Nostalgia Game Review: Donkey Kong Land

Welcome to another edition of Nostalgia Game Review, where I play games from your past to see if they have any replay value! This edition will take a look at Donkey Kong Land.

Developed by Rare and published by Nintendo, Donkey Kong Land is a Game Boy title that sends Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong on an adventure to kick King K. Rool's ass again. Initially released on June 26, 1995, Donkey Kong Land is the portal answer to Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo.

Having played this when I was a kid, I found Donkey Kong Land to be a fun game to play. It has nice level design and the sounds and music are awesome (it is Rare that made this, after all). It retains the Donkey Kong Country charm and puts it in a portable version.

That isn't to say that the game is without its flaws. First and foremost, the game can be a bit frustrating to play. This is especially true when your only means of saving your game is to collect all the K-O-N-G letters, something not found in Donkey Kong Country (Candy Kong had a save station, which was a bit frustrating to reach in its own right). There is also the visual clash that goes on with the Game Boy. Remember, the Game Boy was originally designed with just two palates. The only way you could get a better visual before the Game Boy Color was playing on the Super Game Boy. That would mesh Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong together with the background, making it frustrating to keep track of where they were at times.

Donkey Kong Land may be frustrating to play at times, but it's still a fun game to play. There may be certain points in the game where you will get stuck. However, don't let that deter you from picking up Donkey Kong Land!