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Donkey Konga Review - Gamecube

I've played a lot of Donkey Konga. I've spent hours hammering my drums. I've mashed the bongos when a long pink bar came along to grab as many coins as I could. I've slowly progressed with the Gorilla songs, and completely floundered with the Jam modes. I've shamefully returned a broken bongo set to Blockbuster. Let me tell you, it's been one hell of a ride.

Actually, I lied. I didn't return a broken controller. The bongos are made of tough stuff. They really can take a hammering. I tried. Believe me. They feel solid, but are surprisingly light. It's very well made, and the microphone is great too. In the middle of the day, I could drum as loud as I wanted, but at night restraint is in order. Luckily, the drums can be lightly pushed, and the microphone could probably pick up the sound of a mosquito landing on it. But nothing beats the look on peoples' faces when you go out to buy a game and bring back a box.

I have to commend Nintendo on taking a chance with the bongo controller. They really took a risk, but luckily it paid off. They appear to be fully supporting the controller, with Donkey Konga 2 out in both the US and Japan, and Donkey Konga 3 is already out in Japan as well. Each version features a new list of songs and some minor graphical changes. On top of this, Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, a side-scrolling platformer is set to use the bongos, which will prove to be very interesting. But enough rambling.

For those of you who haven't heard anything about Donkey Konga, here's a basic explanation: It's a music game, where you drum along to beats scrolling across the screen on your revolutionary bongo controller. It's a bit out there, isn't it? I have to admit, I play a bit of music myself, so the idea appealed to me, but for most the title is one you'd initially think to miss.

Once you've made your way through the menus and got into a song, you'll need to (quickly) work out how to play. Notes scroll from the right to the left, rolling along barrels across the screen. When they reach a certain target on the line, you hit the drum. A yellow symbol indicates that you should smack the left hand drum, whereas a red symbol tells you to reach for the right bongo. In case you get muddle, the symbol is a full circle which is half coloured in the appropriate spot to help you out. A pink circle means to pummel both drums simultaneously, and the spiky/star thing means you have to clap (or tap the side of the bongos - the mic still picks it up). For each type of symbol, there is also a long bar of the same colour. When one of these appears, you need to furiously drum the appropriate bongo for the duration ... (continued next page)