Donkey Kong – Tales From The Backlog

2021 Lightning Prediction Round (Anniversary Edition)

January 25, 2021DaNamesX1 Comment

Last year I wrote a post with my wild ideas and predictions of what I would be playing in 2020. Out of the 13 games that I mentioned I have played 3, own one that I haven’t played yet, didn’t pick up one of them, will be playing two this year, and still dreaming about the rest. I wanted to come up with another post similar with my wild ideas, but didn’t know where to start. Lucky for me, there are a butt ton of anniversaries this year. So I want to do a sort of “lightning round” event where I come up with a realistic idea on what we could get, and then a fantasy that would be cool to see. If any of these things do come true, you heard it hear first!

Anniversary Lightning Round

Donkey Kong (40 Years)

Realistic: I’m not sure. Nintendo has kinda let Donkey Kong do his own thing Mario spinoff games outside the Country series. If we do get anything, it will be a surprise to me. Maybe a Game & Watch with the original Donkey Kong on it.

Fantasy: Funky Kong mode enable for all of 2021.

The Legend of Zelda (35 Years)

Realistic: Nintendo is going to try to push out Breath of the Wild 2 this year. I have no doubt we will get it this year (maybe).

Fantasy: A situation like the Mario 3D All-Stars, but it has the GameCube versions of Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Four Swords. Bonus points for me if an Oracle Duology ever happens.

Metroid (35 Years)

Realistic: Eh… A lot of people are hoping for Metroid Prime Trilogy on Switch to keep them fed until Prime 4 comes out, but I’m in the kiddie pool on this for now.

Fantasy: Metroid Prime Trilogy for Switch OR Metroid Prime Pinball DX

Dragon Quest (35 Years)

Realistic: They just finished porting XI to all consoles. Unless they can put it on smartphones, I don’t think Square will do much.

Fantasy: DQ9 on Switch and PS4/5 wouldn’t be a bad deal (do NOT do it dirty like you did with Crystal Chronicles)

Castlevania (35 Years)

Realistic: I would make a joke, but Konami has released the older game to current gen consoles. That alone is a miracle no one saw coming.

Fantasy: You know what hasn’t been rereleased though? The N64 games. Do it you cowards!

Kid Icarus (35 Years)

Realistic: There haven’t been any news or rumors about a new Kid Icarus. Don’t hold your breath for anything.

Fantasy: If there is a new Kid Icarus game then it will be a surprise for all. I still need to play Uprising at some point.

Sonic the Hedgehog (30 Years)

Realistic: Sega has reassured us that Sonic’s 30th will have a lot for the blue blur. Sega has been pretty good at listening to their player base and delivering games that they want to play with mixed results. Expect a new 3D game and maybe that Adventure remake.

Fantasy: Look. All I want is Generations 2 with at least 2-3 stages from each mainline game. I will eat that for breakfast everyday.

F-Zero (30 Years)

Realistic: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Fantasy: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH

Civilization (30 Years)

Realistic: Firaxis already has a road map currently for Civ 6. We might get another cool attempt of a spinoff like Beyond Earth, but I don’t see that happening.

Fantasy: Speaking of fantasy, how cool would a fantasy civilization game be? You can pick a different fantasy race with special perks and everything. If this game already exists, please let me know.

Pokémon (25 Years)

Realistic: The Pokemon Company is already on the move with their announcements. There was a trailer for the 25th anniversary as well as a trailer and release date for New Pokemon Snap. I’m sure they have a lot more in store for the rest of the year. On a side note, it is also the 15th anniversary of Diamond & Pearl, so get your expectation hats on.

Fantasy: If I could ask for one thing, it would probably be a new Pokemon Pinball game or rerelease. Those games rule!

Resident Evil (25 Years)

Realistic: Resident Evil 8 is coming out this year. Outside of that will be a treat for fans.

Fantasy: A Resident Evil game from the perspective of a mutant. Instead of fighting, you have to avoid people trying to kill you while you try and find a cure for yourself. Along the way silly things happen to make you evolve and more of a threat to the people hunting you. Done right, it could be better than all the multiplayer games they’ve tried.

Crash Bandicoot (25 Years)

Realistic: Crash seems to have been fully revived now. We just got Crash 4 last year, so maybe some DLC will come to say that they did something.

Fantasy: Crash, Mario, and Sonic at Wrestlemania (Shut up. I know you would play it)

Persona (25 Years)

Realistic: Atlus shocked us with Persona 5 for their 20th anniversary. It feels too soon for a Persona 6 since they are not done yet milking all they can from 5. The rest of the world is getting Persona 5 Strikers, but sadly that is nothing new. Atlus has said that they are working on something, so we will see.

Fantasy: Bring Persona 1-3 to PC. I’ll buy them like 4 Golden and then not play it, but I’ll buy it!

Super Mario RPG (25 Years)

Realistic: See F-Zero

Fantasy: Mallow for Smash

Tomb Raider (25 Years)

Realistic: It has been some time since Lara’s last adventure in 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider. I have no clue what’s in store for the capable adventurer, but an adventure in 2021 may be unwise due to the pandemic.

Fantasy: A point and click adventure style Tomb Raider game. It may not be what the core audience wants, but I think it would be a nice change of pace until the next blockbuster hit.

Nintendo 64 (25 Years)

Realistic: Nothing. If Nintendo did anything it would come as a surprise for both us and them.

Fantasy: A N64 mini or start releasing N64 games on the Switch Online Service. As long as it has Star Fox 64 I’m good.

Halo (20 Years)

Realistic: Halo Infinite would have been nice, but the title also indicates how long you will have to wait for it. The Master Chief Collection was completed last year, so if anything you may see rereleases on the Xbox Series X.

Fantasy: Halo Battle Royal (Shut up. You would play it)

Devil May Cry (20 Years)

Realistic: Nothing foreseeable. DMC V was recently ported to PS5, so nothing special that I can tell.

Fantasy: DMC X Resident Evil. DMC started off as a Resident Evil game, so bring back the concept and see what happens.

Advance Wars (20 Years)

Realistic: Why do I hurt myself so much? War never ends, but Advance Wars ended in 2008 and it would take discovering oil in Switch games to bring it back.

Fantasy: At least Advance Wars 1, 2, & Dual Strike collection….

Golden Sun (20 Years)

Realistic: On the subject of pain.

Fantasy: Filling in the cliffhanger from Dark Dawn. I will take anything at this point. A sticky note from the director with how the series ends will be enough closure for me.

Wii Sports (15 Years)

Realistic: Nothing. You can’t even play real sports outside right now, so why pretend to do it virtual.

Fantasy: Switch Sports. Why is this not a thing?

The Elder Scrolls IV and V (15 & 10 Years)

Realistic: It will be the end of an era if Skyrim was not on PS5 or XBSX (it pretty much already is). Elder Scrolls online is getting Oblivion gates added so that is neat.

Fantasy: The official Todd Howard mod update. He just turns everything into Skyrim. Oblivion HD would also be pretty neat.

Bastion (10 Years)

Realistic: Supergiant’s first debut game was my first indie love. The world and gameplay was so interesting to me that I wanted to try and complete everything. It has shown its age lately since playing Hades. I don’t expect Supergiant to do anything for the game, but any surprises would be nice.

Fantasy: When playing Bastion recently, I found that the game is still great, but could benefit with some improvements. An anniversary edition of Bastion could speed the game up a little bit and improve some of the weapon’s speed. My only real request in an enhanced edition, but if they found other things to add to it I would be gracious for it.

Dark Souls (10 Years)

Realistic: We just got a remastered version of Demon’s Soul. What more do we want? From Software is probably hard at work with Elden Ring that anything new to the franchise will come years later.

Fantasy: A version of Dark Souls 1 that plays like Dark Souls 3.

Overwatch (5 Years)

Realistic: The yearly anniversary event might be interesting this year. Until Overwatch 2 comes out, I don’t think any more interesting content will be coming out like new heroes or game modes.

Fantasy: Overwatch 2 is actually done and they release it this year.

Stardew Valley (5 Years)

Realistic: Stardew Valley still amazes me to this day. Version 1.5 was released on PC recently and console players will get it later this year. It has been a while since I finished it, so maybe it will be the perfect relaxation tool I need in the future.

Fantasy: This game does not require any fantasy ideas from me. It has delivered what I want in a farming simulation game and it continues to deliver.

Whew. That was a long strike of lighting.

Please don’t get mad at me if none of these wild predictions come true. Blame yourself for giving into false hype. Keep your expectations low and keep an open mind to experience new things. If any of these do come true, then I take full credit and your heard it here first! If there are other anniversaries happening this year that I did not cover, you can leave a comment and I’ll give my opinions there.

Now if you excuse me, I have to go back to counting the days without a Nintendo Direct.

Thanks for reading,

DanamesX

The Co-op Tales: My Older Brother (Part 1) – The Beginning

March 27, 2020DaNamesX3 Comments

When I initially decided to write stories about my past gaming experiences, I had one person in mind that I always wanted to talk about. My older brother, (Super) CJ, is the reason I am the gamer I am today. He is not just my older brother, he is my best friend in the world and he always knows how to cheer me up. We are both almost 30, and we still act like complete goofballs around each other. But enough of the sappy backstory, today I wanted to share some of my best gaming memories with him; starting from the beginning.

My brother and I have been gaming for almost our entire lives. He is forever player 1 and I enjoy being player 2. It started with our dad buying a Nintendo Entertainment System and the first game that we ever played, Super Mario Bros 3. It think it was this game. It could have either been this, Duck Hunt (with the actual zapper!), or the original Super Mario Bros. My memory is fuzzy around that detail, but we definitely played SMB3! Around the time, a Super Nintendo randomly showed up at our house, and our grandparent’s house. I have no idea when we acquired those, but I attribute the SNES as the beginning of our gaming careers. Our dad would take us to the local rental store to rent games, an experience that I miss and kinda sad that my kids won’t get the chance to experience. There were a handful of games that we own that I want to talk about now that highlight how ~~pathetic~~ good we were good at games at the time. CJ is the current keeper of our games and console.

Championship Pool

We don’t know why we have this either. Our dad probably got thinking that he would play it, but he never did. You would think this would have taught us how to play pool, but nope. To this day I still do not know how to play pool the “correct” way.

Disney’s Goof Troop

Do you want to talk about chaos? Look no further than Goof Troop for the SNES. Back when Capcom made top tier license games, Goof Troop was the best fun that two five-year old boys who could not get past the first stage could have! To this day, I don’t think either one of us have gotten past the first stage (he might have by himself). I think the puzzles were too hard for us at the time or there was a part that we could not get past. I just remember that we would throw pots and crates at each other to stun the other person and fight over the grappling hook. We would also purposely mess up the puzzles where you had to kick the blocks because our coordination just sucked. One day we will sit down and redeem our childhood selves by beating it.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong’s Quest

I have no idea how we ended up with this game, but I want to say thank you. As kids, we did not know how valuable this game was. We didn’t play the first game until much later, but DKC2 was were we had some of the best fun. Since the entire game can be played in Co-op, we could both enjoy the game at the same time. Unlike Goof Troop, we got pretty far in this game. We never finished it since the later levels started to get harder, and we were also plagued with our data being erased occasionally. I would say that this game was the second game that we owned for the system that we could blast our way through, but never got to the end.

Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

This was CJ’s bread and butter at the time. I would watch him play this game constantly and be amazed at how good he was at it. One of my favorite memories was when he was fighting Bowyer in the Forest Maze. He was the roadblock at the time that CJ had trouble getting past. He would put in his commands and we would run out of the bedroom. We were nervous about the outcome of the turn. We would wait a few seconds before returning to the room to see if we survived or fail.

Super Mario RPG amazed us with the different areas that you visit and the excitement we felt when we got somewhere new. Though we never got to the end (I think he has beaten it at this point), we had fun replaying it no matter what. It wouldn’t be until I was a bit older that I would finally play it for myself. I have yet to beat it.

Our favorite part was the cake boss. We will still to this day quote the chiefs’ lines from time to time. The boss was not super hard, but it did take us a while to figure out the mechanics behind it. We also enjoyed doing the Yoshi minigame even though we were not good at it. Our roadblock at the time was the dungeon at Seaside Town. For some reason we never got past that part until much later in life. I think that due to all the roadblocks that we encountered, plus us phasing out of the Super Nintendo. The thought of finishing this game once would feel like closing the book on our entire lives with the console.

Mega Man X

Here is a game that we had no business being proficient in at the time. For how hard some of the stages and bosses can be, my brother and I can sail through this game in an hour. A quick note about my young self; action games intimidated me as a child. For the longest time, I was afraid to play games like Ocarina of Time because it looked too daunting for me to keep up with. Mega Man X however? No problem! Let’s do this! Maybe it was the style of the game, being 2D instead of 3D or the number of times we replayed stages, I never saw this game as difficult. To this day, I can only play this game with a Super Nintendo controller. Ever other controller feels weird and makes me unable to pull off moves that I know I can do. The first Sigma stage was a nightmare when I tried to play this on the Mega Man X Collection for Switch until I bought the 8Bitdo Super Nintendo controller.

Despite how good we were beating all the robot masters, we could never get past the spider boss in the first Sigma stage. Don’t ask us why, it moved fast and we didn’t know its weakness at the time. We also never knew about the Hadoken until much later in life. It wouldn’t be until 2018 that I finally beat the game for the very first time. CJ, however, has not seen the final scene at the end of the game. Now it is time to figure out how to play X2 and X3.

Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World

Another gem in our possession was Super Mario All-Stars. Our cartridge included Super Mario World as well, and this was CJ’s playground. One of the few games that he actually beat was Super Mario World. He was good at it and I would sometimes purposely die just so he would complete the next stage. The other games on the cartridge were never finished despite our attempts. The updated version of Super Mario 3 was our second most played since the NES stopped working. But once again, we had bad luck with our cartridge lossing our save data at random times.

Super Mario Kart

Even as a kid I could tell that this felt unpolished. That did not stop us from playing from time to time. This might have been one of our least played Super Nintendo games just because we would get bored of it fast. Shout out to Koopa Troopa who became my main and has been since whenever he is playable.

Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island

This is kind of a joke entry. Our cartridge of this game never worked and was full of glitches. Yoshi was always in a glitchy state including during his transformations. We only saw one, because the game would always crash when we got to the first castle. I have no idea why we would play this over and over when we knew we could not get past the first castle. We had to borrow a copy from a friend in high school to finally play this game correctly and we screamed with joy when we finally got past the first castle. After that it was all new territory that we were not prepared for.

And that was the Super Nintendo era. In part 2 of this walk down memory lane, I will talk about our time with the Sega Genesis that also randomly showed up at our house and the games we used to rent from the video store.

Thanks for reading!

DanamesX

Advent Gaming Calendar 2019 Day 11: Donkey Kong 64

December 12, 2019DaNamesXLeave a comment

Credit to The Rare Witch Project’s YouTube Channel

Here we, here we, here we go! It’s the DK rap! How can you not know the DK rap when you hear it start up. People who have never played this game before may have had some interaction with this song. A “Rare” gem in the N64’s library is Donkey Kong 64. It was developed by Rare and introduced DK and gang to the world of 3D. The game had some memorable ideas like giving DK and Diddy guns (coconut gun and peanut pistol) and things that should just not exist (looking at you Lanky and Chunky. Tiny is discount Dixie).

The opening act is a stage performance to introduce the main cast. Kind of how like Super Mario Bros 3’s opening is the set up for a stage performance. Unlike that game however, this game is not a stage show and this solely exist as a fun way to show off the characters. Each character introduced shows off what makes them all unique and “fun” to play as. First up is DK. Everyone knows who he is at this point so he does not need that long of an introduction. The only difference is his coconut gun which Shigeru Miyamoto allowed once and then gave him bongos to murder kremlings. We are then introduced to two new kongs Tiny and Lanky. Tiny has the ability to shrink her size and manover in small places. Lanky can do weird things with his body…I guess….no lie Lanky creeps me out and I feel his portion did not give me a good idea on what he’s useful for. Diddy is back and he gets to keep the jetpack after this game and Chunky is the dumb brute force of the group. Overall this intro does a good job in tell you who these characters are and how to use them.

The rest of the opening has Cranky going ham on the turntable while the narrator says random fruits and nuts. It kind of makes me wish Cranky was a hidden character that would start a house party whenever he is summoned. Either that or he will come and said he beat the game under an hour without dying and not touching Lanky.

Tune in tomorrow for Day 12!

DanamesX