Donkey Kong 64: Difference between revisions

*{{button|n64|Z}} + {{button|n64|Cdown}}: Take out the Banana Fairy's Camera

''Donkey Kong 64'' started development immediately after the conclusion of ''[[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!|Donkey Kong Country 3]]''{{'}}s<ref name="DF Retro">Digital Foundry (December 16, 2017). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ7qtqqgTlo DF Retro: Donkey Kong Country + Killer Instinct - A 16-Bit CG Revolution!]. 'YouTube''. Retrieved December 16, 2017</ref>. The original incarnation of ''Donkey Kong 64'' was meant to be more similar in design to the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series than the final game, featuring linear levels played through a combination of forward-scrolling and side view sections, similar to ''{{wp|Crash Bandicoot (video game)|Crash Bandicoot}}''<ref name="DF Retro"></ref>. After around 18 months, development was rebooted after Rare took notice of the trend of open 3D games started by ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' <ref name="DF Retro"></ref>. Transitioning the series to true 3D proved challenging: graphic artist [[Mark Stevenson]] noted that "''As an artist who was on the DKC games, I used to build and animate the characters from a fixed side-on view. Being able to see this character from any angle, you'd make an animation, put it in the game, and you'd think it looked good side-on, but awful from every other angle! It was challenging from a technical and design perspective.''<ref name="GamesRadar">Tom Power (December 6, 2019). [https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/making-of-donkey-kong-64/ As Donkey Kong 64 turns 20, the devs reflect on its design, the infamous DK Rap, and how a shocked Shigeru Miyamoto created the Coconut Shooter]. ''GamesRadar. Retrieved December 06, 2019</ref> ''Donkey Kong 64'' was among the first Nintendo 64 game to feature dynamic lightning, although its implementation was faked after the first rendering<ref name="GamesRadar"></ref>.

Due to the success of ''{{wp|Banjo-Kazooie}}'', one of the first requests Rare co-president [[Tim Stamper]] made was to include even more collectables. Mechanics such as the 5 playable characters and "thrilling moments" such as mine cart and slide sequences were also deviced to differentiate the game from ''Banjo-Kazooie''<ref name="GamesRadar"></ref>. [[Grant Kirkhope]], who had composed the soundtrack to ''Banjo'', settled on a darker tone due to [[David Wise]]'s work on the original ''Donkey Kong Country'' trilogy <ref name="GamesRadar"></ref>. Although the [[:File:Donkey Kong's Real Weapon Beta.jpg|realistic gun models]] sighted in pre-release material were always intended to be placeholder, the final design of the [[Coconut Gun]] was only conceived after a mortified [[Shigeru Miyamoto]] saw Donkey Kong's shotgun in a demo of the game and immediately drew up a replacement<ref name="GamesRadar"></ref>.

In 2013, a story was published that impled ''Donkey Kong 64'' was not initially meant to require the [[Expansion Pak]]. According to that story, Rare was unable to fix a memory leak bug discovered near the game's release date; the bug would cause the game to crash after 30 minutes of gameplay, but Rare found that the issue did not occur when the Expansion Pak inserted. As a result, the game was bundled with the Expansion Pak, a move that supposedly took a large toll on the game's profits.<ref>Watts, Martin (May 28, 2013). [http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/05/donkey_kong_64_required_expansion_pak_to_prevent_game_breaking_bug Donkey Kong 64 Required Expansion Pak to Prevent Game-Breaking Bug]. ''Nintendo Life''. Retrieved December 1, 2016.</ref> This turned out to be the result of a misconception that confused and melded the decision to use the Expansion Pak into the discovery of the game-breaking bug, as indicated by lead artist Mark Stevenson in a 2019 interview.<ref>[http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/11/feature_donkey_kong_64_devs_on_bugs_boxing_and_20_years_of_the_dk_rap Feature: Donkey Kong 64 Devs On Bugs, Boxing And 20 Years Of The DK Rap]</ref>