The Donkey Kong license recently saw a significant revival thanks to Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii. But leading up to this title, Donkey Kong, as a franchise, had become a B-tier or arguably C-tier franchise. Donkey Kong Country 3, while good, never had the same allure as Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2. Donkey Kong 64 came at a time when consumers were growing tired of collect-a-thon 3D platformers.
But one of the surprisingly good entries in the series ended up on the GameCube with Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. For the most part, it’s your standard 2D platformer. At the time, the genre was a bit of a rarity on home consoles, so it was a novelty to see it return. But that wasn’t what made Jungle Beat stand out. Instead it was the plastic bongo controllers that the game was built around.
You tap the left drum to move Donkey Kong left, tap right to move him right and tap both at once to make him jump. The bongos are also equipped with a microphone where you clap to make him punch enemies or grab onto objects.
It sounds obtuse and awkward, but it works well. The clap detection is inconsistent, but using the actual bongos to control Donkey Kong feels surprisingly natural.
Jungle Beat probably wasn’t intended for long-play sessions. I have pretty vivid memories of my hands turning red and stinging after hours of play. Perhaps I was using a bit too much force. As weird as it may sound, I’d actually recommend this game over the Donkey Kong Country Returns series. It has a nice gimmick to its design that other games lack.
Just make sure you don’t play it at two in the morning. They may not be actual bongos, but they can be pretty loud.
(Header Image Source: BossBattleChannel)
