Donkey Kong Land

Donkey Kong Land
Donkey Kong Country on the go.
Genre(s): Platform Platform(s): Game Boy Release Date: NA: June 26, 1995 EU: August 24, 1995 Developer(s): Rare Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: United Kingdom Series: Donkey Kong Successor: Donkey Kong Land II

"""Oh these are pretty cool bananas."""

— Donkey Kong, just before he got squashed by a giant Game Boy.

Donkey Kong Land is a platform game released for the Nintendo Game Boy developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. It is a semi-sequel to the SNES game, Donkey Kong Country. The game was enhanced for the Super Game Boy and features a "banana yellow" cartridge. Much of the graphics are taken from the first DKC game, but contains many original graphics, music, characters, and levels.

Plot

The story supposedly takes place in between Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong visit Cranky Kong to discuss their previous adventure. Cranky scolds Donkey and Diddy about the success of Donkey Kong Country, implying that the game only sold like hotcakes because of the game's impressive graphics and sound. The duo argue that the reason why the game was successful was because of its fun gameplay. Cranky than says that the Kongs couldn't possibly replicate their success if they were on the Game Boy and Donkey and Diddy accepts his challenge. They then realized that they've been duped when Cranky gets King K. Rool to steal Donkey Kong's banana hoard again, so our heroes set off to prove Cranky wrong and retrieve the bananas!

Good Qualities That Give You A Banana

1. Impressive detailed pre-rendered graphics for an 8-bit monochrome handheld.
2. The music is amazing. The music features both remixes from its 16-bit counterpart as well as some awesome original tunes.
3. The game does a decent job of replicating the gameplay from the Super Nintendo.
4. Cool original level themes, such as ancient water ruins and a city.
5. Some levels have great concepts, such as a blimp level where you can use the KONG letters as platforms.
6. Even some of the reused level themes have some new ideas, such as a level where you bounce on small tornadoes.
7. Original plot, with some fourth-wall breaking to go along with it.
8. Some funny enemies, such as a flying pig named Hogwash.
9. The bosses are original, except for King K. Rool, who is almost identical to the SNES version.
10. If you collect all four of the KONG letters, you will be able to save, unlike the other games where you just get a 1-up. You will also save after you defeat a boss.
11. The game is enhanced with the Super Game Boy, giving you more colors and a cool background.

Bad Qualities That Would Be Slammed By Giant Game Boy

1. The controls can be slippery, especially in the snow levels.
2. The screen crunch can be pretty dreadful at times. A lot of the levels don't seem to be designed with the smaller screen in mind.
3. The graphics are a bit over detailed and as a result, enemies and obstacles can often blend in with the backgrounds, making it hard to see what's safe and what isn't. It isn't helped by BQTWBSBGGB#2.
4. Only 4 worlds in the game.
5. Some of the levels drag on for way too long, with some of the underwater levels having three checkpoints.
6. Sky High Caper is one of the worst levels in the series.
7. Practically nonexistent ending. All you get is Congratulations, and then the credits roll.
8. No 100% reward.

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