Total Game Boy
28th November 1999
Categories: Review: Software
Publisher: Nintendo
Machine: Game Boy
Published in Total Game Boy Issue 01
Donkey Kong Land
One of the most popular games to hit the Super NES in its dying years, Donkey Kong Land works a treat on the Game Boy Color too!
Starting the game as Donkey himself you then get dragged through all sorts of perils on your quest set by the evil Kranky Kong. Along the way are Diddy and his pony-tailed sister, Dixie, to help out and you'll need it.
Although aimed at the slightly younger end of the gaming spectrum Donkey Kong Land holds enough interest to keep even hardened gamers coming back for a sneaky game. There are animals to be ridden, including Rhinos and Ostriches and there are treasures to be discovered, rollercoasters to be braved and even barrels that will shoot you into the air at high speeds. Add to these elements a host of varying bad guys who will stop at nothing to make you go ape (bad joke!) and Donkey Kong Land starts looking like a classic. How does it look in colour though?
Surprisingly the conversion has gone very well and although it uses a very primitive palette each colour has been utilised to its best ability. For example, starting in the jungle everything comes in a tasteful shade of green, the lava levels are grey and red and even when one of your hapless apes dive down to Davy Jones' locker the screen turns a healthy blue.
The characters are also big and chunky on screen so you can see them clearly against the backgrounds which is good considering the detail that has gone into making everything as visually stimulating as possible. Whether this original will stand the test of time against its newer chimpy sequels has yet to be seen and what with the series continuing to be a success, it can't be.