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Donkey Kong Country: Difference between revisions
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The leadup to ''Donkey Kong Country''{{'}}s creation started in the summer of 1993. While visiting [[Rare]] as a part of a globe-travelling journey to find potential quality games in development, Tony Harman of [[Nintendo]] of America saw a [[Tech Demo]] showing an animated, computer-rendered boxer punching. Rare was experimenting with 3D animation at the time as they found the then-popular [[wikipedia:Digitizing|digitization]] technique too restrictive<ref name="Nintendo Power">''[[Nintendo Power]]'', Issue 64, September 1994, ''The Making of Donkey Kong Country''</ref>. Impressed by the demo, Harman lobbied for Nintendo to collaborate with Rare, and, with the help of [[wikipedia:Genyo Takeda|Genyo Takeda]] and [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], managed to convince them. Nintendo approached Rare with the mandate to make a game that would have "better graphics than ''Aladdin''"<ref name="Retrogamer">[http://www.nowgamer.com/features/895227/the_making_of_donkey_kong_country.html The Making Of Donkey Kong Country] (accessed February 20 2012)</ref> (presumably referring to the [[wikipedia:Disney's Aladdin (Virgin Games)|popular 1993 Sega Genesis game]], which was lauded for its impressive graphics and animation hand-drawn by Disney animators). They recommended that it should star [[Donkey Kong]], as they thought that the character and his universe were less explored than other Nintendo properties and that thus Rare could have greater creative freedom while making the game<ref name="Nintendo Power"/>. | The leadup to ''Donkey Kong Country''{{'}}s creation started in the summer of 1993. While visiting [[Rare]] as a part of a globe-travelling journey to find potential quality games in development, Tony Harman of [[Nintendo]] of America saw a [[Tech Demo]] showing an animated, computer-rendered boxer punching. Rare was experimenting with 3D animation at the time as they found the then-popular [[wikipedia:Digitizing|digitization]] technique too restrictive<ref name="Nintendo Power">''[[Nintendo Power]]'', Issue 64, September 1994, ''The Making of Donkey Kong Country''</ref>. Impressed by the demo, Harman lobbied for Nintendo to collaborate with Rare, and, with the help of [[wikipedia:Genyo Takeda|Genyo Takeda]] and [[Shigeru Miyamoto]], managed to convince them. Nintendo approached Rare with the mandate to make a game that would have "better graphics than ''Aladdin''"<ref name="Retrogamer">[http://www.nowgamer.com/features/895227/the_making_of_donkey_kong_country.html The Making Of Donkey Kong Country] (accessed February 20 2012)</ref> (presumably referring to the [[wikipedia:Disney's Aladdin (Virgin Games)|popular 1993 Sega Genesis game]], which was lauded for its impressive graphics and animation hand-drawn by Disney animators). They recommended that it should star [[Donkey Kong]], as they thought that the character and his universe were less explored than other Nintendo properties and that thus Rare could have greater creative freedom while making the game<ref name="Nintendo Power"/>. | ||
A team of 12 people were assembled for the project, which was the most Rare had assigned for a single game at the time. [[Gregg Mayles]] cited ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' as his chief inspiration<ref name="Retrogamer"/>, saying that he wanted to imitate its structure while also providing smooth and flowing level designs that skilled players could navigate quickly. A team of developers were sent to the nearby Twycross Zoo to observe the movements of real gorillas, but found that it would not suited to the fast-paced platformer they wanted to make<ref name="Retrogamer"/>. The team created around fifteen different styles of movement for Donkey Kong, including ones based on rabbits and frogs, before arriving at the current animations, based loosely on the movements of horses<ref name="Retrogamer"/>. The [[Kremling]]s originated from another project Rare was developing at the same time (which, according to Rareware employee [[Gregg Mayles]] was from a cancelled adventure game named ''Jonny Blastoff and the Kremling Armada''<ref>Ayden_ (July 5 2017) .[http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/651885/les-coulisses-de-donkey-kong-country-des-gorilles-et-des-hommes.htm Les coulisses de Donkey Kong Country : Des gorilles et des hommes]. ''Jeuxvidéo.com''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref>) | A team of 12 people were assembled for the project, which was the most Rare had assigned for a single game at the time. [[Gregg Mayles]] cited ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' as his chief inspiration<ref name="Retrogamer"/>, saying that he wanted to imitate its structure while also providing smooth and flowing level designs that skilled players could navigate quickly. A team of developers were sent to the nearby Twycross Zoo to observe the movements of real gorillas, but found that it would not suited to the fast-paced platformer they wanted to make<ref name="Retrogamer"/>. The team created around fifteen different styles of movement for Donkey Kong, including ones based on rabbits and frogs, before arriving at the current animations, based loosely on the movements of horses<ref name="Retrogamer"/>. The [[Kremling]]s originated from another project Rare was developing at the same time (which, according to Rareware employee [[Gregg Mayles]] was from a cancelled adventure game named ''Jonny Blastoff and the Kremling Armada''<ref>Ayden_ (July 5 2017) .[http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/651885/les-coulisses-de-donkey-kong-country-des-gorilles-et-des-hommes.htm Les coulisses de Donkey Kong Country : Des gorilles et des hommes]. ''Jeuxvidéo.com''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref><ref>Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy). [https://twitter.com/Ghoulyboy/status/639226685213265924 Twitter post on September 2, 2015]. ''Twitter''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref>.) | ||
, but were transplanted into the game as Rare found that they were a good fit for ''Donkey Kong Country'''s aesthetic<ref name="Nintendo Power"/>. The developers also wanted the screen to be as "clutter-free" as possible, which lead to the creation of a "buddy" character so that the player could take more than one hit, inspired by the "big Mario returns to little Mario" system of the ''Super Mario'' games<ref name="Retrogamer"/>. [[Donkey Kong Jr.]] was first considered for the role, but he was changed into a [[Diddy Kong|separate character]] as Nintendo felt Rare's redesign looked too different<ref name="Retrogamer"/>. | , but were transplanted into the game as Rare found that they were a good fit for ''Donkey Kong Country'''s aesthetic<ref name="Nintendo Power"/>. The developers also wanted the screen to be as "clutter-free" as possible, which lead to the creation of a "buddy" character so that the player could take more than one hit, inspired by the "big Mario returns to little Mario" system of the ''Super Mario'' games<ref name="Retrogamer"/>. [[Donkey Kong Jr.]] was first considered for the role, but he was changed into a [[Diddy Kong|separate character]] as Nintendo felt Rare's redesign looked too different<ref name="Retrogamer"/>. | ||