Donkey Kong 64 (USA)

Not that great a game, it's really just a banjo-kazooie clone. More so, it's painfully repetitive and bland. It has a Sisyphean focus on item collecting, without the sort of charm and uniqueness that makes it OK in other Rare platformers.

This was one of the first video games I had ever played, and I'm glad about that. This game is LONG. There's a ton of places to explore, each with its own theme. Of course, it has the usual stuff that you would expect out of a game of this type. Stuff that you have to collect is everywhere, and there's a lot of it, and at the end of every level, there's a boss waiting for you. Of course, you can choose when to fight it once all of the prerequisites for getting in have been met.

Graphics: 5/5
The graphics in this game are amazing for the time. The textures are very colorful and clear (for the N64). The polygons are very detailed, so everything looks smooth. Of course, the lighting effects are limited, but this was before the bloom effect or anything related to that was created.

Sound: 5/5
Like I said; each level has a theme. Music and sounds go along with that theme. In the first level, Jungle Japes, you're playing in, of course, a jungle. The music has a lot of wind and drum-type instruments. It has the sound of music being played by a jungle tribe. In a factory-type level, Frantic Factory, the beat is very stiff, such as a boss of the company. Oddly enough, it's a toy factory.
In every level, the instruments change if you're in a certain area. If you go into a cave, they change to a quiet, echoey sound.

Gameplay: 3.5/5
The gameplay in this game is good. While there are many move available to you, and each of the 5 Kongs have their own specific moveset, the enemies fall too easily to be hit with a combo. The bosses all have a certain way to be beaten. No, you can't execute a combo on them either. Instead, you use some kind of explosive device, such as a barrel or cannon, to defeat them.

Story: 4/5
This game has the standard Good vs. Bad story. The Kongs are just minding their own business, when King K. Rool comes along on his ship-island and Kongnaps all of the Kongs except for Donkey Kong, and threatens to blow up the island. Of course, he does nothing to DK, giving him a chance instead of blowing up the island as soon as he can, such as is the mental problem with most bad guys.
The cutscenes are very well executed, with the animations being very well backed up by the good graphics. The scenes are in widescreen, and in the lower bar are the words being, literally, being said. This is one of the few N64 games with a fully written and easily-understandable script.

Overall: 5/5
This game is awesome. Simply awesome. The only thing about this game that amazes me more than anything is the difficulty level. After10 years of owning the game, I still have yet to collect every golden banana.