Donkey Kong 64 asks a simple question: what if a platformer never wanted to end. The answer is a large adventure laid out across one island chain, built around five characters who each act in their own way.
Five Characters, Five Kinds of Play
The game turns on a character switch. Donkey Kong, a second Kong with a quick body and a small gun, a third Kong with strange, bounding moves, Tiny Kong, and a fifth Kong who joins late and hits hard, each carry their own means through the island chain.
- Donkey Kong: strength, strikes and a strong charge attack
- Second Kong: a swift pace and a small gun
- Third Kong: odd, bounding moves and a strange walk
- Tiny Kong: a small frame, useful in tight spots, with a shot instrument
- Fifth Kong: heavy hits, joined late in the game
Changing characters within a level is required, not a choice. Certain doors, switches and items only open for one character, which means players must return to earlier spots often.
Coins, Crowns and Prizes Everywhere
The scale of the game is its main story. Levels are filled with golden coins, colored coins tied to each character, crowns won in battle, and other items to track down. Finishing a level fully takes real time, and the game does not rush players through it.
That same scale is also the biggest source of trouble. Some parts push the search for items further than needed.
Boss Fights Break the Order of Things
The boss fights break up the searching with keen, more direct challenges. Small side games placed throughout the island chain add a change of pace, some built around timing, others around quick reaction. These moments give the game room to ease between long spans of searching.
Color and Sound on the Island
The look of Donkey Kong 64 stands out as one of the more ambitious efforts on the Nintendo 64. Each part of the island has its own color and set pieces, from icy ground to green ground thick with growing things, to metal and machines. The music, written with the same care found in other games from the same makers on the system, gives each part its own feel.
An Adventure That Takes Its Time
This is a long game.
Finishing it fully takes patience, and the huge number of items can tire out players who like tighter design. Still, the ambition on show is hard to miss. The makers clearly wanted to build the biggest platformer possible on the console, and largely did.
Where Donkey Kong 64 Lands
Donkey Kong 64 rewards patience. Its five characters, wide island setting and huge number of items make it one of the most ambitious platformers on the Nintendo 64. The length can test some players, but the change in action, boss fights and side games keeps it from growing dull.
Key Facts
– Platform: Nintendo 64
– Characters: 5 (Donkey Kong, Tiny Kong, and three others, each with different means)
– Score: 9.0/10
Donkey Kong 64 stands as a remarkable Nintendo 64 platformer, ambitious in size and rich in character choice, even when its scale works against it.
