Pros: The latest in Nintendo's DK franchise, good sound, good control, interesting gameplay.
Cons: A bit tiresome at times. Graphics (while great) are a tad disappointing.
The bottom line: Unless you were one of those that just couldn't get into Banjo-Kazooie, buy it!
Who could forget the N64's "Dark Age" of late 1997? N64 owners were treated to a whopping two holiday titles: Goldeneye 007 and Diddy Kong Racing. Less than thirty games came out for the system during that year (most of which were pretty average anyway). And system sales during the holiday season were comparatively poor. As Diddy Kong Racing wore thin within the next couple months, all through the first half of 1998, N64 owners had to live with only one title: Goldeneye 007. While at the same time, PSX owners were treated to such stellar titles as Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy Tactics, Resident Evil 2, Colony Wars, Alundra, Parappa The Rapper, etc. The N64 front, however, was as quiet as an empty library. But in mid 1998, all that changed when Rare of Donkey Kong Country fame released Banjo-Kazooie for the N64. The game was basically just like Mario 64, but with larger levels, more puzzles, a bigger challenge, better gameplay mechanics, and possibly the best graphics of any console game at the time. Since then, the N64's library was never the same. N64 owners were finally treated to a healthy selection of strong titles throughout the years, such as the Zelda series, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, THQ's wrestling games, and of course Donkey Kong 64.

Donkey Kong 64 was released back in late 1999. By that time, the Sega Dreamcast was released, and both N64 and PSX were reaching their technological limits. Did DK64 really redefine what was possible on the N64 the way DKC did on the SNES? Not exactly. Donkey Kong 64 is, in theory, a super-sized version of Banjo-Kazooie. You solve puzzles to collect items. Use items to unlock secrets and new levels. And so on. What seperates DK64 from BK, however, is its length. The worlds in this game are massive. And what's more, you're basically required to explore every inch of every area to beat the game. Not to mention you have five playable characters at your disposal. Each of which has a different set of skills necessary for accessing different areas. This is where the "tiresome" part comes in. The worlds are so huge, it's very easy to grow tired of constantly searching this area and that just to find the right item. Only to find out that you missed another important one on the way there. And what's more, the puzzles tend to drag on for much longer than they should. Making gameplay occasionally tedious. It doesn't get so frustrating that you'll quit and never want to play the game again. But it's annoying nonetheless.

Donkey Kong 64's gameplay is very similar to Banjo - Kazooie's. In fact, the control setup is pretty much the same. Hit Z and A to jump. Hit C-up to look upwards. And so on. The main difference is that, again, each character here has his/her own set of skills. So you will need pretty much all of them if you wish to get very far in the game because different skills are required for different puzzles.

Standing on their own, DK64's graphics would get a perfect five. But because of the graphical achievements Rare accomplished in Banjo-Kazooie, I'm dropping the score down a notch. The environments are quite a bit less detailed in DK64 than in BK. And a lot of the textures just aren't as well designed. Though on the other hand, the overall graphics are a bit cleaner (and seemingly have more life to them than the sometimes admittedly bland graphics of BK). And the character models are still very nicely done. Compared to just about any other N64 game on the market, DK64 is a visual masterpiece. But compared with BK and the later Banjo-Tooie, they come up just a tad short.

The music is very similar to DKC3's. So expect a lot of flutes, bass, and xylophones. There are also some very funny voice samples for each of the Kongs as well as some pretty good sound effects. Nothing spectacular, but very good nonetheless.

So is DK64 a very good game overall? You betcha. DK64 is loaded with clever puzzles, LOTS of replay value, and lots of nostalgia for those who remember the original DKC. But if you didn't like Banjo-Kazooie much, then you probably won't enjoy DK64 much either. Everybody else, however, should buy this game if they haven't already.