Top 50 Video Games: Number 35

Mario had precision, Sonic had flash and speed, but there was never an old-school platformer series that had as much scenery porn as Donkey Kong Country. Every background just looked beautifully intricate.

See what I mean?

The peripherals were all there - The graphics, the music, the wildly varied enemies (particularly the bosses). The level design had lots of fun quirks (though I'm not sure exactly how 'fun' the quirk in the 'Stop n Go Station' was). It was easy to miss the fact that the actual platforming element of the game was nowhere near as polished as the rest of the game. The hit detection was horrific (which everyone chalked up to the faux-3D elements of the game), resulting in massive frustration later in the game when precise jumps were required everywhere.

Despite a couple of glaring flaws, Donkey Kong Country was a very enjoyable game. I've replayed it a lot over the years, and each time a different part of the game makes me smile and overlook everything else.

One of my favorite parts of the game, after you beat it, you get to see the names of all the little rodents you've been stomping into the ground for the last dozen hours

Other Notable Games in the Series: Strangely enough, even though I loved the first DKC, I never played the second or third games in the series. I've heard they're great and that I'm missing out, so I'll have to hunt them down. I also haven't played the new Donkey Kong Country Returns that came out on the Wii last year, but I heard that was pretty excellent, too.

Donkey Kong 64 isn't really in the series proper, but I suppose it counts. It wouldn't be on the list, anyway, because I really disliked it.