The History of Donkey Kong 64 | VideoGameDocs
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 8 พ.ค. 2024
- By 1996, Donkey Kong had become a household name once again with the Donkey Kong Country series of games. Releasing 3 games over 3 years, the Donkey Kong Country games pushed the limits of graphics technology on the SNES, and platformers themselves at the time of release.
With the emergence of the 3D era and their experience with the Nintendo 64, Rare would release one more mainline Donkey Kong game before they were bought out by Microsoft in 2002, that game would be Donkey Kong 64.
Today on VideoGameDocs we'll be taking a look at the development, release, reception and legacy of Donkey Kong 64 (1999) for the Nintendo 64.
My Website: www.videogamedocs.com
Socials: linktr.ee/VideoGameDocs
Merch: my-store-be2955.creator-sprin...
Support me on Patreon: www.patreon.com/VideoGameDocs39
Crystal Caves Remix by Grant Kirkhope
Special Thanks to:
Grant Kirkhope and Mark Stevenson for talking to me about the game
My super supportive, beautiful, loving wife
My parents
My brother and sister-in-law
My buddies from the Discord
JJJReact
and you :)
0:00 - Intro
02:39 - Part 1: The Formation of Rareware
08:17 - Part 2: Furthering the 3D Revolution
27:27 - Part 3: Highly Anticipated Monkey Business
32:44 - Part 4: The King of Swing Hits Store Shelves
37:28 - Part 5: If You Know The Words You Can Join In Too!
39:55 - Part 6: Rare Did it Again
43:00 - Part 7: A True 3D Revolution?
46:54 - Conclusion: - เกม
Donkey Kong 64 split screen multiplayer at my neighbor's house got hella intense.
That was my first gaming experience at my cousins house
Sure did man. We had friends over one time, and the sister got so mad at her brother every time he would go to the top level for health!
I don't know why nobody ever talks about the multi-player feature in this game. I remember playing it with my cousins as a kid, it was amazing.
Diddy all the way
Same
Nowadays they call it a collect-a-thon, back in my day this was open-world!
Wasn't open world in the 90's either, bud. Sorry to disappoint you but open world games like Daggerfall were out a good while before this game was even conceptualized.
It's easy to feel that way, though: don't get me wrong. If you were gaming on the N64 you were part of an extremely small part of the market. There's a reason why Nintendo ditched the N64 (and subsequently the gamecube) so fast: both were massive commercial failures despite the critical acclaim some of the games had.
@CaptainSkuzzy Thanks CaptainPretentious. You really schooled me. Daggerfall was a niche game for it's time and it's open world was experimental and pretty barren. Not to mention DK64 outsold it by...over 5 million copies? So which was the smaller market again?
Edit: Also the N64 being an extremely small part of the market? That's laughable. It was the 2nd highest selling console after the Playstation. It was by no means a failure. They were everywhere. Sure it didn't sell as much as the SNES but you're acting like the 64 was the Sega Saturn.
"We all love to hate." I don't hate it...
Me neither
37:31 the fact one of the leads on this project made this rap himself gives such english teacher energy i fucking love it
People only hate DK64 now because there's too much to play. Back then though? Having a game with this much content was absolutely amazing, even if it was repetitive. When you only got maybe 1 game a month if you were lucky, this was an excellent purchase.
I remember enjoying it as a kid. It was it good game. Granted it was never as good as games like Mario 64, Ocarina of Time, Star Fox, Mario Kart, and a few other games, but it was still fun. Not nearly as bad as people say it was today.
I only ever got games on my birthday, and Christmas. I would replay the games over and over anyways making it last all year, I sure as hell wasn’t complaining about more to do. Complaining about too much content is a terrible argument in my eyes. It’s like complaining that you got too much candy for Halloween. Sure, there’s raisins in there, but candy is candy! You don’t have to eat it!
@@LimeAtions I think it's mostly because reviewers don't have the time to waste clearing all the extra stuff so more things that you need to do before seeing credits only makes them angry.
I dunno, games that cheap out by having you repeat what you've already done doesn't make a good game especially when prior works in the same series didn't do that.
But hey, Halo did the same thing and only had a small handful of enemies and people love that game so I guess the point doesn't stand. 😂
@@orangejjaythe difference with Halo is the repetitive game play loop is fun every time.
DK64 wasn't and I love collecathons.
DK64 had a lot of redundant backtracking that had no reasoning behind it but "wrong kong because we said so"
Thank you for making a positive video about a great game. People never take into consideration when games were developed. I’ve never had a gripe with this game or Mario Sunshine, people just hate what they missed out on.
000::,-8
I can’t believe people had a problem with TOO many collectibles, I’ve beat this game 3-5 times over now and I always go for 100% completion and I have a ton of fun with it
It's quite popular to hate on collectables nowadays as it's seen as an added time waste with no purpose but I agree that I actually love a lot of collectables in older games. Why? Mostly because the gameplay back then was actually fun to jump/move around.
@@Murasame right, yeah it gave you extra to do and more time on the game it was so much fun
It is very Hypocritical of people to complain about to many collectables as if a game or collect-o-thon doesn't have enough stuff to do people will whine about it and what's even funnier is how games like Mario Odyssey are praised and they have so many collectables, a true example of herd behavior.
Compared to how games these days feel like actual work with all their chores, fetch quests and back tracking... DK64 is a good game.
I agree with all of you, glad there’s a fanbase I’ve 101%’d twice on the 64 and I’m on the 3rd round via Emulation. The game is a gem and it gave me so much to do as a kid. It has a special place in my Mount Rushmore of games
I grew up with DK 64 and it is still one of my favorite platformers to this day. I honestly can't understand why people would hate the DK rap, I still love it to this day. It's so charming.
Jak and Daxter 1 is surely a collectathon, as was Ty the tasmanian tiger in 2003. Other than that yep, DK64 was one of the last swan songs.
I loved this game, more than Banjo even. Nowadays it may show its age, but Its truly the ultimate collectathon.
I loved this game as a kid
The intro with the pull out to your room and the screen change. Thats 100k+ sub tier.
FYI: The same people who composed the DK Rap composed the rap in Yooka-Laylee. Which sounds the same but with different lyrics.
I remember how excited I was for this game, after playing games like Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros, I was wondering why Donkey Kong didn't have a mainline game on the N64 after having some really good games on the Super Nintendo, so when this game came out, I instantly loved it and I still do
I love DK 64, I don’t mind back tracking and collecting things though.
Miyamoto freaking out about the gun was hilarious
I would trust the DK crew with my life (excellent video once again buddy!)
You and me both!
that tiny zenith TV in the intro brought back crazy memories
*My* main complaint isn't really the excessive collectables (although it's also a problem), but the controls, the camera, and the difficulty spikes. There is so much of this game that I feel went untested, like some of the mini-games
I started working at Best Buy in November 2001, and I remember they were phasing out N64 and we had dozens of copies of this game on the racks 😂 I’ve never played it to this day.
ive never had the chance to play this game when i was a kid, i remembered my dad rent it for me on blockbuster , he brought the game, pop it up and saw the message it needed the expansion pack, after that never saw it again until last friday, my friend gave me his n64 i bought the expansion pack and the game.
Its been such a amazing journey so far with the game, i discovered myself all the things i saw in this video “backtrack and collectibles” personally dont have any problems with it, its a great game 10/10
That's because you just have shit taste.
I don't care what anybody says, I love this game and the amount of collectibles. I feel the hate for this game negatively impacted Banjo-Tooie and there wasn't enough to collect in that game.
Im happy my parents contributed to the profits this game made. I got this for Christmas 1999 and I loved it alot.
RIP Mom and Dad, thanks for spoiling me and your love. 💝
Good video! Glad I found the channel
I think it’s time for Nintendo to try and make a new 3D DK game. It’s been almost 25 years, it couldn’t hurt
I still remember having this game on Christmas Day 1999. I admit that I have some criticisms of this game, mainly the beaver minigame, the rematch with the detestable beetle from Crystal Caves, and the whole Fungi Forest level. However, I still have fond memories of when I first bought it, especially around the same time that the VHS copy of Disney's Tarzan was released. Also, I didn't know DK Rap was so hateful back then. I think it was catchy.
Finally got around to watching this, nice work man!
I’ve never played DK64 personally since I never owned an N64 when I was younger, but it’s crazy how divisive this game’s legacy and reception has become years later. It’s a really fascinating story and really portrays just how bumpy and chaotic game development projects were back then.
Keep up the good work my friend!
No matter what,
I really like this game. I play it once per year!
I love its charm, atmosphere and levels
45:36 Yess that is what i want being able to collect any banana with any kong it would really help
Still love the game though.
Would be a massive time save haha. And there are so many other collectibles you need the specific Kongs for so I think it would've been a fine change.
Great video man! Respect subscribed and liked! Conclusion was amazing! Perfect music for the end! Love this game and the memories. Childhood. When you turned thw tv off and the picture at the end made me emotional! Thank you! 🙏🏽
That was a really nice video. Thanks for making it.
I really enjoyed this video and when I went to subscribe I was shocked to see it didn’t have at least 100k. You definitely deserve more attention for all the work you put in.
Excellent narration and video! Awesome to learn more about DK64.
Good stuff! An in-depth and very professional documentary.
Thank you for the kind words! I strive to do both😊
This was really good. Glad i found your channel
I still remember renting this game at my local video store, this game was tough haha
This is so well done. Subbed.
Damn, such happy memories of my Nintendo 64. They were 'so' good on the 64 that any Rare game release became event.
I strongly defend the multi-colored bananas as integral to the multi-character game and as a key differentiator of the game v.s. other 3D adventure games. It doesn't work without them. When I look back on the Rare games, I am continually impressed and grateful for their depth. When you're a kid stuck in the endless grind of school... these games are your world. The deeper they are, the more you feel like you actually experienced/ accomplished something.
Great vid. Thanks for making it.
Great job this was very extensive!
Still my fav game of all time. Incredible video, you’ve gained a subscriber for life 🖤
Love this doc on this, one of the absolute favorites for the system. I hope we get a potential remaster someday.
Nostalgia hittin tonight
the coconut gun incident is hilarious hahaha
Fantastic video! I love DK64. You can throw myriads of collectibles at me and I'll happily get them all. :3
DK Rap was the first song I completely memorized and I wouldn't have it any other way
There was a short while where I imagined an alternate DK64 that was a simple 2.5D platformer with DK and Diddy, but I had no idea that was the actual original pitch for the game. Nonetheless, I like to think of DK64 as the middle child in a trilogy of N64 Rare platformers sandwiched between the Banjo games. It's rushed and messy development had lead the game into becoming memorable for all the wrong reasons and is endlessly fascinating as a result.
WOW this was such a great video!
I was 14 when this came out and I loved it. I didn't mind the collectibles, N64 games were the same price then as games are now so I'd only get one every few months, collecting bananas definitely got my money's worth. Great doc
I would like to see a future Donkey Kong game that is akin to Crash or Spyro. Also, it would be awesome if we ever get a "Donkey Kong Mania", a game that looks like the old 16 bit platformers.
I'm stuck between wanting a sequel to DK64 and wanting a level based, Donkey Kong game. Tropical Freeze and Returns were fantastic games, but DK64 has such potential.
Thorough and informative! Thanks for another great video : )
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it :)
It’s amazing how many reviewers and TH-camrs hated this game but I LOVED it including the DK Rap. This was also the time I stopped subscribing to Nintendo Power and strictly stuck with EGM, so I didn’t really hear about Banjo Kazooie and I also never got it! Had I bought that too… it may have been a completely different story 😂Great video!! 💪👍🤘
Really really well researched and nicely put together doc. Nice pacinging and wrap up of themes and the idea. Very cool.
Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the comment!
Ah, your preview from before is your videos intro. Well it certainly works for that result and it's nice that you shift rather smoothly to a brief history of Donkey Kong overall.
1:13 - Wait, it was over 10 years between Donkey Kong 3 and DK's next big game? I guess it was all the ports and guest appearances that kept him in the public eye, because in watching other retrospects, you wouldn't think DK had been gone that long.
2:28 - This 2.5D origin of Donkey Kong 64 is new news to me. Probably not the most surprising of starts but an interesting one to hear.
4:18 - Rare had a studio over in America? That I did not know. Given how early Nintendo and Rare had a business relationship, it's rather surprising how long it for Nintendo to set up a Nintendo of Europe (an that they chose to set it up in Germany over the UK).
9:12 - So it was mostly the same people who worked on DKC3 that started immediately working on DKC4. Sounds like they weren't getting much in the way of breaks from working on the series. I've heard of no complaints about their DKC dedication but I've heard stories of other developers being burnt out from working on the same series back-to-back (Tomb Raider comes to mind).
9:49 - That's a long time for active development and for nothing visually to have surfaced about this 2.5D version. The split path thing described... I think Yoshi's Story did that.
13:52 - Wouldn't a video on the history of an N64 game without a mention of the 64DD. Funny to think that this is a rare occurrence of game not being planned for the 64DD.
16:59 - Oh gosh; that certainly was a mistake to say. To think this one comment here is potentially why Donkey Kong 64 is so divisive to this day.
21:48 - Ah yes, so a lot of bedroom coders who grew up with the Spectrums and Commodore 64's. That makes sense given the British gaming scene and it's nice to hear a story where such developers continued into game development. A lot of the tales I hear from Retro Gamer paint a lot of such game makers as solo developers who struggled to adjust to developing games as a team and so left game making.
25:26 - Wonderful that we even have the visual footage of that here. The Coconut Gun Incident is hilarious to be told each and every time.
27:02 - What do you know; the thing I mentioned earlier about Yoshi's Story did get brought up. That's cool. I remember hearing at one point that Nintendo were interested in having some 2D games on the N64, as the N64 does have something dedicate to it (can't recall if this was in terms of the system's internals or as part of it's development kit), so I don't think they would reject Rare's initial idea of a 2.5D DK game.
29:25 - Happy to hear I'm not the only one who thought this depiction of DK was terrifying.
32:28 - Whoa; that's a lot of confidence in Donkey Kong 64 there. Delaying a Pokémon game in favour of Donkey Kong would be unheard of these days.
34:40 - An interesting thing about the whole tag-barrel thing is that the earlier releasing Mystical Ninja Goemon managed character swapping on the fly. It's surprising that the talented developers of Rare didn't quite manage the same, or perhaps the abundance of character specific collectables that would have to be loaded each time prevented such a mechanic.
38:37 - This is astounding to hear because I loved the DK Rap from day one. I'm not a fan of raps but the DK rap was memorable and funny, with the entertaining on-screen visuals enhancing it.
43:33 - If DK had an identity during this time, then it was drums. Those Kongo-Bongos even carried through into his Wii outings like Donkey Kong Barrel Blast and his final smash in Brawl.
47:14 - I think it being a 2.5D game could have helped it stave off some of the anti-2D thinking that was going about at the time and would also help it stand out amongst the open 3D platformers on the N64. I don't recall Kirby and the Crystal Shards having much criticism for being 2.5D. In any case, the bigger fix to DK64's reception is a retrospective one, as it did well at the time. The "too many collectable" issues is more of a problem that people hold against the game looking back on it, though it's a very understandable issue to have. Fantastic video by the way! An informative documentary on the game and nicely summarised in under an hour.
We would play the beaver-butting mini-game for hours - quick quick get the golden beaver!
I didn't hate DK 64, it was great, it was the cream the la crop, the creme de la creme of N64 games and I loved the collectathon aspect cuz that was what made the game fun. It bothers me greatly that others complain about this aspect but then again, people have bad taste also complained about the Star Wars prequel trilogy or The Hobbit trilogy (both were equaliy good of the original trilogy). The only things that bothered me about the game was the two jet pack battel challenges due to the controls of the jet pack barrels, as well as the last two Beaver Bother games were frustratingly hard that you had to do them again and again before you could win those.
Amazing vid. Thank you!
It’s time for another 3D DK game. Hopefully Nintendo can deliver something to the DK fans.
One of my most formulative games(and honestly life experiences). This game instilled a love of exploration and adventure that permiates my life to this day. There's always some quirky thing or neat location to find irl and dk64 really made me appreciate it to this day. I adore this game, even in if I never beat it. It was one of the first times I felt like I had a true sandbox to explore and play with. Love this game.
Go back and beat it! :)
Where did you get stuck?
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR THIS BRO
Favorite game of all time
This has to be one of the most underrated channels in all of TH-cam
Thank you! I agree haha
Great history lesson on one of my favorite games as a kid 👏
This game didn’t fair well at the time because it came in closer to the end of the N64’s life in my opinion. But at the time, for the price; it was nice to have a game offer so much. Compared to most games now, it has a ton of replay value. Solving puzzles and collecting all the collectibles. It was nice. I remember getting it in 2000-2001 after begging my dad to get me a N64 after he just got me a ps2. He didn’t understand why I wanted to go backwards, but it was for this game alone. And then that sprouted into a major love for n64 games.
Great video thank you
Remember that recently there was a rumor that switch 2 is gonna get a open world DK game.
They've been rumoring stuff like that for years now I don't buy it
1 minute in....
HEY!! I was watching that
I love DK64. Maybe that’s pure nostalgia.
Just found your channel! Will subscribe 🎉
One of the best games I've played on the N64. Alongside Majora's Mask, good times.
Fantastic! another quality video! :)
Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers!
Great video.
Ditto 💯
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
I sure had fun with the game back in the days, sure got stuck on donkey kong arcade game. sometimes I just enjoyed the world ambiance and the music before continueing progress.
Quality content!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it :)
I still don’t understand why Nintendo hasn’t ported this !?
Another banger
I wish they would make another true 3D donkey Kong like this.
Thank God kirkhope is a programmer and not a narrator 😂 (just joking around) rare was the big dog in the N64 days ♥️
Wasn't Iwata president of HAL Laboratory at the time? Why would he be checking up on DK64?
He was busy programming the Kanto region into Pokémon Gold and Silver around DK64's development time no less.
If you were to create a playlist with as many songs as this game has collectables, what albums/soundtracks would it have?
It was and still is a fantastic game!
17k collectibles LFGGGGG
It's unfortunate Rare was purchased by Microsoft. I've always wanted a port of DK64 to the Switch.
I think it's fair to say that back then most of us only got one big game a year, if that! Dk64 being the size it is was a joy, it meant you'd spend all your afternoons with that game for a long while.
I can only see complainers being spoiled brats.
what's the crt model from the intro?
I wish we got the 2.5D version of DK64 instead. DK64 is cool but it undoubtedly would've been a better game tbh.
DK64 was a huge mistake. I feel like Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Donkey Kong 64 are the same game split into three. Back in the da Id have given my soul to have DKC4 on the N64. I hope someday they leak at least a few screenshots of it.
This channel is criminally underrated!! Great documentary!
I would really love some sort of early build of the game to release, or like you said screenshots at the very least. I personally enjoy DK64 a lot, but I feel like having a 2.5D game from Rare to give some variety would've been nice.
Thank you for the kind words! Very glad you enjoyed it :)
So what if there’s too many collectibles. You don’t have to get it all. Not everyone is a completionist. The game has so much charm and is incredibly fun. I don’t get the hate. I had so much fun growing up with this game. Spent so many hours figuring it out. I found this one to be way more fun than Mario 64 and on par/ slightly better than banjo
DK64 is similar to a game like Super Mario Sunshine, where it's actually better if you don't try and 100% complete the game.
I actually had a blast completing mario sunshine (although I had to use a guide for some of those blue coins)
Ink ribbon
Phenominal work here. Subbed.
27:17
OH DAMN THAT IS TERRIFYING
30:00 HOLY SHIT IS THAT BETA MAD JACK???
as a european iam so jealous of this yellow cardridge
@18:57 someone want to tell me what language this guy is speaking?
I don’t mind dk64 but half way through the game it becomes clear this game is stretched out.
"super mario rpg 2 and super mario 64 2" what a load of shit @ 28:11
Unimaginative? I wouldn't say that, it's personal preference. Banjo may have been similar, both games were of there own. The biggest issue was the N64 itself because theur was only so much you could do with a 3D platformer. 3D games were in there infancy bask then, they were ugly apl of them. But they had a beauty about them to..
"mom i threw up"
It not being named Donkey Kong Country 64 should have been the first warning sign. The god awful intro song should have made you panic. Remember the Yoshis Story fiasco and its horrible song?
?? The intro song was legendary! So catchy and meme worthy. The overall soundtrack is incredible.
It’s still a good game. I’ve only first played it this year and it’s super over hated
Kirkhope accent is horrible, i didnt understand shit