I had just purchased my Gamecube before the holidays and by chance, a friend was passing through and had Donkey Konga with him. I'm so glad he did, because the game is absolutely addictive, fun, and even a bit educational.
The basic concept: The game can be purchased by itself or with a set of "DK Bongos." They are a small set of plastic bongo drums that are used to play the game. There are 2 drums, and a small microphone located in the center between the left and right drums. The game comes with about 35 songs that you can play along with. During game play, the music plays and you have to watch for yellow, red, pink, or blue barrels that roll by. You hit the left drum for a yellow barrel, right drum for red, both drums for pink, and clap your hands for a blue one. Depending upon the game mode you are in, you either earn points or coins for how well you play. You can use your coins to purchase new sound sets for the drums (there are some very fun ones that can be purchased) or buy the ability to play songs at a higher difficulty level. You can also unlock a few mini-games that can be played. Of those, my favorite is a whack-a-mole takeoff that is an absolute blast.
You can play Donkey Konga all by yourself and it is great fun, but the real fun starts when you bring your friends over. Note: You have to purchase another set of DK Bongos for multiplayer adventures. You can play by using the normal Gamecube controller but it is cumbersome and not very fun. There are cooperative multiplayer jams and a contest where you drum against the other person. Whoever earns the most points wins. This is when the real fun starts. It can get a bit crazy.
If there are any negative points to the game, it is getting the microphones set properly. You need to adjust the sensitivity so that your claps trigger your microphone and not the one in a second, third, or fourth set of DK Bongos. It takes some time, especially if you have lots of people playing, because everyone claps at a different volume. Hint: Some people simply tap the side of the bongo instead of clapping. This will also register as a clap. Or, you can just say something toward the microphone and it will pick it up.
Other than that, it is an incredible amount of fun. I can't imagine how great it would have been to have this game when I lived in a college dorm. Although it may not be the "Best" game ever, it is certainly the most fun I have had playing a video game in a long time, and I'm almost 32 years old.
Although you don't really learn how to read music from the game, it can be helpful in developing appreciation for music and also helping hand/eye coordination. The song selection is widely varied and includes everything from children's campfire songs to Queen's "We Will Rock You". Note that the popular songs are not the real versions, but are covers. This was probably to avoid paying some high royalty fees to the artists. I can't blame them.
Join Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong as they drum and clap their way through hits old and new on a musical adventure thats more fun than a barrel of monkey...More at eBay
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