Since Donkey Kong Country 3 rolled around, we haven't really seen much of our ape friend in his true role; a fast paced 2D side scrolling platformer. At E3 2004 we saw our first glimpse of this game, but it was overshadowed by the DS and Zelda, amongst other things. I was thinking "Great! A new Donkey Kong game, haven't had one of those in a while." Then we heard about its weird control method. So, have Nintendo pulled it off? Or is it going to be as boring as Donkey Kong 64?

You start the game in friendly territory; a tutorial. You have to follow monkeys around on this short level and they tell you how to use the bongos. Simple enough, right? Well yes, that's the beauty of this game. Literally anyone can play it; even my mum… and she can only just about manage Mario Party. After the tutorial you move to the first level - pretty easy stuff. Familiar themes are all over this level. The birds, the music, the grassy textures used. But now in a way we haven't seen before. However, this being a Donkey Kong game you would expect some obligatory characters: Diddy Kong, Funky Kong or at least ol' Cranky. Well no, you don't. This game has nothing to do with Rare, so you don't see any of these characters. Nor do we see any of the baddies. For me this was a major let down as I had gotten to know this characters in my younger years.

Gameplay wise you aren't going to play anything much faster this year. However, life and scoring systems are very simple. All you have to do is get points called beats. Now you get these from bananas, depending on how you get them and if you are in a combo you will score different beats. Combos are simple to trigger and you keep them as long as you don't touch the ground. So if you do a back flip, jump onto a tree, swing around it and jump off it and collect some bananas you get triple the beats. Also, finding different ways to collect bananas also gives you more beats. For example, clapping in an area of them and collecting multiple at one time will also give you many more points instead of just running through them.

The normal platforming cliches get refreshed in DKJB

Due to the game's fast paced gameplay, levels are extremely short. In fact the first lot of levels can be cleared in about 50 seconds or less. I cleared the entire game in 4 hours, which to be honest is pretty poor. For completing levels you get medals. You get awarded these depending on how many beats you get in the level: 300 or more beats for bronze; 500 or more for silver; 700 or more for gold and an insane 1200 or more for a platinum. Each level requires a certain amount of these medals to become unlocked and getting platinum is really, really hard so there is replay ability. Each level is split into 2 sections and a boss fight. The boss fights range from brawling and dodging attacks from gorillas in a one on one showdown to jumping on an egg with a bird attached to it and cracking the egg open.

Another great feature in the game, like past Donkey Kong games, are its ride-able creatures. Previously we had Rampy the Rhino and Expresso the Ostrich to help you through your travels. In Jungle Beat you have Mooshin the buffalo for jumping and large running sections in the winter levels, with Ressar you can float down to sections without being damaged, with Shachee the whale which is used to transport you very quickly and break sections of walls down so you can finish levels and using Helibird you can fly up to normally inaccessible areas.

However, there are a couple of gameplay problems. First off, the game doesn't give you much leeway with your timing, especially on bosses, one of which nearly made me give up the game because I got so annoyed with it. Secondly, the game is way to short; considering how long it was in development it seems like they were just making the game look good instead of focusing on creating more levels. Also in the bottom left of your screen you have a huge image of Donkey Kong and his movements of what he is doing on the screen. I wouldn't mind it if it was smaller but it takes up nearly a quarter of the screen and it feels like wasted space.

What kind of game would it be sans bananas, honestly?

This game, however, screams graphical perfection. Donkey Kong's fur rivals even Fox from Starfox Adventures. The scenery moves with the wind and the textures and lighting used are fantastic. The game has many diverse levels. Jungle, forest, water and winter themes are used. Everything you would expect from the franchise, but now in beautiful detail. There is also very little slow down and the game runs at a perfect 60 frames per second and supports 60hz mode.

The music used in levels is atmospheric but common Donkey Kong themes from the Rare games are not used, which I think is a shame since that tune brings back memories the previous ones. They have also, in a terrible decision changed Donkey Kong's voice… which now sounds pretty stupid. Why they changed it, I have no idea. But it's taken a turn for the worst.

Overall Jungle Beat has impressed me; it wasn't just another game to use the bongos. Nintendo have harnessed the technology they had and used it to great effect. Although it has some drawbacks and it isn't quite as good as previous outings from the Kong it is still a good platformer.