Castle Kong, developed and published by Drowning Monkeys, takes you back to the days of Donkey Kong taking inspiration from that franchise. This brought me immense joy through its retro-style, and I noticed myself continuing to want to play. This homage even runs into such games as Galaga with the different features present in the game and the addicting nature of high scores.
The game has a basic premise like many of these retro-style games as it is more about the gameplay. Castle Kong is based around you playing as PauperBoy as he tries to save PrincessGirl from the evil BaronMan. Now, this is the premise of the game at each level to save the Princess.
Now one can tell right away with the platforming that this takes the inspiration from Donkey Kong. As BaronMan will throw obstacles in your way, such as dumping lava, and have other enemies, such as Archers, that try to shoot you. Castle Kong is based around you trying to get to the Princess while the BaronMan will throw these many different obstacles in your way. Through timing with jumps and movement to dodge these different items and features that get in your way. The game can be challenging and is made to be played over and over. Therefore, one can understand the map as much as possible and learn through the many failed attempts that you will have. There are 4 main stages, but they will change and throw difficult challenges so there will be 22 different concepts of these 4 stages.
Now with the artwork, it brings you even closer to that retro style experience that Castle Kong is leveraged to. As the animations and backgrounds will bring a smile to any fan of this type of experience. Even the sounds will bring one joy with the beeps of grabbing items and music when you grab the powerup, a pitchfork.
There was even a $5,000 bounty for the first player to complete the game and get to the kill screen. However, this bounty was claimed by a player in the community already. But there is a $3,500 bounty that is still live with a high-score tournament. This shows that the developers are willing to put together a community and reward them for playing the game. This brings an additional challenge and motivation to many that will push them to continue to learn and master the mechanics of the game. Embracing the retro-style of high scores and becoming the best you can at the game to obtain that high score and then be rewarded for your efforts. This creates great joy for many individuals and brings them back to the retro-style games based around obtaining that high score at the arcade.
Overall, I enjoyed my experience when it came to Castle Kong. It brought me right back to playing Donkey Kong when I was younger as I wanted to master every stage. Even when the frustration started to set in my competitiveness of achieving high scores kept me in the game throughout. While there was not a ton of map variations, with really 4 main stages, it did become a bit stale but comes with the experience they are conveying. Castle Kong may not be revolutionary, but for the experience it provides, it’s well worth it. If you are a fan of this retro experience, then I think you should check out Castle Kong.
Score: 7/10
Check Out the Castle Kong Trailer:
Castle Kong is available on the Nintendo Switch for $6.99 via the eShop and is a tremendous experience on the console. It’s also available on Steam as well for those who do not have a Switch.
For more information, please visit: http://www.drowningmonkeys.com/castle-kong
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Nintendo Switch Review
Gaming has always been an outlet for me to interact with different people and explore all kinds of possibilities. I play a wide variety of games always willing to try different mechanics and storylines that developers are trying to create for their games. I grew up delving into MW2 and World of Warcraft, I miss the Wrath of The Lich King days, and as I have gotten older I have found a love for RPGs and strategy games, my favorites being The Witcher 3 and Total War. Always looking forward to the next great game.
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