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Post by toei on Feb 28, 2021 16:16:31 GMT -5
That's the thing - once the SNES remake took away most of the grinding, DQ1 became more of an anecdote than an epic quest. 2 at least feel like a proper RPG. 3 was better in many ways, but I don't like that it removed the characters in favor of an entire team of silent avatars. 4 is the sweet spot. It's as good as a NES RPG could possibly be.
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Post by Xeogred on Feb 28, 2021 17:14:59 GMT -5
From a pure gameplay / dungeon crawling perspective, DQ3 SNES was immaculate for me. But yeah DQ4 has the charm with actual characters and cooler storytelling. They're kind of tied for my current favorite.
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Post by Sarge on Mar 4, 2021 0:35:43 GMT -5
I'd been chipping away at Donkey Kong Country lately, and finished off tonight. Still a sublime game. I know folks say the look hasn't aged well, but I still think it looks really nice. I also like that the game isn't quite as difficult as Donkey Kong Country 2 can get, and has a better sense of flow because of it. Final time: 2h37m, 56%. Yeah, it's a pretty short game if you're not sussing out all the secrets. I don't think I ever did a full run of DKC like that, but I know I did it for the also-excellent Donkey Kong Land. Despite what you may think, that is not just a port of DKC to Game Boy, and we're all the better off for it.
Final score: 9/10.
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Post by Ex on Mar 4, 2021 1:50:06 GMT -5
I agree the original DKC is a 9/10. I also contend that DKC exceeds DKC2. All I remember from DKC2 is wasps and spikes, wasps and spikes. I've not yet put much time into DKC3.
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Post by toei on Mar 4, 2021 3:20:19 GMT -5
The whole CG gimmick used in DKC isn't impressive anymore, but it still sets the game apart. It's a smooth-playing platformer with lots of secrets, but it also has a very distinct vibe and identity, and that has a lot to do with its visuals and music. I can't imagine it with regular sprites at all.
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Post by Xeogred on Mar 4, 2021 18:16:17 GMT -5
Finally, the aesthetic getting some love in 2021. I still love it, even when the resolution is razor sharp and you can see some of the faults of it nowadays and all, it's just a damn cool vibe to me.
Frankly DKC1 might be my favorite SNES platformer of them all, beating SMW and Yoshi's Island, etc. I'd say DKC1 is maybe too easy nowadays, but when you see a new player give it a shot it can be pretty challenging for them. Seems to be just one of those games I played to death and know too well at this point. My last replay was in 2018, 2h15m and 83%.
I have never once put DKC2 or DKC3 above the first, unlike most of the internet. I think my rankings of those two have flipped in recent years too. Both are imperfect but I've come to appreciate that DKC3 has a lot more variety with the worlds and has more color/lush environments. DKC2 is kind of one note "evil pirate island" from start to finish and can get kind of drab when I replay it sometimes. Now that I've played Tropical Freeze twice, I'd put that one above these two honestly. I miss the Kremlins though and that awesome SNES CG aesthetic... but yeah. Tropical Freeze takes out the annoying fluff that DKC2-DKC3 had (the collectathon crap and gated secret worlds, TF has similar stuff but it's less intrusive). I plan to play Returns a second time via the 3DS version next.
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Post by Sarge on Mar 4, 2021 18:24:00 GMT -5
I think what sells DKC's look still is that super-smooth animation along with it. Sure, other games adopted the look, but there's just something really cohesive about how it all fits together. And as toei points out, it plays smooth as well as looks and moves smooth. It's why I much prefer it to the Returns games, which have a lot more momentum and heft to them. Xeogred, I agree on DKC3. There's a lot of variety there. I liked it quite a bit more than DKC2 (which is still good, let's be honest), but neither of them dethrone DKC. |
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Post by Xeogred on Mar 4, 2021 18:35:52 GMT -5
The DKC1 controls are sublime. The last time I played it, I was wondering if I should try to speedrun that game haha. Seems like something I can play at a really high level. I remember having one of those "Unauthorized" strategy guides for DKC1 as well, which didn't have any maps or anything. Just screenshots and pictures. The art was cool though and just amped up the allure the "atmosphere" that game had and still has to me. Even if it's something I can blast through in a sitting nowadays, there's just something so vast and magical about its environments and music to me. A tough feat for 2D games to pull off but when they do it, it's something special. Sarge: I always mix up Donkey Kong Land up with the wonderful Donkey Kong '94. I haven't played any of the Land games. Are they all legit? I keep thinking I need to give DKC3 GBA a shot sometime too, since it has a totally different OST. I think David Wise was least involved with DKC3 SNES, but more on the GBA version. He didn't even do 100% of the SNES games either though, which most don't seem to know about. There were some other composers for some levels... but I wager he was like the creative team lead on the music all around or something. |
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Post by toei on Mar 4, 2021 18:40:52 GMT -5
Kind of like how there was a second composer on Streets of Rage 2 that never gets any appreciation.
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Post by Xeogred on Mar 4, 2021 18:52:35 GMT -5
Kind of like how there was a second composer on Streets of Rage 2 that never gets any appreciation. Didn't know that one haha, but I'm not surprised... like when were all last discussing the trilogies music, it's so obvious how SoR3 had a different composer that did the weirder tracks a lot of people hate.
The Notes near the bottom will list the specific credits. Cool stuff.
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