Release Date: October 31, 1999
Publishers: Nintendo
Developers: Rare
System: N64
Rated: E

One of the best games on the N64 will now be reviewed by the Papermariofan himself. Even though this game is almost flawless, I will STILL review it. If you don't know by now, though I hope you're starting to catch on, 1-10 will be the grading scale for ya.

Gameplay: 10
The game is a 3D adventure with strong platforming links. Much of the gameplay involves collecting various items. I think it is the most "collecting-ist" game ever. Thematically, Donkey Kong 64 is most like the original Donkey Kong Country, with the pirate and sci-fi settings and themes of the second and third games being largely omitted. Unusual for its genre is the ability to buy and upgrade weapons for each character featured in this game. Players are able to fire both regular and homing ammo, and can throw orange grenades. These weapons are useful for defeating enemies and helping for solving certain puzzles, usually  involving switches. There are two unlockable arcade games, the original Donkey Kong and Jetpac. Completing Donkey Kong earns a special item you will need, and beating Jetpac earns another necessary special item. Anyway, you basically just collect items, and other things. You will go through levels and try to find every single Golden Banana in the game and every other item.

There is also a multiplayer mode. This can be played by up to 4 players at one time. It features 3 arenas (and one special one) and 6 gameplay modes. The 5 playable characters from the single-player adventure are also used in the multiplayer mode, along with one secret character. The game modes are Survival, where each player has a set amount of lives and play continues until all players but one have been eliminated, Coin Hoard, where each player must collect coins from set locations and the player with the most coins at the end of the time limit wins, Wins, which is similar to Survival except that winning is based upon scoring a set amount of kills, Timer, which is similar to Wins except instead of a set amount of kills a time limit is placed and the player with the most kills by the end of the match wins, Capture, in which a single coin is placed in the middle of the arena and the player who holds onto the coin the longest wins, and Capture Pads, where players must carry the coin over pads to gain points and the player with the most points wins.

That's about it for the gameplay, and I gave it a perfect score because there isn't much else to put in a game, is there?

Music: 9.5
The opening music in the game is called the DK Rap. It explains the five playable characters, which I will explain later on. Anyway, it does say sort of a curse word in it, but I assure you it's a very MINOR curse word. Other then the rap, the music was better than every other game except one I will review next week. It was amazing music, not forgettable, and one of a kind! Really, you can't ask for much better music, considering I played the game five years ago and I still remember every course music in the game.

Characters: 10
Excellent selection.

Donkey Kong: An ape who is the title character of the game, recognized by his red necktie and ability to talk like humans. Your average all-around character. His weapon is the Coconut Shooter, and his instrument is the Bongos. He collects yellow bananas in the 8 levels.

Diddy Kong: Donkey Kong's nephew, a monkey who wears a red hat and is very energetic. He can jump farther than Donkey Kong and is armed with a jetpack, but he is lacking in the strength department. His weapon is the Peanut Popgun, and his instrument is the Guitar.

Tiny Kong: A tailess monkey or chimpanzee who is the younger sister of Dixie Kong (DKC3). Her two ponytails allow her to float for a little while, much like Dixie (who has one long ponytail), and she can shrink in size to fit into places the other Kongs can't reach. Her weapon is the Feather Crossbow, and her instrument is the Saxophone. She collects violet bananas in the 8 levels.

Lanky Kong: A newcomer to the Donkey Kong series, an orangutan whose long arms allow him to handstand. He can also inflate himself to allow himself to float. His weapon is the Grape Shooter, and his instrument is the Trombone. He collects blue bananas in the 8 levels.

Chunky Kong: A strong yet cowardly gorilla who is the older brother of Kiddy Kong. The juggernaut of the Kong family, he is the strongest out of all the Kongs and can lift heavy objects, but he is slow and can't jump high. His weapon is the Pineapple Bazooka, and his instrument is the Triangle. He collects green bananas in the 8 levels. He is personally my favorite chracter in the game.

Rambi: A powerful rhinoceros. Donkey Kong can transform into him with a Rambi box.

Enguarde: A swift swordfish that Lanky can turn into with an Enguarde (derived from the French "en guarde") box.

You also have some more playables in the mini-games, plus one unlockable in the multiplayer mode. Now for the non-playables.

Cranky Kong: Cranky is either DK's father or grandfather (in this game, he refers to himself as DK's father) and Wrinkly's husband. He aids the playable characters by allowing them to purchase potions, which give them necessary abilities. If you give him 15 banana medals, he'll also let you play Jetpac on his computer.

Funky Kong: Funky is the large ape with a hat and vest. He provides the playable Kongs firepower in the form of guns that shoot various types of jungle-related items.

Candy Kong: Candy is DK's main love interest. She provides the playable Kongs with surprisingly destructive musical instruments, and also expands their collective life meter at specified points throughout the game.

King K. Rool: King K. Rool is DK's arch-nemesis. He plans to destroy DK Island with his new invention, the Blast-O-Matic. He becomes the final boss.

K. Lumsy: K. Lumsy was captured and imprisoned by K. Rool after disobeying his order to smash the DK Isles. K. Rool has ordered K. Lumsy to stay in his large and heavily locked cage until he decides to shape up and get smashing. Along the way, DK and his pals will run into him and help set him free.

Wrinkly Kong: Wrinkly is Cranky's wife and either DK's mother or grandmother. Wrinkly dies in the time between Donkey Kong Land 3 and Donkey Kong 64. In the latter game, she gives the Kongs hints about various level objectives.

Scoff n' Troff: Two creatures who are always hungry. Scoff is a hippopotamus, and Troff is a pig. One of them has eaten too much, and has bulked up beyond measure. The other wants to be as fat as the one that currently is, so he asks that you feed him. Feeding him enough bananas will cause him to grow twice as fat as the  other, after which he uses his mighty girth to boost the other one to a key for you. Their goal is to get as fat as they can, and they grow bigger in each new world.

Snide: Snide is a weasel who once worked as an engineer for King K. Rool until he got the boot from his boss. Snide has now decided to help the Kong family in their quest. Throughout the game, you can visit Snide's hideout and bring pieces of a blueprint of K. Rool's blast-o-matic. Once all of the pieces are in, you'll be rewarded.

I know this seems outrageously long for a character section, but there is variety in the game. They were perfect because there were some old ones and some new ones, and a variety of playable and non-playable characters alike. This was the reason for the perfect score.

Story: 9
One day Donkey Kong wakes up to find all of his Golden Bananas are missing. Now he must find all 201 of them. Also, all of his friends are kidnapped and he must save them too, while getting every item in the game on top of all that. Not too bad, but a little too short.

Items: 9.5
A HUGE variety here, such as coins, bananas, weapons, keys, fruits, pictures, blueprints, two secret items, two NES games, and more. You need bananas to fight bosses, keys of courses to unlock doors, and pictures of fairies to get a surprise at the end of the game. Fruits re the ammo for the weapons that you use, musical notes are instrument ammo that you use for certain things, and blueprints are needed actually beat the game. You play two NES games that I already mentioned to unlock two secret needed items to beat the game. Anyway, I think there's more too, but there is just so many. I didn't give it a ten because I thought Animal Crossing had the most items in a game ever.

Graphics: 10
Absolutely perfect for the N64. Well it is required to have the expansion pack, so that does help. Still, they look like GameCube graphics, and I think this game has better graphics then any other N64 game out there. Believe me, especially the levels and land. They are unbelievable.

Difficulty: 9
Wow, this is a hard game (the more difficult the better). Even if you are looking to beat the game without getting a 100% completion, it's still a challenge. All of the bosses are somewhat difficult (except for the first one), and the levels are intense to get all of the Golden Bananas. To get 100% completion in the game is nearly impossible without a walkthrough. I did beat this game without one, but it took me a month and a half to do it. Still, this will be a tough game, and  it's also a long one.

Controls: 3
Finally I found a negative side to the game. Now this does add difficulty to the game, trust me on this one. You use the C-buttons a lot, like hold Z and C-Left, hold Z and C-Right, etc. This is hard because before playing this game, I was used to never using the C buttons ever except for camera. That's another thing , too. The camera is awful. Yeah, the only thing easy in this game is jump is A, which makes things a lot easier, so there's your 3 points right there!

Originality: 9
There's not very many adventure games like this. You have to collect a HUGE variety of items (including some weird ones like instrument notes and blueprints), and this game is not like any other Donkey Kong game yet. Plus there are brand new characters added, too. This is the only Donkey Kong game ever with three or more playable characters. The only point taken off was because AGAIN K. Rool is the final boss. I'm starting to get sick of him in every DK game.

Secrets: 7
A good variety for an adventure game. You unlock items, one character, and some mini-games, and the ending is sweet. You'll see what I mean about the ending being sweet, it's different. Anyway, this is exceptional for an adventure game, really, and it's more than any other one I've played yet.

Replayability: 10
Do I need an explanation? Even after you beat the game, you'll still have to collect every item, Golden Banana, and anything else out there. I'm done.

Overall: 9.5
Nearly flawless, and I would still buy it for $60, honestly. I'd recommend this game to anyone in the world who loves games! (And doesn't have a busy schedule.) I'm done, and I don't need further explanation.