Fantastic Donkey Kong Country Interview from Gamasutra

[CM30]

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/6392/turning_nintendo_the_donkey_kong_.php

Some key points, and my responses:

So for example, when it comes to the Donkey Kong Country series, I think a lot of fans remember the graphics of the original very fondly and so, while we're not doing exactly the same thing, the idea is still to meet the expectations, or perhaps exceed them, graphically, to give a lot of impact to the visu

als.

And they did. The graphics in Donkey Kong Country Returns look absolutely fantastic, and give the levels the exact mood they're aiming at. Some are terrifying, and leave you on edge, with the slightest mistake being lethal.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_P4WUvlu8c[/media]


I especially like how more spiders come from the bottomless pits, as to not let the player get too far ahead of the danger behind him.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzbowNx2KQ8&feature=related[/media]


This level oddly enough reminds me a lot of Krackshot Kroc, where you had to dodge the Kremling sniper by hiding behind metal barriers. Considering that level had the enemy attack from the front (off past the fourth wall), I guess this is almost like the inverse of said gimmick.

The two above are like this game's equivalents to Haunted Hall, Ripsaw Rage and Lightning Lookout.

And additionally you know I think a lot of people have very fond memories of the background music in Donkey Kong Country, so actually those melodies have made it over intact into Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Perhaps this was not that good an idea in some regards, since much of the soundtrack was remixes. Now, that's not to say there weren't some great new pieces of music:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVSHKLN9noM[/media]


[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=718pU5J7AUg&feature=related[/media]


[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY52G8xA72k&feature=channel_video_title[/media]


Or that you can't get interesting new moods from remixes:

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8pBZkhOOeQ&feature=relmfu[/media]


[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6KtxBvBW2s&feature=relmfu[/media]


[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHt1r8GYur4&feature=related[/media]


(all the above are based on different songs, but have a similar atmosphere and work for the same world).

But you still have to admit they could have done with some more original stuff, as well as just remixes. They had a good composer working with them (worked on Metroid Prime series), and they could have easily called in David Wise (who was/is working as a freelance composer)

So the goal is to try to create, at some level, a memorable moment in every level. You want to surprise the player

This sums up Stormy Shore and Crowded Cavern in a single sentence.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVDQUtLj6Xs[/media]


This level is the king of memorable moments. Not particularly for the better, but it's definitely 'surprising'. As in, dodge a giant laser beam from nowhere at the end of the level surprising. Lots of fake out moments too.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12p97byRYuo&feature=related[/media]


This too.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=12p97byRYuo&feature=related[/media]


Bam. One level. Immediately, this should capture your interest and stay entertaining all through it, and it arguably has more interesting ideas than a whole WORLD in a mediocre game does. That's the problem with most standard games, especially platformers. They're not really all too memorable, and after one or so playthrough, they're just plain dull to replay.

Meanwhile, the level above... works. It's entertaining to even watch a VIDEO of someone else playing it. It's kinda depressing really, just watching the video of any level from this game makes actually playing many normal games seem kind of dull in comparison

Michael Kelbaugh: I think one of our objectives, right off the bat, was to pay homage to and make a better DKC. So inherently DKC was a hard game, so as that applies to children,

I think Retro half understand this, but a quick note... difficulty is not something that puts off kids. Trust me, the minute companies stop treating them like idiots who need their hand held for the whole game, will be when they'll actually make more of a profit and sell more games.

Remember how NES era kids proudly talked about trying (and failing) to beat Battletoads. Or how those from the SNES era talked about how aggravating Rocket Rush and Animal Antics were in the Donkey Kong Country series.

People hated those levels (and Tubular from Super Mario World), but they didn't give up on the game because of it, nor consider them bad games as a result. Even now, you have kids as young as about three who play and sometimes even beat levels like Luigi's Purple Coins from Super Mario Galaxy:

There was actually a video a while back where someone's five year old son/daughter (can't remember) beat the level.

Not all games have to be easy, not all have to be 'comfort' games. Heck, the games industry hates this idea, because they're a bunch of wannabe 'artists', but not all players have to be able to BEAT the games they buy. You're not 'owed' the ability to see the ending. If you're desperate, reach it however the hell you like, it doesn't matter.

So you know, then it leads me to think that perhaps one of the core principles of building gameplay at Nintendo might be the idea of starting with a really simple intuitive core concept, one that, say, a child could learn for themselves and quickly learn to enjoy, and then build layers of additional complexity around that -- that could be enjoyed and explored by people have the skill level to exploit them.

Agreed.

if there's a need for a hint to sort of guide the player along,

You don't need hints. It's a platformer. If the level is horizontal, go right. If the level is vertical, go up. If the level has no clues, go the opposite direction from where you started and search around for a barrel cannon/item/Rambi.

There's a big tendency even in games for adults, to have everything be mission objectives that are spoken down. "You've got to go there, you've got to kill that guy, and then get over there to the depot."

Blame developers thinking games are for story and people need to always be able to beat them for this, individual thought has basically gone out the window by now.

Still, it's a nice interview, and it's nice to know how Retro came up with the level design and gameplay of Donkey Kong Country Returns.

 

[RootBoi]

The game looked nice for sure. But compared to the Snes title i think a bit too cartoonish. When Donkey Kong Country first released on the Snes it was the first or one of the first games ever too have 3D models and looked aaaamaaazing for its time. This one seemed directed at kids from the art style, which is fine, but i don't think they stayed true to the original at all, liek he says.
But then again, only saying that because he mentioned that "staying true" part. The game otherwise was awesome, really hope there will be something liek that on the 3Ds. It'll be perfect for a handheld

 

[Super Leaf]

I thought this was the best ooking wii game.I wish NSMBW would have looked like this does.
I think the worst thing they did,was remove all of the golden temple levels except one.If you dont know what im talkin about,heres a quote from mario wiki

"There were originally supposed to be more levels than the sky level one, of which it was called Golden Bananas. They were known as Banana Coaster (which, as the name implies, involves Donkey Kong riding a mine cart through the level with several banana structures.), Paper Cutouts, Wacky Blocks, Pudding Wonderland, Virtual Boy Tracks, and Crackers and Pudding. In addition, the interior of the Golden Temple itself was apparently intended to be playable at one point, as well. These ultimately weren't included into the game, presumably due to time constraints."

I was so bummed out when i heard this.Why? Why? WHYYYYYYYY

Anyhoo,I wish they would have done a snow world better than a factory world.A snow world would have been awesome,if it has a sequel,it should really have one.