Donkey Konga 2 (UK)

Drum and clap your way through all-new chart toppers and rhythmic minigames!

EU release: 3rd June 2005
NA release: N/A
JP release: N/A
Developer: Namco
Publisher: Nintendo
NGC Magazine Score: 88%
Mods Used: None

With the US release of Donkey Konga 2, I talked about how important the choice of music is to a rhythm game like this – in terms of features and gameplay, this is completely the same game as the US version, but the different songs make this version much better. Not only was I familiar with almost all of them, but they work so much better than the songs in the US version.

Most of the better songs from the US version are here (so you’re not missing out on All Star), with The Anthem being the only notable absence and alongside those are an interesting mix. There’s stuff you wouldn’t expect in a Nintendo game such as “I’m A Slave 4 U” , well known tunes like “That’s The Way (I Like It)” and stuff that just makes a lot of sense like “Jungle Boogie”. It’s just a really good mix of songs and none of them felt out of place with the bongos.

You also still have a few classical tunes, and, most importantly, some video game music from the likes of Kirby, Pokémon and Mario. And if you want to give yourself the ultimate challenge, Mute City (From F-Zero) on the highest difficulty is utterly insane. All in all, this is probably the most enjoyable Donkey Konga game.

Great

Somebody gets declared the winner after each round, but it’s far more satisfying to play for the simple pleasure of blasting through a four-way arrangement of a favourite track without anyone missing a beat. When you manage that, it sounds amazing, and the last thing you’ll be concerned about is who got the best ranking at the end.
Martin Kitts, NGC Magazine #108

Remake or remaster?

A new one with just Nintendo music to avoid licensing issues.

Official Ways to get the game

There’s no official way to buy Donkey Konga 2