Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

User Summary:

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is a video game developed for Nintendo Gamecube. It was developed by Nintendo EAD in Tokyo and released in 2004 in Japan and 2005 in Europe and North America. The original Gamecube version can be played with a normal Gamecube controller, but is designed to be played with the DK Bongos.

Although the game is basically a 2D Side-scrolling platform game, the game plays very different, since the DK Bongos are used for controlling the main character Donkey Kong. These DK Bongos were developed for use with the Donkey Kong Games, but in this game they are used to make Donkey Kong run, jump and perform attacks. By hitting the left drum or the right drum Donkey Kong moves in that direction. To make him jump, both drums have to be hit at the same time. Clapping hands, make Donkey Kong clap his hands, which can be used to defeat enemies. The goal of each level is to score as many 'Beats' as possible. To get those Beats the player has to collect bananas. By using combos the amount of beats received can increase greatly.

The game levels are divided into different kingdoms. A player has access to a number of kingdoms, and can unlock additional kingdoms, by scoring enough Beats. There are three levels in each kingdom. In each kingdom there is a boos to be beaten. The amount of health a player has is based on the amount of Beats collected. Not all kingdoms have unique bosses, some kingdoms have harder versions of previous encountered bosses. The player can always replay already finished levels to increase the score.

The game received many positive critics. The game was and still is unique and this was acknowledged by many reviewers. Most of them concluded the game was fun after getting use to the non-traditional control scheme. Apart from the novel controls, the game is considered a well designed platformer with interesting concepts. The game is playable by casual gamers, but also challenges more hardcore players to score as high as possible. A point of criticism often made was the rather short length of the game, as well as the reuse of bosses. The game has been released for the Wii as a 'New Play Control'-title. Instead of the DK Bongos that version uses the Wii Remote and the Nunchuck for controlling Donkey Kong. There are more small changes, some of which making the game a bit more like a traditional platformer.