Support NeoGAF

[IbizaPocholo]

Donkey Kong 64 is a 1999 platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the first 3D game in the Donkey Kong series. As the gorilla Donkey Kong, the player explores themed levels to collect items and rescue his kidnapped friends from King K. Rool. The player completes minigames and puzzles as five playable Kong characters—each with their own special abilities—to receive bananas and other collectibles. In a separate multiplayer mode, up to four players can compete in deathmatch and last man standing games.

After developing the Donkey Kong Country trilogy for Super Nintendo (1994–1996), Rare began working on Donkey Kong 64 in 1997, although production restarted halfway through the three-year development cycle. A 16-person team, with many recruits from Rare's Banjo group, finished it in 1999. It was published by Nintendo in North America in November and worldwide in December. It was the first game to require the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, an accessory that added memory resources. The US$22 million marketing campaign included advertisements, sweepstakes, and a national tour.

Donkey Kong 64 received universal acclaim and was Nintendo's top seller during the 1999 holiday season, with 2.3 million units sold by 2004. It won the 1999 E3 Game Critics award for Best Platform Game, and multiple awards and nominations from magazines. Reviewers praised the exceptional size and length, but criticized its camera controls and emphasis on item collection and backtracking. Some cited its similarity in gameplay and visuals to Rare's 1998 predecessor, Banjo-Kazooie (1998). Critics said it did not match the revolutionary impact of Donkey Kong Country, but was still among the Nintendo 64's best 3D platform games.

Donkey Kong 64 was Rare's final Donkey Kong game prior to its acquisition by Microsoft in 2002. Retrospective reviews of Donkey Kong 64 were mixed; critics considered it emblematic of the tedium in Rare's "collect-a-thon" adventure platformers. Donkey Kong 64 was rereleased on Nintendo's Wii U Virtual Console in 2015.

 

[nush]

It was the first game to require the Nintendo 64 Expansion Pak, an accessory that added memory resources.

The games did not use it and was not developed for it, it's only there as a bugfix.

 

[feynoob]

Dead just like them.

 

[Banjo64]

Seems mad to me that this is the final Rare game not to see a rerelease outside of the N64.

If MS and Nintendo could work out Goldeneye, why is this not also coming to the Switch?

It’s the only Rare N64 game I’ve not played.

Wait what!? How did I not know this?

Donkey Kong 64 was rereleased on Nintendo's Wii U Virtual Console in 2015.

 

[Nautilus]

The games did not use it and was not developed for it, it's only there as a bugfix.

Watch the video. The use of the Expansion Pak had nothing to do with a bugfix.

 

[nush]

Watch the video. The use of the Expansion Pak had nothing to do with a bugfix.

Donkey Kong 64 Required Expansion Pak to Prevent Game-Breaking Bug

Game would crash when using the N64's standard setup

www.nintendolife.com

Who to believe, Youtuber or one of the games actual developers?

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

This is when they took the collectathon too far. There’s just so much stuff, and most of it is mandatory for even getting to the final battle. The game looks much rougher that Banjo-Tooie, and the level design is nowhere as accomplished (to be fair, Tooie is a marvel of level design. Too bad it’s more exhausting than fun). I still have PTSD flashes of Diddy’s jetpack sessions.

Fun anecdote: the first time I played DK64, I got a bug. I had collected every single thing, except for 5 (or maybe 10) blue bananas in Gloomy Galleon. I looked simply everywhere for them - they just weren’t there, period. K. Rool was also a royal pain in the ass with that multi-phase battle, so I just dropped the game there and forgot it for the good part of 5 or 6 years. It was only in the mid-2000s that I restarted the game and this time, those blue bananas were all there.

A good game overall, just not as good as Banjo. And it really kinda stops being fun around Fungi Forest. Creepy Caves after that is a nightmare of a level.

 

[SantaC]

http://[URL]https://www.nintendolif...ed_expansion_pak_to_prevent_game_breaking_bug

[/URL]


Who to believe, Youtuber or one of the games actual developers?

Actual game developer. That Matt youtuber is clickbait and a joke

 

[Doom85]

That Matt youtuber is clickbait and a joke

Funny how that ”joke” has kept a successful YouTube career for well over a decade…

 

[Nautilus]

Donkey Kong 64 Required Expansion Pak to Prevent Game-Breaking Bug

Game would crash when using the N64's standard setup

www.nintendolife.com

Who to believe, Youtuber or one of the games actual developers?

The actual developers of the game, since it was actually a dev that said that the expansion pak wasn't used to fix a bug, but rather enable vortex lighting in the game.

Just watch the video dude.

 

[Nautilus]

Funny how that ”joke” has kept a successful YouTube career for well over a decade…

Yeah. I don't understand the hate against successful people and companies. I guess its envy, but who knows.

 

[SomeGit]

Donkey Kong 64 Required Expansion Pak to Prevent Game-Breaking Bug

Game would crash when using the N64's standard setup

www.nintendolife.com

Who to believe, Youtuber or one of the games actual developers?

Chris Marlow didn’t work in DK64, he only worked on Conker.

If you want an actual game developer on the game to quote how about Mark Stevenson:

"This one’s a myth. The decision to use the Expansion Pak happened a long time before the game shipped, in fact we were called in by management and told that we were going to use the Expansion Pak and that we needed to do find ways to do stuff in the game that justified its use and made it a selling point. I think the bug story somehow got amalgamated into the Expansion Pak use and became urban myth."

Donkey Kong 64 Devs On Bugs, Boxing And 20 Years Of The DK Rap

Put your hands together if you want to clap

www.nintendolife.com

And as explained in the video by another game developer Simon Craddick (and verified by DK64 rom hackers) the game’s memory structure requires the expansion pal mostly for Vertex Lightning, so it’s not only there to fix a bug.

 

[TheGodfather07]

I freaking loved this game! One of the first games I played on my brand new n64. I'll never forget the music from the game. Its still in my head today.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Seems mad to me that this is the final Rare game not to see a rerelease outside of the N64.

If MS and Nintendo could work out Goldeneye, why is this not also coming to the Switch?

It’s the only Rare N64 game I’ve not played.

Wait what!? How did I not know this?

Donkey Kong 64 was rereleased on Nintendo's Wii U Virtual Console in 2015.

Nintendo own the IP rights to Donkey Kong, so it's a different situation altogether compared to GoldenEye.

As such, it's never getting re-released on non-Nintendo platforms, even if Rare developed it.

Chris Marlow didn’t work in DK64, he only worked on Conker.

If you want an actual game developer on the game to quote how about Mark Stevenson:

Donkey Kong 64 Devs On Bugs, Boxing And 20 Years Of The DK Rap

Put your hands together if you want to clap

www.nintendolife.com

And as explained in the video by another game developer Simon Craddick (and verified by DK64 rom hackers) the game’s memory structure requires the expansion pal mostly for Vertex Lightning, so it’s not only there to fix a bug.

Welp, I stand corrected.

 

[levyjl1988]

Donkey Kong 64 Speedrunner Finds Hidden Coin After 17 Years

Donkey Kong 64 is packed to the brim with coins and bananas. Nearly two decades since the game’s release in 1999, a dedicated speedrunner has found a new coin for players to collect.

kotaku.com

I remember this article.

 

[IbizaPocholo]

Donkey Kong?