Leger vs. DK: King of Swing (Game Boy Advance)

I tend to love most of the games in the Black Box Series.

Considering they were key in shaping me as a gamer, renting them while young and building memories from my life with them in the center of many situations, they just seem to... I do not know... grow on me the older I get?

It almost feels like the fact that I was walking around the playground behind the house, on some logs, while eating an ice cream rapidly melting away in the sun is just as important as the fact that I minutes later was playing Clu Clu Land on the telly in the living room.

Sitting on the floor.

But as much as nostalgia plays and romanticising it all could sum up the bias, there is a simplicity to it all that I just can not ignore.

Clu Clu Land, with the simple but deceivingly hard to master way of handling Bubbles (the main character) while swinging around poles with either the left or right hand to navigate the labyrinth looking for invisible rupees to turn visible while trying to figure out what shape they will form when all turned visible...

...well, it is still an unique experience.

Bouncing against walls, or another player, while shooting enemies (which of some makes an evolved return in The Legend of Zelda (just like the rupees)) and squashing them into oblivion.

Uhm.

I could go off on the "sequel" which I have not played, its presence as an unlockable in Animal Crossing on the Gamecube, the anglicization of Clu Clu in Kuru Kuru (round and round, and oh, do I love Kuru Kuru Kururin on the Game Boy Advance), but I digress.

DK: King of Swing is not a 2005 Game Boy Advance sequel to the 1984 NES Clu Clu Land, however.

Rather, it is an entirely different game with Donkey Kong and Diddy dito as the main characters. But, yes, it is a spiritual sucessor in some ways due to the way of handling Donkey and Diddy (or any of the other characters to use in the mini games included).

Grabbing dots in the air, with either the right or left hand to rotate, gaining momentum and throwing oneself to platforms or other dots to grab. Using both hands to come to a standstill, gathering energy to throw oneself in an attack fashion against enemies and reaching the end of the often very vertical stages.

All while looking for diamond coconuts and medals in different shapes and forms, to be given to winners in some donkey games that now is put on hold, that were stolen by King K. Rool.

King of Swing is a truly short game with some four stages and a boss to be dealt with in each of the five worlds. This is not a bad thing, though, as each stage has a distinct feel to it often with some kind of unique gimmick that makes it memorable that goes well beyond the generic themes of deserts, caves, underwater sections and such.

It might be that you have to pump a lever to make something move or appear, spinning quickly around a rotating dot throwing yourself way higher up in the air than you otherwise would be able to do or simply just grabbing a stone throwing it on some enemies or blocks to be crushed.

Dots start to fall, conveyor belts replace the dots, barrels that acts as ridable rockets have to be manoeuvred and shit gets icy.

Aswell as hard as hell.

In a rather frustrating way, which is not always such a good thing.

See, Donkey have to deal with health. Up to three hearts, which only can be refilled by using bananas found on the stages. The bananas may also be used to activate a short period of invincibility, and while it all starts out somewhat easy the later stages goes batshit crazy with blowing winds, moving dots and enemies which can not be killed unless invincible.

I still have a hard time controlling Bubbles in Clu Clu Land when things get hectic, but controlling Donkey or Diddy in King of Swing when things start to become chaotic is a excersize in keeping calm while actually wanting to throw the controller into the wall.

Doable, sure.

But always at the risk of risking ones sanity.

So, what it all comes down to is the fact that while the concept is amazing, the progressive attitude of the experience from start to finish is engaging, the music sound very Donkey Kong Country ish and the graphics are intriguingly cartoony with dark outlines on most things to underscore the visual style... the experience is rather unbalanced.

By the time the third boss enters the scene some things start to feel too off to be able to call DK: King of Swing even remotely close to being a flawless masterpiece.

Though, at the same time most of what is on offer comes annoyingly close to be just that... a masterpiece.

If it had not been for the apparent flaws.

I have got no things or experiences in my life to relate to when it comes to DK: King of Swing, but if anything it makes my love for Clu Clu Land even more intense. Seeing that the evolution of an odd concept from 1984 evolved into something new in 2005 still in 2023 can feel unique and fresh.

Something that the sequel, DK: Jungle Climber on the DS does an even better job of proving... but more on that later.