I've been meaning to post this here for a while. I always take the time to read every single comment I receive. I never miss one. The amount of love I've received on a video that I truly thought would never resonate with more than just a small handful of people has been pleasantly surprising and gratifying, to say the least. The stories of warm and bittersweet nostalgia that so many of you have kindly taken the time to tell has honestly left me a bit teary eyed at times. It's very uplifting to know that I'm not alone in this feeling, and that, even if you don't share my sentiment specifically with Donkey Kong 64, you can still relate in a meaningful way. I hope it helps you to reflect on the positive aspects of your childhood and the art you enjoyed, and will remind you to always remember who you are underneath everything. This truly and honestly means a lot to me. I am endlessly grateful for your kindness, and I hope you'll stick with me as I continue to create more. Thank you so much ♥
Having a nostalgic connection to a game is like a time mirror, you look into it and are taken back to that entire period of your life. And it gets even more interesting when its connected to a specific person strongly, a sibling, parent, or close friend for instance. I still associate kingdom hearts with my sister and many many happy memories with her, she introduced me to video games and THAT was my start. You can imagine how I feel about those games and thus her. I also still associate it and certain tracks and scenes from it with the physical distance we have and always have had between each other despite how we feel. All of the good bad and ugly of our relationship pretty much connects to those games. Crazy right?
@@snickey3483 I definitely can relate. Especially with it being Kingdom hearts! I've always been a massive fan of that series. It always seems that it's one of the best ways you can keep those really strong happy memories fresh in your mind, regardless of time and circumstance. It really is beautiful! I'm glad you have that with such a great game (and soundtrack to go with it). Never let go of that!
I share your love of DK64 and its music and thought you would like this video I made! It's a remaster of the entire DK64 OST with matching gameplay. ruclips.net/video/6TYL44n1jf4/видео.htmlsi=pOR6XUS9qzqkVaFG I especially loved how you related game stuff to real life stuff. I did the same thing as a kid! Don't know if you've ever played the Buzz Lightyear game on the N64, but the last level is an outdoor airport level. It always made me think of the parking lot of the Lowes my dad would bring us to all the time. Something about the way the lot was bordered by a grassy hill that you couldn't see over from inside the car. Just the hill and then the sky behind it. I'm also really big on how certain smells can make me think of a game. The smell of fresh asphault makes me think of Super Mario World. As strange as that sounds, it's because I used to go to a babysitter and her son had a Super Nintendo and we'd play that game. They must have gotten their drivway redone because it always smelled like asphault when I went to her house. That's how that connection works.
The harshest thing I have to say about it is that most of the barrel minigames SUUUUUUCK and unfortunately those are the ones repeated most often. Everything else about it aged wonderfully IMO.
It’s a weird feeling watching a video of someone express an emotion that I can’t entirely understand. I think that in part it’s because I’m too young to stop and look back on what made me who I am because I’m still figuring out who I am. I am however incredibly thankful to have an amazing, kind, and talented friend like you that I can look up to. Keep being awesome Brain Fartken
This was one of my absolute favorite N64 games! Paper Mario 64 being slightly above it. Something I feel like you really hit the nail on is that things change in life all the time...But Crystal Caves will always be Crystal Caves! Games stay the same and always hold that piece of time with absolute mystery and adventure. Great video man thanks!
I completely understand you linking childhood moments from real life into games. I feel the same way but with other N64 games like Mario 64, Zelda Ocarina of Time and Banjo Kazooie actually.
I feel you man. DK64 is always my favorite game I didn’t mind the design I actually liked it. The music also is a pleasant feeling. I enjoyed your story 😎❤. Ocarina of time is another game I enjoyed too and my most favorite Zelda song is the spirit temple as it reminds me of when I was 6 years old and enjoyeing every part of life
Donkey Kong 64 is probably the most emotional game for me other than Ocarina of Time, both games are in a sense how I see the world I grew up in . I remember more of my childhood through these games then I do from my own memory. When I go into the giant mushroom I remember sitting In my little bean bag in the family room, looking into that blocky gray TV, seeing the most magical place, a place where no matter what, everything was gonna be okay, and I was gonna have fun. I remember exactly what the room looked like, from the placement of the couch, down to every last of my 64 games and where they were. I remember when I got to the top of the toy block tower in frantic factory, looking up at the ceiling and imagining how expansive the world beyond could be. When I boot up Ocarina of Time on my 64 I can’t help but cry hearing those first few notes, all the memories of my childhood flood back to me instantly, it’s overwhelming but so comforting. I remember the times when my family was still together, and I could wake up knowing my dad would come home and give me a hug, and maybe play some Mario Kart with me, he always played as Donkey Kong. I remember how much the wolves in the forest temple scared me, so I would ask him to sit we me while I played. Or how he would bring me with him to church sometimes and help me hook up my N64 so I could play while he was working. Sometimes it gives me hope that maybe someday it will happen again, but time keeps moving and I can never go back. It’s really hard to accept that as I get older, I’m about to graduate high school this month, I’m growing more independent by the day and soon I’ll have less time to revisit these magical worlds. I will never be grateful enough for the times these games gave me, and I will never forgot the feeling of having a loving family to wake up to. Thank you.
I definitely teared up a bit reading this. Thank you for leaving such a beautifully emotional comment. I'm glad I could really strike a chord. I think that feeling of safety can be a huge factor in the nostalgia associated with games like this. Knowing that everything is going to be okay in that world and that you were about to have a great time is such a warm feeling. I think being able to have that memory association of happier times, especially when it comes to your family, is everything. And it's so easy, now more than every, to relive those memories and reexperience those emotions simply by booting these games up and playing again. I know that sense of feeling like you can never be grateful enough is so heavy, but that just means that you really were (and are) capable of loving something more than yourself and against all else. That's a great thing! If your parents are still around; give them a call maybe and just thank them for those memories. I try to do that with mine whenever I can. If they aren't around anymore; maybe give DK64 and Ocarina of Time another playthrough and do your best to cherish those memories. As they're what make you who you are. Thank you so much! I'm really glad you connected with the video in such a meaningful way!
@@Brian.Henken Thank you too! I really needed this video today so I’m glad it showed up in my suggestions. I’ve been sick the past week and had a pretty rough day today in particular with some person issues so this video really allowed me to let my emotions out! I’m really happy someone else shares similar memories and gets similar feelings from these games. I did decide to boot up Ocarina for the title screen, and I played some DK64 and that opening cutscene really hit me, I’m enjoying the game so far and I’m excited to re experience my childhood! Especially frantic factory and the crystal caves, their atmosphere was absolutely magical, even fungi forest! Music has always resonated with me, DK64 had such a magical soundtrack similar to its atmosphere, honestly the whole DK series has amazing music. It’s awesome you were able to pursue music like you have, it inspires me to get back to pay guitar and see where I can take it. Thank you and I hope you have a great day or night :)
I've been pursuing many of the great composers from the past as a result of playing many Nintendo games where many of Nintendo game composers clearly have been inspired by while putting their own stamp on their compositions. They seamlessly integrate with the context of gameplay and create this Segway into the themed worlds. It's just so inspired.
This video is the most real, candid, *human* thing I have *ever* seen. You know what it means to love something so much it becomes part of your soul. Though for me it was Rayman 2 and not Donkey Kong 64, I *wholly* understand what you mean by the seemingly random memory connections to other things, and the feeling of the game being a childhood time capsule that's exactly the same as how you left it. I've never seen someone else describe something that I've only ever thought about in my own mind so clearly and accurately before, and I *understand.* ETA: And the *soundtrack!* I lost count of how many times, in both games, where I just stopped to listen to the OST. That one music box part of the Frantic Factory theme in particular always gave me the chills.
This video is genuinely incredible, I think everybody has that game they used to get lost in, that was fun just to play, not to accomplish anything or get some reward, but because it was inherently fun to spend your time exploring and revisiting each area. For me, that game was Super Mario Sunshine. It saddens me to think that kids of the future will never get to experience the joy of unwrapping a physical game and being ecstatic, exploring every nook and cranny, knowing they won't be getting another game for months, and not caring, because that is enough. I'm only in my early twenties but I already feel the aging "They don't make 'em like they used to" mentality. I'm sure the next generation will find their own things to make equally special memories with, but I can't help but feel sad thinking that nobody will get to experience ours. I'm sure all of our parents felt the same way about us. Side note, the music section of this brought back a very early memory very similar to yours. In DKC2, when I got to the first boss, the crow, as a very young child, probably no older than five or six, I was absolutely enamored with the boss music, so much so that I copied the save file to another slot, so that while I could progress on my own file, I could always go back to the file with the boss, pause it, and just listen to the song. Bosses could only be fought once if I recall correctly, so I'd lose access to the song after beating it, hence the extra file. Music streaming platforms are awesome, but nothing will ever beat turning on DCK2 and opening a dedicated save file just to hear one song while I did my homework. That memory would probably have been gone forever if it weren't for this video, so on the offchance you see this, thank you for that.
Man, I didn't know I needed to see this video, but the way you described how this game and its world helped you to feel connected to your past was beyond cathartic for me. The environments and music truly bring this magical feeling that is just hard to find anywhere else - and it brings me a joy I just can't explain as well as you've explained here. I literally started replaying the game about a week ago and found this video because I was looking for DK64 music, and I am so glad I did. The earliest games I can even remember playing are Super Mario 64 and DK64, both in a small house in the middle of nowhere, dust in the air from all the clutter, but I didn't care, because I was just enjoying witnessing everything on the screen. I remember my mom having to help me get out of the starting area because I didn't understand you had to do the training barrels - and over several weeks I managed to get all the way to Fungi Forest before getting stuck. I still remember that being my favorite level anyways. I remember years later, asking my grandparents to bring the old N64 while we were visiting my cousins, sitting on the carpeted floor looking at a TV that was way too high to see comfortably, but I didn't really mind it. Somehow we had lost Mario 64 but gained Majora's Mask, and I never bothered to question how that had happened. I even remember playing it on a very weird screen setup in my family's first ever SUV, when they still had the flip-down movie screens built into them and even had the correct ports to plug into for that. I think I 100%'d it twice on actual console. I still have that N64, safely tucked away in a drawer on my nightstand, forever holding those memories. I've been replaying DK64 on emulator using a mod to let you switch Kongs anywhere, and honestly it helps with the flaws so much that it really feels like how I had imagined it as a kid, if you haven't tried it I would genuinely recommend it a lot, it's not too hard to find (It is literally called "Tag Anywhere" by Isotarge and many others). Also, your section about Mario Galaxy was great too - I literally bought the Mario 35 collection solely so I could play galaxy on a handheld without having to set up emulation again for it, and I forgot just how wonderful it was to just experience a game like that, truly taking in everything it offers, beyond just what is literally on the screen and the objectives you have. Games are a truly special experience unlike anything else, and even today still I listen to a ton of game OSTs, half because I really like them and half because they give me such vivid thoughts of things I was thinking about during playing them. It's hard to replicate that feeling exactly the same way with other mediums - though don't get me wrong, other mediums have their own strengths. Thank you for making this video and helping me to reminisce - this made my day just a bit better, and also, really nice job on the music! Keep at it, you're doing amazing.
Dude, gorgeous essay. This is such a personal, resonant exploration of a piece of art that you love and as someone who loves DK but has never played 64, I felt completely in tune with your feelings here. Fantastic work
It's weird how "you like it cuz nostalgia" has become seen as this "invalid" position. Like, wow, so shocking that this combination of music, visual art, and gameplay (that is, all things expressly designed to invoke emotional responses) invokes an emotional response! I mean, it's fair to evaluate games and other art from more technical perspectives, consider whether they're appealing to people who didn't play them in their original contexts, etc. But that doesn't make nostalgia an invalid response to things created (in large part) to generate that kind of feeling!
Man, I am literally replaying Donkey Kong 64 right now..... I'm 28 and I remember getting a Nintendo 64 with DK64 included and that memory has never left and I replay it every year or so just to get that bit of nostalgia.... Love the vid.
Was not expecting this video to make me cry. You're not alone in feeling extreme emotional connection and significance of videogames strongly associated to early real life memories. In some cases they are the prerequisite to triggering a memory that you were unaware of and would have never been able to unlock. Or one that is so mundane and throw away you're surprised theres a memory attatched to it and would have previously given it little thought. I think i would have felt that potent emotional association even more strongly if i would have encountered videogames in my earlier childhood like you, but I didn't play my first videoganes until I was around 8. Even so i have very similar experiences. With the first two games I ever played on my friends snes, Yoshi's island and Wario's woods, and to a much greater extent, mario 64 and pokemon yellow which were the first two videogames my brother I got and played endlessly. I am happy you understand.
I was not expecting to be this moved by a video about DK64, yet here we are. You really summarized everything that made this game, and video game worlds like it, so special, especially for those of us who experienced them as imaginative, impressionable kids
Thank you! Part of the reason I made this video was because that feeling was so hard to verbalize for so long and I really wanted to find the best way to put it into words. And I'm really glad that there are so many people that are on the same page!
I can’t believe I met someone who feels the same way I do about dk64, the only difference is that I didn’t realize how much I loved the music in the game until much later
It took me after 15+ years to beat Donkey Kong 64, Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie for the first time as I was growing up, if you can believe that. An entire console's prime legacy was dust long by the time I finally finished them in my late teenage years. Such games like Donkey Kong 64 especially has a special place in my heart as well.
Gosh, it’s good to know others have this vivid emotional connection to this game. I still listen to the soundtracks whenever possible. My second emotional game was skies of Arcadia, though it was later in my life, i still somehow grew attached to it so strongly. When i played, i felt like i was in the world of the game. A feeling so magical, that i really haven’t found some i played dk64
DK64 is one of the most important pieces of media in my childhood. I still remember the day we went to Toys R Us and got our copy with the Toys R Us strategy guide. Years later I found a copy of that same edition guide online, even still having the old stickers. The music was so important that I had to have the cd of the ost and I listen to it regularly. This game always brings me back to those happy times in my childhood
I really resonate with your feelings, especially in the beginning. While I prefer Donkey Kong Country and especially its sequel, I hold a special place in my heart for DK64.
This was truly beautiful. I could not express how DK 64 makes me feel until now. For all of its flaws, the universe of the game was a place for me to escape to while my parents got a divorce and while I went through so many life changes. And when I 101 percent completed it during COVID, it brought me back, distracting me from the sorry state of the world at the time. Thank you for making this beautiful video.
I weirdly and vividly remember learning to ride a bike because of Donkey Kong 64. I was stuck on the Puftoss boss for probably weeks, and one of the older neighborhood kids was at my house. My dad took the training wheels off my bike and decided I was ready to try riding for real, and with his help I did it. It was amazing. Afterwards I went inside, into the basement, and found my brother and that kid exploring a brand new world in DK64 I had never seen before. They told me they beat Puftoss, and I was in complete shock and awe at what I was seeing. I was just ecstatic to have more worlds to explore. Donkey Kong 64 isn't my favorite game anymore, but it is undoubtedly my favorite game from my childhood, if that makes sense. Fantastic video.
Those big memories are always going to be super important because it's a reminder of the things that were super important to you as a child and helped make you who you are now; at least in some small way. Never let go of those! I find it's the old stories like that that always bring me comfort on harder days. And thank you so much!
This was really touching! I have a lot of great memories of this game as well that are tied to pivotal moments in my life, even things that happened when I was a bit older. I have similar random memories that are inextricably tied to other games: I remember being 10 or so and waiting for my dad to get ready to take me to an amusement park and while I waited I spent hours searching for a wild Chimecho on Mt Pyre in pokemon ruby because it was one of the last ones I needed to complete my pokedex. I can remember sitting on my floor of my childhood home and exactly what it smelled like because I would sit there and play Mario 3 as a young child. Games as a form of media are not only important for the gameplay and enjoyment of the game itself, but also for how it anchors us to both important and unimportant times in our lives. Thanks for sharing your story!
Thanks for making this video man. I’ve never seen my exact thought and emotions about this game layer out so perfectly. This game is so intertwined with my childhood experiences and who I am as an adult.
Thanks so much for sharing your appreciation for this game. It’s truly something amazing when a work of art has so much meticulous effort and love put into it.
You literally put into words what my childhood was like and how my memories work. I literally had chills listening to it, especially when you said that it happened with Mario Galaxy. That game for me is the game that will always he my favorite. I have listened to that music so many times, and I've played through it more times than I can count. I grew up with both games, I watched my brother play DK64 all the way through, but I think Mario Galaxy is the first game that I got completely immersed into. I remember feeling it again with Ocarina of Time, and then later Breath of the Wild, I think thats the last time a game felt like that to me. Its crazy how someone has the same experience that I've never really been able to put into words. And I think the main thing is that these worlds never changed, but everything else did. That's why I love revisiting games so much, it literally makes me revisit a time in my life that isn't here anymore
what an incredible video. from start to finish, talking about how DKC just captivated you, i can fully understand that, Rare made INCREDIBLE games in the 90s, and so they were able to just catch you with their incredible music and art design in the DKC games, i also played DK 64 as a kid and as a result its also one of my favorites, also the DKC games and its music. i love this vid, its really a good explanation on how what you experience as a kid can form you as a person.. i make music myself, and grew up loving music, and the biggest reason for that were the video games ive played.. also the best quote of the video: "each playsession felt like one long hug" couldve not said it better overall phenomenal and this needs to get viral!
I was a child born in the late 90's, yet it was only in the 2000's when I got to experience so many amazing N64 games at a family friend's house that was babysitting me (the majority of them also being made by Rare). I feel the same way looking at that house that raised me to love and care about the worlds I visit in gaming. Even if DK 64 hasn't aged that well, it holds a special place in my heart. The music always gives me nostalgic chills. Thanks for sharing such a great essay!
💯. dkc 2 i used to rent from the local village rental store. then 1999 turned 10 yrs old and got dk64, i was obsessed. I still love that banana yellow cart. Yes the backtracking for shit is really annoying, but its the feeling and the atmosphere that also captured me as a kid, the music, the visuals, im not sure what, i was ten. Makes sense. : ]
One thing I will always remember is waking up really early on Saturdays, making some egos waffles and trying to beat this game as an 8-9 year old. Life was so simple and I love these great memories
So glad to see someone feel the EXACT same way about this game as I do, I wasn’t even 1 when I played this game, will always be the first game I’ve ever played, blew me away then, blows me away now.
DK64, Banjo Kazooie and Tooie were such huge parts of my early childhood as well and it’s really surreal coming across a video explaining the feeling behind it. I hope someday when I have kids of my own that I can pass these games down to them and that they will enjoy them the same way I did.
So many of my clearest childhood memories are linked to DK64, as well. There were so many times that I played it with specific friends, and when I think about childhood friendships, this game is always present in the thought. One of my most detailed memories of my first school was of waiting outside for my mom to pick me up, just thinking the whole time about how I couldn't wait to get home and play DK64. My memory over the years has gotten so terrible, but those memories of the past strike with such clarity and detail that it feels more real than most of my memory from the past decade. It's "just a silly monkey game", but I totally feel you on this video. Excellent essay.
I SO UNDERSTAND what you meant when you described a sort of mental link of a location in a game being tied to a sorta obscure memory? We lived it out in our real life, yet it's such a strange feeling or thing to try and explain. They are not directly connected but in a way they are because subconsciously the game impacted us, as well as the random things we were experiencing in our life's. It's so interesting how memory, or our senses of our experiences are made and saved or recalled. Great video man 👍🏻
This was an incredible video for so many reasons. I too feel a very similar connection to Donkey Kong 64 and the DKC's. Thank you so much for putting into words what I couldn't. Outstanding, breathtaking... bravo!
It's insane how well you put this feeling into words. The way this world reminds you of childhood and the little things--Pokemon Heartgold is the game that does that for me. Beautiful video.
Heart Gold and Soul Silver are always going to hold a special place in my heart. Those were the first Pokémon games I really got hooked on! Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed the video! :)
I'm glad to hear this game get some love. Even if it's rose tinted love. This game I hold near and dear, too. It's literally my earliest memory that I can still recall. Watching my dad play DK64 while sitting in his lap; I was absolutely enthralled by the game. I was far too young to play the game well, and heck I was still too young to be good at the GBA DKC ports, but I tried them all and they all hold a special place in my heart to this day.
I lived a very similar experience with this game and my childhood. There is something about the music in this game that is unlike any other. Thank you for sharing!
As a kid, I used to watch my older brother play DK64, and would always urge him to collect bananas for Troff & Scoff so I could see him fight the boss. I remember watching an old middle school crush fight King K. Rool while making jokes. Years later, I was helping my dad clean out an old rental house, where we found an N64 and the game. I took it home and revisited nostalgia, but unfortunately never got to finish the game myself. What I loved about it most was the story and characters, whether it was Chunky being introduced or K Rool facepalming about his goofy minions, or K Lumsy being freed from his cell... it had a lot to offer in these regards, and I LOVED Creepy Castle, Fungi Forest and Frantic Factory just because of the atmosphere. Your video really helps us who were kids back then remember how fun the game was, and the memories that came with it. Well done! 😊
DK64 & ZELDA MM, games I will never forget... 100% got the same feelings brother... The music, the colors, the worlds, the different kongs, the multi-player, everything. Nostalgia to its best...
This is the best RUclips video I have seen in a LONG time. So personal, and moving...I loved how you included your associations and memories, I could relate so hard. I experienced the same, but more with Banjo-Kazooie. Same with starting the piano...click clock wood was the very reason I wanted to learn an instrument!
I feel exactly the same way, i started with DK country tho. Then i got my 64 in 99. I was 4. Just today i drove to work playing forest interlude, Jungle hijinx, aquatic ambiance. I too make music and thank these games for that (Killer Instinct too, Rare had Hits) For years been looking for a DK 64 retrospectives, but they're mostly negative. I love DK 64 and even been letting my daughter play so she can have these same feelings i had playing these games.
this is exactly how i feel about the game. everything you said its how i feel. it was the first game ive ever played. something about the visuals and music and vibe of the game just never disconnected from me. to this day i sometimes hear in my thoughts that “OKAY” with the nintendo screen.
I'd highly recommend looking up the Tag Anywhere mod for DK64 if you ever feel like coming back to it. Like the name suggests, it lets you switch Kongs anywhere you want with the D-pad, no tag barrel required. It's a huge blessing and it makes the game a lot more fun.
My gosh man. DK64 is also my favorite. I got exposed to DKC2 at my aunt and uncles house and had a very similar experience to you playing it alone in a guest bedroom. I then went on to obsess over DK64. I still love it to this day. I just played through it last week. The music, the atmosphere, the environments, the wacky cast of the game, all perfect. Personally, I don’t mind the colored collectibles and the backtracking. They do 2 things. 1 they force you to actually learn the levels since you see every location more than once. 2 they give you massive hints about which king to bring to certain areas to achieve goals for that character. It has to work that day since so many challenges in this game are dependent on character specific abilities. Also. Would we really complain about spending additional time in these beautiful worlds? This game was like the ultimate swan song, the closing note of the 1990s and that whole century of gaming. It’s special in its own unique way. And yeah, of course Mario Galaxy is also incredible.
I didn't realize that this was questioned as a common reaction to games from my past. I always get randomly reminded of my childhood games by places I go to, and I can visualize what the games look like and how they make me feel. I can't visualize things in my head, I see either nothing or vague colors and undefined masses. I can't visualize what my family looks like, or my own house, or my school, the supermarket; the places I have been to and people I have seen for all of my life, I have lost all ability to properly see in my mind's eye. But when I visit some places, hear some music, see some people, I will be able to remember my childhood again, and be able to see a game I remember so fondly in my head. It was really hard not to cry while watching this, because it really is a powerfully emotional thing for me. It upsets me sometimes how I can't remember my own mom's face, or what happened in my own life one year ago, or be able to think of things that are so impactful and important to me, but seeing things which trigger my gaming childhood somehow allows me to. I go to my grandparents house, and I suddenly think of Crash Bandicoot: Warped. And by extension, it beings back memories in a strong way. Being able to see things in my head with enough intensity is such a strong experience to me, and being able to remember and feel my memories and past again brings out such visceral emotions that sometimes make me inexplicably teary eyed. Something so inconsequential to my life and not necessarily emotional in game, making ME emotional. I don't have one game in specific that gives these strong emotions, I named Crash 3 as an example, I have so many games from my chidlhood that make me so cozy and happy to see and think of, that sometimes I don't even know what game is making me have a response. But all I know is that videogames allow my brain to connect with my environment in such a way which I wouldn't experience the same othwrwise. This must be how people with Alzheimers or dementia must feel, hearing music that suddenly enables them to remember things.
I got the same emotional connection to this amazing game. Still humming its melodies, forming strings to areas around me. Was really great to watch your video. Thanks man and wonderful to see that other people found their passion through dk64 as well. All the best man❤
The music will always be a giant reason why this game is so important to me, and the cool thing is that it just helps to amplify everything else. The tunes make me look at the entire package with more fondness and it's just a super special thing!
this video gives voice to something i've known to be true ever since I first plugged in the expansion pack and played this wonderful, bloated game. it's thus perpetually preserved wonderland of color, life, and whimsy. I really enjoyed watching this, thanks for sharing!!
Even though I never played it as a kid, I still get a nostalgic feeling when I play this game these days. It truly stands out among all other games of its time or genre.
What a lovely video, it brought the feeling that I held onto for Zelda 64 and DK2 all this time. It really does show how games can help us discover new thoughts and ideas. Also my favorite, jokes that you didn't get as a kid but see as an adult. Keep on makin' dude.
Love this- far more entertaining to watch/listen to than a traditional retrospective. While I never really got to this point with DK64 particularly, I do have a lot of memories playing it with an older cousin when I was 6 years old in 2001. He had been around since the NES era, so seeing him beat the shit out out of the second 'bout with the dragonfly or complete the little DK arcade challenge in Frantic Factory was amazing to me. He's more or less the reason I got into older games past the PS1/64 era, really.
DK64 has been my favorite game of all time since i was little I will sing praise for its strengths and give it whatfor for its weakest points, and will fully admit it gave little me nightmares from some things in it, but it makes me happy all the same Its only been in recent years that I've felt comfortable talking about this game and what joy it gives me because i have friends who want to hear about my interests! Chunky is one of my favorite characters! And as you bring up, the music breathes life into it - its one OST i listen to super frequently while I'm working on art, find as many covers and remixes as I can when I need something a little extra Its so refreshing to hear someone speak positively about Donkey Kong 64, thank you 💜 This might inspire me to fully express what I love about this game in some longform fashion at some point
Yup this is exactly the same for me but with Donkey Kong Country. I was so obsessed with that game when I first played it at 4 years old back in ‘94, and it went on to shape so much of my life and imagination. I still day dream about that world, and I have these weird abstract “emotion memories” (I don’t know what else to call them) attached to that world, that are just memories of random objects and colours and emotions that I have associated to that game and world. When I was waiting for DK64 to release I was so hyped I used to take my DKC cartridge and pretend to put it in my N64 and just fantasize about what it would be like 🥰
I never knew how to explain it, but the emotions you expressed in this essay are exactly the same feelings I have for Banjo Kazooie. Thanks, & great video
This was a beautiful video to watch and really touching. I was watching this on my TV but decided to jump on my phone so I could comment on this directly, I relate to so much of this ESPECIALLY everything regarding the music, and it also directed me into wanting to compose myself. This hit me right in the feels for sure
I totally get it. We both grew into our formative years at a time where these colorful platformers thought a lot about their world design, to create engrossing worlds for people to live in. Your DK64 was my DK64, Paper Mario, Pokémon Crystal, Melee, and most of all, Banjo-Tooie. I have these same types of memories associated with moments in games. Catching my first Houndour in a tent on a rainy day. Getting stuck in the DK64 tutorial with my mom helping me. The cozy birthday when I received Tooie, with the whole following summer playing. And the countless chores I did and pocket money I collected to finally buy my used copy of Paper Mario. It's powerful stuff. It's only natural games affected us that way. It's the only medium that just lets you be.
I have a similar memory association with the numetal band POD. whenever I listen to their 2001 album Satellite, I'm immediately 13 years old again in the backseat of my parents car obsessively reading through the final fantasy 8 strategy guide while blasting that album in my headphones. It's sureal how it works every time. Makes me feel melancholic and nostalgic.
This was a fantastic video. You really show how important game worlds can feel and the persistent emotions we can derive from them. It's cool seeing channels that share these personal introspections toward games and you knocked it out of the park here. Doesn't hurt that the video is on a Donkey Kong game. That's a win in my book. Keep up the fantastic work and best wishes toward your musical endeavors as well.
DK64 was my favorite game as a kid and still one of my favorites. I never got past the third or fourth level as a child. I remember about 15 years ago, when I was in college, over the course of a few months my buddy would come over every few weeks and we'd spend the entire night, CRT TV on the floor, playing through the game to 101% completion, drinking beers and sometimes on the verge of smashing controllers. Some nights were spent just taking turns, grinding out a single golden banana (like Beaver Bother or the ice maze in Crystal Caves). We ended up getting 101% but stopped for some reason before beating the final boss. Now I have a new N64 and I'm trying to finally complete the game. We'll see.
It’s too crazy but i genuinely had this experience with DK64 myself. I’m a full time music producer & artist now at age 29 (it’s actually my birthday on watching this video which is even weirder), and i have hummed these tunes & learned them on guitar & piano throughout my entire childhood & i have this same hugely formative experience with this game. I can never seperate those feelings & nostalgia from the game, especially the fairy isle theme. Thanks for the video man, sending good vibes.
Hours after watching DKC: Return to Krocodile Isle, a really well done animated short that I recommend everyone watch, I came across this video in my recommendation. And just like that amazing short, it brought me back to the Donkey Kong series in a way I didn't imagine. As a 2000's kid, I never grew up with the country games or 64, but I always wanted to play 64 at a very young age as I loved Donkey Kong at the time. I haven't had that love for the charecter and his series since I was a kid, and this video and Return to Krocodile Isle reminded me why I loved Donkey Kong so much as a series, from country returns, to Jungle Beat, to just a playable charecter in the Mario spin offs, that charecter did it all for me. And King K Rool has been my favorite antagonist of all time ever since he joined Smash Ultimate's roster. This video made me happy, and I want so bad to be invested into Donkey Kong's world again.
I miss this game so much. I played it when I was a child and a teenager with some friends, and I miss those times so fucking much, just like Pokemon Platinum and Mario Kart DS. I still listen a lot to the beautiful music of DK64 and these other games, remembering better times.
Man, I really love this video, it resonates with me so hard! and not just because DK64 is one of my favorite games ever. You're a really great writer, and video maker, I hope your channel gets the attention it deserves some day.
Wow, this video is so true for me. Im not even joking one bit. I was 8 in 1999 when i got my first n64. It came with dk64 and an expansion pack. I was so confused at how to begin. Was the first 3d game i had ever experienced. I explored dk isles for hours. Finally i got to jungle japes and was more disoriented. I FINALLY stumbled into angry aztec and still have vivid memories of being so hopeless cause i couldnt figure out how to free Lanky for the life of me. Gloomy Galleon took ages to complete because of the merciless under water missions... Long story long, and literally years later, once i finished the game, i literally burst into tears. Was the most epic journey ive ever been a part of. Was so bittersweet.. To this day i will just wander through the game just to try and feel some of the same feelings as before. What an actual mind boggling experience this game was/is.. Thank you for this video. All i ever find is how everyone hates this game so much. It was love/hate for many years, but also what a lerfect experience.. Just wow
As someone with a similar connection to this game, I would like to thank you for not parroting the same tired old "GAME BAD" mantra the entire internet seems to spew out when discussing this game, I really needed to hear that.
Everything you said hit a nerve, the dopamine rush that diddys kong quest gave me growing up and still to this day, and the magic that is DK64, as a game that’s skipped over, it’s nice to have someone spill their brain like mine
To this day, whenever anyone asks me what my favorite game is I say DK64. Beyond the Kingdom Hearts, WOW, FFXIV… this game will probably never be dethroned. Thanks for the vid!
This is so touching, I felt a lot less alone in feeling an attachment to a virtual world that somehow defined me, my life and my emotions. You put yourself into this video and for that I am appreciative. I think we form strong emotional ties to these games that invite us into a world that has reflections of our own yet giving us a chance to live in the creative and wonder that only comes with childhood. For me, shenmue has the same emotional attachment that DK64 has for you. Something about being able to live in two worlds as a child (imagination) and the real world is something that brings me joy just reflecting on in my day. Thanks again, this is a masterpiece and I am so glad to know I am not alone in forming my memories/synapses and identity based on the creativity that our favorite games brought us. Seek out the 4 blades my friend haha (jk but I do have random Ryo quotes)
This is such a beautiful video essay. I think you perfectly articulate the nuanced and complicated feeling of what it means to have spent part of your childhood in a game world that, years and decades later, you can return to. Great work.
This was very personal and not easy to explain, but it made for a nice and calm retrospective... Personally, the main menu in super smash bros. 64 reminds of my old neighbourhood. My family members would play n64 games at the time, and the relaxed yet misterious menu reminds me about the feeling of living in such an artificial looking but safe place at the same time...
I wish more video essays were like this. The feeling you're expressing is so relatable & I happen to feel similarly about DK64 so it hit extra hard. I make videos that try to strike some similar cords so I'm stoked to have stumbled across this. Looking forward to your next video!
Thank you! I just really tried to kind of make the type of video I know I'd want to watch and these emotions are just something I really wanted to verbalize and put out into the world! It feels so so great that you and lots of other people feel so similarly! Funny enough I've stumbled across one of your videos before! A month or two I had your Earthbound video show up in my recommended videos and I absolutely loved it! The videos you make are seriously great and definitely worthy of the praise! Thank you so much for the kind words!
@@Brian.Henken Thank you! "Making videos you'd most want to watch" is a common denominator to my favorite channels so I'm excited to add another one to my feed. Seriously great work
Although I didn't grow up with a SNES, I did grow up with the N64, and I felt as immersed in the games Rareware made on that console as you explained in this video about DKC2. I miss those days, exploring the different worlds, finding secrets, even encountering glitches like one in particular: Get Chunky and his power up barrel that makes him huge, go to the main hub world and try to grab the ledge on the second jump up towards the path to Angry Aztec, and press Z, you'll fall through ending up under the island. This was how I found the operations room K Rool uses to reveal his ship.
I don't think it's tied to a singular game as such, but that kind of raw tactility where your brain is wiring together the colors and textures of a corner of video game geometry with like the rough brightly colored rubberized textures of dumbells in the Sears sporting goods department is so real.
Thank you! I put a ton of myself into this video! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I'm definitely going to be creating more videos like this one real soon!
I've been meaning to post this here for a while.
I always take the time to read every single comment I receive. I never miss one.
The amount of love I've received on a video that I truly thought would never resonate with more than just a small handful of people has been pleasantly surprising and gratifying, to say the least.
The stories of warm and bittersweet nostalgia that so many of you have kindly taken the time to tell has honestly left me a bit teary eyed at times. It's very uplifting to know that I'm not alone in this feeling, and that, even if you don't share my sentiment specifically with Donkey Kong 64, you can still relate in a meaningful way. I hope it helps you to reflect on the positive aspects of your childhood and the art you enjoyed, and will remind you to always remember who you are underneath everything.
This truly and honestly means a lot to me. I am endlessly grateful for your kindness, and I hope you'll stick with me as I continue to create more.
Thank you so much ♥
Having a nostalgic connection to a game is like a time mirror, you look into it and are taken back to that entire period of your life.
And it gets even more interesting when its connected to a specific person strongly, a sibling, parent, or close friend for instance.
I still associate kingdom hearts with my sister and many many happy memories with her, she introduced me to video games and THAT was my start. You can imagine how I feel about those games and thus her. I also still associate it and certain tracks and scenes from it with the physical distance we have and always have had between each other despite how we feel. All of the good bad and ugly of our relationship pretty much connects to those games.
Crazy right?
@@snickey3483 I definitely can relate. Especially with it being Kingdom hearts! I've always been a massive fan of that series.
It always seems that it's one of the best ways you can keep those really strong happy memories fresh in your mind, regardless of time and circumstance. It really is beautiful! I'm glad you have that with such a great game (and soundtrack to go with it). Never let go of that!
Cool
I share your love of DK64 and its music and thought you would like this video I made! It's a remaster of the entire DK64 OST with matching gameplay. ruclips.net/video/6TYL44n1jf4/видео.htmlsi=pOR6XUS9qzqkVaFG
I especially loved how you related game stuff to real life stuff. I did the same thing as a kid! Don't know if you've ever played the Buzz Lightyear game on the N64, but the last level is an outdoor airport level. It always made me think of the parking lot of the Lowes my dad would bring us to all the time. Something about the way the lot was bordered by a grassy hill that you couldn't see over from inside the car. Just the hill and then the sky behind it.
I'm also really big on how certain smells can make me think of a game. The smell of fresh asphault makes me think of Super Mario World. As strange as that sounds, it's because I used to go to a babysitter and her son had a Super Nintendo and we'd play that game. They must have gotten their drivway redone because it always smelled like asphault when I went to her house. That's how that connection works.
DK64 received too much rough judgment over the years, so it is very nice to see it receive such a good love letter like this.
I’ve always loved the game!
I remember loving this game, but something tells me to leave it in the past
The harshest thing I have to say about it is that most of the barrel minigames SUUUUUUCK and unfortunately those are the ones repeated most often. Everything else about it aged wonderfully IMO.
DK 64 IS SUPER UNDERRATED
It’s well warranted. Its a collecthathon that makes collecting things an annoying chore
This is the kinda content I watch RUclips for.
It’s a weird feeling watching a video of someone express an emotion that I can’t entirely understand. I think that in part it’s because I’m too young to stop and look back on what made me who I am because I’m still figuring out who I am. I am however incredibly thankful to have an amazing, kind, and talented friend like you that I can look up to. Keep being awesome Brain Fartken
Sometimes it takes a bit to really settle in, but I'm sure it's there! Just gotta keep looking for it! Very glad we're friends 😎
can't believe this made me cry
Hopefully they were happy tears!
This was one of my absolute favorite N64 games! Paper Mario 64 being slightly above it. Something I feel like you really hit the nail on is that things change in life all the time...But Crystal Caves will always be Crystal Caves! Games stay the same and always hold that piece of time with absolute mystery and adventure. Great video man thanks!
I completely understand you linking childhood moments from real life into games. I feel the same way but with other N64 games like Mario 64, Zelda Ocarina of Time and Banjo Kazooie actually.
This is the content that makes this platform worthwhile. Thank you for filling me with nostalgia and taking me back to my childhood. Amazing.
I feel you man. DK64 is always my favorite game I didn’t mind the design I actually liked it. The music also is a pleasant feeling. I enjoyed your story 😎❤. Ocarina of time is another game I enjoyed too and my most favorite Zelda song is the spirit temple as it reminds me of when I was 6 years old and enjoyeing every part of life
Donkey Kong 64 is probably the most emotional game for me other than Ocarina of Time, both games are in a sense how I see the world I grew up in . I remember more of my childhood through these games then I do from my own memory. When I go into the giant mushroom I remember sitting In my little bean bag in the family room, looking into that blocky gray TV, seeing the most magical place, a place where no matter what, everything was gonna be okay, and I was gonna have fun. I remember exactly what the room looked like, from the placement of the couch, down to every last of my 64 games and where they were. I remember when I got to the top of the toy block tower in frantic factory, looking up at the ceiling and imagining how expansive the world beyond could be. When I boot up Ocarina of Time on my 64 I can’t help but cry hearing those first few notes, all the memories of my childhood flood back to me instantly, it’s overwhelming but so comforting. I remember the times when my family was still together, and I could wake up knowing my dad would come home and give me a hug, and maybe play some Mario Kart with me, he always played as Donkey Kong. I remember how much the wolves in the forest temple scared me, so I would ask him to sit we me while I played. Or how he would bring me with him to church sometimes and help me hook up my N64 so I could play while he was working. Sometimes it gives me hope that maybe someday it will happen again, but time keeps moving and I can never go back. It’s really hard to accept that as I get older, I’m about to graduate high school this month, I’m growing more independent by the day and soon I’ll have less time to revisit these magical worlds. I will never be grateful enough for the times these games gave me, and I will never forgot the feeling of having a loving family to wake up to. Thank you.
I definitely teared up a bit reading this. Thank you for leaving such a beautifully emotional comment. I'm glad I could really strike a chord. I think that feeling of safety can be a huge factor in the nostalgia associated with games like this. Knowing that everything is going to be okay in that world and that you were about to have a great time is such a warm feeling. I think being able to have that memory association of happier times, especially when it comes to your family, is everything. And it's so easy, now more than every, to relive those memories and reexperience those emotions simply by booting these games up and playing again. I know that sense of feeling like you can never be grateful enough is so heavy, but that just means that you really were (and are) capable of loving something more than yourself and against all else. That's a great thing! If your parents are still around; give them a call maybe and just thank them for those memories. I try to do that with mine whenever I can. If they aren't around anymore; maybe give DK64 and Ocarina of Time another playthrough and do your best to cherish those memories. As they're what make you who you are. Thank you so much! I'm really glad you connected with the video in such a meaningful way!
@@Brian.Henken Thank you too! I really needed this video today so I’m glad it showed up in my suggestions. I’ve been sick the past week and had a pretty rough day today in particular with some person issues so this video really allowed me to let my emotions out! I’m really happy someone else shares similar memories and gets similar feelings from these games. I did decide to boot up Ocarina for the title screen, and I played some DK64 and that opening cutscene really hit me, I’m enjoying the game so far and I’m excited to re experience my childhood! Especially frantic factory and the crystal caves, their atmosphere was absolutely magical, even fungi forest! Music has always resonated with me, DK64 had such a magical soundtrack similar to its atmosphere, honestly the whole DK series has amazing music. It’s awesome you were able to pursue music like you have, it inspires me to get back to pay guitar and see where I can take it. Thank you and I hope you have a great day or night :)
I've been pursuing many of the great composers from the past as a result of playing many Nintendo games where many of Nintendo game composers clearly have been inspired by while putting their own stamp on their compositions. They seamlessly integrate with the context of gameplay and create this Segway into the themed worlds. It's just so inspired.
This video is the most real, candid, *human* thing I have *ever* seen. You know what it means to love something so much it becomes part of your soul.
Though for me it was Rayman 2 and not Donkey Kong 64, I *wholly* understand what you mean by the seemingly random memory connections to other things, and the feeling of the game being a childhood time capsule that's exactly the same as how you left it.
I've never seen someone else describe something that I've only ever thought about in my own mind so clearly and accurately before, and I *understand.*
ETA: And the *soundtrack!* I lost count of how many times, in both games, where I just stopped to listen to the OST. That one music box part of the Frantic Factory theme in particular always gave me the chills.
This video is genuinely incredible, I think everybody has that game they used to get lost in, that was fun just to play, not to accomplish anything or get some reward, but because it was inherently fun to spend your time exploring and revisiting each area. For me, that game was Super Mario Sunshine. It saddens me to think that kids of the future will never get to experience the joy of unwrapping a physical game and being ecstatic, exploring every nook and cranny, knowing they won't be getting another game for months, and not caring, because that is enough. I'm only in my early twenties but I already feel the aging "They don't make 'em like they used to" mentality. I'm sure the next generation will find their own things to make equally special memories with, but I can't help but feel sad thinking that nobody will get to experience ours. I'm sure all of our parents felt the same way about us.
Side note, the music section of this brought back a very early memory very similar to yours. In DKC2, when I got to the first boss, the crow, as a very young child, probably no older than five or six, I was absolutely enamored with the boss music, so much so that I copied the save file to another slot, so that while I could progress on my own file, I could always go back to the file with the boss, pause it, and just listen to the song. Bosses could only be fought once if I recall correctly, so I'd lose access to the song after beating it, hence the extra file. Music streaming platforms are awesome, but nothing will ever beat turning on DCK2 and opening a dedicated save file just to hear one song while I did my homework. That memory would probably have been gone forever if it weren't for this video, so on the offchance you see this, thank you for that.
Man, I didn't know I needed to see this video, but the way you described how this game and its world helped you to feel connected to your past was beyond cathartic for me. The environments and music truly bring this magical feeling that is just hard to find anywhere else - and it brings me a joy I just can't explain as well as you've explained here. I literally started replaying the game about a week ago and found this video because I was looking for DK64 music, and I am so glad I did. The earliest games I can even remember playing are Super Mario 64 and DK64, both in a small house in the middle of nowhere, dust in the air from all the clutter, but I didn't care, because I was just enjoying witnessing everything on the screen. I remember my mom having to help me get out of the starting area because I didn't understand you had to do the training barrels - and over several weeks I managed to get all the way to Fungi Forest before getting stuck. I still remember that being my favorite level anyways. I remember years later, asking my grandparents to bring the old N64 while we were visiting my cousins, sitting on the carpeted floor looking at a TV that was way too high to see comfortably, but I didn't really mind it. Somehow we had lost Mario 64 but gained Majora's Mask, and I never bothered to question how that had happened. I even remember playing it on a very weird screen setup in my family's first ever SUV, when they still had the flip-down movie screens built into them and even had the correct ports to plug into for that. I think I 100%'d it twice on actual console. I still have that N64, safely tucked away in a drawer on my nightstand, forever holding those memories. I've been replaying DK64 on emulator using a mod to let you switch Kongs anywhere, and honestly it helps with the flaws so much that it really feels like how I had imagined it as a kid, if you haven't tried it I would genuinely recommend it a lot, it's not too hard to find (It is literally called "Tag Anywhere" by Isotarge and many others). Also, your section about Mario Galaxy was great too - I literally bought the Mario 35 collection solely so I could play galaxy on a handheld without having to set up emulation again for it, and I forgot just how wonderful it was to just experience a game like that, truly taking in everything it offers, beyond just what is literally on the screen and the objectives you have. Games are a truly special experience unlike anything else, and even today still I listen to a ton of game OSTs, half because I really like them and half because they give me such vivid thoughts of things I was thinking about during playing them. It's hard to replicate that feeling exactly the same way with other mediums - though don't get me wrong, other mediums have their own strengths. Thank you for making this video and helping me to reminisce - this made my day just a bit better, and also, really nice job on the music! Keep at it, you're doing amazing.
Dude, gorgeous essay. This is such a personal, resonant exploration of a piece of art that you love and as someone who loves DK but has never played 64, I felt completely in tune with your feelings here. Fantastic work
This video boils down to “I love dk64 because of nostalgia” and I love it
It's weird how "you like it cuz nostalgia" has become seen as this "invalid" position. Like, wow, so shocking that this combination of music, visual art, and gameplay (that is, all things expressly designed to invoke emotional responses) invokes an emotional response!
I mean, it's fair to evaluate games and other art from more technical perspectives, consider whether they're appealing to people who didn't play them in their original contexts, etc. But that doesn't make nostalgia an invalid response to things created (in large part) to generate that kind of feeling!
Man, I am literally replaying Donkey Kong 64 right now..... I'm 28 and I remember getting a Nintendo 64 with DK64 included and that memory has never left and I replay it every year or so just to get that bit of nostalgia....
Love the vid.
Was not expecting this video to make me cry. You're not alone in feeling extreme emotional connection and significance of videogames strongly associated to early real life memories. In some cases they are the prerequisite to triggering a memory that you were unaware of and would have never been able to unlock. Or one that is so mundane and throw away you're surprised theres a memory attatched to it and would have previously given it little thought. I think i would have felt that potent emotional association even more strongly if i would have encountered videogames in my earlier childhood like you, but I didn't play my first videoganes until I was around 8. Even so i have very similar experiences. With the first two games I ever played on my friends snes, Yoshi's island and Wario's woods, and to a much greater extent, mario 64 and pokemon yellow which were the first two videogames my brother I got and played endlessly. I am happy you understand.
I was not expecting to be this moved by a video about DK64, yet here we are. You really summarized everything that made this game, and video game worlds like it, so special, especially for those of us who experienced them as imaginative, impressionable kids
Thank you! Part of the reason I made this video was because that feeling was so hard to verbalize for so long and I really wanted to find the best way to put it into words. And I'm really glad that there are so many people that are on the same page!
I can’t believe I met someone who feels the same way I do about dk64, the only difference is that I didn’t realize how much I loved the music in the game until much later
It took me after 15+ years to beat Donkey Kong 64, Super Mario 64 and Banjo Kazooie for the first time as I was growing up, if you can believe that. An entire console's prime legacy was dust long by the time I finally finished them in my late teenage years. Such games like Donkey Kong 64 especially has a special place in my heart as well.
Such a beautiful video!!! I completely understand how memories are tied to things like games or stories I was engaged in at the time.
Gosh, it’s good to know others have this vivid emotional connection to this game. I still listen to the soundtracks whenever possible. My second emotional game was skies of Arcadia, though it was later in my life, i still somehow grew attached to it so strongly. When i played, i felt like i was in the world of the game. A feeling so magical, that i really haven’t found some i played dk64
wow what a great video. Congrats! I loved it.
DK64 is one of the most important pieces of media in my childhood. I still remember the day we went to Toys R Us and got our copy with the Toys R Us strategy guide. Years later I found a copy of that same edition guide online, even still having the old stickers. The music was so important that I had to have the cd of the ost and I listen to it regularly. This game always brings me back to those happy times in my childhood
Bro yes, the fairy fountain cozy af! Love the video. My favorite game too
This video made me cry. Genuinely thank you so much.
I really resonate with your feelings, especially in the beginning. While I prefer Donkey Kong Country and especially its sequel, I hold a special place in my heart for DK64.
This was truly beautiful. I could not express how DK 64 makes me feel until now. For all of its flaws, the universe of the game was a place for me to escape to while my parents got a divorce and while I went through so many life changes. And when I 101 percent completed it during COVID, it brought me back, distracting me from the sorry state of the world at the time. Thank you for making this beautiful video.
The worlds rare build were so filled with color depth and contrast, amazing music and intrige
I smile just because this video is so moving and personal.
I weirdly and vividly remember learning to ride a bike because of Donkey Kong 64. I was stuck on the Puftoss boss for probably weeks, and one of the older neighborhood kids was at my house. My dad took the training wheels off my bike and decided I was ready to try riding for real, and with his help I did it. It was amazing. Afterwards I went inside, into the basement, and found my brother and that kid exploring a brand new world in DK64 I had never seen before. They told me they beat Puftoss, and I was in complete shock and awe at what I was seeing. I was just ecstatic to have more worlds to explore. Donkey Kong 64 isn't my favorite game anymore, but it is undoubtedly my favorite game from my childhood, if that makes sense. Fantastic video.
Those big memories are always going to be super important because it's a reminder of the things that were super important to you as a child and helped make you who you are now; at least in some small way.
Never let go of those! I find it's the old stories like that that always bring me comfort on harder days.
And thank you so much!
incredible video, from the editing to the voiceover to the actual content, your love and appreciation for games is deep and genuine. Great video truly
I'm doing my best! Thank you for the kind words! And definitely keep an eye out for more stuff like this soon.
You are not alone! This is the world I grew up in
This was really touching! I have a lot of great memories of this game as well that are tied to pivotal moments in my life, even things that happened when I was a bit older. I have similar random memories that are inextricably tied to other games: I remember being 10 or so and waiting for my dad to get ready to take me to an amusement park and while I waited I spent hours searching for a wild Chimecho on Mt Pyre in pokemon ruby because it was one of the last ones I needed to complete my pokedex. I can remember sitting on my floor of my childhood home and exactly what it smelled like because I would sit there and play Mario 3 as a young child. Games as a form of media are not only important for the gameplay and enjoyment of the game itself, but also for how it anchors us to both important and unimportant times in our lives. Thanks for sharing your story!
Thanks for making this video man. I’ve never seen my exact thought and emotions about this game layer out so perfectly.
This game is so intertwined with my childhood experiences and who I am as an adult.
Thanks so much for sharing your appreciation for this game. It’s truly something amazing when a work of art has so much meticulous effort and love put into it.
You literally put into words what my childhood was like and how my memories work. I literally had chills listening to it, especially when you said that it happened with Mario Galaxy. That game for me is the game that will always he my favorite. I have listened to that music so many times, and I've played through it more times than I can count. I grew up with both games, I watched my brother play DK64 all the way through, but I think Mario Galaxy is the first game that I got completely immersed into. I remember feeling it again with Ocarina of Time, and then later Breath of the Wild, I think thats the last time a game felt like that to me. Its crazy how someone has the same experience that I've never really been able to put into words. And I think the main thing is that these worlds never changed, but everything else did. That's why I love revisiting games so much, it literally makes me revisit a time in my life that isn't here anymore
what an incredible video. from start to finish, talking about how DKC just captivated you, i can fully understand that, Rare made INCREDIBLE games in the 90s, and so they were able to just catch you with their incredible music and art design in the DKC games, i also played DK 64 as a kid and as a result its also one of my favorites, also the DKC games and its music.
i love this vid, its really a good explanation on how what you experience as a kid can form you as a person.. i make music myself, and grew up loving music, and the biggest reason for that were the video games ive played..
also the best quote of the video: "each playsession felt like one long hug" couldve not said it better
overall phenomenal and this needs to get viral!
I was a child born in the late 90's, yet it was only in the 2000's when I got to experience so many amazing N64 games at a family friend's house that was babysitting me (the majority of them also being made by Rare). I feel the same way looking at that house that raised me to love and care about the worlds I visit in gaming.
Even if DK 64 hasn't aged that well, it holds a special place in my heart. The music always gives me nostalgic chills.
Thanks for sharing such a great essay!
💯. dkc 2 i used to rent from the local village rental store. then 1999 turned 10 yrs old and got dk64, i was obsessed. I still love that banana yellow cart. Yes the backtracking for shit is really annoying, but its the feeling and the atmosphere that also captured me as a kid, the music, the visuals, im not sure what, i was ten. Makes sense. : ]
One thing I will always remember is waking up really early on Saturdays, making some egos waffles and trying to beat this game as an 8-9 year old. Life was so simple and I love these great memories
So glad to see someone feel the EXACT same way about this game as I do, I wasn’t even 1 when I played this game, will always be the first game I’ve ever played, blew me away then, blows me away now.
DK64, Banjo Kazooie and Tooie were such huge parts of my early childhood as well and it’s really surreal coming across a video explaining the feeling behind it. I hope someday when I have kids of my own that I can pass these games down to them and that they will enjoy them the same way I did.
Such warm emotional video! Thx to you for sharing! You inspiring to do something myself! ❤
So many of my clearest childhood memories are linked to DK64, as well. There were so many times that I played it with specific friends, and when I think about childhood friendships, this game is always present in the thought. One of my most detailed memories of my first school was of waiting outside for my mom to pick me up, just thinking the whole time about how I couldn't wait to get home and play DK64. My memory over the years has gotten so terrible, but those memories of the past strike with such clarity and detail that it feels more real than most of my memory from the past decade. It's "just a silly monkey game", but I totally feel you on this video. Excellent essay.
I SO UNDERSTAND what you meant when you described a sort of mental link of a location in a game being tied to a sorta obscure memory? We lived it out in our real life, yet it's such a strange feeling or thing to try and explain. They are not directly connected but in a way they are because subconsciously the game impacted us, as well as the random things we were experiencing in our life's. It's so interesting how memory, or our senses of our experiences are made and saved or recalled. Great video man 👍🏻
This was an incredible video for so many reasons. I too feel a very similar connection to Donkey Kong 64 and the DKC's. Thank you so much for putting into words what I couldn't. Outstanding, breathtaking... bravo!
It's insane how well you put this feeling into words. The way this world reminds you of childhood and the little things--Pokemon Heartgold is the game that does that for me.
Beautiful video.
Heart Gold and Soul Silver are always going to hold a special place in my heart. Those were the first Pokémon games I really got hooked on! Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed the video! :)
I'm glad to hear this game get some love. Even if it's rose tinted love. This game I hold near and dear, too. It's literally my earliest memory that I can still recall. Watching my dad play DK64 while sitting in his lap; I was absolutely enthralled by the game. I was far too young to play the game well, and heck I was still too young to be good at the GBA DKC ports, but I tried them all and they all hold a special place in my heart to this day.
I lived a very similar experience with this game and my childhood. There is something about the music in this game that is unlike any other. Thank you for sharing!
As a kid, I used to watch my older brother play DK64, and would always urge him to collect bananas for Troff & Scoff so I could see him fight the boss. I remember watching an old middle school crush fight King K. Rool while making jokes.
Years later, I was helping my dad clean out an old rental house, where we found an N64 and the game. I took it home and revisited nostalgia, but unfortunately never got to finish the game myself.
What I loved about it most was the story and characters, whether it was Chunky being introduced or K Rool facepalming about his goofy minions, or K Lumsy being freed from his cell... it had a lot to offer in these regards, and I LOVED Creepy Castle, Fungi Forest and Frantic Factory just because of the atmosphere.
Your video really helps us who were kids back then remember how fun the game was, and the memories that came with it. Well done! 😊
DK64 & ZELDA MM, games I will never forget... 100% got the same feelings brother... The music, the colors, the worlds, the different kongs, the multi-player, everything. Nostalgia to its best...
This is the best RUclips video I have seen in a LONG time. So personal, and moving...I loved how you included your associations and memories, I could relate so hard. I experienced the same, but more with Banjo-Kazooie. Same with starting the piano...click clock wood was the very reason I wanted to learn an instrument!
I feel exactly the same way, i started with DK country tho. Then i got my 64 in 99. I was 4. Just today i drove to work playing forest interlude, Jungle hijinx, aquatic ambiance. I too make music and thank these games for that (Killer Instinct too, Rare had Hits) For years been looking for a DK 64 retrospectives, but they're mostly negative. I love DK 64 and even been letting my daughter play so she can have these same feelings i had playing these games.
this is exactly how i feel about the game. everything you said its how i feel. it was the first game ive ever played. something about the visuals and music and vibe of the game just never disconnected from me. to this day i sometimes hear in my thoughts that “OKAY” with the nintendo screen.
I'd highly recommend looking up the Tag Anywhere mod for DK64 if you ever feel like coming back to it. Like the name suggests, it lets you switch Kongs anywhere you want with the D-pad, no tag barrel required. It's a huge blessing and it makes the game a lot more fun.
My gosh man.
DK64 is also my favorite. I got exposed to DKC2 at my aunt and uncles house and had a very similar experience to you playing it alone in a guest bedroom.
I then went on to obsess over DK64. I still love it to this day. I just played through it last week. The music, the atmosphere, the environments, the wacky cast of the game, all perfect.
Personally, I don’t mind the colored collectibles and the backtracking. They do 2 things. 1 they force you to actually learn the levels since you see every location more than once. 2 they give you massive hints about which king to bring to certain areas to achieve goals for that character. It has to work that day since so many challenges in this game are dependent on character specific abilities.
Also. Would we really complain about spending additional time in these beautiful worlds?
This game was like the ultimate swan song, the closing note of the 1990s and that whole century of gaming. It’s special in its own unique way.
And yeah, of course Mario Galaxy is also incredible.
Its incredible that someone can create such beautiful landscapes and places that are just so real. But aren't.
I loved this so much!! you really captured something special about this game.
I didn't realize that this was questioned as a common reaction to games from my past. I always get randomly reminded of my childhood games by places I go to, and I can visualize what the games look like and how they make me feel. I can't visualize things in my head, I see either nothing or vague colors and undefined masses. I can't visualize what my family looks like, or my own house, or my school, the supermarket; the places I have been to and people I have seen for all of my life, I have lost all ability to properly see in my mind's eye. But when I visit some places, hear some music, see some people, I will be able to remember my childhood again, and be able to see a game I remember so fondly in my head. It was really hard not to cry while watching this, because it really is a powerfully emotional thing for me. It upsets me sometimes how I can't remember my own mom's face, or what happened in my own life one year ago, or be able to think of things that are so impactful and important to me, but seeing things which trigger my gaming childhood somehow allows me to. I go to my grandparents house, and I suddenly think of Crash Bandicoot: Warped. And by extension, it beings back memories in a strong way. Being able to see things in my head with enough intensity is such a strong experience to me, and being able to remember and feel my memories and past again brings out such visceral emotions that sometimes make me inexplicably teary eyed. Something so inconsequential to my life and not necessarily emotional in game, making ME emotional.
I don't have one game in specific that gives these strong emotions, I named Crash 3 as an example, I have so many games from my chidlhood that make me so cozy and happy to see and think of, that sometimes I don't even know what game is making me have a response. But all I know is that videogames allow my brain to connect with my environment in such a way which I wouldn't experience the same othwrwise. This must be how people with Alzheimers or dementia must feel, hearing music that suddenly enables them to remember things.
I got the same emotional connection to this amazing game. Still humming its melodies, forming strings to areas around me. Was really great to watch your video. Thanks man and wonderful to see that other people found their passion through dk64 as well. All the best man❤
The music will always be a giant reason why this game is so important to me, and the cool thing is that it just helps to amplify everything else. The tunes make me look at the entire package with more fondness and it's just a super special thing!
this video gives voice to something i've known to be true ever since I first plugged in the expansion pack and played this wonderful, bloated game. it's thus perpetually preserved wonderland of color, life, and whimsy. I really enjoyed watching this, thanks for sharing!!
Even though I never played it as a kid, I still get a nostalgic feeling when I play this game these days. It truly stands out among all other games of its time or genre.
What a lovely video, it brought the feeling that I held onto for Zelda 64 and DK2 all this time. It really does show how games can help us discover new thoughts and ideas. Also my favorite, jokes that you didn't get as a kid but see as an adult. Keep on makin' dude.
Lovely video, I have similar feelings playing pikmin 2 that I've never properly been able to put into words. Thanks for making this!!
Love this- far more entertaining to watch/listen to than a traditional retrospective. While I never really got to this point with DK64 particularly, I do have a lot of memories playing it with an older cousin when I was 6 years old in 2001. He had been around since the NES era, so seeing him beat the shit out out of the second 'bout with the dragonfly or complete the little DK arcade challenge in Frantic Factory was amazing to me. He's more or less the reason I got into older games past the PS1/64 era, really.
Mr. Furry guy!
DK64 has been my favorite game of all time since i was little
I will sing praise for its strengths and give it whatfor for its weakest points, and will fully admit it gave little me nightmares from some things in it, but it makes me happy all the same
Its only been in recent years that I've felt comfortable talking about this game and what joy it gives me because i have friends who want to hear about my interests! Chunky is one of my favorite characters!
And as you bring up, the music breathes life into it - its one OST i listen to super frequently while I'm working on art, find as many covers and remixes as I can when I need something a little extra
Its so refreshing to hear someone speak positively about Donkey Kong 64, thank you 💜
This might inspire me to fully express what I love about this game in some longform fashion at some point
Yup this is exactly the same for me but with Donkey Kong Country. I was so obsessed with that game when I first played it at 4 years old back in ‘94, and it went on to shape so much of my life and imagination. I still day dream about that world, and I have these weird abstract “emotion memories” (I don’t know what else to call them) attached to that world, that are just memories of random objects and colours and emotions that I have associated to that game and world. When I was waiting for DK64 to release I was so hyped I used to take my DKC cartridge and pretend to put it in my N64 and just fantasize about what it would be like 🥰
Same for me but instead of Dkc or 64 its Doom
I never knew how to explain it, but the emotions you expressed in this essay are exactly the same feelings I have for Banjo Kazooie. Thanks, & great video
This was a beautiful video to watch and really touching. I was watching this on my TV but decided to jump on my phone so I could comment on this directly, I relate to so much of this ESPECIALLY everything regarding the music, and it also directed me into wanting to compose myself. This hit me right in the feels for sure
I understand you bro. Same game too. nostalgia and reconnection to my inner child. Brings my brain back.
I totally get it. We both grew into our formative years at a time where these colorful platformers thought a lot about their world design, to create engrossing worlds for people to live in. Your DK64 was my DK64, Paper Mario, Pokémon Crystal, Melee, and most of all, Banjo-Tooie. I have these same types of memories associated with moments in games. Catching my first Houndour in a tent on a rainy day. Getting stuck in the DK64 tutorial with my mom helping me. The cozy birthday when I received Tooie, with the whole following summer playing. And the countless chores I did and pocket money I collected to finally buy my used copy of Paper Mario.
It's powerful stuff. It's only natural games affected us that way. It's the only medium that just lets you be.
I have a similar memory association with the numetal band POD. whenever I listen to their 2001 album Satellite, I'm immediately 13 years old again in the backseat of my parents car obsessively reading through the final fantasy 8 strategy guide while blasting that album in my headphones. It's sureal how it works every time. Makes me feel melancholic and nostalgic.
I love how, despite liking this game you still acknowledge it's short comings.
This was a fantastic video. You really show how important game worlds can feel and the persistent emotions we can derive from them. It's cool seeing channels that share these personal introspections toward games and you knocked it out of the park here. Doesn't hurt that the video is on a Donkey Kong game. That's a win in my book. Keep up the fantastic work and best wishes toward your musical endeavors as well.
This video made me realize I like Mario 64 so much because it reminds me of going to my grandparents house.
DK64 was my favorite game as a kid and still one of my favorites. I never got past the third or fourth level as a child. I remember about 15 years ago, when I was in college, over the course of a few months my buddy would come over every few weeks and we'd spend the entire night, CRT TV on the floor, playing through the game to 101% completion, drinking beers and sometimes on the verge of smashing controllers. Some nights were spent just taking turns, grinding out a single golden banana (like Beaver Bother or the ice maze in Crystal Caves). We ended up getting 101% but stopped for some reason before beating the final boss. Now I have a new N64 and I'm trying to finally complete the game. We'll see.
It’s too crazy but i genuinely had this experience with DK64 myself. I’m a full time music producer & artist now at age 29 (it’s actually my birthday on watching this video which is even weirder), and i have hummed these tunes & learned them on guitar & piano throughout my entire childhood & i have this same hugely formative experience with this game. I can never seperate those feelings & nostalgia from the game, especially the fairy isle theme. Thanks for the video man, sending good vibes.
Subscribed! Great take on the video game essay. At first I was like, why is this so dramatic, but it clicked about 8 minutes in. Nice job!
Hours after watching DKC: Return to Krocodile Isle, a really well done animated short that I recommend everyone watch, I came across this video in my recommendation. And just like that amazing short, it brought me back to the Donkey Kong series in a way I didn't imagine. As a 2000's kid, I never grew up with the country games or 64, but I always wanted to play 64 at a very young age as I loved Donkey Kong at the time. I haven't had that love for the charecter and his series since I was a kid, and this video and Return to Krocodile Isle reminded me why I loved Donkey Kong so much as a series, from country returns, to Jungle Beat, to just a playable charecter in the Mario spin offs, that charecter did it all for me. And King K Rool has been my favorite antagonist of all time ever since he joined Smash Ultimate's roster.
This video made me happy, and I want so bad to be invested into Donkey Kong's world again.
I get the same feeling of being in a location and associating a certain memory of a game with it
Same. I keep going back to it. Certainly can’t get anything like it at the moment and probably never will.
I miss this game so much. I played it when I was a child and a teenager with some friends, and I miss those times so fucking much, just like Pokemon Platinum and Mario Kart DS. I still listen a lot to the beautiful music of DK64 and these other games, remembering better times.
Man, I really love this video, it resonates with me so hard! and not just because DK64 is one of my favorite games ever.
You're a really great writer, and video maker, I hope your channel gets the attention it deserves some day.
What an amazing video! This is how this game makes me feel too❤️
Wow, this video is so true for me. Im not even joking one bit.
I was 8 in 1999 when i got my first n64. It came with dk64 and an expansion pack. I was so confused at how to begin. Was the first 3d game i had ever experienced. I explored dk isles for hours. Finally i got to jungle japes and was more disoriented. I FINALLY stumbled into angry aztec and still have vivid memories of being so hopeless cause i couldnt figure out how to free Lanky for the life of me. Gloomy Galleon took ages to complete because of the merciless under water missions... Long story long, and literally years later, once i finished the game, i literally burst into tears. Was the most epic journey ive ever been a part of. Was so bittersweet..
To this day i will just wander through the game just to try and feel some of the same feelings as before. What an actual mind boggling experience this game was/is..
Thank you for this video. All i ever find is how everyone hates this game so much. It was love/hate for many years, but also what a lerfect experience..
Just wow
What a beautiful video man!
Thank you!
As someone with a similar connection to this game, I would like to thank you for not parroting the same tired old "GAME BAD" mantra the entire internet seems to spew out when discussing this game, I really needed to hear that.
Everything you said hit a nerve, the dopamine rush that diddys kong quest gave me growing up and still to this day, and the magic that is DK64, as a game that’s skipped over, it’s nice to have someone spill their brain like mine
To this day, whenever anyone asks me what my favorite game is I say DK64. Beyond the Kingdom Hearts, WOW, FFXIV… this game will probably never be dethroned. Thanks for the vid!
This is so touching, I felt a lot less alone in feeling an attachment to a virtual world that somehow defined me, my life and my emotions.
You put yourself into this video and for that I am appreciative. I think we form strong emotional ties to these games that invite us into a world that has reflections of our own yet giving us a chance to live in the creative and wonder that only comes with childhood.
For me, shenmue has the same emotional attachment that DK64 has for you. Something about being able to live in two worlds as a child (imagination) and the real world is something that brings me joy just reflecting on in my day.
Thanks again, this is a masterpiece and I am so glad to know I am not alone in forming my memories/synapses and identity based on the creativity that our favorite games brought us.
Seek out the 4 blades my friend haha (jk but I do have random Ryo quotes)
This is such a beautiful video essay. I think you perfectly articulate the nuanced and complicated feeling of what it means to have spent part of your childhood in a game world that, years and decades later, you can return to. Great work.
This was very personal and not easy to explain, but it made for a nice and calm retrospective...
Personally, the main menu in super smash bros. 64 reminds of my old neighbourhood. My family members would play n64 games at the time, and the relaxed yet misterious menu reminds me about the feeling of living in such an artificial looking but safe place at the same time...
"Of course it's virtual, Harry. Why would that mean it isn't real?" - Gamer Dumbledore
100% was also completely enamored by DKC2 back in the 90’s at 4 years old, and I still am today.
I wish more video essays were like this. The feeling you're expressing is so relatable & I happen to feel similarly about DK64 so it hit extra hard.
I make videos that try to strike some similar cords so I'm stoked to have stumbled across this. Looking forward to your next video!
Thank you! I just really tried to kind of make the type of video I know I'd want to watch and these emotions are just something I really wanted to verbalize and put out into the world! It feels so so great that you and lots of other people feel so similarly! Funny enough I've stumbled across one of your videos before! A month or two I had your Earthbound video show up in my recommended videos and I absolutely loved it! The videos you make are seriously great and definitely worthy of the praise! Thank you so much for the kind words!
@@Brian.Henken Thank you! "Making videos you'd most want to watch" is a common denominator to my favorite channels so I'm excited to add another one to my feed. Seriously great work
@@JohnnyMarksVideos Thanks so much! And I'm definitely looking forward to more content from you as well!
Although I didn't grow up with a SNES, I did grow up with the N64, and I felt as immersed in the games Rareware made on that console as you explained in this video about DKC2. I miss those days, exploring the different worlds, finding secrets, even encountering glitches like one in particular: Get Chunky and his power up barrel that makes him huge, go to the main hub world and try to grab the ledge on the second jump up towards the path to Angry Aztec, and press Z, you'll fall through ending up under the island. This was how I found the operations room K Rool uses to reveal his ship.
I don't think it's tied to a singular game as such, but that kind of raw tactility where your brain is wiring together the colors and textures of a corner of video game geometry with like the rough brightly colored rubberized textures of dumbells in the Sears sporting goods department is so real.
A some what super eyepach wolf style video, i must say the vibes and the video production is impecable, congrasts i hope you get a lot more views
Thank you! I put a ton of myself into this video! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! I'm definitely going to be creating more videos like this one real soon!