Donkey Konga (GameCube) Second Opinion Review

Having had plenty of time to play Donkey Konga and experiment with one, two, three and four players (whilst drunk and sober) we can report a mixed verdict on a title that is being touted as one of the most innovative console games ever. Whilst the bongos are innovative, the idea basically isn't. But perhaps Donkey Konga isn't all about innovation, it is simply about having fun; Nintendo style.

The left hand bongo (as you look at them) represents the yellow icons on screen (see the screenshots) with the right bongo being for red. Pink means you have to hit both bongos and a blue spiky shape means clap. It's fairly simple, but this is Donkey Konga's beauty, it is painfully simple that any idiot can play it and enjoy it.

What we found particularly refreshing is the way in which this game affects you socially. Unlike so many other games this title actively encourages you, nay forces you, to call some friends round and get them bashing bongos with you. The innuendo possibilities are endless, as are the gameplay possibilities. Sitting around with four people, some beers, some snacks and battling away on some of the more amusing songs is wonderfully good fun and promotes gaming how it should be: fun, sociable and vibrant.

The graphics might be shockingly bad (even the animation of DK and the other characters is very poor) and the general presentation of the game is fairly shoddy, which is perhaps a little bit of an oversight by Nintendo and Namco. This title could be a lot more visually exciting and stimulating, as it is Donkey Konga is left looking bland and uninteresting.

The songs in the European version are an interesting bunch. There are some excellent ones, we found Alright and 99 Red Baloons to be two of the best, but one complaint: there aren't enough songs! Whilst Version 2 will inevitably launch in a little while (it's already out in Japan) we feel that perhaps a few more songs on the first version would be money well spent. What we particularly resent are the gaming soundtracks that Nintendo have shamelessly put on here, they are pretty horrible and nowhere near as fun as something like Queen or Michael Jackson. It also comes across as a little bit self-indulgent...

Elsewhere the minigames are annoyingly weak. So much more could be made out of fast-paced, random Wario Ware-esque tasks, but what we do have is a bunch of fairly tedious and lifeless side-tasks that will hold your interest about as much as a football match between Armenia and Belarus. This really is a missed opportunity, as it would provide the perfect partner to the excellent main panning sections.

The fact that there really isn't anything to complete in Donkey Konga is both a good point and a bad point. It means you can turn it on for a quick ten minute bash and then forget about it, or if you like an hour or two, but it also means that there is no massive incentive to come back and complete anything. Apart from the fact that this game is great fun, and there are some very challenging songs, once mastered, unless you really enjoy playing it, there is nothing to make you come back.

Don't let that put you off, if you have friends, you have four sets of Bongos and you don't mind physically abusing your hands for hours on end, Donkey Konga is the game for you. What is most refreshing is the general innovation of this title. It doesn't try to be flash, it doesn't try to be clever, it just makes you play Bongos, look like an idiot and enjoy it. We want to call it the best thing Nintendo have ever done...but we can't.

Why? Well, if we are to be brutally honest it doesn't quite work. The whole game feels lifeless and soulless, it doesn't feel fun, you have to make it fun. It isn't half as quirky as it should be and the whole thing seems to fail to fulfil its potential. Nearly Nintendo, but not quite...