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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Donkey Kong Country vs Yoshi's Island

 

Which is better?

Donkey Kong Country 39 52.00%
 
Yoshi's Island 36 48.00%
 
Total:75
JRPGfan said:

Still cant believe so many *wrongly* believe that Yoshi's Island > DKC, on here.
Imo DKC should be winning by a landslide.

Its 2-3 days lateron, and many more voted and its this close.. for shame! :P

No idea why you'd say this. Both are comparable and DKC1 is inferior to DKC2, DKC3, Mario World, yoshi's Island, and many others. Of the DKC trilogy, DKC1 is by far the weakest of them. Fewest levels, least amount of variation, the least amount of bonus content/collectibles/secrets, the most confusing rules when it came to some of the bonus levels (The one bonus level INSIDE another bonus level? come on). 

I'm not saying it's a bad game, but DKC1 is by far the weakest of the trilogy and Yoshi's Island is better. 

Graphics are tied, I feel. DKC is more impressive from a technical standpoint but Yoshi's Island is no slouch either. Far more impressive than people give it credit for. Then an aesthetic/art direction angle, again, both are very unique. 

Sound design is definitely in favour of DKC. that soundtrack is iconic and while Yoshi's Island is an underrated gem, nothing on its tracklist compares to DKC's sound design. Plus babies crying is bleh. 

Story might as well not count. They have to rescue a thing, go fght your way through baddies to get to the end boss. 

But I really think Gameplay is where Yoshi's Island truly pulls ahead in basically every way. Controls are on point for both games and both have a tonne of hidden secrets and collectibles, but I think it's the level design, variety, and overall imagination that Yoshi's Island dominates. 

DKC has I think 36 levels. Yoshi's Island has 54.

And despite Yoshi's Island having more levels, it also has so much more variety in its level design. Each and every level is unique, blending elements and features in a way no other level does. One level has chain chomps from behind AND a segment where you helicopter. another is a huge maze wherein you go back and forth between the dark and light sides of the world. another requires you to use poochy. another is a course for baby mario to go over the whole thing. One level is made entirely out of features that force you to keep moving. Pretty much every level has it's own very unique sets of gameplay elements (Aside from the first level, which is a well-designed introduction to the game's mechanics.) 

When I think about DKC, I have a hard time differentiating between levels in the game. Sure, about half of them have something unique about them, but many of the levels are just the same things with slightly different emphasis on various tropes and enemies. Like, the two treetop levels in the game (One in world 3, one in world 4), aside from the palette swap between them, I can't tell them apart. The cave levels all blend in with similar traps and enemies only occasionally mixing things up by adding stronger buffbois or spiked tires. One level is just another industrial level but the lights flicker. One is just another mine level but there's mist. One is just another mine cart level where you sometimes jump on tires. 

Again, I'm not saying DKC is bad by any means, it's still one of my all-time favorite games, it's just nowhere near as varied and well-defined as the level design in Yoshi's Island. 

In DKC you can run, jump, roll, slap the ground, climb, switch between kongs, and ride animal buddies. In Yoshi's Island you can run, jump, shoot eggs, flutter, ground pound, use melons, turn into various vehicles, and turn into super baby mario. the number is similar, but considering in DKC 'switching between kongs' just trades strength for speed, well, it's a bit more eliminating; plus, ground pounding basically does nothing. You can do more in yoshi's Island. 

In DKC you have 4 Kong letters and between 0-5 bonus levels (usually 1-3) per level. in Yoshi's Island you have 20 hidden red coins, 5 flowers, and just so, so many stars to find and maintain. Yoshi's Island regularly has more to do. 

DKC has 36 levels, all mandatory. Yoshi's Island has 48 mandatory levels and 6 optional bonus levels as well as 6 recurring minigames.

Yoshi's Island lacks bonus rooms in the same sense of DKC, but it does have in-level minigames as well as the slot-machine styled ones that you can unlock. Plus, the DKC ones are basically the same handful of tropes repeatedly. The "Spinning letters" minigame, the 'Spell Kong" Roulette, the "Match animal Buddies" roulette, the "Stomp a klaptrap" one, and the basic 'Just enter the room and get to the end but you could just die and it'd be fine." DKC still wins this category but only by a small margin. Wait, I forgot about animal buddy rooms in the first one. That's also a recurring theme but I never liked them. still worth factoring in!

So yeah, I just don't see how you think DKC is so much better. From almost every angle Yoshi's Island is better. It's got more content, the content it has is far more varied, the levels have more to do, and the levels are honestly designed better. DKC, though a good game, is pretty simplistic and really only has the reputation it has because of the outstanding visual design and some of the best music to ever hit a videogame. Gameplay wise it's remarkably basic. Good, very well done, but it hardly holds a candle to the superior-in-almost-every-way Yoshi's Island. 



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Runa216 said:
JRPGfan said:

Still cant believe so many *wrongly* believe that Yoshi's Island > DKC, on here.
Imo DKC should be winning by a landslide.

Its 2-3 days lateron, and many more voted and its this close.. for shame! :P

No idea why you'd say this. Both are comparable and DKC1 is inferior to DKC2, DKC3, Mario World, yoshi's Island, and many others. Of the DKC trilogy, DKC1 is by far the weakest of them. Fewest levels, least amount of variation, the least amount of bonus content/collectibles/secrets, the most confusing rules when it came to some of the bonus levels (The one bonus level INSIDE another bonus level? come on). 

I'm not saying it's a bad game, but DKC1 is by far the weakest of the trilogy and Yoshi's Island is better. 

Graphics are tied, I feel. DKC is more impressive from a technical standpoint but Yoshi's Island is no slouch either. Far more impressive than people give it credit for. Then an aesthetic/art direction angle, again, both are very unique. 

Sound design is definitely in favour of DKC. that soundtrack is iconic and while Yoshi's Island is an underrated gem, nothing on its tracklist compares to DKC's sound design. Plus babies crying is bleh. 

Story might as well not count. They have to rescue a thing, go fght your way through baddies to get to the end boss. 

But I really think Gameplay is where Yoshi's Island truly pulls ahead in basically every way. Controls are on point for both games and both have a tonne of hidden secrets and collectibles, but I think it's the level design, variety, and overall imagination that Yoshi's Island dominates. 

DKC has I think 36 levels. Yoshi's Island has 54.

And despite Yoshi's Island having more levels, it also has so much more variety in its level design. Each and every level is unique, blending elements and features in a way no other level does. One level has chain chomps from behind AND a segment where you helicopter. another is a huge maze wherein you go back and forth between the dark and light sides of the world. another requires you to use poochy. another is a course for baby mario to go over the whole thing. One level is made entirely out of features that force you to keep moving. Pretty much every level has it's own very unique sets of gameplay elements (Aside from the first level, which is a well-designed introduction to the game's mechanics.) 

When I think about DKC, I have a hard time differentiating between levels in the game. Sure, about half of them have something unique about them, but many of the levels are just the same things with slightly different emphasis on various tropes and enemies. Like, the two treetop levels in the game (One in world 3, one in world 4), aside from the palette swap between them, I can't tell them apart. The cave levels all blend in with similar traps and enemies only occasionally mixing things up by adding stronger buffbois or spiked tires. One level is just another industrial level but the lights flicker. One is just another mine level but there's mist. One is just another mine cart level where you sometimes jump on tires. 

Again, I'm not saying DKC is bad by any means, it's still one of my all-time favorite games, it's just nowhere near as varied and well-defined as the level design in Yoshi's Island. 

In DKC you can run, jump, roll, slap the ground, climb, switch between kongs, and ride animal buddies. In Yoshi's Island you can run, jump, shoot eggs, flutter, ground pound, use melons, turn into various vehicles, and turn into super baby mario. the number is similar, but considering in DKC 'switching between kongs' just trades strength for speed, well, it's a bit more eliminating; plus, ground pounding basically does nothing. You can do more in yoshi's Island. 

In DKC you have 4 Kong letters and between 0-5 bonus levels (usually 1-3) per level. in Yoshi's Island you have 20 hidden red coins, 5 flowers, and just so, so many stars to find and maintain. Yoshi's Island regularly has more to do. 

DKC has 36 levels, all mandatory. Yoshi's Island has 48 mandatory levels and 6 optional bonus levels as well as 6 recurring minigames.

Yoshi's Island lacks bonus rooms in the same sense of DKC, but it does have in-level minigames as well as the slot-machine styled ones that you can unlock. Plus, the DKC ones are basically the same handful of tropes repeatedly. The "Spinning letters" minigame, the 'Spell Kong" Roulette, the "Match animal Buddies" roulette, the "Stomp a klaptrap" one, and the basic 'Just enter the room and get to the end but you could just die and it'd be fine." DKC still wins this category but only by a small margin. Wait, I forgot about animal buddy rooms in the first one. That's also a recurring theme but I never liked them. still worth factoring in!

So yeah, I just don't see how you think DKC is so much better. From almost every angle Yoshi's Island is better. It's got more content, the content it has is far more varied, the levels have more to do, and the levels are honestly designed better. DKC, though a good game, is pretty simplistic and really only has the reputation it has because of the outstanding visual design and some of the best music to ever hit a videogame. Gameplay wise it's remarkably basic. Good, very well done, but it hardly holds a candle to the superior-in-almost-every-way Yoshi's Island. 

I mostly agree with you. On paper Yoshi's Island is better than DKC. But now I think DKC aged better (graphics and music) and is more enjoyable to play than Yoshi's Island. I bought both games the day they were released so it's not because of nostalgia. And I thought for years Yoshi's island was the best game but it's much less fun to (re) play today. But DKC ? It's a very replayable game. 

And it's another story with DKC2. It's so good I see that game like an oddity, and is most probably today my favorite SNES game.



globalisateur said:

I mostly agree with you. On paper Yoshi's Island is better than DKC. But now I think DKC aged better (graphics and music) and is more enjoyable to play than Yoshi's Island. I bought both games the day they were released so it's not because of nostalgia. And I thought for years Yoshi's island was the best game but it's much less fun to (re) play today. But DKC ? It's a very replayable game. 

And it's another story with DKC2. It's so good I see that game like an oddity, and is most probably today my favorite SNES game.

Not really YI has actually aged far better imo as the gameplay holds up today as speedruns and challenge runs have shown, an example is the array of tricks YI has in it from numerous trick shots, flutter cancels that open up platforming, layer of level strategies to the manipulation of certain level mechanics such as the penguin projectile that comes back to you can be controlled in such ways in tandem with your movement that it becomes like a shield that circles and protects you. DKC doesn't have this level of expressiveness in it's gameplay the result is YI can diversify it's playthroughs a lot more depending on the player's ability, control and execution while DKC at most the player can only really optimize playing through a level with little variation.

This makes YI far more replayable even when someone completes it 100%, DKC2 holds up better against YI but the latter's gameplay still beats the game out while ironically DKC3 is the game that is most comparable as it's the most diverse of the original DKC Trilogy in terms of gameplay mainly due to it's more conceptual designed levels.



In no way do I want to belittle Yoshi's Island as it is a fine game, but DKC wins without a doubt. DKC is one of three contenders for my favourite game ever and DKC 2 is another.

Yoshi's Island isn't even my favourite Yoshi game, but it is very good and a nice nostalgia trip...until that damn baby starts wailing. But I have to emphasise that I really do like Yoshi's Island, just thinking of it brings a smile to my crusty old face.

However, DKC is just superb and an absolute dream to play. It's not the most challenging game, in fact it's incredibly easy, but even though I don't mind a challenge, an easier game has an advantage in that I can reliably pick it up and play at almost any time, with minimum frustration. The music and graphics are better than Yoshi, in my opinion and I find the levels more varied and interesting as far as I can remember.



globalisateur said:

I mostly agree with you. On paper Yoshi's Island is better than DKC. But now I think DKC aged better (graphics and music) and is more enjoyable to play than Yoshi's Island. I bought both games the day they were released so it's not because of nostalgia. And I thought for years Yoshi's island was the best game but it's much less fun to (re) play today. But DKC ? It's a very replayable game. 

And it's another story with DKC2. It's so good I see that game like an oddity, and is most probably today my favorite SNES game.

To be fair, Yoshi's Island also released after Donkey Kong Country, so Donkey Kong Country did break allot of new ground that Yoshi's Island could take advantage of, there is a reason why Donkey Kong Country sold the way it did and was the talk of the entire industry at the time.

Donkey Kong Country 2 beats them both hands down though, no contest.



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globalisateur said:

I mostly agree with you. On paper Yoshi's Island is better than DKC. But now I think DKC aged better (graphics and music) and is more enjoyable to play than Yoshi's Island. I bought both games the day they were released so it's not because of nostalgia. And I thought for years Yoshi's island was the best game but it's much less fun to (re) play today. But DKC ? It's a very replayable game. 

And it's another story with DKC2. It's so good I see that game like an oddity, and is most probably today my favorite SNES game.

Yeah i feel like Yoshi's slower pacing and greater focus on exploration and collectibles makes it less replayable compared to DKC. It's great the first time through ferreting out all the flowers and red coins but DKC is more enjoyable for me to go back to just to quickly blast through a few levels for fun.