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CaptainExplosion on 29 December 2025
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kopstudent89 said:

I'll go with the first DKC, purely on vibes. It was one of my fav games growing up and unlike the Mario series, DK never really had another game that matched the standards set by the first few DKC games, which at the time actually shook the whole industry.

I loved DK64 but it is flawed, and Bananza is fantastic, but feels like a tad derivative to Odyssey. And yes I know the mechanics are completely different but I've played a loooot of Odyssey, and the games have so much in common, from the shops, the secret levels, overall game design, and text bubbles... the vibes are too similar. Playing the game made me really think about why I loved DK so much, and one of the main reasons was how distinct it felt from the Mario games.

Overall , the orignal DKCs - and especially the first one for me - had so much gravitas. The graphics, music, level design, character design and overall feeling the game gave me was magical. It was different than anything I played and I don't believe another DK game has matched the frankly impossible standards that they set, which were so high that the whole gaming industry stood up and took notice.

Bananza with its amazing mechanics has something to build on. However, I feel it needs to distinguish itself from Mario. Unfortunately with it being in the Mario universe, and with it now being under EPD, it doesn't seem like that will happen anytime soon. I still think they will be enjoyable and probably great pieces of software, but in that scenario it will always play second fiddle to Mario. The original DKC games matched whatever Mario did and then some with its own personality and that's what makes them 30 years on still fan favourites.

Side note: I do need to play Tropical Freeze through to understand what the hype is all about, so maybe that might change my mind a bit.

I've always found Mario less interesting than Donkey Kong. Maybe it's because DK's an ape while Mario is human, which didn't stand out very much even in the 90s.