Others say...

"Good...could have been Great!"
Look. I like the donkey kongas. The first one was great. The second one has been a bit of a letdown. Oh sure it's fun and delivers that but, for instance, in the first game I knew 85% of the songs. I can only recognize 30% of the songs in the new game because the others are just horrible drek I wouldn't listen to to begin with! There were a few surprise songs on there that I was glad to see, but the song that "sampled" the music from the "Young and the Restless" is, well, just HORRIBLE! It should have been better; at least better songs to choose from and Nintendo failed to pick those. I still have fun with it irregardless of some of the C"rap"py music. If you know a lot of newer songs, you'll love it. It's just good for me. Not great. No Motown? No Beatles? No Elvis? No 70's classic rock? What happened?

"Amazingly fun for all ages"
I admit that the bongos seem like a silly gimmick when you first look at them. But when you start playing with them, these are REALLY good rhythm and drum trainers!

The game comes with a good selection of songs to play along with - from Allstar to La Bamba, from the Nutcracker Suite to Shiny Happy People. There should be songs in here to suit all musical tastes. There are a bunch of different ways to play the songs. There are freestyles where you just drum and clap along any way you wish. There are a series of built in rhythms where you have to match up as well as you can with the song. There are two player modes where one person drums and the other person claps. There are a number of challenge modes where people play head to head or try to get better scores on the same song.

There are even rhythm trainers where you learn about different rhythms and learn how to hold them over a number of bars. It really is quite amazing how much the game teaches you about syncopation and unusual rhythms. If you feel you're rhythmically challenged, this game can get you to learn how rhythms work. If you think you're a pretty good drummer, give a try on some of the more challenging songs and see if you can keep up!

The game is great for solo play and even more fun in party situations, especially because the songs are so much fun. As you earn coins, you can use them to buy more difficult song versions, new sounds for your bongos and even new bongo visuals. You get a lot of incentive to keep getting better and better.

Where many games teach you skills that might seem meaningless (arcane combinations of button mashing), this game is actually teaching you a real life skill that is great. You could become a better real life drummer, or at least be able to hold your own better at any dances you might go to.

What's even better, this game is great for all ages. Young kids can have fun randomly hammering - while adults can do serious work in perfecting their skills.

Highly recommended!