Nintendo has just released the first Donkey Kong Land game on their Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy app. Let’s have a look!
Here’s what I thought of this game:
Game Boy App
| Game | Genre | # of Players | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donkey Kong Land | Platformer | 1 | C+ |
tl;drTaking most of its graphics (but not the level design) from Donkey Kong Country, they aren’t quite as impressive using the limited palette of the Game Boy Color. The more simple level design and slower pace also make this feel like an exercise in mediocrity. These days, if you want a handheld Donkey Kong Country, you don’t have to settle for this compromised derivative game. | |||
I previously reviewed this game last year on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, and you may notice I have slightly improved my review for this release. The reason is that this release is compatible with enhanced Game Boy Color graphics, which help to mitigate the indistinct monochrome visuals that were a problem in the original Game Boy release and the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console release.
Having said that, Donkey Kong Land still isn’t a great game, and it simply cannot compare with Donkey Kong Country. Which, as it happens, you can also play if you subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, via the Super Nintendo Entertainment System App. As such, I don’t see much reason to waste your time with this inferior game, except perhaps as a curiosity. Or, I guess, if you’ve already played through the entire SNES trilogy and are anxious to play another game that’s sorta’ similar to those.
tl;dr – The Game Boy app gets Donkey Kong Land, which is a worse, alternate take on Donkey Kong Country… which you can already play on the Nintendo Switch Online’s Super Nintendo Entertainment System App. So… there’s just not much reason to play this game, except as a curiosity.
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