Donkey Kong Jungle Climber

Skipping over the wafer-thin story that revolves around aliens that look like bananas, King K.Rool, who is returning to wreak havoc once again, and the Kremlings clan, what we find is a game that looks like an evolution of Rare's Donkey Kong Country in terms of graphical appearance. This comes as a very pleasant surprise since the GBA original used flat, 2D sprites that had a strange cartoon feel to them, which really did not ring true of the Donkey Kong series. This, however, is much more like it, with the 3D-looking characters and enemies flitting around the various colourful stages. Nothing is particularly over-the-top, but it all looks very 'nice' and does its job extremely well indeed. As for the soundtrack, we are treated to a strong mix of new, upbeat tunes that prove to be catchy enough, and a smattering of re-worked classics from the DKC games on the SNES that will bring about an overwhelming feeling of nostalgia. Sadly, as with the first game, there are grunts and groans from characters, rather than digitised speech, but rather than being amusing,

 

Thankfully, rather than churn out a copycat edition of the game, Jungle Climber proves to be a worthy successor to King of Swing with surprises galore to be found within. The result is that there are so many features found both on the surface and deeper into the game that lift it high above the recent spate of platform games that have been hitting retail over the past few years you will be both in awe of the game, as well as truly addicted throughout. Be it peg platforms that fall after a short period (think Mario games where platforms fall after seconds of standing on them), ones that are not actually there (in mirror levels, where the top screen shows a mirrored image of the level, but certain peg boards are not present on both screens, in which case they must be avoided or the level is reset) or enemies that can only be hit from a certain side, thus bringing in the element of patience, waiting for them to expose their weak points, DKJC throws idea after idea at the gamer, all in the effort to enhance the experience.

Then there are the hidden extras (such as banana coins, actual bananas), 'fake' deaths (where you think you are about to die as you fall down a hole, only to find that it in fact leads to a special part of the level), bonus stages (where you must collect lots of bananas in a barrel), minigames (such as leaping over on-coming logs or racing to the top of an area as quickly as possible), walls that can be smashed through (charge-jump with 'A', double charge-jump using Diddy as well by pressing 'A' again in quick succession

 

Jungle Climber is an absolute joy to play through, and yet a nightmare in the same breath. Death will become a regular occurrence very early on in the game, but this is not to do with any failing of the game, more the player's ineptitude at playing it! Whilst easy to pick up, mastering the art of leaping off into thin air and attempting to move DK into the right position so as to grab the next peg takes a heck of a lot of skill and practice...and luck at times (especially on levels such as those found on World 3, where the fog is so thick you cannot see any pegs, meaning you have to rely on a map on the lower screen and figure out where the next peg should be

 

And rather than gamers growing tired of dying on a frequent basis whilst trying to grab that last 'nana, there is such a sense of great satisfaction from completing each level with the required totals, such as five banana coins, one large DK coin and oil can (which is used by Funky Kong to power his plane and transport you to secret stages), plus the four 'KONG' letters that earn you a 1UP. You WILL want to go back and grab every little extra, and there is no real need to worry about any shortages on the lives side, since for every single banana you collect (and there are large bunches dotted around levels, not always singles) adds to your total and when the meter reaches 100 another life is added. It certainly is not uncommon to have around forty lives minimum at any one time. Do not let this fool you into believing all will be done and dusted in short time, though, as those lives will sorely be needed as the amount of times you die will be equally hefty in number. Losing grip of a peg at a vital time is part and parcel of the game's frustrating aspect, as well as part of the 'one-more-go' side to it. Mix in the bosses at the end of each of the six worlds, bonus levels, eleven hidden stages to unlock later on, plus local wireless multiplayer modes for the mini-games and you will be working your way through Jungle Climber for quite some time, switching between a painful grimace and an ecstatic smile constantly along the way.