Gaming DKC and other remakes

[Shinmaru]

Now that Donkey Kong Country is coming out again on GBA, I've started thinking about it again (and I have thought about that game in like, 7 years). I don't think it holds up as well as it did in 1994 when it came out; those graphics aren't looking so good anymore, so they can't overshadow the mediocre gameplay.

Which got me thinking again; what do you guys think about the large amount of remakes that come out for GBA? Do they still hold up as well as they did when they came out, or are they just running on memories? Personally, I think that there will always be a few games (Link to the Past and SMW 2: Yoshi's Island come to mind) that have such timeless gameplay that they never get old, but there are a few that don't fare as well today.

Anyone else have an opinion they want to share?

[Semjaza]

There are quite a bit of remakes... At the same time, I do think it's nice to play some of my favorite classics on the road. I also think the whole ports being all the GBA has to offer is blown way out of proportion.

I'm glad some of the Nintendo made ones at least have some additions... otherwise I'd probably be a lot more annoyed having to pay $30 for a 10 year old game.

DKC has always been one of those games that relied on its aesthetic qualities. The gameplay is horrible. It's a really mediocre platforming game.

With stuff like Zelda, you at least get Four Swords. The extra Mario Bros. game with all the Super Mario Advance titles is a bit lame though. There are some little changes in the games (especially the first in this series), but hardly anything I get excited about.

Then there are ports of stuff like Aero the Acrobat and Earthworm Jim and Contra Advance that are just badly done on the GBA. I don't really think most companies have ported much stuff that isn't worth the time on average though... but then you see games like The Three Stooges and get confused lol.

So I don't know. I guess it's just a mixed bag.

[Shinmaru]

Yeah, I thought the Mario Bros. game that Nintendo includes in the Mario games is kinda lame. But maybe that's just because I own the original, so I don't need the new Mario Advance games to play it (and I really suck at it, so I don't play it that often lol).

I just wish Nintendo didn't have the need to stick it in every single Mario Advance game. I'd like to see them use their innovation in those GBA remakes and come up with something totally new like they did with Four Swords. Now that was a great extra and totally warranted paying $30 for the game.

[Semjaza]

I think the point of putting it in all of them was to make it easier to play another person. You can connect any of those SMA games and play Mario Bros. mulitplayer (the mulitpak version is a lot more fun than the single pak lol). If you had to have the same exact game, I guess it would be more of a pain.

[Shinmaru]

You know, I never thought about it that way before. I guess that sort of justifies putting the same game in all of the Mario Advances slightly.

However, I still think it would be better if Nintendo at least tried to add some more stuff to it when they put the Mario Bros. games in the new editions of Mario Advance instead of just making the same game everytime that a new Mario Advance game comes out.

[stardust]

i enjoy remakes,there is endless reply value you dankey kong and yoshi's island,I adore playing my old faves on the go!The graphics bother me little,I only wish they'd make dkc 2 and 3,those are better than 1 by a long shot

[Shinmaru]

DKC 2 was a lot better than DKC, but I still don't think that the entire DKC series really holds up as well as the other games that Nintendo is updating for the Game Boy Advance. The gameplay is just far too simple and repetitive.

[XeEmO]

You guys don't like DKC and you think it has bad game play? I [b]LOVE[/B] that game so much. Yeah it's probably just because of the good memories I have of playing it on the ol' SNES, but I found it some parts to be funny and I still do. I found myself playing it the other day when I was at the mall.

[Shinmaru]

Really, I think that most of DKC's popularity came from it's advanced graphics which really did look good back then. People were so enamored with the graphics of DKC that they overlooked the shallow gameplay. However, I do admit that I did laugh out loud a few times while playing DKC. And I also admit that I was one of the people who loved it because of the graphics. Come on, I was nine years old at the time. What do you expect?

Edit: You know what, I'll admit that I enjoyed DKC 2, because it at least improved on the gameplay and the bosses were way more fun to beat than DKC's lame bosses. But I still don't like DKC 1 and 3. DKC's gameplayed stumbled and DKC 3 was a step backwards for the series.

[stardust]

DKC is more challenging in my opinionbut seriously,I couldn't care about the graphics. Heck,I would play atari still if my dad had it hooked up~! DK Jr. was like,a great game! Really,DKC did get boring, I really like dixie kong tho,she's my fave~!

[animeforever105]

dixie kongs hair twirl thingie in the 2ndDKC was very useful but I still prefer diddy. back to the point. Remakes. Some remakes are just stupid to put on GBA. I suppose this opinion comes from the fact that I own most of the orignals. How ever Super Dodgeball Advance is awesome. I love that game! I used to play the original on the NES all the time. Even though I've beaten it a ton of times I still don't get sick of it. A game I would like to see them remake is excitebike. That game is so cool! My cousin got me into dirtbikes
but even before that I still played that game and still due. that was a long sentence. oh well.

[James]

[color=#707875]I don't quite understand the sentiment toward the DKC series. DKC has always been acclaimed for both visuals [i]and[/i] accomplished gameplay.

Having said that, I didn't find the original DKC to be as good as the other two. DKC2 was superior in many respects, and it featured some pretty inventive gameplay scenarios.

DKC3 was kind of 'more of the same', but it was a game with some pretty significant difficulty in certain places. It was a whole lot more expansive than much of the previous games -- but it came too late in the SNES lifecycle to have the kind of impact that it should have had.

It seems to be becoming popular to bash Rare's games these days -- both classics and more modern iterations. I'm sure that's not the motivation here, but perhaps it's become more noticeable lately. I don't see the DKC games as being "revolutionary" or anything of the sort (apart from their visual achievements), but they were certainly not mediocre in the eyes of the broader gaming public (and the gaming media at large). While not medicore, they were still not up to the standards of the Mario series. No questions there, surely.

And on this note, it's interesting to point out that EAD will be handling the next DK game (though I've heard little about it in recent times). So we'll see how that goes. It don't doubt that it'll be a whole lot better than the pretty awful DK64.

In terms of the broader subject of remakes...I don't really see them as a bad thing or a good thing. Basically, some of these remakes are very much warranted -- the SMB3 remake will be a lot of fun and I'll definitely be picking it up.

On the other hand, some of the extras in these games just aren't up to scratch. Including the same Mario Bros. game each time is cheap, in my view. I would like it if something a little more elaborate was included, considering that these games are more or less direct ports. That seems to be the view of the overall gaming media, too -- who are becoming a little impatient about some of these releases.

Tony is right in the sense that the number of remakes have been overblown by much of the media. Some of GBA's biggest stars (I'd say [i]most[/i] of them) don't fall into the remake category.[/color]

[Semjaza]

DKC has always been one of those games I personally thought was very overrated by nearly everyone. Not to say that it's bad, but I honestly don't consider it anything more than average.

I'm mostly looking forward to Nintendo's Mario and Donkey Kong... because that's how I like my Donkey Kong games personally. I love the original arcade game and the awesome Game Boy version.

In any case, I did get to play the GBA version, and I can't say I was impressed. The gameplay is the same, and the controls are carried over fine. The graphics took a hit though. Not in the main characters really, but mostly in stuff such as the backgrounds that are nowhere near as detailed. The music also doesn't even compare as well, with a few songs that are noticeably different... most likely thanks to the GBA's lack of a sound chip.

[James]

[color=#707875]Yep, you mentioned two things that I was most concerned about with the port. I wasn't sure if the visuals would carry over to the GBA screen...or that the sound would retain a reasonable quality.

It's a shame to hear that.

As far as Mario & DK; I'm really looking forward to that too. It looks like a lot of fun!

It makes me wonder how EAD will handle DK on GameCube. Right now, I think anything they choose would be an improvement. DK64 is one of the few games where I've actually played for fifteen minutes and switched off because it was nothing but a total chore; the exact opposite of what video games should be.[/color]

[bignatedawg]

[B]on the topic of all the remakes for the GBA; i for one enjoy them. in my opinion the SNES is one of the greatest systems that i'll still play to this day and all the ports of mainly SNES games to the GBA makes me feel really nostalgic. you can't forger your roots.

as for DKC i found it a great game when it came out but didn't have too much replay value. DKC2 was a game that improved upon the first with a new character and harder game play i think. DKC3 wasn't as good as the second but it was a little change that was all in all enjoyable.

the GBA is a platform that has a wide age range of people playing it including younger gamers whom aren't old enough to have played these ports on their previous consoles. also in this competetive industry what better way to make some easy money than to sell the people something you've already sold them? if it isn't broken, don't fix it.[/B]

[Desbreko]

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by James [/i]
[B][color=#707875]DK64 is one of the few games where I've actually played for fifteen minutes and switched off because it was nothing but a total chore; the exact opposite of what video games should be.[/color] [/B][/QUOTE]
[color=indigo]Heh, I liked DK64 quite a bit. I'm one of those people that likes collecting tons of crap in some 3D platformers. :whoops:

Anyway, I really don't see why they chose to remake DKC [i]again.[/i] I mean, it was already remade on the GBC, admittedly with stripped down graphics. Still, the gameplay was pretty much the same as the original SNES version. (Someone just gave me a copy that they found at a yardsale, so I got to play it for a while until I sold it).

If they wanted to do another remake, I think they should have gone with DKC2 or DKC3. From what I played of those, they seemed like more fun than the original. (Which I found to be pretty boring/annoying). Still, I wouldn't buy a remake of any of them, just because there are quite a few better games out there that I've yet to play.[/color]

[Shinmaru]

Man, this thread got popular all of a sudden.

Basically, I agree with Desbreko; if Nintendo wanted to remake a DKC game, they should've gone with the second one because it's easily the best in the series. The gameplay was improved, the levels were tougher and more fun to go through and the bosses were much better. I don't know if DKC 2 can keep up with today's standards, but I know that it would fare a lot better than DKC has.