How Not to Port a Game

If only I had known: Donkey Kong Country is one of the worst ports since the Atari 2600 days. Don't get me wrong, DKC is a great game-on Super NES. On Game Boy Color, it's a terrible monstrosity of a game.

One major problem with DKCGBC (lovely acronym, no?), as with all Game Boy DK games, is the poor hit detection. Often times, things that would have kept you safe kill you. For example, a snake under a tire may knock you out, and my first attempt to stomp a Zinger (bee) with Winky (frog) resulted in a loss of Winky.

Then we have the other hurdle: Screen size. Unlike SMBDX, which adjusted things to make them work, DKCGBC routinely features enemies that pop out of the top or sides of the screen. So, some levels work out quite well, while others don't work at all.

Obviously, the main problem with this game is that it is a downconvert, or a game taken from a more powerful system to a less powerful system. Upconverts rarely suffer from these problems, as they can do things at least equally well. The NES and Game Boy are about equal, the SNES and Game Boy are not. So, in conclusion, Rare should have made the game for the system, not try to make the system for the game. Failing in both respects, quality is diminished.