List of Games You've Beaten 2023

[Signalstar]

Just Finished: Donkey Kong Country (NSO)

I never played the original SNES game to completion although I think I beat either the GB or GBA port at some point a long time ago. The visuals were groundbreaking for their time and still hold up pretty well. Rare did a great job reviving DK as a character and IP and crafting a 2D platformer that can stand on its own merits even in the shadow of Super Mario. As many have pointed out before, the game's music is extremely well done. The game is pretty challenging, mitigated by the fact that I could use the auto-save and instant replay features to help expedite things. Using this method the game only took me a bit over 2 hours to complete. I'm sure younger gamers struggled with it for much longer back in the day. Diddy Kong is a great addition to Nintendo's cast of characters. The boss battles get a bit repetitive. The level design is solid. Riding the different animal companions is a nice feature. I didn't feel inspired enough to try to collect all the hidden secrets and thus my completion % is well below 100. The fakeout during the final boss battle is cute. I enjoyed it but I think I will skip its immediate SNES sequels and jump ahead to the more modern Donkey Kong Country games made by Retro when I feel like returning to this part of the jungle.

Score: 8/10

Full Completed 2023 List:

• Super Mario World (NSO)
• Star Fox (NSO)
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (PS5)
• Donkey Kong Country (NSO)