The 'Shroom:Issue 106/Critic Corner: Difference between revisions

Bloody hell, is it 2016 already? We've already pissed away half of the decade on this newsletter, and we're still kickin' hard and strong? That's actually impressive, if not a little sad as well. But hey, don't let me bring you down, it's a brand new year, ripe for us to all start making big proclamations that we're going to turn our lives around, make big changes, which we all inevitably never follow through on. My only resolution is to not waste the entire year getting drunk, but y'know, #AussieGirlProblems. Seriously, tho, I hope you had a lovely Christmas and New Years, and will continue to have a wonderful year for the rest of 2016. And for all you Aussies out there, happy early Australia Day in just a few days; go to a BBQ party, have a beer, and remember not to be a racist dickhead in the name of "patriotism". That's all I ask, really.

Also, please be sure to check out the [[#Lightning Opinion Piece Contest|'''Lightning Opinion Piece Contest Entrants''']] below the table of contents! The participants have worked very, very hard on these entries concerning various aspects of the ''Donkey Kong'' universe, and I'd hate for them to be overlooked... especially since their victories hang in the balance of your votes! Please be sure to read them all thoroughly and cast your vote on which entrant you think best fits the criteria outlined in [[The 'Shroom:Issue 105/Critic Corner#Lightning Opinion Piece Contest|last month's contest outline]]. Again, be thorough with your observations! It's important that we give credit to the most well-written of the entrants, not just because they covered a subject you like. So yea, thanks for that!

===Entrant One===

While Nintendo has always been a master of gameplay, they are often criticized in being a little lacking in the story department. However, 1994 brought with it ''Donkey Kong Country'', a game which used innovative pre-rendered graphics to tell a tale of the triumph of capitalism over communism. Released just after the fall of the Soviet Union, developer ''Rareware'' delved deep into the DK lore to tell this tale of Kong-unism. Donkey Kong himself has always been portrayed as the spitting image of a typical American: strong, handsome, and hardworking, with a love of good food (bananas). ''Donkey Kong Country'' cemented this picture by giving DK a tie for the first time, making it clear that he had a proper white collar job, the foundation of capitalism. DK is shown to be very successful, having built up a proud banana hoard. Unfortunately, one night, the no-good communist King K. Rool - whose name depicts the cruel nature of Red rule - steals DK's hard-earned bananas, and redistributes the wealth across the land. Of course, our brave hero regains his hoard, and K. Rool literally takes a fall – just like the USSR – as he loses his crown.

If ''Donkey Kong'' Country is a tale about the struggle between capitalism and communism, then the 2014 entry ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze'' can be seen as a tale about a more current issue: immigration. Developer ''Retro Studios'' ramps us the story with a scathing game that makes us question if our own hero is actually a racist. When a group of Snowmads come upon Donkey Kong Island while looking for a new home, DK takes offense to the cold they bring, which blows out the candle on DK's birthday banana. While this should be a small price to pay, DK goes bananas, killing the inhabitants of many islands in an journey to retake his home. Throughout the game, DK comes across as appalling and it is completely impossible to sympathize with him. It’s a scathing portrayal of someone that we've come to love, and like all great works, causes us to challenge what we know. It makes us question our view of America, and maybe, in a broader sense, the whole world.

Upon reflection, this paranoia is a theme that can also be seen in the reboot ''Donkey Kong Country Returns''. While originally published in 2010, it was re-released on the Nintendo eShop in 2015, and looking back on this game after Edward Snowden’s NSA leaks, the game takes on a whole new meaning. ''DKCR'' (again published by Retro Studios) shows the fear of a country plagued by surveillance. Donkey Kong awakes one morning to find a Tiki – a representation of government – in his house, watching everything he does. The Tiki attempts to hypnotise DK, but he is able to resist submitting blindly to the government's spying. Tragically, however, he finds that the rest of his island has given in to the Tikis (and, in a reference to the communist plot of the original game, the animals have once again stolen his bananas). Each boss battle also finds DK fighting the Tikis while being watched by a crowd of spectators, subtly showing how you can never really escape government surveillance. Notably, late in the game, DK visits a government factory, likely devices that probably include cell phones, computers, and cameras. Though the factory is initially filled with smoke, DK turns on fans to blow away the fog, metaphorically rescuing the island from the clouded vision the government presents them.

<small>Although they could have introduced the ice thing earlier instead of leaving it until the last world…</small>

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Written by: {{User|Crocodile Dippy}}

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