Nintendo 64 Classic What If???

    Hey everyone! Today's blog is more of a fantasy blog than anything. This blog is what I predict I would see should Nintendo ever choose to make a Nintendo 64 Classic. Before getting started I just want to say that I do not think we will be seeing this product any time in the near future. With the Super Nintendo Classic just being announced a friend and I started going back and forth a bit as to what we would like to see on a Nintendo 64 Classic as we both really enjoy the system. When I started to think about what twenty one games I'd like to see I had a bit of a conundrum. I could easily saturate this list with games made for the Nintendo 64 by Rareware, but of course, many of those characters now sit in the hands of Microsoft, so chances are slim to none that they would be seen on a Nintendo 64 Classic. So sadly Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, Diddy Kong Racing, Jet Force Gemini, Killer Instinct Gold, Blast Corps, and Conker's Bad Fur Day will not be on this list. However, both Donkey Kong 64 and Goldeneye 007 could be used. When Microsoft purchased Rare, Rare made the decesion to leave everything in the Donkey Kong universe to Nintendo including Diddy Kong and the rest of the Kong crew which is why they still appear in Nintendo games. Goldeneye was already remade for the Wii and James Bond is not a Rare IP so that's why it's up to be on the system. After the first list I'll do one of what I personally would like to see. So without further delay or explanation involving Rareware, let's begin.

1.) Super Mario 64: This is a no brainer option. Not much needs to be said. This game pretty much flipped the gaming world upside down forever.

2.) The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time: Another no brainer. This game remains one of the greatest of all time and took what Mario 64 started as a 3D adventure and blew it up in a way nobody expected.

3.) Starfox 64: Yet another no brainer. Starfox 64 is one of the best games on the console and one of the best flying/shooting games of all time. This is arguably the last great game in the series, but we will see what happens when Starfox 2 comes out in September... Still weird saying that... Still though this game has every right to be on a potential N64 Classic.

4.) Goldeneye: 007: Should be a no brainer here and since the game was remade on the Nintendo Wii. I'm not sure if it'd be 100% appropriate given Nintendo aiming at families, but there is no denying the impact that this game had on the gaming world. If you had an N64, you probably had this game. If you were a gamer in the mid nineties, you at least knew of or played the game. Only other question is whether or not Rare owns anything in the game that would prevent Nintendo from using it.

5.) Pokemon Snap: To me this game is very likely to be on a N64 Classic. This game is still so unique and I am floored that a remake or sequel never made it to the Wii U. The game pad would have been the perfect camera, but oh well. The least Nintendo could do is throw a bone to Pokemon fans with this.

6.) Mario Kart 64: One of the more obvious choices. No explanation really needed for this game.

7.) Mario Party 2: Lets face it. Mario Party destroyed relationships, palms, and controllers alike. It'd make sense that Nintendo would want to put a Mario Party game on a special edition of the console the series started on. Mario Party 2 is a much safer option as I'm sure the company doesn't want a repeat of the issues caused by the first game.

8.) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: This one could go either way. Personally it is my favorite Zelda game, but until recently it hasn't had nearly as much praise as Ocarina of Time. Now people are jumping on board with it more and more, so it could certainly land on a classic console.

9.) Super Smash Brothers: Funny thing is... Depending on the price of this console... Super Smash Brothers could probably sell it itself... Think about it.... The game itself isn't cheap and neither is a Nintendo 64...

10.) Yoshi's Story: Personally I think this game is underrated. It's not as good as say Yoshi's Island, but it's a fun game and really appealing towards families with it's cute innocent nature.

11.) Mario Tennis or Golf: For whatever reason Nintendo seems to like to try to fit in a sports game on these classic consoles. Tecmo Bowl was on the NES Classic and Kirby's Dream Course, which is a golf/billiards hybrid in my eyes is going to be on the Super Nintendo Classic. Either of these games could fill that role easily as both of these games would have limited licensing issues compared to say NFL Blitz.

12.) Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards: Lets be real here. Nintendo wants their big name characters on these classic consoles where possible. Kirby's jump to 3D wasn't the most graceful, but it was still a fun game and again, really appeals to families with that casual Kirby difficulty and cutesy themes.

13.) Donkey Kong 64: Honestly if Nintendo could use Banjo Kazooie, this game would not be on the list. However, Donkey Kong's jump to 3D was not all bad and the game is pretty much the only noteworthy collect-a-thon that Nintendo could use that Microsoft did not eat...

14.) Paper Mario: Insert comment about the Nintendo 64 having a limited RPG collection and Paper Mario being one of the best here.

15.) Castlevania: Speaking of games having a rough time making the jump to 3D... Castlevania may not be as great as the installations on the SNES or NES, but it remained a constant for Nintendo through the Nintendo 64. I could certainly see this getting on the console before Resident Evil 2.

16.) Ogre Battle 64: Another great RPG on a console that doesn't have many. It's one of what I like to call the big 3 RPGs on the system. I could see Nintendo throwing it on here as an awesome fantasy game.

17.) 1080 Snowboarding: I feel like this is another one of those games that everyone had. Another 4 player experience that was a huge hit. I wouldn't be surprised to see it return here.

18.) Harvest Moon 64: It may not have sold overly well when it first came out, but now Harvest Moon 64 is considered arguably the best in the series. Perhaps more importantly, it is one of the big 3 RPGs on the system, so to see this along with Ogre Battle and Paper Mario would be great and I could see Nintendo actually doing it considering how much Harvest Moon has grown in popularity.

19.) Wave Race 64: For a very brief time it felt like Wave Race was the king of racing on the Nintendo 64. Then Mario and Diddy Kong showed up and pretty much sank the jet ski racer. Without Diddy Kong Racing in play I don't see a reason why this unique four player racer would not be on the console.

20.) F-Zero X: Yes, another racing game. Lets face it. The Nintendo 64 had a lot of very good racing games that were all quite unique. F-Zero's rising popularity shouldn't be denied and I do not think it would be in this case. With no Metroid games and a small list of really popular games to choose from, it wouldn't shock me at all to see Nintendo just drop this in here.

21.) Sin and Punishment: We got Starfox 2 on the Super Nintendo Classic. The game is already in English on the Wii U virtual console. Seems like it would be prime to finally appear stateside on a Nintendo 64.

    Now bear in mind this is along the lines of what I think Nintendo would do. I feel like there are some debatable ones. For example, I feel like Tony Hawk Pro Skater could potentially be on here over possibly F-Zero or one of the Mario sport games. I could honestly see Nintendo trying to maximize the multiplayer aspect of the system and take say Harvest Moon or Ogre Battle out for some other multiplayer game. Possibly even Mario Party 3. Still though I feel like there are plenty of other games that would fit nicely on this fantasy system. The issue with all of them though is how far Nintendo would want to go as far as getting third parties involved. The Nintendo 64 was not huge with third party games, but games such as the Mystical Ninja games, and a few of the Star Wars games would really fit nicely onto a system like this. Resident Evil 2 I sadly had to leave off the list due to it's mature rating. I don't predict Nintendo going for that. Heck, I have a hard enough time trying to convince myself that Castlevania or Goldeneye would make it on there as well. Something that I think would be really cool, but wouldn't happen is if they brought Pokemon Stadium on board and allowed the console to communicate with the 3DS virtual console games of Pokemon Red, Blue, and Yellow. Without the use of your own Pokemon, Pokemon Stadium I just don't think is anywhere near as fun. If I controlled the list, I think a real good list for me would be...

1.) Super Mario 64

2.) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

3,) The Lgend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

4.) Goldeneye 007

5.) Starfox 64

6.) Mario Kart 64

7.) Mario Party 2

8.) Super Smash Brothers

9.) Pokemon Snap

10.) Paper Mario

11.) Yoshi's Story

12.) Donkey Kong 64

13.) Bomberman 64: I feel like this game does not get as much credit as it deserves. It's a lot of fun and both the single player campaign and the multiplayer still stack up today. I'd put it on the classic for sure.

14.) Star Wars: Rogue Squadron: This game to this day fulfills my desires to fly many of the famous ships from the Star Wars universe. It would take some doing I'm sure to get it on the console, but the effort would certainly be well rewarded. One of my favorite games on the Nintendo 64 and I'm not ashamed to say that at all.

15.) Harvest Moon 64

16.) Starcraft 64: I know what some of you are thinking. Why in God's name an RTS? My reasoning is this. Starcraft continues to be one of the greatest PC games ever made. It's popularity has not really dropped despite Blizzard releasing Starcraft II and two expansions for it. This summer Blizzard is releasing Starcraft HD. The hype is there, but for the 64 version of the game. Not many knew about it, not many cared about it back then, but I feel like it'd be an interesting pick here. I'd be curious to see how RTS newbies and veterans would handle it after all these years.

17.) Wave Race 64

18.) Resident Evil 2: I know it will never happen, but honestly I'd rather see this game in the mix than Castlevania. It is a much better, and a far creepier game, but it's mature rating would probably keep it off the console.

19.) Mario Tennis: I say tennis over golf here. The four player action to me is a much greater draw than a game of golf. Nothing against Mario Golf at all, but Mario Tennis is really a joy to play and can get quite crazy with multiple people playing.

20.) Sin and Punishment: Finally released for Nintendo 64 in North America in my fantasy world...

21.) Vigilante 8: Curious choice right? While not exclusive to the N64, the game was very unique to the system in that it is the only real option (outside of it's sequel) for a car combat game at a time where Twisted Metal was insanely popular on the Playstation. Probably would never make it, but I can dream right?

    So that is what I would do. Nothing too crazy. I admit Starcraft 64 is kind of a stretch, but hey that's what makes it a list of what I would do right? All in all, chances are that we will not be seeing a Nintendo 64 Classic Edition anytime soon. However, I will keep this blog in the back of my mind if the day does come to see how my guesses go. I might revisit this eventually and see how my feelings are towards my choices if and when I revisit. This was a fun list to make, but I will say one thing. If the fires of Hell freeze over, if the construction on the Death Star actually begins, and Nintendo and Rare somehow find their way back to eachother.... Then this entire list goes out the window and Diddy Kong Racing, Banjo Kazooie, Banjo Tooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Killer Instinct Gold, and Blast Corps are all there!

    As always, thank you for reading. My next blog will be another installment in the Kirby Series known as Kirby's Block Ball. This will be a short review, but one packed with not so traditional Kirby antics!

Donkey Kong Land III/ Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong Review

    Welcome back everyone to another Donkey Kong Country blog. Today's blog/review is on a Japanese exclusive game known as Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong. In the United States the game is simply known as Donkey Kong Land III. The Japanese game I am referring to is actually a port of Donkey Kong Land III onto the Game Boy Color. For some reason this was the only member of the Donkey Kong Land family to land on the Game Boy Color at all. It never made it's way across the seas and remains a Japanese exclusive game. All in all the two versions of the game are pretty much the same with the exception that the Japanese port is obviously in color being on the Game Boy Color.

 

    Donkey Kong Land III was developed by Rareware and released for Game Boy in the United States on October 27th, 1997. In Japan the game was ported to the Game Boy Color in Japan on January 28th, 2000. The game is known as being the best of the Donkey Kong Land trilogy and I tend to agree with that assessment, The two games are nearly identical in terms of levels, characters, music, and bosses. The Japanese version lacks a couple dialogue pieces, but nothing really important to the plot. Despite being very popular in the United States the game was never ported to the Game Boy Color. Interestingly enough the game has recently been released on the 3DS's Virtual Console. In Japan the Game Boy Color version is on the shop while in North America the original Game Boy version exists meaning the game is still a Japan exclusive Game Boy Color title. At the time of the game's release the Game Boy was becoming extremely dated. The home console market seemed to be completely dominating with Nintendo's Nintendo 64 and Sony's Playstation duking it out in the continuing bit war. The question would be for the entire Donkey Kong Land series "How could Rareware bring the magic and power of the Donkey Kong Country games onto an 8-bit handheld system that came out seven years before the first Donkey Kong Land game?". 

    In terms of the third entry into the series I can say the magic and power were done pretty well. In terms of graphics, the game is one of the more impressive looking platformers on the handheld. Not to talk much about the other games in the series, but the graphics really came a long way from the first Donkey Kong Land. They improved a bit in the second game which helped to reduce the horrible screen crunch that was present in the first. The third game I think is the best looking out of the three and allows the players to see more of what's going on than the other two games. The bright colors of the Japanese Game Boy Color exclusive really makes this stand out among the great Game Boy Games. 

    When talking about soundtracks and sound effects, Donkey Kong Land 3 is pretty good for what it is. The original Donkey Kong Country 3 soundtrack is here and it actually sounds pretty cool. It's amazing how Rareware was able to take a soundtrack from the SNES, break it down to 8-bit and still have it sound really, really good. Outside of the soundtrack though, the game's sounds are pretty mediocre. There's a generic explosion sound for hitting things the barrels and the sound of jumping on enemies has zero variety. I always found that to be a bit of a shame considering games like Super Mario Land had at least a few different sounds when defeating enemies. 

    So that leaves the gameplay. Hows does Donkey Kong Land 3 play? I think it plays pretty well. The reduction of the screen crunch really did wonders for the game and while the controls still seem a bit stiff or even slippery from time to time, overall I didn't have too many problems. Certainly not as many as previous installments in the series. At the end of the day, the game plays and feels like a Donkey Kong Country game which is a great feeling for Game Boy game. It's good to note that those familiar with Donkey Kong Country 3 will be in for new challenges because unlike Donkey Kong Land 2, these levels are not just partial redesigns of previous levels. Nope, Donkey Kong Land 3 is host to completely redesigned levels and boss battles. Heck, even the names of the levels and worlds are different from their SNES counterparts. When I played this and realized that I was ecstatic because that was the one thing I really, really liked about the original Donkey Kong Land. The animal buddies Ellie the elephant, Squawks the parrot, Enguarde the swordfish, and Squitter the spider all make offer their aid from time to time on Dixie's quest. Playing with them is every bit as fun as playing with them on the SNES game. Just like in the Super Nintendo trilogy, collecting 100 bananas will net you an extra life. There are also bear coins and DK coins to collect as well on your journey. As is the case in the other Donkey Kong Land games your lives are constantly displayed as hearts on the lower left portion of the screen. As is also the case in the other Land games, you only have access to one Kong at a time. While you can switch between them, you cannot perform any team moves as you can in Donkey Kong Country 2 or 3 on the SNES.   

    I guess that about covers everything outside of the plot and a few notes. While Donkey Kong Land 3 acts as a remake of Donkey Kong Country 3, the plot (as well as levels and worlds) is different. This time around Dixie enlists Kiddy to help her win a contest. The contest prize goes to whoever is the first to find the Lost World. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong set out together to find the Lost World while Dixie is stuck with her cousin. Seriously though, why would Diddy rather run off with DK than his girlfriend? Anyway, also in this race is Baron K. Roolenstein and his band of Kremlings. While the worlds and level names are different, it is still thought, while never confirmed, that the game takes place in the Northern Kremisphere. So that's the plot and for once nobody is kidnapped, it's just a good old fashioned race.Fun fact: This game is the only Rare Donkey Kong game where neither Diddy nor DK appear. Two other notes of interest is that Wrinkly Kong is the only other Kong family member in the game and while Donkey Kong Country 3 had a band of bears, The Brothers Bear, only one bear is present in this game. They got real original with his name to, "Bear". One more kind of funny thing. The extra life balloons in this game are actually balloons of Diddy Kong's head and not Dixie's. Literally they are the same as in Donkey Kong Land 2. I just thought that was funny when I noticed it.

    Donkey Kong Land 3 is really a grand finale of a trilogy that was mired with issues throughout it's first two entries. On a scale of 1 to 10 I have to give it an 8. It's a beautiful looking game, especially on the Game Boy Color, the music is great despite some mediocre sound effects, but most importantly it plays well. Yes, there is still a little screen crunch issue and yes it doesn't move at the speed of the SNES games, but that is okay. We are talking about a Game Boy game here. No, we are talking about taking a game, keeping a lot of what it was on the much more advanced Super Nintendo and cramming it onto a poor aging handheld. Rareware did a great job in the translation and while it may have taken a few tries, they finally nailed that translation with Donkey Kong Land 3. The legacy of this game continues to live on as it is now considered one of the best platformers available on the 3DS, and that's not just counting the virtual console. Pretty high praise considering the age of the game. Now if only Nintendo would have released it in color on the 3DS and not as the original Donkey Kong Land 3 Game Boy Game...

    As always thank you for reading. With all the buzz surrounding the SNES classic right now I think I'm going to do a little something fun next. I'm going to do kind of a what if scenario. That what if being, if Nintendo were to make a Nintendo 64 classic, what 20 games would I include. I'll have some reasoning for certain titles, but in general it should be a quick and fun blog. I personally do not think we will be seeing a Nintendo 64 classic anytime soon, but some what if conversations with a friend of mind has sparked my interest in making a list. Stay tuned!    

SNES Classic Announced

    Hey everyone. Today we all got some surprising news that on September 29th Nintendo will be launching the Super Nintendo Classic for a modest price of $80. As of now we know quite a bit about the little system. First, we know that it will contain twenty one games from the Super Nintendo's library and one that until now never saw the light of day. Before getting into the twenty games that many people know and love lets take note that Starfox 2 will actually finally be released on the system. Starfox 2 was originally going to be released on the Super Nintendo itself, but the fact that it was being worked on so late in the console's as well as various other issues led to the game never coming out despite being mostly finished. Rom files of the game have leaked out on the internet and have been translated and what not, but no official release was ever given to the game. Finally it will see the light of day. Not sure exactly what to call it, but I guess it can be said that a new game is coming out on the Super Nintendo in the year 2017. Now if only we could get a cartridge for it.

    Speaking of cartridges it seems like Nintendo will once again not allow original console carts to be played on the mini system. Size probably has something to do with that, but we still have time and things could (probably wont) change. The controllers, similar to the NES Classic, look just like the controllers for the original system. The good news here is that the cord for them is around five feet in length as opposed to the extremely short cords for the NES Classic. So that's about it for the console itself as well as a major selling point in Starfox 2. Now lets look at the rest of the games in alphabetical order. I'll throw my thoughts out on them too.

Contra III: The Alien Wars: Great choice. One of the best shooters on the system. I was kind of bummed when Super C was on the NES  Classic over Contra, but this is a great choice.

Donkey Kong Country: My opinion here is obvious. This is a no brainer.

Earthbound: It's funny that a game that came out on the tail end of the SNES's life and sold not as well as hoped has exploded in popularity. Earthbound is one of those games that has not dipped below $200 online in quite some time. It's a great RPG and it's great that it will become more accessible (hopefully).

Final Fantasy III: One of the most popular RPGs on the system. No brainer really. While not as expensive as Earthbound, this could still give more people access to it.

F-Zero: An SNES launch title that remained one of the best racing games on the console. It belongs here for sure.

Kirby Super Star: This is great to see in here and honestly kind of surprising. Seven games in one and in my opinion, the best Kirby game on the original console.

Kirby's Dream Course: Not sure why this is here over Kirby's Dreamland 3. My only thought is they wanted some form of golf game. Since this is kind of a hybrid of golf/billiard/Kirby, I guess it works, but I wouldn't have chosen it over a lot of other titles in the library.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: This is another no brainer. Still arguably the best Zelda game out there. If it wasn't on here there would be online riots.

Mega Man X: Yay for third party games! Mega Man X started a whole new generation of Mega Man games and absolutely should be here despite also having two very good sequels.

Secret of Mana: Another of the system's best RPGs. Also another game that is becoming harder and harder to get because of it's price tag. Again, this will hopefully help people who want to get the game actually get the game.

Starfox: The game that introduced Fox, Peppy, Slippy, and Falco as well as being an overall great experience should be on here. That being said it's fun to see how far graphics have come from this game to those of Star Fox Zero. Good choice.

Starfox 2: HOLY CRAP STARFOX 2 IS GETTING RELEASED. WHAT YEAR IS IT!!!!!!??????

Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting: Pretty sure Street Fighter II does not need any reasoning as to why it' on here. No brainer.

Super Castlevania IV:  More third party glory. Castlevania IV is easily one of the best games on the console. Glad to see this over Castlevania Dracula X. No brainer.

Super Ghouls N' Ghosts: Ok now this is interesting. This game is one of the hardest on the SNES and now a whole new generation will get to know what it's like to have a game just kick the crap out of them. Surprising pick to me, but a welcome one.

Super Mario Kart: No brainer. The first Mario Kart game had to be in this.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars: Honestly surprised to see this game, but I love that it is here. Here's to hoping that a whole new generation of fans can start the movement once again for a true sequel! Seriously though a very pleasant surprise and yet another awesome RPG on the mini console.

Super Mario World: No brainer. It'd be like not having Super Mario Bros on the NES Classic.

Super Metroid: Look at all the love Samus is getting lately! Nintendo does care right? Another no brainer as Super Metroid is often viewed as a top five game in the entire library.

Super Punch-Out!!: The sequel to Punch Out and every ounce as brutal. Great choice here and easily a classic on the SNES as a whole.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island: Yoshi's Island is finally starting to get some serious recognition as a fantastic game and this should solidify that. The original I always liked the best so hopefully more will get a chance to play. No brainer. It's a "sequel" (not really) to Super Mario World.

    So overall we're looking at quite the strong lineup. The only one I question is Kirby's Dream Course in here, but everything else fits perfect. That being said there are a couple MAJOR games that are missing. Why? Could be licensing, could be something else, but I find it hard to believe that these titles were just overlooked or ignored.

Chrono Trigger: Arguably the best RPG on the SNES, but it is missing. Since it was made by Square it's possible that Nintendo went the route of Final Fantasy over this. Mario RPG makes sense since it at least contains Mario and the gang and not all Square characters.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time: One of the best beat em ups on the console. However, the game was made by Konami so who knows why it didn't make the cut.

Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3: DKC 2 is often viewed as one of the best platformers on the SNES. My best guess with this game and the third is that Nintendo wants to continue to distance themselves from Rare's characters. It's a shame because the Donkey Kong trilogy really led the charge in getting the Super Nintendo over the Sega Genesis.

    There are plenty of other great titles that did not make the cut outside of these four, but I'm really surprised they missed the cut. In particular I'm surprised about Chrono Trigger and DKC 2 as they both are widely considered one of the bests in their respective genres.

    Overall the SNES classic looks great! I wish it had more games, but still for the games that are on there, the price is pretty fair especially when you consider Starfox 2 is technically a brand new game. Many of the games on here go for well over $50 dollars at retro game stores as well as Ebay so all in all, it's a good deal. Now here's the problem. Nintendo has already said that a limited supply of these will be made as it is a special edition console and they are still focusing on both the 3DS and the Switch. They have said they will be making more SNES classics then they did NES Classics, but it still sounds like Nintendo is not learning from a past mistake. The overwhelming fear around the internet is that we are in for NES Classic round two where scalpers will grab them and throw them on Ebay for insane prices, leaving none left on the shelves. If the continuing shortage of Nintendo Switch on the shelves is any indication, I don't expect many people to be able to get their hands on this amazing looking mini system which is a real shame.

    Time will tell and I do not want to judge too early as to whether or not Nintendo will repeat the same mistakes, but right now it is already starting to look that way. Thank you all for reading. This was a surprise blog as the news broke earlier today about the SNES mini, so I still am working on the Donkey Kong Land III Review which will be up sometime this week.

McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure Review

    Hello and welcome once again one and all to another game review. This review is going to be a return to normal lengthwise after a pretty lengthy two part Diddy Kong Racing review. I can't say that I am one hundred percent going back to my traditional way of reviewing. I'm going to try something a little different here. Part of the reason that the Diddy Kong Racing blog took so long was that I was playing a few different games at the same time in addition to trying to get out of the house a bit. Pretty much all the games I was trying out were difficult or dare I even say bad games on the NES. I also decided to give a few Sega Genesis games a try. One of them entitled McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure really caught my eye and surprised me. I went into it thinking that the game was going to be a poor controlling, crappy sounding, McDonald's advertisement. What I got was much much more.

Developer: Treasure Co. LTD

Publisher: Sega

North America Release: 1993

Systems: Sega Genesis/Mega Drive

    The game's plot is far from a massive McDonald's advertisement. Ronald, Birdie, Grimace, the Hamburglar, and even the Fry Kids are all in the game and participate to an extent on this adventure, but outside of of them, the McDonald's references are not overly abundant. You will see the McDonald's logo here and there, but it's not like you are running around collecting burgers, chicken Mcnuggets, and Coca-Cola. Instead Ronald leads an expedition to find treasure after finding a piece of the treasure map. As Ronald and the gang follow the map they will stumble upon additional map pieces. Eventually the crew finishes the map and takes off in a rocket ship to the moon. After crash landing Ronald and the gang split up to try to find help. After defeating the final boss he opens the treasure chest. Inside the chest is a rainbow that takes Ronald and his friends back to McDonaldland. The final screen shows some delicious looking McDonald's hamburgers jumping out of the treasure chest. So I'm not entirely sure what all that means. I thought the rainbow was the treasure, but apparently the burgers are? Whatever the case the plot is overall silly and childish, but that (children) is the target audience of the game so I guess the plot works. 

    The first thing that stood out to me is the sheer amount of color in this game. I mean that too. There is a ton of color here. It kind of reminds me of Kirby Super Star on the SNES. All the characters and enemies all look very cartoon like and overall look great. I think my favorite visual effect in this game is what happens upon beating a boss. It reminds me a little bit of what happens in a lot of Atari 2600 games. Explosions. Lots and lots of crazy explosions. It's so random in this game, but it's almost like a huge celebration at the same time. Outside of all the explosions, there isn't anything visually that is special or over the top. Is it bright and colorful? Yes, but at the same time it doesn't do anything new really. I feel the same way for it's sound and music. For the Sega, the music and sound effects are pretty good, but at the same time, they really aren't anything special per say. 

    The thing that surprised me the absolute most about this game is the gameplay. I expected the game to be a mess as far as controls went, but what I got is a very playable platformer. To my surprise, Ronald actually handles very well. Jumping is pretty on target, the camera behaves nicely, and only one of Ronald's actions seemed a bit clunky. Ronald has a couple abilities that you can use in your quest. One of them is shooting magic at enemies. You can collect certain items to upgrade your magic allowing you to do more damage. The clunkier of Ronald's techniques is the ability to shoot what appears to be a crazy scarf or something out of his arm and grapple onto structures above. There were a few times where I felt that pin-point accuracy was needed and failure to time the scarf at just the right moment lead to a long drop to death. Speaking of death, Ronald can float on with balloons. Scattered throughout the stages you'll find powerups (like the ones that increase your magic). One of those powerups is balloons. If you were to fall to your death, Ronald will deploy the balloons and float upwards for a time. You can control where he goes with these balloons so you can actually skip over a portion of the level before they pop.

    Along the way Ronald is helped out by his friends. He will also come across stores (image above) that he himself seems to run. It's kind of weird because it seems like you are buying stuff like powerups, lives, and health from Ronald as Ronald. Whatever. Sometimes you'll run into a minigame instead of a shop. It's a puzzle game similar to Columns where you get prizes based on the symbols you are clearing. The boss battles are actually very unique. Not to give away much about them, but it's a game of give and take. In order to damage them you may need to damage yourself. It's a real interesting concept that I honestly kind of liked. Who knew Ronald would sacrifice so much to reach the treasure?

    All in all McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure is actually a very surprising game and as such I feel like I can give it 7.5 out of 10. It's a really good looking game that plays well, but doesn't really do anything that was new at the time. It's a treasure hunting game that you can finish in just a couple of hours and features some very familiar faces. For me, this is the best game that was made for a food company. I really liked how in my mind I knew it was a McDonald's game, but as I played, the only big reminder of that was Ronald himself. I think this game is certainly worth a try as there is quite a bit of exploring to do on the levels and overall the experience is quite fun.

    Thanks for reading! My next blog is going to be a return trip to the Donkey Kong Country universe (surprise surprise). I will be taking a look at Donkey Kong Land 3 for the Game Boy Color. How does the Japanese remake stack up to the original Game Boy version? Find out next time! Also. Thank you all!!!! This blog is blog number 60 here. It's taken quite a while to get here, but with a growing audience I just wanted to say thank you all again!

Diddy Kong Racing Review Part 2

    Welcome to Part 2 of my Diddy Kong Racing review! In my last blog I took a good long look at Adventure Mode and what it brings to the table. I went over what the game's story is and some really unique things within Adventure Mode that makes it a really unique mode among the various racing games of the time. The holiday season of 1997 was a huge surprise as Diddy Kong Racing, a game that was rushed out due to a delay in Banjo Kazooie, exploded onto the scene. In this blog I will be looking more in depth on the game's characters, items, Tracks Mode, and multiplayer.

**** SPOILERS CONTINUE AHEAD*****

    

    I went over all the characters in my previous blog as to where they fit in within the story. Now I'm going to look into where they land as far as racers go. As is common in games of this type there are different weight classes that the characters fall into. Even within those weight classes there are differences that may push a player towards a certain character. With that being said, lets break it down a bit.

Lightweights

Pipsy the mouse

Tiptup the turtle

    Pipsy and Tiptup are the two lightweights. They both excel in turning and acceleration. Where they have the advantage in those two categories, they are easily the slowest in terms of top speed. Tiptup is a little faster and heavier than Pipsy and as a result takes turns a little bit wider. As a lightweight main in this game I find the little extra speed of Tiptup can be helpful in some cases, but if you are aiming for minimal handling issues go with Pipsy.

Middleweights

Diddy Kong

Bumper the badger

Conker

Timber the tiger

    Half of the default roster consists of middleweights. All of them have some differences. Diddy Kong and Timber are the literal middle of the road characters featuring balanced acceleration, speed, and turning ability. Conker gets up to speed slower than Diddy and Timber, but has a higher top speed. His handling is not as good as Diddy or Timber either. Bumper is in a similar realm as Conker. The difference here is that Bumper 's speed is in the realm of Diddy and Timber, and his acceleration is just below that of Tiptup and Pipsy. Where he excels in acceleration he lacks in handling and lands alongside Conker. As far as the middleweight class I like playing as Bumper. I like having the fast acceleration even if it means having to take corners differently to compensate. 

Heavyweights

Banjo

Krunch the Kremling

    Banjo and Krunch round out the default roster. They are the two heavyweights and have the fastest top speeds in the game. Where they thrive in speed they suffer in handling and acceleration. Banjo and Krunch have similar top speed and acceleration, but Banjo actually handles a little better. When it comes to the heavyweights, I don't play them often so I don't have much of a preference. 

     So in the end all of the characters have their up sides and downsides with Diddy and Timber not really excelling in any category, but are not weak in any either. All of them are fun to play and from what I understand, once you master the heavyweights they are unstoppable. I'm not going to say much about the fact that there are two other racers in the game that you can unlock. One of them is a heavyweight with middleweight quality handling along with high speed and low acceleration. The other is a middleweight that is hands down the best of all worlds.

    In addition to the three weight classes, there are three vehicles in which you will be racing in. The first of those is the standard car. The car behaves much like a go kart in Mario Kart. It can drift and do other car things. Beware though, if you enter the water with your car you will move much, much slower as the car is not built to be a boat. Comically though upon entering the water you will notice your tires get a bit bigger to at least keep you afloat. The next vehicle you will be introduced to (if you play the tracks in order) is the plane. The plane has some unique features about it and is certainly the most complex of the three vehicles. For one the controls in regards to ascending and descending are similar to how they are in many flying games. Of course this means up is down and down is up. The plan is also able to pull off some stunts such as corkscrews and flips. Another cool thing the plane can do involves being close to the ground. As you race you will come across speed boosts on the track or in the sky. When you get real close to the ground, the plane's landing gear deploys and you can hit the speed boost on the track. It's a really awesome trick that Rareware put into the game. Lastly we have the hovercraft. The hovercraft is actually the only vehicle that can race on every track though it is mostly used in water based levels. The hovercraft behaves kind of like the car, but it cannot drift and heavyweights are able to turn as if they were lightweights.

    The game's items are nowhere near as game breaking as the ones in the Mario Kart series or even Crash Team Racing. The items are hidden within colored balloons. Red balloons contain a missile, green contains an oil slick, yellow contains a shield, blue contains a speed boost, and the rainbow balloons contain magnets. Collecting multiple of the same balloon will upgrade the item. The regular missile upgrades into a homing missile and the homing missile upgrades into ten unguided missiles. The shield upgrades are just duration upgrades which can be extremely helpful in certain areas of certain tracks. Upgrading the speed boost will enable you to travel faster and over longer distances. Upgrading the magnet will increase the range in which the magnet will pull you to your target. Upgrading the oil slick will net you a spiky bomb and then a bubble. The bubble is actually pretty brutal as the racer trapped within are basically held in place for a period of time. In the end all of these items do help out both players and computers, but none are overly powerful. As much as getting hit by a homing missile sucks, it's nothing compared to running into a bubble, but if you are in first and focus on the yellow shield balloons you have nothing to worry about. 

    Tracks mode is pretty simple. You pick a track and you can race that track. You will also eventually be able to run trophy races and the battle stage of each world from Adventure Mode (Future Funland tracks need to be unlocked though). Your freedom sort to speak in Tracks is dependent on your progress in Adventure Mode. Tracks that you have completed in Adventure Mode will have a picture of Taj's face on them. Tracks that have not been completed will have Wizpig's face. The difference is in the tracks with Taj's face you can select which vehicle you would like to race in. Tracks mode is also host to the time trials where you can race your ghost.... Or T.T................... Tracks mode is also the main hub for multiplayer. Up to four racers can compete on any of the tracks in the game that have been played in Adventure Mode. Eventually you will also be able to select the vehicle you want to race in. Speaking of multiplayer, there is a code that will enable you to play two player Adventure Mode, which is pretty cool.

    So what else can I say about this game? I guess I can easily rate it a 9 out of 10. In the end Diddy Kong Racing is an amazing single player experience. One that completely blows other racing games out of the water. The graphics are beautiful, the music and sound effects fit right in with everything Rareware at the time, and the racing itself is fast and intense. The drawbacks? The biggest one for me is the multiplayer. While it is great to be able to race on whatever track in the game with some friends, the action never reaches that of Mario Kart 64. I think this is largely the result of the items not having the power to really change the outcome of a race at any point. In the end though, Diddy Kong Racing is one of the greatest racing games that had ever come out and I say that with confidence. It's unique, fun, and contains an Adventure Mode that is way more fun than advertised. In my book, this game is a must play single player experience that has an okay multiplayer which lands it a high 9 out of 10.

    Thanks again for reading. I went into some extra details in this review, but I really wanted to look into some of the major aspects of the game. In the process I was able to throw more differences between it and Mario Kart out there as well. I appreciate the patience with this blog as well. I kept typing, deleting, and trying to make sure I got everything I wanted in here. In the end it was too big to leave as one blog so I split it. I also got a bit hung up with a few things. The weather around here finally broke so I have been able to get out of the house a bit. My next blog is going to be a delicious review. The game is McDonald's Treasure Land Adventure on the Sega Genesis, but first I need to go out and get my medium number ten with a ice cold Coca-Cola.

Diddy Kong Racing Review Part 1

    Hello again everyone. Before I start I want you all to know that I tried. I really, really tried to avoid looking at Rareware games for a while. I have failed. I recently went through Diddy Kong Racing again so the game is fresh in my mind, making this the perfect time to do a full review on this game. I did a blog a little while back where I compared Diddy Kong Racing to Mario Kart 64. In that blog I came to the conclusion that for me at least, Diddy Kong Racing is a better single player experience than Mario Kart 64. I did side with Mario though when it comes to an easy to pick up and play party game. So the question is how did Diddy Kong Racing even come to be and how in the world could it ever hope to stand up to Mario Kart 64. Let's find out. This is going to be quite a lengthy review, so as a result I am going to divide up the review into two blogs. This one will touch on the game's graphics, history, and sound. The main focus will be the main game mode.

*********Lots of Spoilers Ahead*************

    Before Diddy Kong Racing was Diddy Kong Racing it went by a couple other names. The first of those was a strategy game by the name of Wild Cartoon Kingdom. The game didn't get very far and quickly was remade into a sequel to one of Rares NES projects, R.C. Pro-Am. R.C. Pro-Am 64 was to feature Timber the Tiger as the lead character. While the game was in development, the would be smash hit Banjo Kazooie was also in development. Banjo Kazooie would have to be delayed so Rareware decided that they needed to do something to save the 1997 Christmas season. The decision was made to change Pro-Am 64 once again. This time around Diddy Kong would become the main character and the game would be renamed one final time to Diddy Kong Racing. The game was developed by Rareware and hit store shelves in North America on November 24th, 1997.

    Right off the bat, Diddy Kong Racing does something not frequently done in racing games. The game actually has a plot. Somewhere near Donkey Kong Island and the now sunken Crocodile Isle lies another island called Timber's Island. It is here where Timber the tiger, his parents, and his friends all live doing their favorite thing, racing. The plot begins where Timber's parents go on vacation leaving Timber in charge. It is then that the evil Wizpig lands on the island, enslaves it's guardians and claims the island. The islands greatest racer, Drumstick the rooster challenged Wizpig, but never returned. Following Drumstick's disappearance Timber calls on Diddy Kong to help rid the island of Wizpig. Diddy quickly enlists the aid of soon to be heroes in their own right, Conker the Squirrel and Banjo the bear. Fearing that Diddy was up to something, Krunch the Kremling follows Diddy to "help" him in his quest. Other residents of Timber's Island such as Tip Tup the turtle, Pipsy the mouse, Bumper the badger, T.T. the stopwatch, and Taj the Indian elephant. The group sets out to free the island's guardians and defeat Wizpig at his own game, racing. 

    Now you might be thinking to yourself that the plot is a little ridiculous. Well believe it or not, it actually works really well and for a racing game, is really really good. It's much better than just racing through the same tracks again and again at faster speeds. It gives the game a feeling of progression and accomplishment which I feel is pretty rare in racing games. I can't really think of another racing game that did a story as well as this game did. Crash Team Racing on the Playstation had an alright story I guess, but nothing quite like Diddy Kong Racing.

    I talked about the graphics as well as the sound department in the blog that compared this game to Mario Kart 64 so I'm not going to go into much detail on them as I really want to look at the gameplay more. As far as graphics go, they are great for the Nintendo 64 and honestly, they are great for a game that had to be rushed out due to Banjo being delayed. It's the Nintendo 64 so you can still make out some polygons and what not, but the color scheme of the game does a great job at hiding most of it. That's because this game is bright. When I say bright, I mean bright. Even the grey and black Bumper stands out brightly. It's hard to exactly pinpoint a perfect description of the graphics, but I like to say they are Rareware graphics, which means they are probably really good.

    In the sound department you've got yet another soundtrack by the legendary David Wise. It's frantic, it's fast, it's fun, it's another brilliant soundtrack. There really isn't much else to say. The music in Snowflake Mountain sounds like winter tunes, Dino Domain's tracks are generic, but fun, while Dragon Forest, Sherbert Island, and Future Fun Land all have a mixed bag of generic and really well themed music. All in all the soundtrack is simply great. 

    Now for the time I've been waiting for. It's time to look at the gameplay aspects of this game. I apologize ahead of time as this could be lengthy. I love to talk about this game, so it's possible I may ramble a bit here. Diddy Kong Racing features a few different game modes. The main game is Adventure Mode. Additional game modes include Tracks mode and Adventure Two. For this part of the two part blog I will focus on Adventure Mode.

    Adventure Mode is the main game mode and it is largely a single player mode. There is a password that will allow for a two player adventure to be possible. Upon starting this game mode you will be in the overworld. Be sure to take the time to explore it and not just because it will help you progress through the game. It's just incredibly colorful and fun to look at. The game consists of five main worls, Dino Domain (1), Snowflake Mountain (2), Sherbet Island (3), Dragon Forest (4), and Future Fun Land (5). Within each world there are four tracks and a boss race. In order to enter a race you must have a number of balloons equal to or greater than the number displayed on the door of the track. Balloons are earned by winning races and are also scattered about the overworld. Hidden in each world in one of the tracks is a key. The key will open the door to the battle stage of the world. Upon completing the battle stage you will obtain a piece of the T.T. Amulet. 

    The battle stages take on one of three different themes. In Dino Domain you will be attempting to hatch dinosaur eggs by keeping them in your nest long enough. The competition will be out to steal your eggs and you can certainly steal theirs as well. It's a high flying battle as you will compete in planes. Snowflake Mountain's battle is a more traditional battle. You start with eight bananas and use items to blast your foes. It's very similar to battle mode in Mario Kart, but instead of balloons you have bananas. With each hit though you will lose two bananas. Sherbet Island's battle is similar to Snowflake Mountain's but instead of a battle in a car you take to the seas in a hovercraft. Finally, Dragon Forest's battle involves picking up bananas and delivering them to your respective crate. The first car driver to reach ten bananas wins. The thing is you can only carry two at a time and if you get hit by an item, you lose whatever you are carrying. The battle stages are all a lot of fun and are a nice change of pace after doing some hard racing.

    As I mentioned earlier, Wizpig has enslaved the four guardians of Timber's Island. In order to free them, you must beat them in two races. Each guardian has his own unique track that is only available during these races. Upon beating all the tracks in a world once, the guardian's door will open enabling you to race him. If you beat him he will challenge you to complete the silver coin challenge of the world. This is probably the most frustrating part of the game. The silver coin challenge requires that you collect eight silver coins on each of the worlds' tracks and win the race as well. Some of the coins are in very tough to reach places and some will take you well off your normal route. You need to have a decent understanding of each track before trying the silver coin challenge because they get tougher and tougher as you progress through the game. Luckily, the ai racers are not overwhelming in this challenge, but they can certainly take advantage of you struggling to collect coins and bananas (more on that soon). Upon finishing the silver coin challenge, the boss door will again open and you will race him again. This time around though the bosses race for real. There are far more hazards on the track and the guardians themselves move much quicker as well. Good luck keeping up with Tricky, the guardian of Dino Domain for a good chunk of his round two. Upon beating the guardian for a second time you get a piece of the Wizpig Amulet. Upon collecting all four pieces of the Wizpig amulet you will be able to race Wizpig.

    After defeating Wizpig your adventure does not end. After Wizpig retreats back to his world, Timber and the gang pursue him to Future Fun Land which hosts by far the toughest tracks in the game. Complete the regular races and the silver coin challenge here as well as collect all pieces of the T.T. Amulet and the door to one final race against Wizpig will open. It all sounds simple enough to do, but as you get deeper and deeper into the game you will notice the tracks do have a difficulty curve and the silver coin placement causes the second round of races to become more difficult. If you thought the Adventure mode goodies ended there you would be wrong. Upon completing the final boss of each world you can enter the Trophy Race of the world. This basically acts like Mario Kart. You race against much harder computer opponents for points. Win the trophy race, win the gold trophy. Upon completing Adventure Mode you will unlock Adventure Two. In this mode the tracks are flipped, the difficulty is higher, and the silver coins are in different locations. Those are pretty much the only changes from Adventure Mode.

    Overall, Adventure Mode is a great experience. Honestly, I think that it is one of the most enjoyable experiences in a racing game. Another awesome touch on it is that all of the characters have voice overs. I'm not just talking about Diddy making noises either. Taj, T.T., the area guardians, etc all actually speak. It's only a couple sentences, but it's still something that hadn't really been seen in a racing game. It's also something that really hasn't been done since then either. The Mario Kart franchise for example has yet to have an entry where speaking actually had an impact on the game. That's probably just because Mario Kart has no Adventure Mode, but still, for the late nineties it was really cool to hear. Probably the most frustrating thing about the adventure is the silver coin challenges. I know I said it before, but I feel like they were not really needed. I get that Rare wanted to extend the game and throw in new challenges on the tracks, but I wonder if simply increasing the difficulty a good deal for the second time around would have had a similar impact challenge wise that the silver coins do. That being said I personally do enjoy the silver coin challenges and there are still tracks to this day I have to do a few times to finally finish in first with all coins in tow. 

    Something else that I feel like I should mention here involves the characters. When you begin your adventure you pick a character. You can play through the whole game with that character if you'd like, but the game will save after each race which allows you to quit and pick a different character if you want. There are tracks where you may just want to do this. For example, I love to play as the lightweights, however they are just terrible in the hovercraft. So bad in fact that if you try to turn too sharply they can actually stop dead in the water. Heavyweights control so much better in the hovercraft than they do in the car or plane, so it only makes sense to switch over to a heavyweight for those water races.

    Another thing I really like about the game is that it has that sense of accomplishment within the Adventure Mode. You get the little balloon prize for winning a race which is nice and all, but what you can see real easily is your improvement. As you become familiar with a track you'll see your time become faster and faster. Of course that is nothing to really not expect from a racing game, but here is what is and what in my mind sets it apart from other racers. The first time you're on the track it's not hard. The computers are not fast, you can ignore things like bananas and speed boosts on the track and generally get familiar with the track. The second time around it's a bit harder due to the silver coin challenge and the computers racing a bit harder. The silver coin challenge kind of teaches you other ways to get around and how important advanced mechanics such as drifting are. Then you run into the trophy race of each world and it's a culmination of everything you learned the previous races on the tracks. When you finally chase Wizpig off of Timber's Island you feel like you liberated everyone (you did). Then the game gives you one final challenge as you chase the evil pig into space and go on the offensive in his very own tracks. It's a feeling you just don't get in most other racing games. Rare did just an incredible job of turning a racing game into a unique adventure that doesn't need much more than a basic plot. Then again, I guess that was one of the things Rareware was best at (looks at Donkey Kong Country). 

    Thanks for reading! As I said at the start of the blog, this will be a two part affair. I wanted to get the plot and the features of Adventure Mode out there first before going over some of the more generic racing game features that the game has. Still it will be worth checking out part two because this game is far from ordinary and generic and there is still plenty more to talk about. In the next blog I will be looking more closely at the characters, the items, as well as Tracks Mode and multiplayer. Expect part 2 very soon!