Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat and EAD Tokyo

[NeoZeedeater]

Super Mario Galaxy is almost upon us and it has got me thinking about EAD Tokyo's first game again, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat for Gamecube.

This is probably my favourite platformer of last gen. They actually managed to make that goofy bongo controller work for the genre, the level design is excellent with none of the problems Sunshine had. The art direction is often surreal and Pikmin/Wind Waker-like. There are some great Punch Out!!-style boss battles, too.

http://cubemedia.gamespy.com/cube/image/article/594/594468/donkey-kong-jungle-beat-20050308010016986.jpg


I hope EAD Tokyo makes an original game after Galaxy. They were hoping to do one before but Miyamoto insisted they use an existing Nintendo franchise.

What do you think of DKJB, and what do you hope the developer makes next?

[Frogacuda]

I didn't really get into Jungle Beat, but I never had the bongos for it. I really do need to correct that one of these days.

Galaxy is shaping up to bring back mario to his glory days, so they have my attention right there. What do you know about the key staff and their legacy? I'd be interested to know more about them.

[James]

You can't play Jungle Beat without bongos, unless you're the kind of gamer who's fine with playing Guitar Hero with the PS2 pad.

James

[Melf]

Word. JB is brilliant with the bongos, and I'd really like to see them go back to it in the future.

[NeoZeedeater]

I didn't really get into Jungle Beat, but I never had the bongos for it. I really do need to correct that one of these days.

Galaxy is shaping up to bring back mario to his glory days, so they have my attention right there. What do you know about the key staff and their legacy? I'd be interested to know more about them.
Yoshiaki Koizumi (the director) has worked on most of the Zelda and Mario games from the SNES onwards. He was a co-director for Super Mario 64 and Sunshine. Takao Shimizu (the producer) has directed or co-directed games like Star Fox 64 and Donkey Kong '94 among others. I haven't looked much into the designers' names but they seem to be younger, newer guys.

I think Galaxy might be the first Super Mario game to not have Takashi Tezuka working on it although I could be wrong. Maybe after doing New SMB they got him in there, too.

And yeah, Jungle Beat just isn't the same without the bongos at all.

[Frogacuda]

Yeah, "designer" in Japanese credits usually just means the art staff. I mostly look at producers, directors, and programmers.

[Frogacuda]

I got bongos today. We'll give this thing a proper shot, now.

[squall_vb]

I really need to pick this game up. If I had read this thread before going to GameStop earlier, I might have purchased it instead of Condemned and Manhunt 2.

As an interesting aside, while I was in there I saw that a Galaxy demo was available for play. Much as it pained me, I quickly averted my eyes. I want my first experience with the game to be when I take it out of the case and pop it into my console. I'm quirky like that.

(I also refuse to buy "greatest hits" releases and incomplete packaging, such as a missing book, generic case, etc. Yet another quirk...)

[Frogacuda]

Ok, this game is a lot more playable with the bongos. Not because the controls are horribly unique, but just because the controller layout seems very flawed.

It's a lot of fun, and some of the bosses are really neat. It seems too easy most of the time, and I absolutely hate the swimming parts thanks to the awkward controls, so I don't think I'd agree with the sentiment about it being the best platformer of last gen, but it's definitely a better game than I gave it credit for.

[NeoZeedeater]

That's cool you got the bongos. It would have been nice if the game gave an option to play with a regular controller in a more normal fashion but they didn't. The water sections didn't bother me but I guess they are the weakest parts of the game.

I agree the game is on the easy side but at least most of the levels are fun to replay and the game doesn't drag on. Too many platformers last gen (even some of the best like Kya: Dark Lineage and Billy Hatcher) would have benefited from shorter length.

[Compass]

As an interesting aside, while I was in there I saw that a Galaxy demo was available for play. Much as it pained me, I quickly averted my eyes. I want my first experience with the game to be when I take it out of the case and pop it into my console. I'm quirky like that.

(I also refuse to buy "greatest hits" releases and incomplete packaging, such as a missing book, generic case, etc. Yet another quirk...)

Ha, I'm the exact same way.

As for Jungle Beat, it was definitely fun banging on those bongos like crazy for awhile. But somewhere around the halfway point, the novelty had worn off, and I found myself wishing for traditional controls.

Strangely, I do agree they made the right decision to not give the player the option to use traditional controls, because many of us would have immediately chosen this route, and then missed out on the unique experience of playing a platformer with bongos. ... If that makes sense.

Overall, a good, visually pleasing game with all the Nintendo spit and polish we've come to expect. Just not last gen's platforming holy grail that Neo seems to think it is. :chick:

[Frogacuda]

Hi2u Compass!

[Compass]

Hai!

[NeoZeedeater]

Hi Compass.


Overall, a good, visually pleasing game with all the Nintendo spit and polish we've come to expect. Just not last gen's platforming holy grail that Neo seems to think it is. :chick:
Part of the reason it stands out for me is that last gen was relatively weak for mascot platformers. As much as I love DKJB, I wouldn't rank it up with the best 16-bit platformers.

[Frogacuda]

There's always Psychonauts. I assume you're not counting handhelds in the equation, either.

[NeoZeedeater]

Psychonauts didn't click with me but I am going to give it another chance some time. I doubt it's going to be as good as Genesis Sonic or Yoshi's Island, though. I was including handhelds (well, just GBA), too. The GBA didn't have any excellent mascot platformers unless Astroboy counts or I'm completely forgetting something.

It's not so much that last gen was bad but that it was no 16-bit era for that type of game. I think this gen has been an improvement because of the DS.

[Frogacuda]

Psychonauts is a game that gets better the more you play it. Even after beating it, I just like it more and more the more time passes.

Wario Land 4 is a very, very good GBA platformer, even if the puzzles were a little deeper in WL3.

[NeoZeedeater]

Wario land 4 is a fine game, and I like that series more than I used to. It slipped my mind.

[Bruhaha69]

Psychonauts. I don't even have a reason for not owning that game. I played the demo, loved it, planned on buying it then just never bought it. I think I'll eventually get it but will need to wait until I at least get my Xbox fixed.

[Frogacuda]

PC version is pretty cheap on Steam. Only bitch is it doesn't work well with the 360 controller.

[Compass]

Hi Compass.


Part of the reason it stands out for me is that last gen was relatively weak for mascot platformers. As much as I love DKJB, I wouldn't rank it up with the best 16-bit platformers.

Hi, friendly sage.

Now that I think about it, last gen was pretty sparse with respect to platformers -- good or bad -- so I guess it isn't that big of a stretch to consider DKJB at least in the running for the crown. But yeah, Psychonauts always immediately comes to mind (with some indignance) when I hear you tout Jungle Beat as the best.

Psychonauts didn't click with me either when I first started it. I had to get in a few levels before the genius finally hit me over the head like a burlap sack of anvils. Did you actually finish it, and *still* weren't impressed? This would surprise me.

[NeoZeedeater]

I only played the PC demo. Demos don't always give the best impression of a game but I hadn't heard anything about the Psychonauts one misrepresenting it.

[Frogacuda]

Oh man. It's not that Psychonauts demo doesn't represent it (though it's not exactly the best level in the game), but it's a game that has a LOT of variety and really creative level design that makes it more than it first seems.

Like I said, it not only grows on you as you play it, but even as you replay it. There's just nothing else that imaginative in the genre, or at least not in a long time.

But to judge Psychonauts without experiencing the Milkman Conspiracy, Lungfishopolis, or Waterloo World is a mistake. The game's got more than a few tricks up its sleeve.

[NeoZeedeater]

Given all the praise and Schafer's past stuff, I have always intended to give the full game a try. I'll pick up the Xbox version as it will probably run the best for me.

[Frogacuda]

The cool thing about the game is that while it is ostensibly a platformer for the whole game, the level structure varies wildly. It's not all just "Get to the end of the obstacle course" stuff, nor is it really mission based like Mario 64, either.

There's a level where you have to unravel a bizarre conspiracy concocted by a paranoid schizophrenic in a demented nightmare suburbia. There's a level where you have to direct a play so that it gets good reviews. There's a level where you have to play a strategy board game by actually shrinking to the scale of the pieces on the play field and helping the individual pieces with the problems they need to move. It's really refreshing, and there's nothing else like it in the genre.

[Bacon McShig]

After a lengthy gestation period and much soul-searching, I can confidently say DK:JB is the most enjoyable, if not the best, platfomer I've ever played.

The main problem with the game is that the real strength of its level design isn't apparent until pretty far in, as it doesn't actively force players to learn its most enjoyable mechanic until somewhere around 3/4ths in, when you really need to play for score to get more medals so you can progress. It's easy to go through much of the game just gunning for the exit and not really focusing on maxxing out your beat counts, but the genius of the level design doesn't really shine through until you're doing that. So it's easy to see where people can play halfway through and become disillusioned; played simply as a "just get to the end of the level" game, it's not too special. But it's not supposed to be played like that, it's actually mostly a technique-based game.

If you haven't gotten a platinum medal, you didn't play it right.

[Spike]

I agree with Frogcuda on the Psychonauts loving! Awesome game!

Still, DK:JB was my favourite platformer from last gen, and, quite possibly, my favourite game from last gen. Anyone who hasn't played it yet, get on it. You are missing a gem of a game.