

Too deep for a Nintendo game? Not hardly. Rool is actually the one to fault for the destruction on screen, but the social message is glaring nonetheless.Īs a species, we quite literally have the ability to help and hinder the existence of life forms that are simply attempting to reside in the habitats they were given. “Ripsaw Ridge” is heartbreaking in a literal and symbolic manner, as the human player controls our ape heroes who are being destroyed by human behavior. One of my favorite levels from the game involves hurdling Dixie and Kiddy Kong over and through trees that are being actively chopped down for timber.

Logging is one of the permanent culprits of apes losing their habitats. There are studies that claim 60% of all non-human primates could eventually go extinct. The inception of these observations lines up with when the game was developed in the 1990s, and the sad realities of animal endangerment due to man-made fallout continue to snowball in our current times. Yet the evidence of such interpretation is mixed in so gracefully with the DK madness we’ve come to adore that one can’t help but dig into the details.Īpe populations worldwide have been on the decline for a couple of decades now, with 75% of ape species demonstrating majorly dwindling numbers. Add to that the date of release being over 25 years ago, and there wasn’t nearly as much critical storytelling being done on the SNES as on the Playstation 5. Social commentary in 16-bit graphics? Obviously, Nintendo is not one to make political statements in their games that are targeted at children.
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I never really understood how to synthesize all of it either until one day my brother brought it to my attention: the game is all about industrialization and environmentalism. There are factories, attics to hide supplies, buzzsaws running through the forests, sewer system treks, and more seemingly random happenings. Personally, I found Dixie and Kiddy to be wonderful and unique fill-ins that have a special place in fans’ hearts.įollowing up on the very clear pirate theme from the second game, fans were left wondering what exactly was the subject matter behind this concluding title. Not having the ability to play as Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong in any capacity made for some disinterest in the playable apes. The themes of the game and the character choices were what caused confusion. It was still considered a great platform game, though, one which stayed true to the formula perfected in the first two outings. The title that completed the beloved trifecta is remembered with a mixed reputation (and is often considered the forgotten child of the trilogy, perhaps owing to its arrival so late in the SNES lifecycle). Nintendo released Donkey Kong Country 3 onto their Switch Online platform at the end of 2020, allowing gamers to complete the DKC trilogy on their new hardware.
