Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

Alrighty then, another sweep of the collection, and I've found the next title to have a bash at (literally).
Next review will appear at...3...2...1...
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Any die-hard fan throughout the 6th console generation era will tell you that the Gamecube didn't exactly fare well, whichever way you looked at it. Shoddy 3rd party support, mostly oweing to the control and memory restrictions; poor sales performance, no multimedia support (in comparison to the other consoles), and an image geared to the younger crowd.
One area the console did excel at however, is the makers support, games-wise. Although Nintendo's franchise creations were arguably inferior to the Nintendo 64's games, they were mostly the system sellers, the main attractions.
In what could be seen as the precursor to the Wii's demographic, late into the life of the GC, Nintendo released a game called Donkey Konga, along with special Bongo Drums. These were intended for anyone to use, such as was their simplicity, and the accompanying game attempted to get players drumming to themes and music tracks.
This concept took off reasonably well, although it couldn't hope to get Gamecube among the bigger players again. Regardless, Nintendo gave the bongos peripheral some more support, namely in the shape of this game, Jungle Beat.

First off, it has to be said, you need the Bongos for this. The game allows traditional Gamecube pad support, but it is the immeasurably inferior control option, and a lot of the uniqueness of Jungle Beat is lost in the process.

As far as story goes in this game, it doesn't really matter. You're Donkey Kong, and you're going to beat the crap out of anything in your way. Enough said.

To describe the core gameplay, you'd need the words 'Side-scrolling platformer', 'beat-em-up', and perhaps a little 'stunt-gameplay' on the side.
The main controls are pretty simple, left Drum is to move left, or throw left arm; and right Drum is for right direction and arm, as you would expect. Clapping, as in physically, controls a shockwave for multiple purposes, and hitting both Drums together make Donkey Kong jump.
From such a seemingly restricted control scheme, you might think that the levels and actions would reflect this, right?
Nope.
It's really quite impressive how much improvisation the developers can do with the bongos. Anything you can think of in a traditional platformer, you can find here, amongst more innovative ideas. Ever fought a giant plant with the head of a chicken? Or perhaps a break-dancing Panda?

For high-score traditionalists, the game has you covered. Another goal the game gives you, aside from the get-to-the-end one, is to collect as many bananas as you can (hey, D.K, Bananas, what did you expect?), and the total at the end contributes to the medal you'll get. Bronze, Silver, Gold, or even Platinum if you're super-human.
The aforementioned bananas also act as D.K's health bar, and damage from enemies/obstacles etc. will see you lose some, so be cautious. Whilst collecting these bananas (the Shockwave technique helps greatly) bouncing off walls and vines (which I labeled as stunts earlier) will greatly increase the totals, so there is great incentive to have repeated attempts at each level.
This all adds up to some fantastic and enjoyable gameplay, amongst other things...

Such as the graphics. This game looks great, no doubt about it. From the smoke effects, the pixar-like quality of D.K's fur and the sublime levels, this is one of Gamecube's best. Many of the resources from this game were carried over to the developer team's nxt project, Super Mario Galaxy, and it really shows.

The sound is also very well done, and fits well with the title. Many classic Donkey Kong themes pop up here, and some new ones you'll gladly listen to.

Unfortunately, one area the game doesn't succeed so well in, is the longevity. The aforementioned High-score temptation might bring back players after the games' completion, but little else will.
Also, whilst the main levels all feel unique and new, the bosses sadly don't. For each world, the line-up is the same, only differentiating in difficulty, and the look and tactics of the Kong bosses.

Don't let these minor niggles put you off though, Jungle Beat is still one of the Gamecube's finest, and if you can get it (with the bongos), then definitely go for it.
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As an owner of this game I can say this game is one of the best games for GC.

It has great graphics, and im someone who does not look for graphics in a game. the Enemies are goofy yet cool like the Chicken plant creature.

With the bongos its a new twist on a game. you can play with a contrller but I tried and I did not like it.

When I first got it I could not put it down because it was so fun. The Replay value is very high. This by far is my favorite donkey kong game!

There is only three minor down sides; Itis kinda short. It seems like a lot of levels but after you play a while you realize the leves are not that long. There are only four types of bosses. An alligator or a tiger would have been a cool boss. There could have been some secrets material too (like extra characters)(Diddy Kong any one?). Hopefully nintendo will make a sequel. I would defenitly get it

At E3 I was a little bit sceptical of this one, it seemed it was a little bit to bland and looked slightly too thin on the ice compared to what it could be. But sure enough, Jungle Beat was released and from the moment I got to grips with the controls and beat the first Kingdom, I released that this was yet another prime example of the innovational ideas at Nintendo.

You could call this one the true next generation successor to the Donkey Kong Country series, because it

Jungle Beat is a brand new platform game that actually feels new, plays well and is a bucket of fun! (and uses the bongos in case you didn't know!)

Graphically the game is much better the Konga. You can see individual hairs on Donkey Kong, for example and the rain and snow affects look pretty sweet as well.

The sound is possibly the games weakest area, yet it still sounds nice, with little chiming sound effects and decent music- just don't expect to be WOWED.

The Gamplay is unique and very fun. It's a game to be played in short (half an hour or so) blasts, doing just 1 or 2 levels at a time, but it really works. The boss battles are the best, bashing the bongos to make DK punch for example, is logical and feels right.

As for the lengt, I can't see why people are complaining. It's quiet a bit longer then I thought it would be and even after you've finished there's plenty of your own high scores to beat!!

Overall it's a worthwhile purchase that will make you wonder why all other platformers aren't more like it! You can get it for just