My over all impression of the game was that it was definitely a lot of fun, but to be quite frank I actually wasn't having a really good time until a couple worlds in when I had finally gotten used to the mechanics. The DKC series is know for being quite a challenging platformer, maybe not on par with Super Meat Boy and the like, but definitely rage inducing if you aren't prepared to die A LOT going in. As I mentioned earlier, I had just come off of playing Super Mario 3D World before this game and I had to unlearn a lot of muscle memory that I had developed as a result. Disregarding the obvious fact that one is a 3D platformer, and the other is 2D, these games demand 2 very different play styles from the player. If SM3DW is a sprint, then DKC:5 is a marathon. Not only are the levels extremely longer in DKC:5, but they demand much more precision platforming. At the beginning of the game I found myself not trying to blaze through a level, but definitely go through much faster than I should have been which resulted in many more deaths in a game where the mortality rate is meant to be exceedingly high. The true joy of this game comes from taking your time, watching the environment, gauging the next appropriate action and executing appropriately. There is no time clock like in SM3DW so there is no need to book it disregarding certain intentional exceptions.
Something that came to mind as to why SM3DW felt so much easier in comparison was due to the implementation of different characters in each game. SM3DW featured 4 (or 5) different characters that handled completely differently from one another while DKC:5 featured 4 characters, 3 of which were essentially treated as power ups. Due to this in SM3DW, every level had to be designed to allow it's completion with every single character. By proxy every jump had be be possible with Toad and as a result using Peach, especially in conjunction with a cat or tanooki suit allowed a lot of opportunity for recovery if your initial jump didn't begin well. On the flip side, levels were designed much more rigidly in DKC:5 because they only had to allow for a minimum of DK himself being able to get to the end and all that this entails. At the beginning of the game I was getting extremely frustrated due to the lack of height recovery in the event that I had lost Dixie. However once I got a feel for the arch of his jump the experience became quite a bit better. A quick note about the other characters, sadly, in 99% of cases, Dixie is available, and as she allows for the greatest amount of vertical recovery she is the most valuable, which means Cranky and Diddy are practically useless in comparison. Which is a shame because while the Mario series as of late has a habit of being extremely explicit to the point of obnixiousness with which power up is needed in a level, they are varied for the most part which is enjoyable and allows change the pace of the game every once in a while.
There were a couple of minor things I'd like to nitpick before moving on. First is the lack of animal companions. In DKC:4 Nintendo had lost the rights to most of the intellectual property of the DKC series in it's legal battles regarding Rare. As a result only Rambi the Rhino (and to a lesser extent Squawks the Parrot) survived to continue in the franchise. This I can perfectly understand, but it would have been nice this time around to see some development time spent on creating new companions as they were such an interesting aspect of the first three games. Also, regarding Rambi, he controls quite awkwardly in this game. In order to dash with him, you need to repeatedly hit the appropriate button on your controller of choice otherwise he will slow down. There are sections that require constant dashing to outrun stage hazards as well as precision platforming requiring attention to be split between hitting the dash and jump buttons at extremely rapid intervals. This caused quite a few deaths on my end that did feel unwarranted. I feel like this could have easily been remidied by allowing for the holding down of the dash button, but you hardly use him enough for it to dampen your enjoyment of the game too much so like I said, just a minor nit pick. Another thing that is less of a nit pick and more of an observation is that the lives system is completely inconsequential in this game. For every 100 bananas, you get a life, you know the drill. Bananas are so plentiful in this game that even factoring in the absurd amount of times you will be dying I only managed one game over the entire playthrough. In the event that you do run out of lives you can spend banana coins at Funky Kong's shop for lives as well. As there isn't much to in the shop that you really need my coins just kind of piled up and when I got my only game over I had enough to purchase 80 lives with change to spare. It's kind of silly when you think about it really.
There were a couple of minor things I'd like to nitpick before moving on. First is the lack of animal companions. In DKC:4 Nintendo had lost the rights to most of the intellectual property of the DKC series in it's legal battles regarding Rare. As a result only Rambi the Rhino (and to a lesser extent Squawks the Parrot) survived to continue in the franchise. This I can perfectly understand, but it would have been nice this time around to see some development time spent on creating new companions as they were such an interesting aspect of the first three games. Also, regarding Rambi, he controls quite awkwardly in this game. In order to dash with him, you need to repeatedly hit the appropriate button on your controller of choice otherwise he will slow down. There are sections that require constant dashing to outrun stage hazards as well as precision platforming requiring attention to be split between hitting the dash and jump buttons at extremely rapid intervals. This caused quite a few deaths on my end that did feel unwarranted. I feel like this could have easily been remidied by allowing for the holding down of the dash button, but you hardly use him enough for it to dampen your enjoyment of the game too much so like I said, just a minor nit pick. Another thing that is less of a nit pick and more of an observation is that the lives system is completely inconsequential in this game. For every 100 bananas, you get a life, you know the drill. Bananas are so plentiful in this game that even factoring in the absurd amount of times you will be dying I only managed one game over the entire playthrough. In the event that you do run out of lives you can spend banana coins at Funky Kong's shop for lives as well. As there isn't much to in the shop that you really need my coins just kind of piled up and when I got my only game over I had enough to purchase 80 lives with change to spare. It's kind of silly when you think about it really.
Aesthetically this game is truly a wonderful experience. By the second world I was already wondering if there was an art book that I could purchase. There is so much detail going on in the foreground and the background it truly give a sense that each level is really alive. The enemies are so expressive and cartoony it just really added to the level of immersion in this game. It's odd that Nintendo seems to be the only company capable of using a color pallet other than grey and rust. Everything is just so vibrant and colorful. The level design is top notch and every level brings something new to the table. Something that I thought was really neat was certain worlds told stories through their environment as you progressed through them. It's a really novel concept that I'm sure has been done before, but it isn't very common. Music, again was excellent, the composer from the first three games was back and brought a variety of great new tracks as well as beautifully updated remixes to the table. I'd also like to point out that this game has some of the most memorable boss fights I've seen in a very long time. With those from worlds 2 and 5 being my favorite.
I think with that I have covered just about everything that I wanted to get at. Finally the Wii U is starting to add to it's absolutely barren library, but then again this was pretty much the case with the 3DS and look at how it's doing now. I'm sure in about a year or so we're going to see major titles coming out in fairly rapid succession. If you have a Wii U and can handle a bit of a challenge this game is most certainly a must have. I certainly enjoyed myself a great deal.
I think with that I have covered just about everything that I wanted to get at. Finally the Wii U is starting to add to it's absolutely barren library, but then again this was pretty much the case with the 3DS and look at how it's doing now. I'm sure in about a year or so we're going to see major titles coming out in fairly rapid succession. If you have a Wii U and can handle a bit of a challenge this game is most certainly a must have. I certainly enjoyed myself a great deal.
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