I played King of the Swing on GBA recently, and thought it was pretty good. Weird but fun concept where you spin and jump with L and R, some interesting level gimmicks, a bit frustrating. Sort of interesting cartoon art style that works for the GBA, I guess.
So I just recently picked up Jungle Climber thinking it'd be more of the same. But wow, it's pretty much one of the best sequels you can get. The core swinging mechanic is the same but tightened up in all the right ways - you spin at a much more satisfying pace, the grabbing is just a bit more lenient, the health system is re-worked in a way that makes much more sense and feels even more like classic DK, Diddy is incorporated in ways that increase the depth of the gameplay as health, a long-range attack, a scout, and other power-ups.
It uses the DS dual screens in an extremely natural way to give you more of the level to see and work with. The level design gimmicks continually change it up in smart ways, with some really awesome stuff that sometimes seem like platformer cliches but given a whole new perspective in this gameplay style. And again, some use the DS dual screens in a way that only works here, like a level where you can't see the handholds and need a map on the bottom screen, and a level where you're mirrored on both screens but the handhold layout is different, forcing you to synchronize the two.
If the game ever annoys you too much, you're always slowly building up this invincibility power-up you can use to skip it and grab collectibles. But it's the type of power-up that's easy to forget about and ignore if you want to challenge yourself.
The presentation is again steps above the GBA game and the more rendered-looking graphics are a definite improvement as well. I was reading an old GAF thread on it and it's bizarre to read people 10 years ago swearing off the game because of its "ugly horrendous art style". I guess the graphics and music can't compare to Donkey Kong Country, but really, not much can.
The only thing that lessens the experience is the lame story and characters - the whole DK crew and King K. Rool appears, but the extremely lame throwaway dialogue really puts a downer on what's a great game at its core - the silence of DKC is suddenly appreciated and you start to understand Miyamoto's distaste of plot in these sorts of games. Makes the thing feel more like a lame spin-off going through the motions in that regard, it only hurts it. They went through the effort to bring characters back that went missing when Jungle Beat rolled around, but it just feels so token and cookie-cutter.
The whole L and R button swinging thing is something that just won't gel for some people, but if it wasn't missing that killer atmosphere DKC has at its heart, there's no reason this is any worse than a DK platformer. Didn't expect to write this much, but uh, hopefully I've spread the love. Anyone remember this game fondly?
So I just recently picked up Jungle Climber thinking it'd be more of the same. But wow, it's pretty much one of the best sequels you can get. The core swinging mechanic is the same but tightened up in all the right ways - you spin at a much more satisfying pace, the grabbing is just a bit more lenient, the health system is re-worked in a way that makes much more sense and feels even more like classic DK, Diddy is incorporated in ways that increase the depth of the gameplay as health, a long-range attack, a scout, and other power-ups.
It uses the DS dual screens in an extremely natural way to give you more of the level to see and work with. The level design gimmicks continually change it up in smart ways, with some really awesome stuff that sometimes seem like platformer cliches but given a whole new perspective in this gameplay style. And again, some use the DS dual screens in a way that only works here, like a level where you can't see the handholds and need a map on the bottom screen, and a level where you're mirrored on both screens but the handhold layout is different, forcing you to synchronize the two.
If the game ever annoys you too much, you're always slowly building up this invincibility power-up you can use to skip it and grab collectibles. But it's the type of power-up that's easy to forget about and ignore if you want to challenge yourself.
The presentation is again steps above the GBA game and the more rendered-looking graphics are a definite improvement as well. I was reading an old GAF thread on it and it's bizarre to read people 10 years ago swearing off the game because of its "ugly horrendous art style". I guess the graphics and music can't compare to Donkey Kong Country, but really, not much can.
The only thing that lessens the experience is the lame story and characters - the whole DK crew and King K. Rool appears, but the extremely lame throwaway dialogue really puts a downer on what's a great game at its core - the silence of DKC is suddenly appreciated and you start to understand Miyamoto's distaste of plot in these sorts of games. Makes the thing feel more like a lame spin-off going through the motions in that regard, it only hurts it. They went through the effort to bring characters back that went missing when Jungle Beat rolled around, but it just feels so token and cookie-cutter.
The whole L and R button swinging thing is something that just won't gel for some people, but if it wasn't missing that killer atmosphere DKC has at its heart, there's no reason this is any worse than a DK platformer. Didn't expect to write this much, but uh, hopefully I've spread the love. Anyone remember this game fondly?
