OST of the Day #13: Donkey Kong Country Returns - Slammin' Steel

Hey Steemit!

OSTs make up the majority of the music I listen to, and they're so underrated I just had to share them! Feel free to listen while reading. 😊

Today we're going back to the jungle with Donkey Kong Country Returns!

 

If you've never seen/played this game before, Donkey Kong Country Returns is a side-scrolling platformer developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It was released in Dec 2010 and became one of the Wii's best-selling games. It was later ported over to the 3DS in 2013 and re-titled Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D after adding 3D elements.

If you're more familiar with the original Donkey Kong Country, the main plot remains about the same (someone stealing DK's bananas) but with different enemies. In DKCR, the evil Tiki Tak Tribe that arrive on Donkey Kong Island hypnotize the island's animals to steal Donkey Kong's bananas. DK and Diddy thus have to save the island's animals and his banana hoard.

I played this back in 2011, and because I didn't get to play the original trilogy, I was entirely new to the DKC series. Nevertheless, the game teaches you all the mechanics in the first few levels. I have seen the originals and I'd say the secrets are hidden just as well in this game, and there are definitely quite a few platforming challenges in this as well.

Anyway, on to the song for today!

This song can be heard in the Factory World, specifically 7-2, Slammin' Steel, which contains many machines and pistons that can crush you.

This song was always among my favourites from this game. There are just so many elements in this song. I like the synth notes in the background at the start giving that electronic feel, complemented by the triangle. The violas (I think 🤔) give that air of mystery, similar to the fog from the factory; you don't know what's ahead of you but you have to keep going. The light jungle beats in the background still give you the DK feel but it's pretty subtle so you know you're not in the jungle anymore.

The beat then starts at 0:22 with the wooden xylophone as the harmony and leads into the horn (that sounds a bit echo-y like in a factory) and the flute's melody. I like that throughout the song you can still hear light bongos that replaced the regular drums for that DK element.

This song was also in the original DKC, but it sounds very different, with different instruments. I liked that they remade the songs from the original to fit this game. Even though it's a remake, the graphics, obstacles and mechanics are pretty different and the soundtrack should change to reflect that as well.

Have a listen to the original, called Fear Factory:

The background sounds are more prominent in this one, compared to the remake where the focus was on building the background at the start to support the louder melody later.

Unfortunately I couldn't find the specific person who composed this song, but Retro Studios did a great job with this game and the soundtrack. It sounds all fresh and new, just like how the game looks. I read that DKCR was developed with the intention to invoke nostalgic feelings in players with its art style and sound, while trying to provide them with new gameplay experiences. I'm not sure about the nostalgia part, but I appreciate that Retro made the game accessible to all players, but with a kind of difficulty that made players want to try it again. I know I'll always remember struggling with certain levels.

Here's a awesome rock cover of this song!

Thanks for reading!

To find out more about me, check out my intro post here!

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Posted from my blog with SteemPress : http://tacocat.vornix.blog/2018/08/15/ost-of-the-day-13-donkey-kong-country-returns-slammin-steel/

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Check out my previous post in this series!
OST of the Day #12: Super Mario Odyssey – Steam Gardens