Kaze and the Wild Masks Reviews

This game wears it's Donkey Kong Country inspiration on it's sleeve and that's fine with me, it's why I've wanted to play it for awhile - that does put it in the unfortunate position of being compared to the DKC trilogy directly though which I will now do. Because of the fact it's so DKC-coded it seems to expect it's players to be familiar with the series as well which results in a pleasantly quick ramp up of difficulty, getting to difficulty comparable to mid-game in DKC after only a few levels and not wasting time with simpler challenges which is refreshing when many games in this lineage are usually pretty easy. This is partially because all your favorite level gimmicks of the trilogy are copi- payed tribute to. You'll be familiar with 90% of the level archetypes, including animal buddies which are covred by the wild masks in Kaze. The tiger mask which allows wall climbing and mid-air dashing is the primary outlier when it comes to unique gimmicks and there are a few more that are unique but may be questionable and frustrating, such as a level whom's platforms are completly invisible save from background objects and enemies to show you the general layout of the unseen platforms. The challenge is good throughout, and with Kaze being the only character challenges can be designed around her skillset soley unlike Dixie's glide in DKC2&3. seasoned platformer players will face some roadblocks and beginners will probably have a fairly difficult time. The forgotten mask, which turns the game into an auto-runner and is analagous to the minecart levels of DKC is one instance where I think Kaze surpasses it's inspiration in difficulty as there is much more to keep track of with double jumps and downward dashes that reset on defeating enemies. My only real mechanical complaint is something about your ability to maneuver your momentem in the air just feels off sometimes... it feels like you have more control to stop forwards momentum in DKC and my muscle memory that expects Kaze to handle exactly the same has caused a few frustrating near misses when trying to jump backwards on platforms. The bosses are generally more challenging as well, though some may be put off with the modern notion that bosses where you can only wait for windows to hit a weak point instead of proactively seeking to damage them are outdated, but these bosses are more platforming skill tests which I think is fine in a platforming game. In terms of level design things are set up in a way to be mechanically challenging in standard move left to right fashion, but compared to DKC levels feel way more standarized. You will occasionally move vertically with the Squaks analagous mask or in the swimming sections but it generally lacks the more complex levels you'd find in DKC. This ends up hurting the placement of the 2 bonus levels in each level that are the collectables that unlock the secret level of each world which are pretty much always either just barley peeking from off-screen, hidden behind foreground objects or just on very small platforms when you see two directions you could move. It's unlikely you'll ever be stumped for very long finding them like some of the creativly placed ones in DKC which I think is mostly a negative, but could be considered positive in the case of some of DKC's truly esoteric hiding spots. Without lives the other two collectables the K A Z E letters analagous to the K O N G letters are usually along the visible path behind small platforming challenges which unlock the backstory of the game and the crystals which are scattered like bananas have a requirement of 100 per level instead and are actually the main collectable for getting the best ending. The in game graphics are very crisp & good-looking and the cutscene art is cute enough, but in terms of music nothing really stuck out to me at all which is dissapointing. It's absolutely unfair to compare it to DKC in the music department considering that series has one of the most revered OSTs ever, but with how close Kaze is mechanically it really puts into perspective how much DKC's atmosphere and mood have kept it in the public conciousness for 30 years. My biggest complaint is I wish there was more of Kaze. Upon collecting all the secret level items you get a cutscene I thought was hinting at a secret final world or boss, but is seemingly only story related. I think a final unlockable world with 5-7 very hard levels and a secret final boss would have been the ribbon on top. If you're looking for something ti scratch the itch for more DKC, I would highly recommend Kaze and the Wild Masks. It is the closest thing to a spiritual sequel there is and well worth spending an afternoon or two completing 100%.

While this game has almost no original ideas, the mechanics and level design of Donkey Kong Country were copied very well. This is a challenging game, but you get a checkpoint in every level and there are no lives, so you can just keep trying a hard section until you make it. After beating a level you can try to do it hitless, find all the collectibles, and complete the level within the time limit. There is also a casual mode. Completing everything took me 10 hours.

Did you enjoy Donkey Kong Country 1-3 on the SNES? Then get this. Kaze is a mishmash of those 3 games with some of its' own elements. You even collect golden letters each stage spelling out KAZE rather than KONG. Levels are fairly short with a checkpoint somewhere around the midway points. Levels with mask powerups have multiple checkpoints as the statue with the mask counts as one too. You have unlimited lives with deaths restarting you at the beginning or a checkpoint. There're collectibles on each level which provide bits of story, bonus levels, and alter the ending if you collect them. The difficulty is pretty much perfect in terms of the progression. Early levels will be easy for people who normally play platformers and later levels provide a sufficient challenge without having any frustrating or annoying parts. The game is fairly short, only took me 5 hours to finish while getting all the collectibles each level. There are 4 worlds with 7 levels (+ a bonus level) and a boss. Can't fault the game much for this since it's hard to match the level of quality, but the music doesn't live up to the DKC games. It's fine but unremarkable for the most part. A minor issue is that the game stacks your inputs which will occasionally lead to your death, especially in the auto-run powerup segments. Kaze turned out to be a pleasant surprise and is well worth a playthrough.