DK Jungle Climber review

As close to a Donkey Kong Country sequel as we'll get

12DOVE Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Wonderful level design

  • +

    Enough innovations to keep us hooked

  • +

    Minigames are pretty damn good

Cons

  • -

    Underwater levels are bothersome

  • -

    Later levels get egregiously hard

  • -

    Not as accessible as other platformers

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Sept 12, 2007

New theory: if a character moves quickly across a world select menu, you’ve got a great game on your hands. Why? Because Mr. Developer understands that you want to race straight to the fun: get into the actual game as fast as possible, no long cutscenes, no slow fades in and out, let’s just GO.

In Donkey Kong Jungle Climber, DK sprints around the map like a monkey that’s sat on a cheese fork heated to 140°C - it’s as though you’re making levels start just by thinking about them. It’s the DKJC way: an almost retro-minded dedication to giving us Nintendo-quality brilliance with none of the fluff - just tight level design, multi-coloured eye-wonderment, bosses that work, perfectly-formed minigames… the lot. It is, simply, a fantastic game.

More info

GenreAdventure
DescriptionThis banana-gathering adventure is shockingly awesome, given its whacked-out premise: Donkey and pals try to get the coveted Crystal Banana so some aliens can make it back home.
Platform"DS"
US censor rating"Everyone"
UK censor rating""
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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