even though all my game consoles are in storage, the temptation to purchase donkey konga was too great. i dug out game cube from storage and fired up the new game and bongos. wow. this is a fun game. it seemed a little retarded at the store display a few weeks ago when i first tried it, but i have great hope for alternative means of gaming interactivity. that is what first attracted me to the bongo controller. i really like how they incorporated sound as a controller. not only must one hit the bongos, but clapping is also required. i don't know how well this will work in a multi-player environment, as up to 4 bongos can be connected at one time, but i'm sure nintendo did a lot of testing on this aspect prior to release. speaking of release, why is this game so old already?! it was released on december 12, 2003 in japan! almost 1 whole year prior to the american release of september 27, 2004. damn our behind-the-times technology. i wish the american electronics market had even half of what is offered in japan. we must be 20 years behind on some things. things that i saw as standard as a kid in japan are still not standard here. very sad.

also, i welcome any game that teaches. especially teaching music because kids will not see it as a learning game. music is fun. you don't have to be a kid to play this game either or learn about music from it. sure this doesn't teach how to read notes or percussion technique, but after playing it for 3 hours straight, (a testament to how fun it is) i can say that anyone who spends time with donkey konga will pick up essential music fundamentals, such as rhythm and timing.

i think this game could be really fun for adults--just like how the american advertising depicts a group of 20-somethings having donkey konga parties. only, i'm sure many will add a little alcohol to the mix and then the music skills will really get interesting!

a cool part of the game is that it's not just limited to a standard bongo sound or just a few songs that one will tire of because they're not songs you'd ever listen to. mini games are included, but you have to work for them. there's also alternate sound sets but you have to work for those too. there's a lot of cheap ones though so i bought all of those up immediately. you can play more advanced levels of the same songs, which means there's more notes to hit. some of the moves can be tricky in combination. this is where i think many will benefit in improving their skills in the hand-eye coordination department. hell, you don't even have to have the bongo controller to play the game. you can use the regular game cube controller and press the buttons, but where's the fun in that?

the downside, or extremely funny part, of the game is that if you are the kind of person who tends to laugh when they make mistakes, well then your score might suffer quite heavily in this game. if you start to laugh and not pay attention to what's going on, you will miss whole sets of notes to hit. luckily, i'm not one of those people. what i really enjoyed the most about donkey konga though was kicking twiddle thumbs's ass! TAKE THAT!!!

the american website for the game is cool because the design is awesome [compare it to the bland japanese site] and they include some recipes for munchies should you host your own donkey konga party. what's great about the recipes is that they're vegan! i bet they weren't even thinking of that aspect. well, ok, you'd have to make sure you get the kind of french bread that doesn't have egg whites or an egg glaze for the bruschetta, but that's no big whoop.