The idea is to retrieve Donkey Kong's banana hoard from the thieving Kremlings, by teaming up with budding wannabe hero Diddy Kong. Its once-charming good looks hold little currency here. Good though it does look (certainly nicer than the GBC version of the same game, which differed mostly in terms of minigames and visuals, if that matters to you), if it wants to make its mark on the system then it's going to need to do it on the issue of gameplay.
"ACM" means nothing to most people, and DKC's digitised rendering techniques and fairly intricate visuals can hardly compare with modern standards - and only stack up fairly well on the humble GBA. However these days the playing field is well and truly levelled. Such was the furore surrounding the game, one magazine found itself worried by the sight of an even better game shaping up in the sequel, remarking that "we gave the first one 100 per cent, and this looks even better!" I see no donkey. Of course it became fashionable to have "never liked" DKC in the first place, to draw undue attention to its medieval lifespan and even to slag it off for the way it looked, but anybody with a love of 2D platform games couldn't fail to be intoxicated by its mixture of good graphics, varied level design, numerous collectibles and old school characters. But it was the entertaining platform game underneath the pretty packaging that kept the game's core fanbase and propelled the inevitable sequel through the sales stratosphere. But it has loads more franchises under its belt as well.When Donkey Kong Country arrived oh so very long ago, its "ACM" visuals made the SNES look sexy in ways the Super FX chip and years of development had previously failed to do. Generally speaking, Nintendo’s key franchises are Mario (including platforming, RPGs, and various sports games), Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Pokemon, Super Smash Bros, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and Xenoblade. Retro Studios (Metroid Prime series, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze).Next Level Games (Luigi’s Mansion 3, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, Super Mario Strikers).NDCube (Clubhouse Games, Super Mario Party).Monolith Soft (Xenoblade Chronicles series, Project X Zone).