Two classics come back...Part Two

The Return of the Kong

In 1981 Nintendo released an arcade game in America featuring an ill-tempered gorilla and a heroic laborer. (I found out that at this time in his life, Mario was a carpenter named Jumpman. I guess he picked up plumbing and dumped the pseudonym in '85). This gorilla was called Donkey Kong.

In the beginning we didn't know much about Donkey Kong. He was angry. He liked the princess. He hated that guy that jumped barrels to get at him.

Later, more of the story came out. In 1994 Donkey Kong Country hit the Super Nintendo and we could finally play Donkey Kong as the hero. With his side-kick Diddy Kong, Donkey battled through armies of mutant-gator thingies to recover his hoard of bananas. This game was tough. It was good-looking, challenging, and rewarded you for exploring. There were bonus rooms, interesting characters, variety of game play. It was great.

When the sequel came out the next year, it was great. Another sequel a year after that was great. It was a franchise that just kept getting better. The characters like Cranky and Funky Kong came to be old friends. When Donkey Kong came out for the Nintendo 64 it was with a full cast of new friends and old favorites. The same difficult but worthwhile challenges kept us coming back.

Donkey Kong has come back in a couple of solid games since then, including Jungle Beat, an innovative title that let you pound bongos to pound bad guys.

Last week Donkey Kong Country Returns came out for the Wii. Like Mario and Kirby, this title requires you to turn you Wii remote on its side and use the d-pad and two buttons to control the hero. Diddy returns as a side-kick and the hunt for bananas is on. It might be wiser for the Kongs to invest in a security system for the banana hoard but it would not be as much fun. Donkey and Diddy fight crazy tiki-controlled bad guys, ride mine carts, blast out of barrels and discover secret bonuses in a wild side-scrolling adventure. The graphics are beautiful. The gameplay is challenging. The classic DK-style is familiar and lovable. This game is tough, but for the preteen to adult set, it is a blast. And, as always, it's family friendly or I wouldn't be talking about it.