Impressions fom the Edinburgh International Games Festival

It's August, so that means that Edinburgh, jewel in the crown of bonny Scotland, is a-buzzin' with activity. Yes, it's festival time alright- and besides the enormous Fringe Festival, there's the International Film Festival, a Book Festival, and a Jazz Festival to name but a few. But, tucked away quietly in a corner of the city's Royal Museum lies the Edinburgh International Games Festival's 'Go Play Games' exhibition- a rare opportunity for members of the public to try their hand at a selection of upcoming games, as well as already-released ones.

Upon gaining entry into the 'Go Play Games' enclosure, I made a bee-line for Nintendo's section. There were seven GameCube pods in all, playing Zelda: 4 Sword Adventures, Donkey Konga, Viewtiful Joe (the first one) and the GC Wario Ware.

Having already extensively played the astonishing 4 Swords already, (expect a review of the U.S version later this month) I finally got to grips with Donkey Konga. And what instant fun it is. What hits you first is the quality of the bongos- they certainly aren't the cheap, badly-made peripherals that some predicted. They feel weighty, solid, and altogether authentic. And very pleasant to the touch.

That's our Mark. Handsome devil, eh?

The next half an hour was some of the most exhilarating gaming I've ever experienced. Donkey Konga is a wonderfully tactile game, helped in no small part by the brilliantly responsive controls. In the demo version I played, only a handful of songs were available and I was restricted to the basic modes (single-player, unfortunately).

Rest assured though, the tracklisting is impressive- with a surprisingly wide and varied selection of music, including some well-known Nintendo themes. The music styles range from Blink-182 to Hungarian classical music. And both feel at home in the game, too.

Playing the game is very simple, at least in theory- coloured symbols roll past the screen, and at the right moment you have to either hit the left bongo, the right one, both at once, or clap. The clapping, thanks to the built-in microphone in the bongos, has been implemented perfectly- and it is this which ultimately singles out Konga from other rhythm titles. Switching from clapping to a complex sequence of left-right-right-left is brain-melting at times- but you quickly get used to it. It remains to be seen though, if other player's clapping will interfere with your own. We'll let you know when we get the full version in.

The only other question that really needs to be answered about Donkey Konga is this: Will it sustain our interest once the initial novelty wears off? That's a question we won't know the answer to for some time, but at least we do know that your bongos won't be gathering dust when Konga is finished- a sequel has already been released in Japan, and the fantastically innovative DK: Jungle Beat looks set to light up next Summer's release schedule.

*Avoids juvenile joke*

But besides Donkey Konga and Zelda: 4 Swords (did I mention it's astonishing?), Nintendo were also showcasing Wario Ware on the GameCube. The good news is that it's everything it's been cracked up to be. Graphically it's poor (the game was developed in double-quick time mind you), but any initial complaints about the GBA-quality visuals are soon rendered utterly irrelevant by the games tornado of microgames. Yes, most of them have already appeared in the original Game Boy version, but multiplayer mode gives them a whole new lease of life. What's most impressive is the way that it's packaged- there are numerous different modes. You'll be balancing turtles on your head while another player partakes in the microgames- if he wins, all the other players get another turtle to contend with. If he fails, then he gets the turtle. In another mode, there is a crowd in front of each player, and you've got to keep winning mini-games to stop your crowd leaving. In short, this GameCube version of Wario Ware takes everything that made the single-player GBA game great, and then-somehow-turns it into a magnificent multiplayer experience. There's even a 16-player alternate play mode thrown in there somewhere, as well as some typically weird unlockable extras like music videos. Utterly essential if you haven't played the Game Boy version and you've got plenty of friends (not to mention controllers or GBAs).

This is primarily a GameCube site, so I'll just skim over Nintendo's Game Boy Advance offerings. Mario Vs. Donkey Kong seemed to be a worthy update to it's ancient original Game Boy predecessor (although the voice samples started to grate after, oh, ten seconds). Mario Golf: Advance Tour impressed, although it doesn't have a huge amount to offer more than it's excellent Game Boy Color iteration. Like that game, A tidy RPG-style mode which is strongly reminiscent of Golden Sun is also included. If you enjoyed Toadstool Tour I can thoroughly recommend it.

Check out Flash junior in the foreground

It's good to see Nintendo supporting relatively small-scale events like this one in Edinburgh. London Games Week in September promises to see good representation from Nintendo, too. Rest assured, Cube-Europe will have several reporters on the ground all during the week, with live show-floor updates.

Mark Cullinane
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