OnBake Platinum
02-16-2005, 09:18 PM
http://cube.ign.com/mail/
Going Bongos
I've watched all the DK Jungle Beat videos and WOW - that game looks great. Even if it just used the controller the game looks like a fun platformer.
My questions: do the bongos really add that much to the experience? Do they feel precise enough (for example, in the flying sections where you're dodging meteors)? Is there going to be a version of DKJB with bongos included?
Thanks,
Jeff
Matt responds: Some good questions here. You also raise a solid point, which is that when you take the DK Bongos out of the equation, Jungle Beat is exactly the platformer that purists have been hoping to get on GameCube for years: a throwback to the 2D-style, side-scrolling games of old, in other words. But obviously the game doesn't function without the accessories. I know that playing a platformer with a set of bongos sounds like a surreal and ill-advised undertaking, but as gamers who recently played the demo will assuredly tell you, the experience not only proves intuitive, but innovative and most of all, addictive. Once you get the hang of it, playing with the bongos becomes second nature. You can do anything with the drums, be it running back and forth, jumping, hitting objects, swinging from vines, or fighting enemies, and it's all possible with the greatest of ease. In fact, I'd say that using the bongos is actually more fun and satisfying than a standard controller in some cases. For instance, when squaring off against a boss character, slamming on the bongos to deliver powerful punches feels fantastic. And to answer your question specifically, the bongos do enable precision control.
Two versions of DK Jungle Beat will be sold: one with the DK Bongos and another without them
I wonder if the one with the bongos costs $50 and the one without is like $30...
Going Bongos
I've watched all the DK Jungle Beat videos and WOW - that game looks great. Even if it just used the controller the game looks like a fun platformer.
My questions: do the bongos really add that much to the experience? Do they feel precise enough (for example, in the flying sections where you're dodging meteors)? Is there going to be a version of DKJB with bongos included?
Thanks,
Jeff
Matt responds: Some good questions here. You also raise a solid point, which is that when you take the DK Bongos out of the equation, Jungle Beat is exactly the platformer that purists have been hoping to get on GameCube for years: a throwback to the 2D-style, side-scrolling games of old, in other words. But obviously the game doesn't function without the accessories. I know that playing a platformer with a set of bongos sounds like a surreal and ill-advised undertaking, but as gamers who recently played the demo will assuredly tell you, the experience not only proves intuitive, but innovative and most of all, addictive. Once you get the hang of it, playing with the bongos becomes second nature. You can do anything with the drums, be it running back and forth, jumping, hitting objects, swinging from vines, or fighting enemies, and it's all possible with the greatest of ease. In fact, I'd say that using the bongos is actually more fun and satisfying than a standard controller in some cases. For instance, when squaring off against a boss character, slamming on the bongos to deliver powerful punches feels fantastic. And to answer your question specifically, the bongos do enable precision control.
Two versions of DK Jungle Beat will be sold: one with the DK Bongos and another without them
I wonder if the one with the bongos costs $50 and the one without is like $30...