gaming Donkey Kong Country Series VS. Super Mario Series

[Grepper 3,192]

Which series do you like more, and why?

 

The Donkey Kong Country series counts as the first three DKC games as well as the recently-made reboots.

 

The Super Mario series counts as Super Mario Bros. 1-3, Super Mario Land, Super Mario World, New Super Mario Bros, etc. I'm only counting sidescrollers, not the 3D games like Super Mario 64. Super Mario Maker doesn't count, either.

 

They are both very good series, but I would have to say I like the DKC series the best.

I prefer the art style, the music, and the atmosphere. The level design is much more diverse as well.

Edited April 21, 2016 by Grepper

[Detritus 258]

If Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island doesn't count, then I'd have to say I prefer the Donkey Kong Country series.

 

DKC2 is my favorite.

[Grepper 3,192]

If Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island doesn't count, then I'd have to say I prefer the Donkey Kong Country series.

 

DKC2 is my favorite.

 

Ah, I completely forgot about Yoshi's Island.

[Unikitty 1,211]

Never really cared for either, to be honest. I've played my good share of Super Mario, but for me the franchises really kick off come the N64 era. I've never really been a fan of side-scrollers either, so the newer generations of game haven't ever really caught my eye either.

[BastementSparkle 20,310]

Donkey Kong Country, without a doubt. I prefer pretty much everything about them, from the atmosphere, to the music, to the characters, the controls, the level design, the art...All 5 games in the series are pretty great, with DKC2 and Tropical Freeze being my personal favorites. DKC 1, 3, and Returns all come close though. I really want one more game to round off a new trilogy.

 

 Mario is...fun. It's not bad by any means, and Yoshi's Island is absolutely fantastic, but other than that game I've never felt the 2D Mario's were all that special. I certainly enjoy playing them, but the atmosphere is lacking, I find the music is catchy, but get's annoying after a while, and while the level design is still good, I prefer DKC's in general.

 

 Everytime I play the original Donkey Kong arcade game, I always want to root for DK.

[Megas 27,045]

Mario has Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island and Super Mario 3, so I vote Mario

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 40,216]

Donkey Kong Country, to me, has the better music, graphics and atmosphere, but the gameplay in the Super Mario games is soooo unbelievably good. Yoshi's Island has its own fair share of great music, graphics and style, but its the gameplay that really pulls me in. DKC has great gameplay too, but I feel like Mario just has a bit more to it. 

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

Donkey Kong Country, to me, has the better music, graphics and atmosphere, but the gameplay in the Super Mario games is soooo unbelievably good. Yoshi's Island has its own fair share of great music, graphics and style, but its the gameplay that really pulls me in. DKC has great gameplay too, but I feel like Mario just has a bit more to it. 

I more or less agree; though it's possible to prefer the art style of Mario games despite their visuals being relatively simplistic.  They've a certain familiar charm.  This could apply to the music as well.  While I love the music in DKC titles, I'm usually harder pressed to call it to mind than I am to recall, for example, the Super Mario Bros. 1-1 theme or SMB3's World 1 map theme.

 

But yeah: Mario wins out on straight-up game play.  The controls are far more precise, things like hit boxes are consistently spot-on, and there's a smooth and gradual progression in difficulty throughout most Mario titles.  DKC doesn't control poorly, but it controls (particularly when compared to Mario) more loosely.  Part of the challenge of DKC games is getting the controls to behave how you want them to; this is seldom an issue in Mario games.

[Leave a Whisper 703]

I love them both, but Rare's DKC is something special. They were never afraid to challenge players even if those players were kids. All these years playing DKC2 and I still can't get past Toxic Tower, worse and I'm ashamed to say, Kastle Crush without save states. They can be a little too sadistic sometimes. But the atmosphere, level design, graphics, music and characters are fantastic. This is how a platformer should look. Not tiny sprites on a busy screen.

 

Mario on the other is like slipping into comfortable clothes. But it's always innovating at the same time, Kart races, rpgs, multi character play, adventure, fighting games. Truly a Jack of all Trades.

[Detritus 258]

Ah, I completely forgot about Yoshi's Island.

 

From what I've seen, the Yoshi games are often considered to be a separate series. I always tend to think of SMW2 as a Mario game though.

[Moony the Cat 3,695]

I played Donkey Kong Country and it was fun, but i was never able to beat any of the games, except for one on the Game Boy Color.

I think they were just a little bit to difficult for me, as a kid.

 

I just had more fun playing the Mario Games.

[Discordian 6,013]

If we're talking about only the sidescrollers than Donkey Kong by a mile. Mario is not a very good sidescroller series. It works far better in 3D, or as an RPG, or pretty much anything else but sidescrolling.

 

Donkey Kong Country Returns is also one of the best sidescrollers ever. I'm almost considering rebuying it for the 3DS so I can play it again. I haven't hooked up my Wii in a long time.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

 

 

Mario is not a very good sidescroller series.

Mario re-invented side-scrolling.  The level designs were varied, its secrets were many, and you could progress through the game in multiple different ways.  Even just going down that first accessible pipe in SMB was kind of a big deal.  Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced a complex, dynamic world-by-world map, and Super Mario World took that a step further.  Look at Donkey Kong Country: It owes a lot to side-scrolling Super Mario.  Secrets galore, a world map, skip-able or optional content, and - perhaps most of all - the feeling of unguided exploration within the context of a side-scrolling platformer.  (Obviously you were just expressing an opinion / preference, and you can probably guess my preference. xD)

 

 

 

Donkey Kong Country Returns is also one of the best sidescrollers ever. I'm almost considering rebuying it for the 3DS so I can play it again. I haven't hooked up my Wii in a long time.

I don't believe you own a Wii U, but I assure you that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a noticeably superior title.  Everything about Returns that was good is better in Tropical Freeze.  I don't know why I'm telling you; possibly to upset you if you don't own the associated console. xD

[Discordian 6,013]

Mario re-invented side-scrolling.  The level designs were varied, its secrets were many, and you could progress through the game in multiple different ways.  Even just going down that first accessible pipe in SMB was kind of a big deal.  Super Mario Bros. 3 introduced a complex, dynamic world-by-world map, and Super Mario World took that a step further.  Look at Donkey Kong Country: It owes a lot to side-scrolling Super Mario.  Secrets galore, a world map, skip-able or optional content, and - perhaps most of all - the feeling of unguided exploration within the context of a side-scrolling platformer.  (Obviously you were just expressing an opinion / preference, and you can probably guess my preference. xD)

 

 

 

I don't believe you own a Wii U, but I assure you that Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is a noticeably superior title.  Everything about Returns that was good is better in Tropical Freeze.  I don't know why I'm telling you; possibly to upset you if you don't own the associated console. xD

No yeah, I was mostly talking about post-SNES Mario. The early ones are the only actually good ones. But the new ones outnumber the old by far and it's the direction they've kept Mario in for a long time now.

 

And yeah, I don't have a Wii-U (yet) but Tropical Freeze is one of the games I want one for. It looks so good.

[Ziggy + Angel + Rain 11,298]

 

 

No yeah, I was mostly talking about post-SNES Mario. The early ones are the only actually good ones. But the new ones outnumber the old by far and it's the direction they've kept Mario in for a long time now.

Ohhh, it really ought to have occurred to me that you might have been talking about the later titles, specifically.  (Though I still like those games; they just aren't the most innovative things in the world.)

 

 

 

And yeah, I don't have a Wii-U (yet) but Tropical Freeze is one of the games I want one for. It looks so good.

It is; it is so good.

[Discordian 6,013]

Innovation means little to me. I just don't think any of the Wii and DS sidescrollers are very good. The whole "new" style they adopted doesn't appeal to me at all.

[baba_booey 4,299]

I like both quite a lot, but I have to say Super Mario wins for me. A lot of my earliest gaming memories go more towards Super Mario World and Super Mario Bros. 2 (at least the GBA ports), and they've in generally been a part of my blood since I've been a gamer, really. In fact, Super Mario World to this day is my second favorite game of all time, and I still feels the classics on the NES and SNES (especially Super Mario Bros 3, World and Yoshi's Island) all have great and fun gameplay that makes me love replaying 'em. However, especially as a SNES fan myself, I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy playing the Donkey Kong Country games, because I think they're still really great in their own right.

[Megas 27,045]

 

 

Mario is not a very good sidescroller series

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKfceBq-j9Y

 

The sidescrollers are classics even to this day. Tight controls, well-hidden alternate paths and secrets, tons of power-ups, great level design. The Mario series is pretty much what almost every sidescrolling platformer should strive to be 

[Discordian 6,013]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKfceBq-j9Y

 

The sidescrollers are classics even to this day. Tight controls, well-hidden alternate paths and secrets, tons of power-ups, great level design. The Mario series is pretty much what almost every sidescrolling platformer should strive to be

See above post about new vs old Mario.

 

But I like other sidescrollers considerably more than the original Marios. Even in the oldschool stuff I'd prefer Megaman X and Castlevania to Mario and feel they offer a more complete experience for the genre.