Donkey Kong Jungle Beat [GC]

Yes, it's a game where you beat drums and make a monkey do things. How can it possibly be bad? The answer is, it can't, and it isn't. It might be a little on the gimmicky side, but for sheer imagination and exuberance it can't be beat. Like Samba De Amigo, and countless other monkey games with silly controllers before it, Jungle Beat's a winner, albeit a short-lived one.

If you played 2003 rhythm game Donkey Konga, you'll have already seen Jungle Beat's plastic bongo-drum controller. Instead of tapping along to music, the latest release to use what must be the Gamecube's most peculiar peripheral is a 2D platform game. Confused? Yes, it's a bizarre idea, but it works better than it has any right to.

Jungle Beat's control system could probably use some explanation. Beating on one of the drums causes Kong to run in that direction, and the faster you hammer, the quicker he runs. Hitting both makes him jump, and clapping your hands makes him do some kind of blast-wave area attack. This has the convenient side-effect of sucking in any of the collectible, health-improving bananas that happen to be in the area.

Incidentally, the microphone that picks up the hand-clapping responds just as well to any sufficiently loud and sharp noise -- don't cough while you're floating upwards in a delicate bubble, or it'll pop. You might also consider playing the game away from malicious friends and co-workers, for similar reasons.

Although this control system doesn't sound too deep, Jungle Beat uses it in all kinds of creative ways. You'll find yourself galloping atop some kind of sheep through one level, throwing exploding pineapples up at enemies. In another, you'll be hanging off a giant bird, using the drums to steer it away from the walls.

Just as many levels use the controls in more traditional ways, and you'll need a whole different set of skills to cope with them. Timing and close control are as important as all-out hammering on the drums as fast as possible. Considering its light-hearted presentation and gimmicky controller, Jungle Beat is surprisingly deep. Sure, you're just hammering on drums to play, but the clever design elements both reward the careful player and provide more replay value.

If you can keep DK's feet off the ground for long enough, you'll earn combo points and bonus bananas. On many levels, smart moves can extend these combo strings to unbelievable proportions, swelling your score -- and your grimace of strained concentration -- to enormous scales.

Jungle Beat's levels are grouped into threes, each with two side-scrolling platform romps and a boss battle. These are usually themed along the lines of the other levels, where the boss battles involve DK taking on some vast creature or other. On the whole, they follow a pattern: dodge the boss for a while until they expose some vulnerability, then jump on them and pound the drums, hell for leather, until you're thrown off. Repeat until dead.

Sadly, those boss battles also repeat -- that is, the same fight is included as the boss fight in later stages. There are only five or so in total, and although they get slightly more difficult, they don't change. When the rest of the game displays so much imagination, it's unfortunate more effort didn't go into coming up with something original for each level.

Smooth, detailed, and fast, Jungle Beat looks fantastic. The camera is constantly zooming in and out, from close-ups of DK as he beats on an unfortunate critter, to wide-angle shots showing large swathes of the level. It looks good either way, and even though the action -- not to mention the drumming -- can get frantic, the framerate doesn't waver.

On the music side, the game oddly goes for an original soundtrack rather than rehashing tunes from the earlier Donkey Kong games. In fact, very little from the earlier games is re-used; even his voice is different, and it's not much of an improvement.

Jungle Beat's available without the controller for about $40, so if you already have one from Donkey Konga, this should be a no-brainer. If not, you'll be looking at the game-plus-controller package for about $55.

The full price package is less of a bargain, but then again, lasting appeal isn't why anyone buys a game like this. With the right intentions -- curiosity, collector appeal, impressing your friends -- you'll be more than happy with it. After all, there's something about drumming monkeys that appeals to everybody.