The format of these posts is simple: let’s discuss a specific game or series!
Let’s discuss the Donkey Kong series of games. What is your favorite game featuring this character? What do you like about it? What doesn’t work for you? Are there similar games you like? Feel free to share anything that comes up and react to other comments. Let’s get the conversation going!
If you have any recommendations for games or series for the next post(s), please feel free to DM me or add it in a comment here (no guarantees of course).
Previous entries: Grand Theft Auto, Pokémon, Like a Dragon / Yakuza, Assassin’s Creed, UFO 50, Platformers, Uplifting Games, Final Fantasy, Visual Novels, Hollow Knight, Nintendo DS, Monster Hunter, Persona, Monkey Island, 8 Bit Era, Animal Crossing, Age of Empires, Super Mario, Deus Ex, Stardew Valley, The Sims, Half-Life, Earthbound / Mother, Mass Effect, Metroid, Journey, Resident Evil, Polybius, Tetris, Telltale Games, Kirby, LEGO Games, DOOM, Ori, Metal Gear, Slay the Spire
I distinctly remember Donkey Kong Country as my first gaming experience. When my parents needed a babysit, they would often let me sleep at my aunts place. My older niece and nephew also lived their, but the age gap was quite big making it not ideal for us to play with toys together. One day however, my nephew had a SNES from his friend there and he was playing Donkey Kong Country on their TV. I remember being completely entranced by it and being unable to put it down (even though it was very difficult for me at the time). From then on I was always hoping that the “Gaming Machine” would be present if I stayed over, which was often the case as they figured out that this was a very easy way to keep me occupied. I later got a green Game Boy Color, and of course this was my first game for the system. I played it countless of hours, and even though I later got a Game Boy Advance SP, this game would remain in my rotation until I got a DS many years later.
I’ve barely played any of the later installments. I got Donkey Kong Country 2 for the Game Boy Advance when I was young, but found it to difficult and didn’t really like the new protagonist as much. After my DS I became a playstation fanboy for the rest of my childhood and teens.
Now that I have bought a 3DS I’ve started playing Donkey Kong Country Returns. It’s really nice, but I found it a bit overwhelming and haven’t really touched it since.
Also a shout out to the Game Boy game called Donkey Kong, in which you actually play Mario with some incredibly varied platforming for the time. An all time classic!
It wasn’t my first video game, but it was my first on the Gameboy! Good times.
I played games on the PC before, but DKC was the first SNES game I played, maybe the first game with a controller. I still remember, after the console was set up, my sister played for a bit, then I wanted a turn, and just ran straight into the first enemy. Then I just watched my sister play for a bit, lol.
We didn’t have a lot of SNES games, but the game became probably my favorite on the console, along with the sequel. I played through both of them a bunch of times, and found every secret, without looking up guides.
A year or two ago, I casually played through it again, in like an hour, which was fun, I’ll have to do it again, along with the second game.
Hearing the music nowadays is also nostalgic, but it’s also just so good.
I remember being completely entranced by it and being unable to put it down (even though it was very difficult for me at the time).
That’s something I find great on so many old games: they were hard, and yet they encouraged you to keep on trying.
found it [DKC2] to difficult and didn’t really like the new protagonist as much
Playing with Dixie is easier, so perhaps both things are related.
Donkey Kong Country was my favourite childhood game series.
The first game was a blast: fun gameplay, full of secrets and things to collect, good music, gorgeous graphics even for 2025 standards, the difficulty was just right. (A bit too hard for me back then, too easy nowadays.)
I remember when DKC3 was released in '98, I’d go to the cartridge rental shop once a week to ask the guy if they had it already. (He was extremely patient with me. That guy was a bro.) Once I finally got to play it, it didn’t disappoint me at all, I loved those puzzles and it was amazing to explore the map freely. Kiddy was a bit odd, but really fun to play with, and I loved how Dixie throwing Kiddy had different mechanics than Kiddy throwing Dixie.
But by far my favourite was DKC2. Everything was perfect - they picked the formula from DKC1 and expanded it: more collectibles! Better music! Better looks! The bonuses now aren’t just “find all bonuses in the level for +1%”, now you got something to find in them! I can literally play the first level of that game with a blindfold, it’s itched in my brain. (Fuck Bramble Blast, though. I had a hard time finding one bonus and the DK coin there. And by then my English was a bit too awful to get what Cranky said.)
Then… well, DK64. It killed the series for me. I didn’t get why it wasn’t fun, but nowadays I see what happened - early 3D games had clunky controls and camera, plus the whole “gotta remake the whole thing five times to get to 100%” was meh.
DK64 has a certain charm to it. I think there’s a really good game in there, but it also tries to do WAYYY too much, and having to memorise all those Street Fighter button combos to pull off basic moves is hard work.
The DKC series also had some amazing music (especially DKC2). Overall some of my favorite games from my childhood.
Even DK64 was okay for me, though it came out at probably the best time for me to enjoy it (I think I was 11 or 12 and had lots of time to burn).
Here’s a great musical analysis on Stickerbush Symphony, for anyone interested.
Wow, the analysis is great - thanks for sharing it! For me Stickerbush Symphony always evoked some sort of loneliness or melancholy…
And yes, the whole series has great music. I agree DKC2 is the best in this regard; not just because the tracks are great on their own, but because they fit really well the mood of each level. Disco Train is on its own a rollercoaster, Mining Melancholy’s “mmhmm mmhmm” evoking winds and machinery, Bayou Boogie making the level sound m… mois… swampy. From other games of the series DKC1 Forest Frenzy and DKC3 Nuts and Bolts are also great. (Now thinking, the DKC3 soundtrack as a whole is a bit more industrial.)
Yeah, the water levels in DKC1 are pretty slick as well (Charles Cornell talks about that one too).
I was just trying to remember what that hard level was with all the wasps, thanks for the memory!
Hard level with all the wasps
So all of them? …sorry, I couldn’t resist. (This reminds me world 4, Krazy Kremland. The hive levels are awesome!)
Love David Wise’s soundtracks.
All I gotta say is I am beyond hyped for Donkey Kong Bananza. It looks sooooo gooooodddddd
To be honest with you, I hate this fkin’ game! I never had it. I like the OG Donkey Kong, and Donkey Kong Jr. My sibby loved this game, although he only played it via roms back in the day. I had a group of friends who loved this game like crazy. I can’t even tell you much about it, because I suck at it so hard. I mean I am miserable at this game. I like the characters. The animations were out of this world. The soundtrack, super good. I still like that underwater song, and it’s what I think about when I think about this game. (Well in this order a) Fuck that giant baby b) Trixie (?) has flying hair - whee! c) Hornet boss. Pheh! d) Barrel smashing e) Crocks, I always think I am lined up to smash them but then get smashed by them f) That song was a banger tho)
Guess it’s called Bramble Blast . I just remembered the bramble part, this song is a banger =)!
