So do I. There really hasn't been a game in that style since Super Mario Sunshine (later Mario games went for a more linear style, less Super Mario 64 and more Super Mario 3D Land, not that that's a bad thing).
Well, some peoples are making Project Ukulele, a spiritual successor to games like Banjo Kazooie. http://www.playtonicgames.com/ Recently, they've even got the peoples behind the musics of the early DKC games (and Tropical Freeze) on board. Color me stokinated, but wow, lots of these "revival" projects afoot lately.
Yeah, I'm very interested in this game from the ex-Rare team. I really hope it's good, it's been a while since the 3d platformer genre faded... we might be just starting to see the genre come back now, and that'd be great. I still like them for sure!
On a collectathon note, I think that the only 3d platformer I collected every single one of the main Mario 64-star-style collectables in is Donkey Kong 64. I also got all the golden tickets in Goemon's Great Adventure, but that's mostly a 2.5d game, not 3d. Yeah, I really loved DK64. Amazing, amazing game. :)
I saw this news on facebook! I didn't hear that they're getting the same musical talent on board, that's an excellent bit of info. The music for DKC and B~K are some of the best, good enough for me to have downloaded the soundtracks. I still pop in B~K every now and then.
So psyched for Project Ukelele, but for the love of god, do not make it like DK64! Sorry ABF, but that game was atrocious. Strong word, but compared with how much I loved B~K and the DKCs, I can't help but be disappointed. Come to think of it, even B~T seemed to take a downward shift.
DK just laid on waayyyy too much collecting, and made it five times more tedious with five different characters. Ooh, look at that! I'm playing as Dixie but those bananas are green so I need to be... whoever. Thank god I can retread the same area I've already seen another 4 times, what's this thing you call overkill?
I think the game could have been more fun if you could switch characters at will. It's neat that they have different abilities, but I don't want to go around looking for character barrels like a chump. If that's not possible, for god's sake, make it so every character collects the same items!
Speaking of N64 platformers, Conker's Bad Fur Day was very good. Released at the sunset of the N64 years, it was practically a send-up of all the platformers before it. The final boss involves you grabbing an Alien and swinging him by the tail, much like you would Bowser in Mario 64.
Conker was clever in how well-designed its levels and gameplay were. It's linear, and instead of a mindless collect-a-thon, it brings intuitive gameplay to the table. For instance, one level has you pushing a tired soldier through a battlefield of mines. Another has you flying as a bat it a Dracula-themed castle, dropping poop bombs on villagers, then transporting them to a meat-grinder.
The game not only functioned as a competent platformer, but had shooting and racing portions as well. The game never made you feel bored, there was always something new to try.
I beat it again recently, and was going to write about it here, but I guess I couldn't find enough to say. It's only drawback are its clunky controls, which, at times, feel like they hobble you as a player. Why's Conker so slow to aim, whyyyyyy. I do like that the game is a challenge (more like a bastard), I spent a lot of time swearing at the screen and asking myself what kind of a fucking moron would derive pleasure from playing this piece of shit.
I just played some DK64 again, and that game is so, SO incredibly good! Amazing graphics, amazing music, fantastic controls, so much variety, outstanding level designs, it's got it all. It rewards exploration better than most games. I love it so much, it's easily one of the best 3d platformers ever, and it's one of Rare's best N64 games too; really, it has to be either DK64 or Blast Corps, no question. I've been disappointed for a long time that the Donkey Kong series never again attempted something remotely like it, the series peaked in the '90s and hasn't recovered from losing Rare. Retro's two DKCR games are awesome, but I want a 3d platformer too!
True, though Conker isn't exactly a collect-a-thon. It's more of a linear experience. I need to get around to beating it myself at some point. I'm actually stuck, like Zelda stuck, in that I have no idea where the game expects me to go.
I do understand your complaints about DK64. It may have been better if coins and bananas, at least, could be picked up by anyone. Being able to switch characters on the fly would have been a good compromise too. I accepted what I was given and enjoyed the experience, but I can see why people might call it tedious.
My DK64 file is at 101% in a bit under 65 hours, so the game isn't THAT long... but I loved the game and I wish there was more of it, so don't ask me about why people dislike DK64. :p
65 hours of one of the N64's better games, you mean. I'm thinking about playing it again, it's been a long time and it's still really great...
As for Conker, yeah, I didn't finish it either, lost interest part way through. It's good, but I don't really like its style of humor for the most part, and as a platformer I think Rare did a better job with open 3d platformers (Banjo, DK64) than Conker's simpler linear design. You can make a great linear 3d platformer -- Rayman 2 is entirely linear and I absolutely love it, after all -- but I like Rayman 2 more than Conker for sure.
Yeah, Conker's not exactly my favorite humor style either. What is it with Berry looking so human shaped but Conker still gets to look like a cartoon? Hmm? What's up with that? Nevertheless, I can't argue that it's a great looking game and it's got good game design. It's just that, for me, the comedy felt like a slog more than a joy.
I liked Conkers humor when I was 17 and thought it was edgy, but it's pretty eh these days. DJ if you ever pop it back in, go to the top of the windmill and see if you can ride the barrel guy down. If you need more money, look for it on top of poo mountain.
Wait, that's what that is?! I thought it was mud! ... Well "night soil" I guess.
Here's a tidbit about DK64. Remember how it was such a big deal it had the expansion pak and everything? Nintendo went on and on about how DK64 just wouldn't work without it. Well, later games actually did take advantage of it (like Majora's Mask) but it's been revealed that DK64 actually did NOT take any real advantage of that extra memory. In a way, this makes sense, considering how poor things like draw distance were in that game (BT, which didn't use the expansion pack, had much farther draw distance). Why did it absolutely need the expansion pak, to the point where it was Nintendo's choice as the game the extra hardware would be included in? It was to fix a bug... Yeah, that's basically it. There was a game killing bug that would occasionally lock up the game, and the only workable fix Rare was able to find in time for the game's release was to use the expansion pak. Kinda disappointing, isn't it?
It's funny, since the ol' debate threads here about DK64 vs BK, I've talked to many other Rare fans over the years. When I can get it out of them, it really does seem like personal preference lies, mostly, along the lines of which one they played first. ABF and I both played DK64 first, and so we end up really loving the game. Those who played BK first tend to like that one best. I can totally see that. The complaints are legit I think, but I didn't see them as flaws when I first played it. For me, and many others, it wasn't a comparison to BK so much as a comparison to Mario 64. When you compare along those lines, DK64 does come away as a very good game going it's own way.
Now, as the years have gone by and I've had time to play BK and BT a few times (as well as their 360 ports), I can safely say I don't consider DK64 a better game than either. I think at this point I might in fact put BK (original) as the best of the bunch. However, I've never once hated DK64. I still consider it a very well made game, and I'm not sure I'll ever change my mind on that.
One thing's for true, the newer generation of gamers don't seem to like any of them. Weird, but I think maybe it comes from them having started with modern and more refined platformers. All they see when they play the old ones is what they don't have, the lack of features modern 3D platformers take for granted. The common refrain you might here is "Why do I have limited lives? That's stupid!". As I get older, it becomes clear that most new kids claiming to like the old games are going to be like us as kids claiming to like old movies. That is, just parroting what we think will make us look "mature".
I backed the kickstarter of A Hat in Time. Looks like it could be good, and it is getting closer. There have been several more somewhat similar announcements since, mostly kickstarter stuff. It's definitely nice to see indie games get to the point where they're making 3d platformers! There have been so many indie 2d platformers, it's fantastic that they have moved to 3d as well now. Major publishers sure aren't making many 3d platformers, so there's a definite place for them.
Dark Jaguar Wrote:Here's a tidbit about DK64. Remember how it was such a big deal it had the expansion pak and everything? Nintendo went on and on about how DK64 just wouldn't work without it. Well, later games actually did take advantage of it (like Majora's Mask) but it's been revealed that DK64 actually did NOT take any real advantage of that extra memory. In a way, this makes sense, considering how poor things like draw distance were in that game (BT, which didn't use the expansion pack, had much farther draw distance). Why did it absolutely need the expansion pak, to the point where it was Nintendo's choice as the game the extra hardware would be included in? It was to fix a bug... Yeah, that's basically it. There was a game killing bug that would occasionally lock up the game, and the only workable fix Rare was able to find in time for the game's release was to use the expansion pak. Kinda disappointing, isn't it?
I still wish that B-T and Conker had supported the expansion pak. There has to be a reason why those games have worse, less consistent framerates than DK64...
And also, sure it was supposedly "just a memory leak" or something like that, but it's got to have been a bad one given all the additional RAM needed. And I also wonder, once they did go with the expansion pak, did they boost up anything else graphically once that they knew they had the additional RAM?
Quote: Now, as the years have gone by and I've had time to play BK and BT a few times (as well as their 360 ports), I can safely say I don't consider DK64 a better game than either. I think at this point I might in fact put BK (original) as the best of the bunch. However, I've never once hated DK64. I still consider it a very well made game, and I'm not sure I'll ever change my mind on that.
My opinion on this one hasn't changed, DK64 is by a good margin the best Rare 3d platformer in my book. The others are great games too, but DK64 is better.
You misunderstand. The expansion pak wasn't built for DK64. It was already being made. They tossed support for it into DK64 as an afterthought of sorts, to see if it could fix the bug. It's a weird one, something to do with how the game handles RAM, but it doesn't really even use that additional RAM.
GR, I've now got yet another new game to add to my list of "must haves". Good find.
It looks like a Rare-esque 3d platformer, alright. The chameleon character reminds me of Chameleon Twist, I wonder if you'll have some kind of tongue attack... I know, that's not a Rare game, but it makes me think of that. Anyway, it looks great, and it's pretty awesome that the game has already reached $1.8 million of funding in something like a day and a half. There have been some other indie 3d platformers in the last year or so, but this one is another great sign that people do still want 3d platformers, if developers still made them!
So yeah, the great success of this kickstarter is fantastic, and I just hope the game is as great as it looks like it could be. I love 3d platformers and love Rare's games of course, so I'll almost certainly be backing this one.
I'm psyched! Banjo Kazooie was one of the best platforms of the 90s. Rare never quite did as well with B~T and DK64. Here's hoping a return to good form.
I mentioned in the other thread my issues with them getting outside money, but beyond that (and maybe this game has less than Iga's?), I wanted to see a stretch goal for this game that'd add a world -- there are apparently only going to be five, which isn't many, most 3d platformers had/have at least eight. It's too bad that didn't happen, unless the "get DLC free" one includes that, but they haven't said anything about what that would be.