DK Jungle Climber review

As close to a Donkey Kong Country sequel as we'll get

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GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

  • +

    Wonderful level design

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    Enough innovations to keep us hooked

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    Minigames are pretty damn good

Cons

  • -

    Underwater levels are bothersome

  • -

    Later levels get egregiously hard

  • -

    Not as accessible as other platformers

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Sept 12, 2007

New theory: if a character moves quickly across a world select menu, you’ve got a great game on your hands. Why? Because Mr. Developer understands that you want to race straight to the fun: get into the actual game as fast as possible, no long cutscenes, no slow fades in and out, let’s just GO.

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In Donkey Kong Jungle Climber, DK sprints around the map like a monkey that’s sat on a cheese fork heated to 140°C - it’s as though you’re making levels start just by thinking about them. It’s the DKJC way: an almost retro-minded dedication to giving us Nintendo-quality brilliance with none of the fluff - just tight level design, multi-coloured eye-wonderment, bosses that work, perfectly-formed minigames… the lot. It is, simply, a fantastic game.