In 1993, British development studio Rare was experimenting with a CGI modelling technique called Advanced Computer Modelling (ACM) allowing detailed sprites to be created using 3D models.

A Nintendo representative named Tony Harman visited Rare during this time and saw a demo boxing game that used ACM. He presented the technology to Nintendo Co. Ltd., who recognised Rare would need assistance in bringing the concept to a full game. Nintendo purchased 25% of Rare and provided several million dollars worth of Silicon Graphics workstations.

Developing a game using ACM required a suitable license. Rare expressed an interest in producing a Donkey Kong game, as despite being one of the biggest game series of the early 1980's, it had been largely abandoned. Rare was given free-reign to create a new world for the Donkey Kong character. Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of the Donkey Kong character, provided a redesign for the character, adding a necktie that would go on to become the character's trademark. The villains of the piece, the crocodilian Kremlings, were salvaged from an abandoned Rare project, while Diddy Kong was created after Shigeru Miyamoto protested at using Donkey Kong Jr.

By the game the game was completed, a total of 22 man years had been spent developing the game, more than any other game at the time. Nintendo launched Donkey Kong Country in November 1994, two weeks ahead of schedule, and it was the first Nintendo game to be launched in the UK before any other region.

Story

On a dark and stormy night, Diddy Kong was standing guard over Donkey Kong's most precious possession, his banana hoard. Hearing a sound in the bushes, he wanders over to investigate, only to be rushed by Kremlings and shoved into a barrel.

The next morning, Donkey Kong is woken up by his cantankerous grandfather, Cranky Kong. He tells Donkey Kong that the Kremlings, led by the villainous King K. Rool, has stolen the entire banana hoard, and Diddy has gone missing. Donkey Kong leaps into action to find his little busy and reclaim his bananas.

Gameplay

Donkey Kong Country is a 2D sidescrolling platform game in the style of Super Mario Bros. There are 40 stages, including boss stages, spread over 6 worlds, ranging in theme from jungles and caves to treetop villages and factories. You travel between stages on a map screen, where you will also find other members of the Kong family willing to help you.

Your aim in each stage is to reach the Goal cave while avoiding enemies, pits and other traps. In the first stage you find Diddy Kong trapped inside a barrel early on, and once you free him he will follow behind. If Donkey Kong is hit by an enemy, he will run away, and Diddy will take control. While Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have the same basic controls, they also have a few key differences:

• Donkey Kong carries barrels above his head, while Diddy carries them out in front of him (making Diddy the ideal choice for finding bonus areas).
• Donkey Kong is able to defeat certain enemies faster than Diddy Kong due to his extra strength.
• Donkey Kong has a ground slap that can be used to defeat enemies and uncover bananas in some areas.
• Diddy Kong is smaller and faster, making him ideal for navigating tricky parts of certain stages.

There is an "advanced" technique that is rarely used unless you are attempting to collect every item in the game. By doing a roll attack off a ledge, you can then do a mid-air jump.

Clearing a stage is only part of the game. The completion percentage next to your save file also includes finding bonus areas. These are usually reached by jumping into special Blast Barrels or finding a hidden cave by breaking the wall with a Barrel. When you find all of the bonus areas in a stage, the stage name on the map screen will have an exclamation mark next to it.

Kong Family

On the map screen you will find three members of the Kong family who will help you out on your adventure:

• Cranky Kong is Donkey Kong's grandfather, and the original Donkey Kong from the classic arcade games. He rambles on about how great games were back in the old days, and how easy and expensive they are today, but he will occasionally drop in a few hints about secrets in the game.
• Funky Kong is a surfer and the owner of Funky's Flights. When you have reached other parts of DK Island, you can only travel to the earlier maps using Funky's Jumbo Barrel.
• Candy Kong is Donkey Kong's girlfriend, and she takes care of the Save Barrels. You can only save your game when you find Candy Kong.

Animal Buddies

On certain levels you will find Animal Crates, containing one of Donkey Kong's animal buddies. You can ride the animals through the level, but if they are hit by an enemy they will run away. You can catch up with them again so long as they don't fall down a hole.

• Rambi the Rhino can run fast and smash his way through enemies and secret walls.
• Enguarde the Swordfish provides you more control under the water, and can thrust its pointy nose to defeat the underwater enemies.
• Winky the Frog is a high jumper, although quite difficult to control.
• Expresso the Ostrich is a fast runner and can glide across large gaps.
• Squawks the Parrot only appears on one stage, holding a flashlight that lets you navigate a dark cave.

As well as finding the Animal Buddies in crates, you can also find golden Animal Tokens. Collecting three tokens of a particular Animal Buddy will take you to a timed bonus room where you play as that animal, collecting as many golden tokens as you can. When the time runs out, you receive an extra life for every 100 tokens you have collected.

Six years after the release of the original game, Rare's Game Boy produced this port Donkey Kong Country for the Game Boy Color. The game contains all of the levels of the original, plus one level that was cut from the original game (Necky's Nutmare).

Due to the difference in hardware specifications between the SNES and the Game Boy Color, the game features significantly cut down graphics and sound, plus a smaller screen area. Despite this, the accomplishment of squeezing the entire game onto the handheld was widely regarded as a success in reviews.

Unlike the original game, your progress is saved after each stage. Candy Kong's role has changed to issuing you with challenges.

Minigames and other additions

As well as the main adventure, this port features all-new minigames and special features.

• Funky Fishing

  Donkey Kong is riding Enguarde. Drop the fishing hook into the water and press A to catch any Bitesize or Croctopus immediate above the hook. You receive points and time for each catch you make, with bonus points if you catch more than one at a time.

• Crosshair Cranky

  A shooting game. Cycle to the different targets with the Control Pad, press A to fire and B to reload. There are a number of different missions, such as shooting Kremlings while avoiding the Kongs, or plugging holes in the ground with coconuts so the Animal Buddies can cross safely.

• Print

  Hidden throughout the adventure are Sticker Pads. Finding one will add a black and white Donkey Kong artwork sticker to your Print album. These can be printed out using the Game Boy Printer, and also count towards your completion percentage. You can also print out letters of the alphabet with characters decorating them to write illustrated messages.

The second remake of Donkey Kong Country hit the Game Boy Advance in 2003. Once again, the game has been rebuilt from the ground up to take advantage of the system. The graphics and sound are closer to the original than the Game Boy Color release (and in some cases better) but they have been made brighter due to the low lighting of early Game Boy Advance systems.

New features

On the map screen you can press START to bring up a range of options:

• Save

  You can save your progress at any time.

• Call Funky

  You can call Funky's Jumbo Barrel at any time to revisit earlier stages.

• Scrapbook

  Similar to the Game Boy Color game, you can find cameras hidden around levels, usually held by an enemy. Collecting them will add a piece of game artwork to your scrapbook.

• Stats

  You can see how many Bonus Barrels remain to be found on the levels you have completed. As an extra challenge, you can also see which stages you have collected all of the KONG letters on. Completed stages change colour to green.

New Minigames

• Funky Fishing

  Returning from the Game Boy Color version, this fishing game now features Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, but plays exactly the same. You can either play this at Funky's shack in the main adventure, or under Bonuses on the title screen.

• Candy's Dance Studio

  A rhythm-action game where you have to press the buttons on the Game Boy Advance as they scroll across the screen to make Diddy Kong or Donkey Kong dance. You can play this in the main adventure by visiting Candy, or under Bonuses on the title screen.

• DK Attack

  Available from the title screen, DK Attack is a score attack and time trial mode for all the stages you have completed in the main adventure. You can collect additional seconds by finding them dotted around the level in order to achieve a higher score. You are given a rank depending on how well you performed.

Funky Fishing and Candy's Dance Studio can be played with 2 players using the Game Boy Advance link cable.