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Donkey Kong Country: Difference between revisions
→Development
LinkTheLefty (talk | contribs) (I haven't heard of the N64 being compared/confused with this game, so this seems like a cool tidbit to include somewhere: https://archive.org/details/nms-33/page/56/mode/2up) |
LinkTheLefty (talk | contribs) |
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==Development== | ==Development== | ||
The lead-up to ''Donkey Kong Country''{{'}}s creation started in the summer of 1993. While visiting [[Rare Ltd.|Rare]] as a part of a globe-travelling journey to find potential quality games in development, Tony Harman of [[Nintendo]] of America saw a [[ | The lead-up to ''Donkey Kong Country''{{'}}s creation started in the summer of 1993. While visiting [[Rare Ltd.|Rare]] as a part of a globe-travelling journey to find potential quality games in development, Tony Harman of [[Nintendo]] of America saw a [[tech demo]] showing an animated, computer-rendered boxer punching. Rare was experimenting with 3D animation at the time as they found the then-popular {{wp|Digitizing|digitization}} technique too restrictive.<ref name="Nintendo Power">''[[Nintendo Power]]'', Issue 64, September 1994, ''The Making of Donkey Kong Country''</ref> Impressed by the demo, Harman lobbied for Nintendo to collaborate with Rare, and, with the help of {{wp|Genyo Takeda}} and [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], managed to convince them. Nintendo approached Rare with the mandate to make a game that would have "better graphics than ''Aladdin''"<ref name="Retrogamer">[https://web.archive.org/web/20160306023207/http://www.nowgamer.com/the-making-of-donkey-kong-country/ The Making Of ''Donkey Kong Country''] (accessed February 20 2012)</ref> (specifically referring to {{wp|Disney's Aladdin (Virgin Games)|the popular 1993 Sega Genesis game}}, which was lauded for its impressive graphics and animation hand-drawn by Disney animators).<ref>Shesez (November 21, 2019). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwWHzilbQ34&t=1883s The Donkey Kong Country 25th Anniversary Interview Documentary] (31m23s). ''YouTube''. Retrieved August 8, 2023.</ref> They recommended that it should star [[Donkey Kong]], as they thought that the character and his universe were less explored than other Nintendo properties and that thus Rare could have greater creative freedom while making the game.<ref name="Nintendo Power"/> | ||
A team of 12 people were assembled for the project, which was the most Rare had assigned for a single game at the time. [[Gregg Mayles]] cited ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' as his chief inspiration<ref name="Retrogamer"/>, saying that he wanted to imitate its structure while also providing smooth and flowing level designs that skilled players could navigate quickly. A team of developers were sent to the nearby Twycross Zoo to observe the movements of real gorillas, but found that it would not suited to the fast-paced platformer that they wanted to make.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> The team created around fifteen different styles of movement for Donkey Kong, including ones based on rabbits and frogs, before arriving at the current animations, based loosely on the movements of horses.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> The [[Kremling]]s originated from another project Rare was developing at the same time (which, according to Rareware employee Gregg Mayles was from a canceled adventure game named ''Jonny Blastoff and the Kremling Armada''.<ref>Ayden_ (July 5 2017) .[http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/651885/les-coulisses-de-donkey-kong-country-des-gorilles-et-des-hommes.htm Les coulisses de ''Donkey Kong Country'' : Des gorilles et des hommes]. ''Jeuxvidéo.com''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref><ref>Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy). [https://twitter.com/Ghoulyboy/status/639226685213265924 Twitter post on September 2, 2015]. ''Twitter''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref>), but were transplanted into the game as Rare found that they were a good fit for ''Donkey Kong Country''{{'}}s aesthetic.<ref name="Nintendo Power"/> The developers also wanted the screen to be as "clutter-free" as possible, which lead to the creation of a "buddy" character so that the player could take more than one hit, inspired by the "big Mario returns to little Mario" system of the ''[[Super Mario (series)|Super Mario]]'' games.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> [[Donkey Kong Jr.]] was first considered for the role, but he was changed into [[Diddy Kong|a separate character]] as Nintendo felt Rare's redesign looked too different.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> | A team of 12 people were assembled for the project, which was the most Rare had assigned for a single game at the time. [[Gregg Mayles]] cited ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' as his chief inspiration<ref name="Retrogamer"/>, saying that he wanted to imitate its structure while also providing smooth and flowing level designs that skilled players could navigate quickly. A team of developers were sent to the nearby Twycross Zoo to observe the movements of real gorillas, but found that it would not suited to the fast-paced platformer that they wanted to make.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> The team created around fifteen different styles of movement for Donkey Kong, including ones based on rabbits and frogs, before arriving at the current animations, based loosely on the movements of horses.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> The [[Kremling]]s originated from another project Rare was developing at the same time (which, according to Rareware employee Gregg Mayles was from a canceled adventure game named ''Jonny Blastoff and the Kremling Armada''.<ref>Ayden_ (July 5 2017) .[http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/651885/les-coulisses-de-donkey-kong-country-des-gorilles-et-des-hommes.htm Les coulisses de ''Donkey Kong Country'' : Des gorilles et des hommes]. ''Jeuxvidéo.com''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref><ref>Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy). [https://twitter.com/Ghoulyboy/status/639226685213265924 Twitter post on September 2, 2015]. ''Twitter''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref>), but were transplanted into the game as Rare found that they were a good fit for ''Donkey Kong Country''{{'}}s aesthetic.<ref name="Nintendo Power"/> The developers also wanted the screen to be as "clutter-free" as possible, which lead to the creation of a "buddy" character so that the player could take more than one hit, inspired by the "big Mario returns to little Mario" system of the ''[[Super Mario (series)|Super Mario]]'' games.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> [[Donkey Kong Jr.]] was first considered for the role, but he was changed into [[Diddy Kong|a separate character]] as Nintendo felt Rare's redesign looked too different.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> | ||
When ''Donkey Kong Country'' was demonstrated at Summer {{wp|Consumer Electronics Show|CES}} 94, [[Nintendo of America]] had arranged the press conference to have people assume that the game was running off an early version of the then-upcoming [[Nintendo 64|Ultra 64]] in order to further impress those who would not believe that it was capable of running on a 16-bit console.<ref>''Nintendo Magazine System (UK) Issue #33, page 57. "''Nintendo of America stunned everybody at the 1994 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Chicago when DKC was announced, because no-one could believe it was running off a 16-bit machine. In fact NOA especially arranged the press conference in order to have people assume that they were watching an early demo of Nintendo′s Ultra 64!''"</ref> | When ''Donkey Kong Country'' was demonstrated at Summer {{wp|Consumer Electronics Show|CES}} 94, [[Nintendo of America]] had arranged the press conference to have people assume that the game was running off an early version of the then-upcoming [[Nintendo 64|Ultra 64]] in order to further impress those who would not believe that it was capable of running on a 16-bit console.<ref>''Nintendo Magazine System (UK) Issue #33, page 57. "''Nintendo of America stunned everybody at the 1994 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) held in Chicago when DKC was announced, because no-one could believe it was running off a 16-bit machine. In fact NOA especially arranged the press conference in order to have people assume that they were watching an early demo of Nintendo′s Ultra 64!''"</ref><ref>Shesez (November 21, 2019). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwWHzilbQ34&t=3827s The Donkey Kong Country 25th Anniversary Interview Documentary] (1h03m47s). ''YouTube''. Retrieved August 8, 2023.</ref> | ||
Rare demoed an early version of the game at Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto. Reception of the demo was mixed, with [[Gunpei Yokoi]] remarking that the game looked "too 3D".<ref name="Retrogamer"/> However, Shigeru Miyamoto approved of what was done with the project. He and his staff gave advice to Rare on how to improve the game, with one of the results being the implementation of the [[Hand Slap]] move a few weeks before completion.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> | Rare demoed an early version of the game at Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto. Reception of the demo was mixed, with [[Gunpei Yokoi]] remarking that the game looked "too 3D".<ref name="Retrogamer"/> However, Shigeru Miyamoto approved of what was done with the project. He and his staff gave advice to Rare on how to improve the game, with one of the results being the implementation of the [[Hand Slap]] move a few weeks before completion.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> | ||