from that point forward was fresh, addictive, fun, engaging, and very memorable.  I look back on it with a huge amount of nostalgia, but even with those rose tinted glasses, the game holds up unbelievably well.  Just ask my 5,7, and 10 year old cousins that couldn’t put the game down.  That’s saying a lot, considering their tablets were right at hand. 

Gameplay:

After the 4 initial stages, you play through 9 worlds (with 97 additional stages) in an attempt to get back Pauline.  The premise is simple, grab the key and take it to the exit. Unsurprisingly, there are pits, spikes, enemies, switches, gates, conveyor belts, water hazards, climbing chains, ladders, and every other type of obstacle you could imagine that prevent Mario from having an easy time. Every stage is a puzzle that could involve pulling switches, using precise timing, to pixel perfect platforming, and everything in between. To assist him, Mario has a backflip as well as a headstand into super jump move that will allow you to traverse some of the more tricky sections.  Not only that, in each stage are 3 collectable items.  If you manage to get them all, you will be awarded with a casino mini game at the end of the stage that will grant you extra lives. Every 4 stages, you face off against DK himself (and sometimes DK Jr.) in another attempt to save your ever elusive girlfriend. Besting the ape not only gives you an opportunity to save your progress, but also to rack up some extra lives based on your score. The game can be tough at times, but always fair, and the insane abundance of extra lives is welcome.  It shouldn’t be uncommon for most players to hit the maximum of 99 extra lives before reaching the end of the game.  

Each world is based on a different theme and gameplay mechanic. You’ll go through the Big City, Forest, Ship, Jungle, Desert, Airplane, Iceberg, Rocky-Valley, and finally the Tower as you progress through the ever increasingly complex (and difficult) stages.  Luckily, despite the large amount of them you’ll encounter, everything remains fresh throughout the game’s duration, and there is a near perfect difficulty curve that makes you really feel like you’re getting better and never stuck too long. Although some of the puzzles can be a bit tricky and might take a few attempts to figure out exactly what you’re supposed to do, you’ll eventually have a eureka moment as well as a good sense of accomplishment for clearing the stage. Adding to the overall sense of satisfaction for playing through the game,  the sheer amount of ideas that Nintendo came up with for this game will send your head spinning. It’s such a simple set of mechanics, and they are explored to their fullest. Every stage feels fresh and unique, and the overall length of the game is ideal and never overstays its welcome.

The play control is also stellar and Mario’s movements aren’t clunky at all. Since there is an abundance of platforming, there’s always the opportunity to fall.  Doing so from a medium height will send Mario tumbling, go a little higher, and he’ll bonk his head and be stunned, go even higher… well, that will spell curtains for him.  You’ll need to master all of the little tricks that Mario can do in order to complete some of the stages. The programmers never throw too much at you all at once, and if you can focus, you’ll be able to succeed.

Presentation:  

The game looks fantastic for a Game Boy game and everything is clear and visible (especially if you’re playing on a GBA, Super Game Boy, or Gamecube adapter).  Donkey Kong has a great design and is always happy to display his ample…posterior after landing on his head or climbing the ladders to the next stage.  Everything else is charming and very reminiscent of the original Donkey Kong arcade game.  It looks like it’s supposed to, and that’s all you can ask for.  Not only that, this is one of the few games that has Super Game Boy compatibility, and if you decide to play it that way, you’ll be given a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet as your gameplay border.  Also, you’ll have some enhanced music to enjoy.  It’s a nice bonus, and little things like this are always appreciated.

Speaking of the music, it’s fantastic.  As with all Mario games that I can remember, the music is ultra catchy, memorable, and elevates the entire experience to a whole new level that most other games can only dream of achieving.  The composer, Taisuke Araki, really knocked it out of the park and it’s strange to me that his only other noteworthy composing work was for Wave Race on the Nintendo 64. I feel like his talents were underutilized and if he had been given more opportunities, could have been a well known composer in the video game community.

Conclusion:

Donkey Kong ‘94 is probably my favorite Game Boy game of all time. I still remember it tricking me with its opening stages… 28 years ago… and it’s a fond and nostalgic memory.  Replaying the game now, and actually beating it for the first time, I didn’t feel like the game lost any of its luster and it’s just as good as I remembered.  Actually, it’s better, because I recognize good game design now, and let me tell you, this game has it. If you dive into the peanut gallery of the internet, you’ll find a small contingent of fans praising this game and hailing it as a masterpiece. Although it seemed to be mostly forgotten shortly after it’s release, it has maintained almost universal acclaim. It is even listed in some of the “100 Best Games of All Time” lists. If you like Mario, Donkey Kong, puzzle games, platformers, or a good time, you should definitely play it.  I honestly don’t have a single bad thing to say about this game.  For a pure video game, it’s perfect.

Final Status: Completed

Final Score: 10/10 (Masterpiece)

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania (Switch) Review

 

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania (Switch) Review

Release Date: 5 October 2021

Date Played: 1 July 2022

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a remake of Super Monkey Ball, Super Monkey Ball 2, and Super Monkey Ball Deluxe and was released for the 20th anniversary of the series to appease the hordes of rabid fans that had been clamoring for a new entry into the series.  It was met with generally favorable reviews from the public and critics alike, but was strongly disliked by veterans of the series due to some blatant technical issues.  It was developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega.  

Gameplay:

Banana Mania contains all 300 stages and minigames from Super Monkey Ball Deluxe (which is a compilation of all stages from Monkey Ball 1&2). Just like all of the previous Monkey Ball games, your goal is to navigate your monkey ball from the beginning of the stage to the goal at the end. Rather than controlling the monkey itself, you instead tilt the entire stage and allow gravity and the game’s physics to maneuver yourself around the obstacles, ramps, jumps, and other barriers as you make your way to the goal before the time limit runs out.  You’ll also need to be wary of falling off of the edge of the level as most of them have no walls to prevent you from plummeting to the void below.  Falling off the edge restarts you at the beginning of the stage and you get as many attempts as you would like.  This is a departure from some of the earlier games in the series that had a limit to the number of attempts you could make. As you make your way through the ever increasingly difficult levels, you’ll not only need to rely on a steady hand to keep from careening over the narrow and precarious platforms, but you’ll also need to whip out your fast-twitch reflexes for some of the more speed based levels. At times the stages are more like a puzzle with hidden switches and odd timings.  Sometimes, you can’t even figure out what you’re supposed to do as there is no seemingly possible way to tackle the level. If you fail enough times, the game will take pity on you and give you the option to get help.  This will give you more time for the stage as well as giving you yellow arrows to follow that will attempt to show you the most optimal course. Even with these, figuring out some of the levels will make you pull out your hair.  

See, Super Monkey Ball is hard.  Despite its cute and bubbly presentation, it’s tough as nails.  Some of the stages are so difficult that they may take hundreds of tries to reach the goal and learning to master these games is only for the most hardcore and serious gamer. It could take hundreds and hundreds of hours to become a Monkey Ball expert and there is a significant number of people out there who fall into this category. They are the ones that know these games so well inside and out, that they were the first ones to detect that something wasn’t quite right with Banana Mania.  According to the developers there are some “rebalances” to some of the stages that are supposed to make the game easier. Coupling this with the unlimited continues, Banana Mania is purported to be a more casual experience for a new generation of gamers while having enough fan service to bring back the old school fans.  Banana Mania was remade in Unity, a video game engine that was different from the one used in the original games.  While it does look flashier and seems to work well, the physics, camera, and control are just a bit “off” from the way they felt in the original games.  On top of that, the Switch’s analog sticks don’t aren’t precise enough to give you that extremely tight control that you need.  I heard stories of expert Monkey Ball players that can clear the original games without ever dying not being able to complete some of the beginner stages in Banana Mania.  One Youtuber who held a world record in the game at one point couldn’t even finish the story mode because the control was so bad and he struggled so much. Tons of fans of the series said the camera was so abysmal that the game was essentially unplayable and it’s better to just disable it because it has a habit of rotating on its own.  Not only does this often make it difficult to see where you’re going, it will also change your trajectory.  So, if you’re on flat ground and you hold directly down on the analog stick, you will begin by heading down, but the camera will then start rotating to position itself behind the monkey.  Once it has rotated 90 degrees, pressing down no longer moves the monkey down, instead it starts moving it 90 degrees to the left. It’s so incredibly frustrating and if you’re in a hectic area where you’re bouncing all around, you’re constantly having to fight against the camera.  Never has maintaining a straight line been so difficult. 

On the other hand, newcomers to the series seemed to have no issues with the game and said that it was totally fine and that the old players were just so used to controlling the games with a different controller that they were having a difficult time adapting to the Switch’s analog sticks. The truth is somewhere in the middle.  Yes, the controls and camera aren’t as tight as they were in the originals.  Yes, the Switch’s analog sticks aren’t well suited for the game.  However, if you don’t have deep rooted Monkey Ball muscle memory, you can learn to adapt to playing the game this way.  That is, until you start getting into some of the more difficult stages. Now, I’m not a Monkey Ball master, but I can give you an example.  On the stage, “Sieve” you have to navigate down a narrow path that has rings zipping up and down its length.  If your monkey ball is hanging slightly over the edge of the path, the rings will collide with it as they shoot by and knock you off the edge.  For the final part of the stage, you have to traverse an extremely long and narrow path with a very tight ring that leaves very little tolerance for being anywhere but dead center of the path.  Right before this section, there is a safe zone where you can line up your ball and make sure that you’re perfectly centered and traveling straight.  Now, at this point, no matter how slowly I went, or how softly and gingerly I tapped the analog stick, I couldn’t get anywhere remotely close to centered on Banana Mania.  I turned the analog stick sensitivity down as low as it would go (and likewise for the camera), and used all my skills to try to center up my monkey ball.  I would just barely touch it and it would overshoot my mark.  Then, I would tap it to correct and it would overshoot the other way.  I would sit there and fiddle around with it until time almost ran out, and could never get it right.  Once I finally tried to traverse the narrow path, I would start to veer off of the edge and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t correct my trajectory in small enough increments to keep the ball centered and would inevitably get knocked off by the flying ring.  It took me almost 45 minutes of trying this stage just to complete it (over 100 tries) and I only felt like I was able to beat it with sheer luck.  Fast forward to this morning, and I popped my copy of Super Monkey Ball 2 into my Gamecube and tried the same level.  I was able to beat it on my first try. I got in the safe spot, tapped a few times to center myself, and then just pressed up on the analog stick. The controls are just so much more precise and the gamecube controller has plastic segments shaped in an octagon that surround the analog stick.  So, if you press up, the analog stick snaps into position at exactly 12:00.  On the Switch, if you press up on the analog stick, you might be off by 3% because there’s nothing there to guarantee you’re in the exact correct position.  For a game like Monkey Ball, a 3% margin of error is just too much to succeed. It can be extremely frustrating getting close to finishing a level over and over while failing because the controls just don’t work the way they should.  There are different monkeys you can choose to play as that have different attributes, so trying different ones might help you get over a hump that you’re struggling with. Still, sometimes it feels like you need sheer luck to help you finish certain stages.

In addition to the main story mode of the game and the challenge levels, you also have all of the beloved minigames from Super Monkey Ball Deluxe.  

These include:

Monkey Dogfight, where you have to shoot down the other players in an aerial combat scenario.  It’s pretty fun and controls rather well, but the levels are huge and there’s a lot of time just looking for your opponents rather than firing at them.

Monkey Boat, where you have to race down a river by alternatingly tapping the shoulder buttons to row your boat. There are combat powerups a la Mario Kart.  It’s fun, but can be a bit of a chore to play.

Monkey Tennis, where you just play tennis.

Monkey Billiards, where you just play billiards.

Monkey Fight, where you try to knock/punch your opponent off of a platform for points.  You’re in the monkey ball for this one, so it’s very physics heavy.

Monkey Golf, where you’re the golf ball on a miniature golf course.  It’s a lot of fun, but in the end it is just a golf game.

Monkey Soccer, is a simplified version of the game where everyone is in a monkey ball.  It’s quick paced and a lot of fun.

Monkey Target, where you roll down a ramp before launching your monkey into the sky where you have to glide towards various targets to earn a high score. This was one of the most popular parts of Monkey Ball Deluxe.

Monkey Baseball, where the pitcher throws themself at the batter who then attempts to knock them into sectioned off areas that determine if it’s a base hit, homerun, or out.  There is no fielding in the game and it feels very arcade-like and fun.

Monkey Race, that’s basically just Mario Kart with everyone in a Monkey Ball instead of a go kart.  It works well, but nothing will ever live up to Mario Kart.

Monkey Shot, is an on rails shooter where you go through three levels of shooting down enemies before having a boss fight.  It has nothing to do with Monkey Ball, and I’m surprised it’s here.  But, it really is a nice inclusion.

Monkey Bowling, is bowling with monkey balls.  Line up your shot, and let it fly.  

These minigames/party games are a huge draw to the whole package and there are more than a handful of people that bought the entire game just to play them with their friends.  The problem is that the physics in some of the games are just broken and don’t work.  Monkey Target is probably the favorite minigame for most people, and it is essentially unplayable.  None of the controls perform like they should, and it’s almost impossible to score any points.  It completely ruins the game because you repeatedly crash into the water over and over and can’t seem to keep elevation.  In addition to this, baseball’s physics are off too and it’s nearly impossible to aim your shots when batting.  The other minigames perform fine, especially when playing with other people.  

Presentation:

Banana Mania looks good and does a lot to update the appearance of some games that are 20 years old.  There are new textures abound and the game is as bright and colorful as ever.  All of the monkeys are really cute and charming and are able to carry the over-the-top silliness of the game. Also, I think the game runs at a pretty constant 60 frames per second. In story mode, there are little vignettes between the various worlds where you get to see some animation of the monkeys watching craziness on TV.  It’s a nice addition, but they weren’t really able to hold my attention and I found myself going for my smartphone whenever they came on.  The soundtrack that accompanies the action has a late 90s, early 2000s dance music sound to it that works well overall with the whole package and really helps it keep its feel of being an arcade game. It’s good, but I don’t find it particularly memorable or catchy.  That’s probably due to my being so white-knuckled focused on the gameplay that I can’t concentrate on anything else. Of course, in true Sega fashions, you have an announcer calling out the game’s title and little quips like, “Get Ready!” At the beginning of every stage.  

Conclusion:

Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania is a complete package that is executed a little below what it needed.  It has everything you could ever want in a Monkey Ball game, but its poor controls and camera don’t give you the tools you need to actually make progress in the game.  In addition to this, the best minigames aren’t really functional and you can’t play them the way they were meant to be played.   If you’re a casual Monkey Ball fan and just want to play a few of the easier-medium difficulty stages, Banana Mania is a fine way to do that.  If you are already a Monkey Ball expert (or want to become one), I don’t think Banana Mania is going to let you do that. It just makes the game way too difficult.

I guess you could spend an incredible amount of practice learning to deal with the poor controls and camera.  But, why waste all that time when you can just play the older versions of the game and be instantly better?

Pros:

• The Monkey Ball games look better than ever

• It’s a fun concept for a game that will give you tons of fun (and frustration)

• There is an abundance of content to sink your teeth into

• Great pick up and play arcade feel that’s very welcoming

• Easy to learn, hard to master

Cons:

• The physics engine is different from the original games and doesn’t work as well

• Some stages that are relatively easy on the old versions are nearly impossible here

• The best minigames don’t function like they are supposed to

Final Status: Played

Final Score: 7/10 (good)

Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4) Review

 

Metal Wolf Chaos XD (PS4) Review

Date Released: 29 August 2019

Date Played: 30 June 2022

Metal Wolf Chaos is one of the most, “video game” video games I’ve ever played.  If a mother who had raised a household of only 12 year old boys were asked to describe a video game, Metal Wolf Chaos may not be far from what she would imagine. It is an over-the-top mech combat sim that focuses on attitude, satire, and a caricature based view of The United States of America.  It was originally released on the original Xbox in 2004 and surprisingly only came out in Japan (even though all the dialog is in English).  More surprisingly, it was developed by Fromsoft, the developers of the Armored Core and Dark Souls franchises. It has gained a bit of a cult following over the years, and the remastered “XD” version was highly anticipated when it finally released in the West after the original came out 15 years earlier.

Story:

This game comes right out of the gate with the story and doesn’t beat around the bush at all.  The Vice President of the United States of America, Richard Hawk, has completely lost his mind and has taken control of the White House, the military, the U.S. Government, and every major city in the United States.  He was able to do this to the President’s surprise and we begin the game fleeing the White House in the only escape vehicle available, a combat mech named Metal Wolf. He has to blast his way over the White House lawn as he’s beset on all sides by the military who are unloading a spectacular amount of ordinance directly into him. After escaping the White House grounds, our protagonist, President Michael Williams, heads to the west coast and aided by his…aide, has to take back the United States by traveling east and liberating cities along his way.  The aide, Jody Crawford, is the only one on the Presiden’t side and is more than willing to help you in your efforts to save the country and take down your old Vice President. 

Of course the V.P. is completely insane and has declared martial law over the whole of the country as well as running a propaganda campaign declaring Metal Wolf as a terrorist threat.  Despite everyone being against him and thinking he is a terrorist traitor, the President (and Jody) are determined to save America all by themselves.  

This story, as bizarre… and awesome as it is, gets even more absurd when you hear the dialog.  It’s intentionally campy and cheesy.  It feels almost as if a computer A.I. wrote all of the dialog but only had 80s action movies and Anime to go off of.  It’s so corny and hilarious. The back and forth between the President and Jody make up the bulk of the dialog in the game and it never lets up in its zaniness. 

Some of the highlights are: 

“"The building was opened two years ago on April 25th. It's named the Haokan Denkai China building. Each season, it's decorated with gorgeous lights. Their Christmas tree tops them all. Over 800,000 people came to see it last December! For such a long time, I've been wondering... How lovely that gorgeous building would look... If it were destroyed! I feel bad for the owner, but heeey, let's smash the hell out of it!"

Michael: Jody, how's my schedule look for today?

Jody: You've got a conference and dinner party at the Japanese Embassy regarding wildlife protection.

Michael: Oh, yeah...sorry, but I'll have to cancel that. I'm heading out to save America!

"That fat boy needs a Presidential diet! I guess he had too much junk food! Give that kid some, too! Make junk food out of him, Mr. President!"

But my favorite quote of all doesn’t even come from the game, it comes from a Cracked article:

"I've never seen anyone understand what it's like to be American more than the makers of Metal Wolf Chaos, and I once watched a man die during a pie eating contest from alcohol poisoning."

—Cracked, The 6 Most American Things That Aren't Made in America

 

I couldn’t sum it up better myself.

 

 

Gameplay:

 

You play as the President of the United States of America who is piloting a combat mech that is loaded down with weapons.  Gameplay takes place in a 3rd person view where you walk, hover, and dash around various American cities while destroying tanks, helicopters, soldiers, other mechs, and tons of defense towers.  You have different objectives in each city, but they mostly center around destroying all of the defense towers before squaring off against a boss or some other challenge.  

 

You can outfit your mech with 4 different weapons on each arm.  These range from shotguns, handguns, machine guns, bazookas, grenade launchers, rocket launchers, rail guns, assault rifles, and more.  You can unlock more powerful weapons to use by spending the money you earn to purchase upgrades between the stages.  Ammo is limited and you’ll have to pick up more as you explore the levels, so you can’t just go crazy and fire non-stop (as much as you want to). This adds a good bit of challenge to the game during the early stages as you’ll have to conserve your health and ammo in order to have a chance against that stage’s boss.  If you die, you have to redo the entire level over, so it’s wise to play strategically. That is, until you start unlocking the more powerful weapons.  After this, you get to rush in like a psycho and just blast apart everything that gets in your way.  It makes the game feel way too easy (especially if you grind for some of the stronger weapons by replaying earlier stages), but it also makes you feel totally awesome.  Do you want a challenge, or do you want to feel like the President of the United States of America who has unlimited power and a combat mech suit?  Obvious choice.

 

The gameplay is very simple as it’s just shooting stuff.  The right trigger fires whatever weapon is equipped on your right arm, and the left trigger does the left arm. When you run out of ammo, there’s some fussing about with rotating through the other available weapons on each arm, but mostly, it’s just blasting away. Occasionally, there will be a time limit or something to add some variety, but it doesn’t really change up the formula.  The play control is decent, but certainly shows its age.  It’s mindless fun, but feels like a game from the early 2000s as it’s rather repetitive and basic.

 

 

Presentation:

 

The game isn’t going to wow anyone with its visuals.  Even back in 2004, the graphics, animations, character models, and level design were very “budget game” looking.  Even with the updated visuals of the XD version, things just look like a higher resolution version of a budget game from 15 years earlier.  It doesn’t matter how many lighting effects and smooth polygons you add to a building that’s nothing more than a gray cube with painted on windows.  Still, it has a wonderful charm that suits the game and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

The absolute best part of the game is the dialog and voice acting (as mentioned earlier).  It’s awkward and stilted delivery has to be intentional as I don’t think you could find a group of voice actors that are this bad unless it is on purpose.  Jeff Gedert plays the vice president and is so fantastically insane in his delivery.  He’s the real standout, and I couldn’t get enough of him. When he goes into a laughing fit, it’s so excessive and seems to awkwardly go on for way too long.  This, of course, adds to the overall cheesiness of the game and is an essential component of making it what it is.

 

The soundtrack is also bonkers and ranges from metal, techno, acid jazz, acoustic folk,  and umm… avant garde atonal EDM (I guess).  In terms of quality the music goes everywhere from fantastic to intentionally bad.  It’s really great and also extremely memorable.  It kind of reminds me of the soundtrack to Deadly Premonition which was also all over the place.  I’m not sure it’s something you’d want to listen to while driving to the supermarket, but it will definitely keep you entertained while playing the game.

 

Conclusion:

 

Is Metal Wolf Chaos a great game?  No, it’s a pretty mediocre experience in terms of gameplay. The controls are a little clunky, the level design can be pretty boring, the ammo conservation is annoying, the enemies and stages are too repetitive, and there is a real lack of polish over the whole affair. However, in terms of a fun and memorable experience, Metal Wolf Chaos XD delivers hard on its promise. Its exaggerated and satirical take on… well, everything is charming and engrossing and I would recommend it to anyone who likes any sort of niche gaming experience.  It’s certainly earned its reputation as a cult classic.  The game isn’t very long and can be completed in a couple of play sessions, so you should give it a try.

 

Pros:

• Intentionally terrible and cheesy dialog is hilarious

• A unique and crazy plot

• Great characters, music, and overall atmosphere

• Short experience that doesn’t waste your time

 

Cons:

• Graphics are a little dated and “budget” looking even after being remastered

• Gameplay is good enough, but not special.  Seems like a simplified version of Fromsoft’s Armored Core series

• Levels can get a tad repetitive

 

Final Status: Beaten

Final Score: 8/10 (Pretty great)