Game of the Year? It would be bold of me to make such statements considering how rarely I play contemporary games. This was not even on my radar. It was by pure chance that the Switch 2 I purchased came with a copy. Life is funny like that.
I won't forget how the game started. Being asked to press A, I did so, and as Donkey Kong punched through the screen, my young son began to cry.
Like him, I warmed up to Donkey Kong soon after.
The game feels good to play. I'm not one for action games, but each movement is satisfying. Breaking things is satisfying. Riding on blocks is satisfying. Turning into a giant ape to be more bigger is great. And all the other transformations.
And that's all sorts of things I expected from a Nintendo platformer. What I was not expecting was the story.
It was good. It was not only good, it actually moved me on more than one occasion. It is a perfect example of when less can be more and how little interactions throughout the game can build up the player's feeling towards characters and allow for grand payoffs.
I definitely felt more towards DK and Pauline than I did in a certain RPG that some are calling ""Game of the Year"".