Talk:Donkey Kong Land/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: Shooterwalker (talk · contribs) 18:52, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

I'll pick this one up. Look for more comments early in the new year. Shooterwalker (talk) 18:52, 31 December 2022 (UTC)

I'm going to work through this section by section. The writing is actually very solid, and most of these are small tweaks to improve readability.

Gameplay

• "As a handheld companion to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) game Donkey Kong Country (1994), Donkey Kong Land features similar gameplay" -> "Donkey Kong Land is the handheld companion to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) game Donkey Kong Country (1994), and both games feature similar gameplay."
  • I haven't done this as I don't see how it improves readability, tbh—it's essentially saying the same thing but only with more words. I think the current version is more concise and just as readable. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
• "While some level themes, such as jungles and coral reefs, are borrowed from Country, others, such as cliffs and clouds, are original, and the level design and bosses are different" -> " "The game borrows some level themes from Country, such as jungles and coral reefs, while adding new themes such as cliffs and clouds. Land otherwise has original bosses and level designs."
  • I didn't do this exact wording but I have revised it JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)

Development

• "After Machacek spent roughly three weeks updating the Game Boy Battletoads game engine to handle a Donkey Kong game, development began and lasted a year" -> "Machacek spent roughly three weeks updating the Game Boy Battletoads game engine, which allowed him to develop a Donkey Kong game over the following year."
  • Not done as I don't see how this is an improvement—it's just saying the same thing as present, and I think it loses a little clarity by cutting that Machacek updated the engine specifically so it could become a Donkey Kong game (not to mention he wasn't the only person who developed Land). JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
• "The project pushed the Game Boy to its limits, as Rare's decision to construct levels with slopes, rather than square tiles like other Game Boy games, and animate collectibles required a greater ROM size." -> "The project pushed the Game Boy to its limits as the graphics required a greater ROM size, particularly to animate the game's collectibles, and to construct levels with slopes instead of the square tiles typical of other Game Boy games. "
  • Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
• "Machacek said that replicating Country on the Game Boy did not stop the team from expanding on its design and world as the teams developing Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995) and Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (1996) for the SNES did" -> I'm having trouble understanding the comparison to between the game boy title and the sequels on the SNES.
  • Clarified, the point is that making a companion game didn't stop Rare from introducing new worlds and mechanics JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)

Release

• "Like Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Land was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago in June 1994 and promoted through Nintendo's Play It Loud! marketing campaign" -> "Donkey Kong Land was promoted at the same time as Donkey Kong Country, with both games announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Chicago in June 1994, and both promoted through Nintendo's Play It Loud! marketing campaign."
  • Not done as I don't see how this is an improvement as I think it introduces redundancies. I think just saying "Like Donkey Kong Country, ..." before everything else says the same exact thing with less words and no loss in clarity. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
• Typically, sales information goes in the reception section. The sales would make a good first sentence.
  • I prefer to group sales with release as it's more relevant in the context of its release than whether critics liked it or not. It's similar to how film articles categorize the box office performance in the Release section rather than Reception. JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)

Reception

• "Game Players felt that while Land played as well as Country, Country's visuals were what made it special, so Land was merely a solid, but standard, experience" -> "Game Players felt that both games met a high standard of gameplay, but felt that Land lacked the important visual quality of Country."
  • Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
• "and a necessary purchase" -> "and an essential purchase"
  • Done JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
• I'm not done, but I have to say the prose on this is excellent.
  • Thank you! JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)

Legacy

• "The follow-ups attempted to replicate the SNES Country games more closely—particularly Land 2, which journalists described as more of a downscaled port of Diddy's Kong Quest than an original game" -> This starts to stray off topic, but it's a minor nitpick.
  • I've cut it down and integrated it into the beginning of the previous sentence JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)
• "and gameplay" -> this feels tacked on. It would be easy just to drop it. But it might be important enough to rewrite this sentence as two sentences, to cover all aspects.
  • See what you mean—removed it JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)

If this isn't a good article already, it's very close. Excellent work. Once you've worked through those, we can look over the rest of it and make sure there are no lingering issues. Shooterwalker (talk) 17:55, 3 January 2023 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker: thank you for the review! Responded to all points above JOEBRO⁶⁴ 19:44, 4 January 2023 (UTC)

I'm happy to give this a pass. The writing is overall excellent, nitpicks aside. Maybe take another look at some of the sentences that you didn't change. I would understand if you think my suggestions don't fix anything, but I find that sentences with a lot of commas start to trip readers up. I think the article is almost FA quality and some additional tweaks would get it there. Keep up the good work. Shooterwalker (talk) 23:05, 4 January 2023 (UTC)