Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D at the Los Angeles Zoo Nintendo Event

Oh yeah!  I'm there for the event!!!

Hey there.  Last weekend was Memorial Day weekend and it was a time of remembrance.  Many of us spent the day out with our families and gave thanks to those brave men and women of the United States Military that gave everything they had to protect the freedoms that this great nation believes in. Many of us celebrated by enjoying that freedom by enjoying it with our families.  I spent Memorial Day weekend with my family as well.  But I also spent it with Nintendo.  How so?  Well, this Memorial Day weekend, the great people at Nintendo offered my family and I a press pass to enjoy the LA Zoo AND meet Donkey Kong!  How awesome is that?!

Donkey Kong Country is one of my favorite SNES games of all time.  The graphics were revolutionary for it's time and the game play was simply fantastic.  You can imagine the excitement I had when Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D would be released for the Nintendo 3DS and I would be able to try out the game during this Nintendo event!  Upon entering the LA Zoo, signs that Donkey Kong was there were all over the place. It didn't take long before we ran into Donkey Kong himself!  He was hanging out by a booth taking pictures with fans!  We managed to snap a few pictures with Nintendo's top primate and thanked him for his time.  Check out some of the pictures that we took.

DONKEY KONG!!!!

It's like if he's a part of the family!

Further down the trail, in the Gorilla Campo section of the LA Zoo, the Nintendo tent was set up.  Upon arriving, many of the Zoo's visitors were gathered around the tent, waiting for their chance to play Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D.  The family and I managed to find a 3DS each and spent some time playing the game.  Here are some of my thoughts after playing a good 20 minutes of the game.  The gameplay is GREAT and the visuals are awesome!  The 3D effects really shine and pop out at you extremely well.  I also loved how easy it was to pick up and play.  Then again, it could just be that I am familiar with the controls since I've been playing Donkey Kong Country since it's SNES days.  The game also reminded me very much of that SNES version of Donkey Kong Country.  The early stages seemed easy enough but once I tried out some of the latter stages, the difficulty level definitely jumped up a few notches.  And you know what... that's exactly how I liked it!

Enjoying me some Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D while
Nintendo Rep, David, chats it up with LA Zoo visitors

I remember when I would play the SNES version of Donkey Kong County, I would get this feeling of great accomplishment when getting through a particularly difficult level.  Donkey Kong County had some pretty difficult moments and I took those moments head on and enjoyed every minute of it.  I love that the Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D brought that difficulty level back!  I don't want an easy game that I complete without breaking a sweat.  I want a game that gradually builds in difficulty and gives me a sense of accomplishment when finishing it.  Obviously, I didn't finish Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D in 20 minutes or so, but I didn't manage to sample enough levels to know that this game is going to challenge even the most seasoned gamers!

Nintendo Rep, David, was cool enough to snap a picture with me
after our long gaming conversation!

Once I finished playing the game and handing it over to one of the many people waiting for their turn, I walked up to Nintendo Representative, David, and had a lengthy conversation about the many features of the Nintendo 3DS and Donkey Kong County Returns 3D.  I must say that I quite impressed with David's knowledge of the products presented.  To be quite honest, I've run into more than enough representatives that, quite frankly, didn't know what they were talking about.  David and I both reminisced about the SNES Donkey Kong Country and he confirmed that Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D would have many of the game play mechanics that those SENS versions had.  Hidden coins, animal friends, and more than a few challenging levels.  It was great to be able to have a conversation with a rep that knew what they were talking about!

Just one of the barrels that the gorillas smashed for bananas

Now, it wasn't all about the game, another great event that took place involved the gorillas!  To commemorate the launch of the game, a few of the gorillas were trained to toss special DK labeled barrels to smash them and get the prize inside!  It was pretty cool to see them tossing the barrels.  Of course, their prize mainly involved bananas, but nevertheless, it was cool to see a gaming scene come to real life!   Now, I must apologize.  I was so caught up in the show that I didn't manage to snap a single picture of a gorilla smashing barrels.  The only picture that I managed to get was the remains of a smashed barrel.  My bad, friends.  In my defense, it was a pretty cool show and it really was something that you had to see for yourself to really appreciate it.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  lol

If any of you friends managed to take the trip to the Los Angeles Zoo to see Donkey Kong, please let me know.  I had a great time hanging out with Donkey Kong, a wonderful time chatting it up with David, and an even better time bonding with the family while playing Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, all while enjoying all what the LA Zoo has to offer.  Thank you, Nintendo, for allowing me to take part and share this great experience with my family.  I greatly appreciate it!

So, now that the game has been out for a week, what do you think of Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D?  I'm already getting comments saying that this may very well be one of the best Nintendo 3DS titles ever.  I for one, don't doubt it for one second!  Later!