Bringing Video Games to Life in the New Donkey Kong Country DVD {Review}

While there were quite a few notable events that happened back in the 90's (e.g. the Gulf War, lots of Joey Buttafuoco jokes, the Columbine shootings, OJ Simpson's infamous flee, etc) I'd be willing to bet that there is a large number of people that might also think of one certain video game character in correlation with that particular decade: Donkey Kong.

Are there fans from the 1990's that didn't love playing (or watching the television series) with this big, peace-loving ape?

Fortunately for them, this adored character is swinging back into our lives... on DVD! That's right, on August 20th Peace Arch Trinity and Phase 4 Films are releasing Donkey Kong Country: He Came, He Saw, He Kong-Quered.

Originally a platform video game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994, Donkey Kong Country received very high praise, sold over nine million copies worldwide, and was later re-released multiple times.

The premise of the Donkey Kong Country game was to complete 40 uniquely themed levels in order to recover the Kongs' banana hoard, which had been stolen by King K. Rool and his band of Kremlings. Players are able to control Donkey Kong himself or his nephew Diddy, as they complete varying tasks such as swimming, riding in mine carts, launching out of barrel cannons, or swinging from vine to vine.

Considering how popular the game was, it just made sense that it was turned into a television series that spanned 40 episodes in two seasons, right?

So, the release of the new Donkey Kong Country DVD allows that excitement to return to the 21st century!

Including four episodes in its 90 minute running time, this collection includes everything that fans will remember, from the Crystal Coconut to Cranky Kong to the catchy music that keeps toes tapping. Episodes include:

• Bad Hair Day
• Ape Foo Young
• Booty and the Beast
• Barrel, Barrel, Who's Got the Barrel

As I don't remember Donkey Kong Country from back in the day and my kids had never heard of the character, we were all looking forward to checking out this DVD and seeing what it was all about.

Although the CGI animation doesn't compare to what is produced today, we were all pretty riveted by each of the cute apes as we watched them defeat King K. Rool and his minions' attempt to steal the Crystal Coconut time and time again.

Whether he was cloning Candy Kong so that the imposter could put a hex on Donkey Kong that removed his strength or he was laughing at Donkey Kong when he was turned into "Baby Kong," King K. Rool does a good job of portraying the typical evil bad guy throughout the show.

At the same time, this movie is unrated and I did cringe at some of the language, violence (Donkey Kong beats up the Kremlings, after all) and sexual undertones throughout some of the episodes. It's fine that Donkey Kong has an undying love for Candy, but I'm not sure that the way it is portrayed (as well as Candy's outfit) is quite appropriate for the younger crowd.

That being said, both of my kids were pretty excited about the action, adventure and comedy that ensued and were happy to see Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong succeed over and over again!

If you would like to travel back in time and swing into Kongo Bongo Island with Donkey Kong, keep an eye out for Donkey Kong Country to arrive on DVD tomorrow, August 20th, on Amazon and at Walmart, Target and other major retailers with an MSRP of $9.99.

Find out more about this and all of Phase 4 Film's great family DVDs by visiting Phase4Films.com, Kaboom-ent.com, and connecting with them on Facebook and Twitter.

As a Phase 4 Films Blogger Ambassador, I have received products and compensation from Phase 4 Films in order to facilitate and thank me for my review. However, as always, all thoughts and opinions expressed are honest and my own.