This Month In Nintendo History: November 1994 Page 1

This Month In Nintendo History: November 1994

07.11.2011

This Month in Nintendo History: November 1994

Hello and welcome to November’s slice of This Month in Nintendo History! As 2011 draws to a close, for the month of fireworks and burnings we reminisce on a game that propelled a certain Nintendo second party into the limelight. Not only was it a dramatic reinvention of the iconic character that allowed Nintendo to prosper in the gaming market in the first place, but the game consisted of a visual level few thought they would see until the Super NES’ successor. It would directly spawn two direct sequels, a spiritual third on three dimensional hardware, and a proper third using motion sensing technology. Introducing Rareware’s epic: Donkey Kong Country.

Hey, he's still got it!
Pretty much everyone and their dog knows the back story of the tie-wearing simian. First seen in the classic 1981 arcade game Donkey Kong, the big ape was the main antagonist, lobbing barrels at a small Italian carpenter in red and blue overalls. Mario wasn’t given a proper identity until much later, so DK could quite easily be thought of as Nintendo’s first mascot - or, at the very least, their first breadwinner. Direct sequel Donkey Kong Jr. saw a half-grown gorilla set out to rescue his father from Jumpman’s cage, in what is to date Mario’s only appearance as a bad guy. Third game Donkey Kong 3 returned the ape to the familiar foe position, with Stanley the Bugman attacking him and swarms of insects with bug spray to protect his shrubbery.

After those three games though, Mr Kong was put on the back burner and relegated to cameos and guest appearances, with Nintendo letting Mario’s appeal and rising star status captivate the youngsters of the emerging home console generations. The next and ultimately last starring role that Mario’s first nemesis would receive before the successor to the Nintendo Entertainment System would be on Game Boy, with Donkey Kong '94, a game that started off like the original arcade game before changing into something similar to what we see now in the Mario vs. Donkey Kong games on Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS. This was where DK first acquired his signature red tie.

Sharper than the average ape.
Starting off under the trade name Ultimate Play The Game, the Stamper brothers Chris and Tim started developing games together with a group of friends for earlier consoles like the BBC Micro and Commodore 64. Around the time they were able to push this hardware to its limits, NES was quickly gaining ground outside of Japan, and not long after forming a sub-division called Rare Ltd., the group started making NES games in abundance. Due to the volume of games they created for the system, Rare were unprepared for the higher ability of the Super Nintendo and thus made investments in higher technological prowess with Silicon Graphics workstations. This action would make Rare one of the most highly advanced developers in the industry at that time.

After creating an impressive demo of a boxing game with the new tech at their disposal, Nintendo bought a stake in the company large enough for the studio to become an official second party. Nintendo offered one of their franchises to Rare in the hopes of a Silicon Graphics game that would showcase the power difference between the Super NES and its main competitor, the SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis. Rare’s head honchos asked for Donkey Kong, and a star was reborn.

Not quite what you’d get at a zoo enclosure, unless somebody lost their clothing luggage.
Donkey Kong Country’s biggest selling point was also it’s most striking and immediately obvious. Based on a foundation of pre-rendered 3D visuals (that Rare would utilize again in their fighting title Killer Instinct), Rare’s technical ability allowed for new compression techniques that gave the sprites and models more personality and animation, formally dubbing this practice Advanced Computer Modelling. The lush forests, claustrophobic caves and industrial factories of DK’s island home were brought to life via this method, as were its inhabitants; the redesigned monkey star himself and his chimp sidekick Diddy Kong, old timer Cranky Kong (the original Donkey Kong), the eye candy of the island, erm, Candy Kong, and the cool surfer dude Funky Kong. This level of visual fidelity was easily a breakthrough achievement, and wouldn’t truly be topped until the movement to three dimensional movement and design, together with CGI cutscenes, in the next generation.

Donkey Kong Country’s platforming and stage design took a slight backseat to the technical prowess the game offered, but were no slouches either if ultimately basic. Together with an immense marketing campaign from Nintendo, including promotional videos bundled with US and UK gaming magazines, the game hit Japanese, European and United States territories in November 1994 and won heaps of awards and commendations from publications the world over.

Remember how good the '90s were? Caps were actually fashionable!
Rare went on to create other such gaming masterpieces as Goldeneye 007, Perfect Dark, Banjo-Kazooie, and Conker’s Bad Fur Day, before being bought out by Microsoft and put to work on Kinect games. Donkey Kong Country remains one of their greatest achievements however, and due to its popularity and continuing series, DK fans have much more to look forward to with the lumbering loveable ape.

What did you think of Donkey Kong Country when you first played it? Did you try the game amidst the release hype or later on through the Game Boy Advance or Virtual Console re-releases?

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Azuardo 07.11.2011#1

Great article, Phoe! I can never forget the moment I received DKC as a Christmas present when I was about 7 years old. I have plenty of fond memories growing up playing this gorgeous game. It's testament to the talent at Rare at the time that the DKC series is still completely playable and holds up today. The three of these SNES beauts will always be some of my favourite games of all time.

RudyC3 07.11.2011#2

I didn't receive it myself when it was first released, because my parents could barely afford buying me games, but I do remember the time spent at a friend's, playing it and being so stunned at the graphics, and had so much fun playing the mine cart levels Smilie .

This, Starwing and Super Metroid were the three most impressive games on the system for me at the time.

Remember how good the '90s were? Caps were actually fashionable!

I still like caps :/.

( Edited 07.11.2011 09:46 by Kafei2006 )

Cubed3 Limited Staff :: Review and Feature Writer

jb 07.11.2011#3

Excellent issue Shane! Muchos love for the Donkey Kongs! I first got Donkey Kong '94, played that and loved it for ages and didn't really touch Donkey Kong Country till much later - ended up playing DK Land before Country! Then, for some weird reason, jumped to DKC2 (my favourite), 3 and then eventually, finally got to play the original.

Definitely hoping for more traditional Donkey Kong! Wasn't too fond of the Wii one.

Cubed3 Admin/Founder & Designer

Mush 07.11.2011#4

I remember playing DKC as a kid and absolutely loving it. Though back then I wasn't old enough to actually think "Wow, these graphics are way ahead of their time" playing DKC in the last few years and looking back to other SNES titles such as.. say Super Mario World, it really was such a step forward in gaming.

I mean, graphics aren't everything.. I wouldn't care if DKC had 16-bit sprites instead of pre-rendered characters but it's just amazing to see what developers can do when they push a console to it's limits.

Rare was a fantastic company back then, I used to love playing Banjo Kazooie and Banjo Tooie when I had my N64. I even played Conker's Bad Fur Day, which was also a very enjoyable (while mildly fucked up) experience. Smilie

In recent years though, Rare has become somewhat of a joke. Especially with their latest Banjo Kazooie game, Nuts & Bolts. While it was still a pretty fun experience, it didn't feel like Banjo Kazooie. At all.

There was a lot of jokes that poked fun at the company itself, which sometimes went a little too far and got to the point when they were no longer funny.

I know Rare changed the whole StarFox formula with StarFox Adventures, but hey.. hate me if you wish but I thought it was a fantastic game. Yeah, it was nothing like Lylat Wars, but it felt like The Legend of Zelda and StarFox had a baby. That to me created a game that was such a fun and enjoyable experience.

Anyways, this has probably gone a little off topic... I tend to do that a lot. So I'm gonna stop right here. Smilie

Azuardo 07.11.2011#5

Hardly, if any, original staff from the SNES/N64 Rare days are left at the Rare of today, so it's no wonder that what they make are nothing like their past greats. They're a completely different company and set of people now. And with Microsoft recently saying Rare's focus now is to make Kinect games... I feel sorry for the way the company's gone. But those original Rare staff still make games - those at Free Radical have made the sublime TimeSplitters series - so at least it's not all doom and gloom.

I thoroughly enjoyed SF Adventures too. I was really curious to see how the original Dinosaur Planet on N64 would have turned out, but Nintendo interfered once they noticed the main character looked like Fox and asked them to turn into a SF game. Luckily, it controlled smoothly and looked gorgeous. One of the best looking games on the GC. Once again proved old Rare could get the most out of a system.

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This Month In Nintendo History: November 1994

This Month in Nintendo History: November 1994

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