| Handheld Game Reviews |
| Game Review: King Kong on DS - How Not To Make a Game |
| by Sean Rhodes |
The King Kong games on the consoles are pretty good. You'd expect a little bit of effort put into the DS title, but that doesn't happen. The success of the console versions cannot, unfortunately, be duplicated on the handheld. The least they could've done is given us a tuned down version of the console games, but the DS title is surprisingly too different from the console companion... and not in a good way.
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The console versiions of King Kong are stunning. Gorgeous graphics, wonderful gameplay and sound. The console versions had just about everything done right for them. The big question is, why couldn't the DS version get the same kind of treatment? once again, the handheld version of a game gets the short end of the stick. The difference is that the DS is capable of doing what the console versions can do. I suppose the developers just didn't want to put the time into it, and that's really sad because the Nintendo DS has recently shaped up into being a fantastic system.
The game's "cutsences" are shown in still shots, and that's pretty sad considering the DS has shown it is capable of full motion videos. There are few of these, and like the console versions, the game takes place on skull island. You'll control Jack, and you'll play through the depths of skull island in first person. You can also play as Kong, but unfortunately there aren't enough Kong levels.
First of all, the gameplay in this title is weak. Jack can only carry one weapon at a time. A gun or a spear. He doesn't use anything melee like, either and that sucks. Plus, for some odd reason, a spear is much more helpful in the game than any kind of gun.
That won't much matter though because the levels are strangely underpopulated. And when you do run into an enemy, it's nothing special. Maybe a bee or something, but hardly any of the raptors or big threats you'll run into on the console version.
The touch screen isn't helpful either. You can use it to make Jack look up or down or something, and it can be used exceptionally well. If there's a lever out of reach you can double tap it and one of his allies will come forth and push it for him. They don't really accompany you that much, but when they do you'll be happy they did.
Levels are too straightforward - and even when you do venture off onto a different path, you'll only find yourself backtracking (the only thing on these paths are items). It all boils down into Jack's levels being nothing but big long hallways. No real exploration is needed.
King Kong's levels aren't any better. They mostly consist of you having to swing and such, but it isn't done very well. You can't miss a jump, even if you try, and you can't fall off ledges or anything similar. It's a shame, really. This creates no challenge for Kong at all. His enemies, save for the T-Rex, are easily dispatched with no real effort. You have to wear the T-Rex down, but it isn't so hard. Sadly enough, Kong's levels may be the only good thing about this game (well, the only good bad thing). Even worse, there are only four levels where you play as Kong, and the game itself is seventeen levels long, which you will complete in about two hours or so - rather short.
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