| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Donkey Konga
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
You always hear about those games that are for everyone. The game that you can put in front of a first time videogamer and have a good chance of them enjoying themselves as well as potentially converting them into a hardcore nut. Donkey Konga proudly flies the flag as one of those games. Banging on bongos is more than just some nice alliteration, it's a great way to waste an entire evening.
 There's not a whole lot to explain about Donkey Konga. For the price of $49.99, you receive the game and a bongos controller. The controller is a pair of bongo drums constructed of plastic with a microphone embedded in the center and a start button. It's a well made peripheral and given that the game costs no more than any other Gamecube game, it's actually a great deal as well. That's especially true if you're looking forward to Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, an action game that will use the controller next year. The bongos respond well to both the drumming and the clapping that the game requires. Occasionally the microphone will pick up drum hits as clapping if you're not hitting the bongos hard enough but you can adjust this tendency away in the options by reducing the microphone's sensitivity. All in all, a great piece of kit for the price. The cool controller would be worthless without a good game to go along with it. Rest assured that Namco and Nintendo have put that little piece of rhythm gaming excitement inside the box. There's about thirty songs to bang the bongos to and all are available from the moment you start the game. You simply hit either the left, right or both bongos when prompted by rolling barrels with indicators as they cross a certain spot on the screen. Sometimes you've got to clap in between. That's it. But once you get going, it's hard to stop! Some standout songs include the Pokémon Theme which gets catchier on repeated plays, the DK Rap and even some more contemporary stuff like Whip It which just never gets old in Donkey Konga. You can play songs to try for gold medals and then ramp up the amount of bongo action needed. There are three difficulty settings and it can get positively maddening on the top level. The Jam Session challenges you to memorize songs and fill in the notes but it's really the weakest of all the modes. There are some unlockables in the game including some cool mini-games as well as the most difficult versions of each song and different bongo sound sets. That all pales compared to multiplayer though. Grab a second set of bongos (available separately for about $30) and this game becomes far more compelling than it is on your own. While you can have friends clap along with the songs in single player, and believe me that can really help, getting two people in competition or jamming together is laugh out loud fun! The bongo hits and claps are split among the two players and sometimes the beats are very quickly timed. It adds a whole new element of competition and cooperation to the game and definitely makes this something you'll pull out often. It would've been nice to get some more songs but that's probably going to come later in an expansion disc. When you figure in a second (or third or fourth) set of bongos, the price starts going up quick. However, it's still much cheaper to play this than it was to play Sega's awesome Samba de Amigo on Dreamcast. The gameplay pretty much speaks for itself though. If you dig rhythm games, you need to own Donkey Konga. And if you're looking for a game that anyone from your two year old on up to your 95 year old grandma can play, this is definitely one to buy. Even the rhythmically challenged do reasonably well with drumming. It's primal! 
Two or three year olds will not be so good at following along with the game's beats but they will enjoy Donkey Konga because it's fun to hit drums. A good suggestion is to play with them by doing the clapping and even playing one of the drums too. Let them just handle one while you do the rest. They'll love being included in the game and it's really not too hard for them to pick up. The whole family can clap while one child plays the drums too. Get everyone involved! This is just great entertainment anytime or anyplace. Heck, take it into work for the Christmas party this year. It's fun to watch people screw up. The music is all pretty tame too unless you've got some aversion to whipping it. Whip it good! Do do do do doot!
Kid Factor by Dave Long
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Donkey Konga |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
