Donkey Kong Country 3 Review for Game Boy Advance (GBA) || Portable Review

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»Donkey Kong Country 3
"Not the best of the series, but a good port."

Graphics: 8

Gameplay: 7

Sound: 6

Replay Value: 7

After the first two Donkey Kong Countries were released on Game Boy Advance, we all knew the third was coming eventually. The first two Donkey Kong Countries were pretty good ports, so we could almost expect that this port would be good as well. Donkey Kong Country 3 was never my favorite Donkey Kong game, I thought the first two were much better. However, when you don’t compare it to anything, it’s still a very solid platformer.

The story is the same as it was in the original. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are missing, so it’s up to DixieDixie can glide across making travel a lot slower and easier. Kiddy is just strong, and especially comes in handy for throwing Dixie

As far as the gameplay goes, it’s still the straight forward platform game it was on SNES. You’ll be running, jumping, swimming and otherwise moving through levels while trying to complete the 9 worlds of the original. Secrets and extras aside, the original is very much intact. Each level still has the K-O-N-G letters, the DK coin, the other coins and of course, the bananas! There are still some parts that require strategy, and there are still parts that require very little skill, but that’s Donkey Kong.

In addition to the normal levels, they also added an excess of mini-games. At least the developers had a sense of humor with what extras they put in with the comment they left in the beginning, but for the most part the mini-games are boring. One of them is like the bonus stages in Sonic 2, but instead you collect stars and the controls are a lot clunkier. Another is where you play as Cranky Kong and block porcupines coming at you from all sides with a DK shield. They’ve also added a collection-type game where you have to trade items as you move it. It keeps things more interesting, but you can play through most of it without caring.

One of the first things I noticed about Donkey Kong Country 3 is the completely new soundtrack. A lot of the tracks seem to have the same theme as the original, but for the most part, they seem completely new and obnoxious. In the original, the sounds were pretty muffled and gave a nice ambient sound, but in the GBA version, there seems to be none of that. Some people might like that though, it gives more energy to the game, but I find it really annoying. Some of the sound effects have been updated too, most notably each character is given a distinctive voice, and Kiddy Kong’s is very annoying.

Graphic-wise, the only upgrade they really did was fixing stuff to fit the GBA’s screen. The original seemed to have a better use of colors. The GBA version seems very bright in comparison, but looks very good for a GBA game. The world maps definitely got a bit of an update. They now have paths with bananas, and also look a lot prettier than the original maps with their extra foliage. The levels look about the same, albeit a lot more colorful.

To make the game more portable friendly, the developers took out the videotape save system of the original and gave you the option of saving when you pause. It makes things rather convenient, and definitely a plus for on the go. Another plus is the ability to have a two player game with one GBA. I suppose it adds to the replay value of the game because you can play with a friend, but not in the same way as a two system multiplayer would have. You can also work you way up to 100%, which will take a while to do, if you want to do it.

I think my frustration with Donkey Kong Country 3 comes from their removal of Rambi. Instead we get Ellie the elephant (a non-blue elephant) that is scared of mice and can’t just run through enemies. That frustration aside, I still feel that Donkey Kong Country 3 was the low of the series anyways, so it’s not much different on GBA. If you loved DKC 3 for SNES, there’s no doubt you’ll love this one. It’s a port, and a good one… I just wish I liked the game more to begin with.

Article by: Knives
Posted on: Nov. 9th, 2005

Review Recap

Gameplay

It’s a pretty good platformer, but compared to the other games, it’s probably the low point of the series.

Graphics

The original looked better, but the transition was pretty good and better than DKC2.

Sound

They completely updated the soundtrack, but I don’t really like it.

Replay Value

I guess you can work you way up to 100%, but I don’t think I would do it. DKC3 wasn’t really that good to begin with. and Kiddy Kong to save find them and get rid of the Kremlins who’ve infested DK Island. Each of the two heroes has their own strengths.

Comments

August 15, 2007