A collect-a-thon atom bomb from Rare. Five Kongs with distinct abilities, eight enormous worlds and two hundred golden bananas build an outsized adventure. The pace sometimes sags under the weight of content, yet the richness, writing and generosity remain unique on the N64.
Your verdict
Category
Platformer1 player3+
Split screen
Description
Epic 3D platformer with Donkey Kong and friends battling King K. Rool to save DK Island. Developed by Rare, published by Nintendo, released in 1999. Five playable Kongs with unique abilities, eight open worlds, 200 Golden Bananas to collect, and up to 4-player multiplayer. Requires the Expansion Pak.
Donkey Kong 64 review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
2/5
Story
★★★★★
"Classic"
Signed by Grant Kirkhope, the music blends funky grooves, jungle percussion and catchy melodies, right up to the mythic, cult "DK Rap". Each level pulses with a colourful theme, perfectly in tune with the adventure's exuberance. This sonic generosity, full of humour, accompanies the Kong crew's epic with brio.
Gameplay
"Solid"
Fun
"From the very first minutes"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Switching between five Kongs with distinct abilities across eight open worlds opens a collectible hunt of outsized scale. Bananas, coins and challenges number in the hundreds, rewarding the stubborn search of every corner. That generosity of content, signed Rare, earns the title a stubborn reputation as a 3D-platformer marathon.
European December 1999 pressing, also bundled with an Expansion Pak in the original box but with a redrawn cover putting DK, Diddy, Lanky, Tiny and Chunky together as a group rather than the individual US pose. The European multilingual manual details the five Kongs' specific abilities and runs denser than its American counterpart. That editorial density makes it the PAL reference version for documenting Rare's internal project.
Is Donkey Kong 64 still worth playing in 2026?
Donkey Kong 64 stands as the culmination, or the excess, of Rare's collectathon doctrine. Five Kongs with distinct abilities, eight huge worlds and over two hundred golden bananas build an outsize adventure. The pacing slows at times under the weight of content and certain trips become heavy, but the richness, the writing and the sheer generosity remain unique on the N64. The art direction pushes the hardware to its peak. For fans of dense 3D platforming and unrepentant collectathons, it remains a fascinating object to explore today.
