Used Game Reviews: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

I hate to pay fifty bucks for a game that I'm going to play the hell out of for a week and then put on the shelf, so I try to buy a lot of used games. In a store-return store today I found a copy of a game I've been waiting to pick up: Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, a sidescrolling platformer that uses Nintendo's Bongo controllers to move the simian protaganist around. It's one of the three Gamecube games that use the aforementioned Bongo controllers, and any game with bongos is a friend of mine.



To be fair, I've only played the first two levels. I had to stop because I wanted to savor a pure gaming experience: the bongos are fantastic in this setting. They draw you into the game in the way a normal controller simply doesn't. The tactile feel of beating and claping to move Mr Kong draws me right in. Total and complete fun.

And now I have three sets of bongos. I still feel I need one more to really maximize bongo pleasure. I'm a sucker for "gimmick" controllers; I'm writing this sitting next to a pair of Samba de Amigo maracas. I've got to get the Dreamcast running on the projection tv...