I've always thought it was funny to see kids at the movie theater pounding their feet into the pads of the "Dance Dance Revolution" arcade game.
Supplant a standard joystick with a light-up floor - or a skateboard or sniper rifle or anything else - and you've got a game I would assume is not only fun to play, but also fun to watch others play.
When my roommates came home and found me banging a plastic set of bongos resting in my lap, clapping every three or four seconds, and then franticly slapping the tops of the drums, I'm not a bit surprised they found the sight hilarious.
No, this wasn't just an extension of my typical Friday night ritual. I was trying out a new revelation for the Nintendo GameCube - the DK Bongos.
Yes our favorite drunken, barrel-throwing ape is back in "Donkey Konga," a new game for the special bongo controller. The game is so simple it feels stupid, but stupid can be fun. Pick up the bongos and you'll be hooked in no time, though the music selection and lousy graphics might have you scratching your head.
This time, Kong's not fighting Mario or rushing to save his jungle friends. He is simply living the dream of every young man or monkey making rocking music for a steady stream of cash.
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The controls of "Donkey Konga" are about as simple as games get. When a red circle moves across the screen and enters a target, slap the right drum. When it's yellow, slap the left. A pink icon is for both, and a little blue starburst means you should clap. A tiny microphone between the drums picks up the clapping sound. The microphone is very sensitive, so slap the side of the drum or even cluck your tongue or say "clap" and you can catch the little star for points.
There are a few game modes to choose, but the only one I could get into was called "Street Performance," which lets you pick songs from the game's library and try to play along and collect coins.
The song range is random and completely ridiculous. I learned the game by slapping along with "BINGO," then graduated to pop songs like The Kingsmen's "Louie Louie" and Divo's "Whip It." The most contemporary song was probably "All the Small Things," by Blink 182, but keep in mind that none of these choices are sung by the original bands - just the Nintendo cover kids, and not very well.
There are also Nintendo game theme songs, my personal favorite being the "Pokemon Song," which is surprisingly soulful with the lyrics "Gotta catch 'em all...."
Really, the songs suck, but you can definitely get into Donkey Konga. It's like playing that old Simon game that buzzed out notes for you to copy immediately. Try it once and you're hooked for at least a little while.
Then the game gets hard - ridiculously hard. Many times, about 10 icons streamed across the screen, telling me to hit right, both, clap, right, left, right, and on and on. I didn't have a chance, which just means I'll have to devote many more hours to improving my bongoin.'
Anyone with a GameCube should check out "Donkey Konga" for a day just to see what it's like. However music lovers and hard-core gamers beware: In this game, you don't get much more than a monkey slapping along to some lousy covers.
But stupid can still be fun.
Donkey Konga
Nintindo GameCube
Grade: C+
