Rapid Review Saturday #1: Donkey Kong 64 (Lady Gaga, FoxTrot, Rage Quit) [Daily Bloggity Entry #8]

Date: 01 March 2014
Time: 1:23 AM ET
Mood: Bubbly!

* "Rapid Review Saturday" is a new series in the Daily Bloggity where I look at a video game, movie, or show and give some quick comments on them. Spoilers may be given. This is a weekly series and will appear every Saturday at 5PM ET.

Try to remember the first video game that you ever received. For instance my dad's first game he ever got was Punch-Out for the NES. He was really good at it too. From Glass Joe all the way to Soda Popinski (which by the way to this day is one of my most vilified characters as he traumatized me with his horrible laughter whenever you get knocked down) my dad could mop the floor with the competition. Unfortunately, he couldn't get past Mr. Sandman, but I still have very fond memories of his playthroughs. For myself, I didn't receive my first video game until I was 5 years of age. In a sleek unopened box I received a Nintendo 64 as well as a copy of Donkey Kong 64. Now if you can picture a kid going nuts in a candy star, than you can just imagine how nuts I was when I got my very own system. Immediately, I popped that baby into the N64's socket, and thus started my journey as an avid gamer.

Daily Video - "Americano" by Lady Gaga

Donkey Kong 64, released on November 22, 1999 by the now-bought-out company of Rare, is a platformer game that was released onto the Nintendo 64 as a first-party game. Donkey Kong's archenemy King K. Rool plans to destroy DK Isle but when his "doomsday laser" ends up malfunctioning, he ends up stealing Donkey Kong's horde of bananas as well as his relatives - Diddy Kong, Lanky Kong, Tiny Kong, and Chunky Kong - in order to delay DK from foiling his plans. It's then up to DK to save the day by traveling to each world, saving his family one by one, and collecting his precious Golden Bananas one by one to ultimately beat his nemesis and bring order back to his island.

Daily Comic - "Folding Laundry" by Bill Amend of FoxTrot

As this was my very first video game, I was sucked into it right from the beginning - and to be perfectly honest, my nostalgia for the game lives up to this very day. Everything about this game is phenomenal in my opinion: from the catchy overworld tune of Jungle Japes to the crazy maniacal boss bottle of Mad Jack in Frantic Factory to the sharpshooting-grape dart gun of Lanky Kong, Donkey Kong 64 did something that very few games have been able to to for me: engross me. I vividly remember cringing in fear to the shrieks and yells of Mad Jack, as well as - which this is going to sound super silly - praying to God when I was younger to help me beat the Dogadon when the floor started to sink. It was also the first game that my brother and I had to tag team to beat. Because the Internet wasn't as readily available and widely used in my house back then as it is now, my brother and I had to put our brains together to figure out where to go next in the game. We actually had to come back years later to complete the game because we didn't know how to access the final level of the game. When we finally did reach the last level, you got to use all five Kongs in a sudden death boxing match with King K. Rool himself, which when we beat went down as one of the most satisfying gaming experiences of my life.

Daily Video - "Rage Quit - No Luca No" by Michael Jones of Rooster Teeth

And don't even get me started about the music. Donkey Kong 64 contains a beautiful soundtrack composed by the great Grant Kirkhope himself (who also created the soundtracks for games like Banjo Kazooie and Golden Eye). Each world is matched with a glorious number, such as the scary atmosphere of Creepy Castle and the Indiana Jones-adventure-esque feel of Angry Aztec. But best of all, there is the Donkey Kong rap at the beginning of the game. Someone at Rare was genius enough to put this fun and self-mocking song as the introduction. I actually remember memorizing the words to this song and performing as a show-and-tell in 1st grade. Overall though, the DK rap set the tone for a game that was going to be funny, exciting, and one hell of an adventure.

Have you ever played Donkey Kong 64 before? What was your first video game that you've played? Comment below, as I would love to hear about some of your experiences!

‡ As always, the "Daily Bloggity" is self written by myself and includes just some of my opinions on different mediums. If you have a subject that you might want me to touch on, feel free to PM me or comment below! I would love to hear some of your ideas! Tune in tomorrow at 5PM Eastern Time for the next edition of the "Daily Bloggity!" Cheers! ‡

- elheroeoscuro