ScOULaris
13 Sentinels Evangelist
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I just recently picked up Pepper Grinder, and I love how it feels like something of a mash-up between Sonic (with shades of Rayman) and Donkey Kong Country. The DKC influence seems to manifest mostly in the level design, secret placement, shop function, and boss battles. Level design, secrets, and shops all conjure up memories of the original DKC trilogy for me while playing Pepper Grinder, and the challenging boss fights remind me of the whiplash I felt when facing many of Tropical Freeze's surprisingly tough foes. I'm not sure if Pepper Grinder's developer has explicitly called out DKC as an inspiration, but three worlds into this game I think it's pretty clear that it was. Also, the pirate theme and Narwhal-based enemies give me DKC2 vibes all over the place.
A few years ago I played Kaze and the Wild Masks, and that was another lovely and tightly designed love-letter to DKC-style 2D platforming. That one was even more overtly inspired by DKC, complete with collectable letter medals that spell out KAZE hidden throughout each level. And before that there was surprisingly great Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, which is uniquely special in that it's a DKC-inspired 2D platformer developed by some of the people who worked on the original games themselves.
And you know what? Playing these indie DKC-likes has helped me realize of just how much of a distinctive style the DKC games had (and hopefully will continue to have if we ever get a new one). While the original DKC trilogy was critically and commercially successful, there was always some online sentiment that they could never hang with the Mario games in terms of sheer design prowess. While one could argue that Mario's platforming is a touch more precise than DKC's, the DK games clearly made enough of a mark with some of their unique design tropes and mechanics to inspire future developers down the road. That's a sign of great game design in my opinion.
Now I'm wondering if there are any other good ones out there that I might have missed. Hit me with those deep-cut recommendations, please!
A few years ago I played Kaze and the Wild Masks, and that was another lovely and tightly designed love-letter to DKC-style 2D platforming. That one was even more overtly inspired by DKC, complete with collectable letter medals that spell out KAZE hidden throughout each level. And before that there was surprisingly great Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, which is uniquely special in that it's a DKC-inspired 2D platformer developed by some of the people who worked on the original games themselves.
And you know what? Playing these indie DKC-likes has helped me realize of just how much of a distinctive style the DKC games had (and hopefully will continue to have if we ever get a new one). While the original DKC trilogy was critically and commercially successful, there was always some online sentiment that they could never hang with the Mario games in terms of sheer design prowess. While one could argue that Mario's platforming is a touch more precise than DKC's, the DK games clearly made enough of a mark with some of their unique design tropes and mechanics to inspire future developers down the road. That's a sign of great game design in my opinion.
Now I'm wondering if there are any other good ones out there that I might have missed. Hit me with those deep-cut recommendations, please!
