Year Released: 1999 (N64)

Number of Players:1-4 simultaneously

Mario Cameo Appearance: In the Frantic Factory level, you'll have a chance to play the original Donkey Kong arcade game. Beat it once to get a Golden Banana. Beat it again to get the Nintendo Coin, which you need in order to access K. Rool's control room.

K. Rool and his newest contraption, the Blast-o-Matic, are threatening the Kong Isles! DK and the other four Kongs must defeat him and his minions in this huge adventure by Rare.

Graphics: The included Expansion Pak with the game should give you an idea of how advanced the graphics are. This game has excellent graphics for N64 standards, as well as great effects and often-hilarious character animations.

Play Control: Quite easy to control. Jumping is with A, attacking with B, and movement is with the control stick. Some things such as bringing out weapons are a little more complicated, but they're easy to get used to.

Sound: Great music and sound effects can be found wherever you go, and each character has their own unique voice. It's even better if you have surround sound.

Challenge: There's plenty of variety, from platform-jumping to racing. The only really repetative things were the huge range of items you had to collect and the bonus minigames, which can get pretty stale and frustrating. Difficulty ranges from very easy to near-impossible. You can even play multiplayer with up to three others in Battle Arena or Monkey Smash.

The Bottom Line: Maybe not the best adventure game in history (there are plenty of more eligible series for that title), but DK64 should at least keep you entertained with its huge adventure, replay value, and variety of play.

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