3/16/2023 0 Comments Playing to win donkeykong![]() ![]() And don’t get me started about blue coins in Mario Sunshine.ĭonkey Kong Country 2 has a well-designed hierarchy of secrets. There's something magical about finding that single, well-hidden secret on every level that just isn't the same as finding 5 Jingos (Banjo-Kazooie), 100 coins (Mario64), or any of the ten zillion tedious things on your shopping list in Donkey Kong64. It's a ridiculously large, shiny, spinning coin that somehow manages to be hidden on every level. I think the DK coin is the greatest thing in platform games. ![]() Each of the 40 levels has one to three bonus rooms and a single "DK coin." The real game, though, is to uncover all the secrets. Even very young players should be able to get through the difficult parts through repetition. Dying is somewhat frequent, but the difficulty is pretty low and free lives are plentiful. The game is fairly easy to "win" simply by completing all of its levels. I think Donkey Kong Country 2 was the first to implement this concept so masterfully, and it remains one of the best examples even today. It's carefully designed and hidden, and carefully pointed out by clues. The answer, just like a secret in a platform game, isn't randomly created. The answer has to be hidden well enough that there's a sense of accomplishment in finding it, but there have to be enough clues to make finding the answer possible. The writer actually wants the reader to figure out the answer-just not too early. A mystery is not a zero-sum game of writer versus reader. Think of these secrets the same way a mystery author thinks about their plots. ![]() The secrets I'm talking about here are carefully, intelligently placed and they're meant to be found. This is not a good modern design sensibility though. You could put it in a random location that looks the same as any other, and make it nearly impossible to find because it's so obscure. You could hide a secret in the game somewhere ridiculously obscure. ![]()
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