We Went Bananas At The LA Zoo For ‘Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D’!

Friday morning, I was invited to the Los Angeles Zoo by Nintendo to celebrate the launch of Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D on the Nintendo 3DS. I love visiting the zoo, my 3DS and platforming games so I really didn’t have any reasons to say no. Nintendo of America and the Los Angeles Zoo were kicking off a Donkey Kong themed event all Memorial Day weekend long with a live gorilla feeding and 3DS stations where you could get some hands-on time with the game.

Beyond having Donkey Kong Country barrels filled with food for the hungry gorillas in the Campo Gorilla Reserve habitat, there were a few more surprises waiting for me during the brief time I spent at the zoo. Our friends from Pause/Play, Matt Raub and Nick Gregorio, and Game Time Play Time co-host Jessica Villareal were there covering for Metacafe, as well as my LA Street Pass buddies Juan Carlos Marquez  and Ash Paulsen! And here I thought I was going to spend another day at the zoo alone… again.

I took some photos with Mr. Kong himself, spoke with the nice folks at Nintendo of America and the LA Zoo about working with Geekscape in the future and watched the gorillas make short work of their food! And of course, I got to do a little Street Passing with the folks there and play some Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D.

Hanging with Donkey Kong and Jessica V!

Streetpassin’ Gangstas!

I’d missed the game when it was originally released for the Wii and Juan Carlos and Ash kept telling me that I had to pick it up and give it a try. After spending a day with it (and not having the earlier frame of reference), I agree with their sentiments that this is the definitive version of the game, with additional levels and both the original, challenging version of the game and a newer, toned down version. There’s also Co-op multiplayer between local 3DS systems and a ton of un-lockables. After seeing the game’s graphics and visual depth play out in 3D, I can’t imagine playing it on the Wii. Objects and enemies (and secret areas hidden in almost every level) practically bounce off the screen in all directions.

So far, I’m extremely satisfied with the game (which is getting great reviews from across the web) and had a great time yesterday. Thanks to the Los Angeles Zoo and Nintendo of America for having me!