The story is rather simple. One day, Donkey and Diddy Kong were walking along the beach, and found a pair of 'barrels' they had never seen before. They brought these 'barrels' to the wise old monkey, Cranky Kong, who explained to them that they were a legendary instrument known as Bongos. Soon enough, both Donkey and Diddy Kong were hooked on beating and clapping to music, dreaming that one day, they would become famous musicians and eat all the bananas they can.

The UI in this game is, well, pretty much the whole game IS the UI. When a certain color bongo goes across, you hit the corresponding bongo. It's as easy as that. I do wish though, they had some type of tutorial that told you exactly what to do. I was lost for a while, but was eventually able to figure it out.

The controls are very easy to learn, but not easy to use. Let me explain. The left bongo is hit when a yellow circle goes by, the right when a red one goes by. When a pink one goes by, you hit both bongos at the same time, and when the blue star shaped things appears, you clap, and the 'clap sensor' on the bongos hears it and registers it into the game. The only problem is…you seem to forget all that when you are playing. Many times I have hit the RIGHT bongo, when I was supposed to hit the LEFT. This game does allow you to play with a controller, but, I DO NOT suggest this. It's just to hard to get into the groove and keep a beat.

Both the sound and music are awesome in this game. When a song is playing and you hit a bongo, you hear a bongo noise on the TV, and when you clap, you hear a clap. But, to make it even better, you can have the bongos make classic NES noises that you would normally hear in a Super Mario Bros. Game (which comes in especially good when you hit the bongos to the Mario Bros. Theme song). I will admit when I bought it, I was expecting a bunch of made up jungle like songs, but, I was proven very wrong. A lot of the songs in this game are VERY well known, such as "Dancing in the Street", "Whip It", "We Will Rock You", The Legend of Zelda & Mario Bros. Theme, "Shining Star", and the ever so famous (at least when I was 10 it was) Pokemon Theme. They all get very catchy and are very easy to get a beat into.

I love the game modes in Donkey Konga. You can choose to just do a song in Street Performance and make some coins to buy in the DK Store. Or, you can choose to battle friends and whoever has the most coins at the end of the song wins. In Jam Session, probably my favorite mode, you can play with up to 4 players, nobody gets scored, nobody is trying to win, it's just for fun. You play to the music, and keep going until you decide to stop. In Challenge mode, you pick a difficulty, and the game picks the songs, all at random. That one can be quite fun as well. And finally, Ape Arcade, were 1 or 2 players can face each other in 3 mini games: Banana Juggle, Bash K. Rool and 100m Vine Climb. In Banana Juggle, you see how many bananas you can juggle until the time runs out. You choose when the next Banana is thrown in. Bash K. Rool, a 1 player Mini Game, in which you see how many times you can hit K. Rool with the hammer when he pops out of his hole. And finally, 100m Vine Climb, another 2 player game, in which you race to the top, using your bongos, picking up as many fruits as you can.

The background design and graphics aren't all that special, but in a game like this, they really don't need to be. It's fun to watch Donkey Kong at the top of the screen hit the bongos as you do, and his friends dancing at the bottom. All of the screens are pretty much the same though, with different backgrounds.

I found the gameplay design to be VERY innovative. As far as I know, no other game has you play with a set of bongos, though I could be wrong. Just the whole concept of the game makes it extremely fun.

The difficulty can be pretty steep. There are three different types of difficulty, Monkey, Chimp, and Gorilla, Monkey being the easiest. Personally, I found Monkey to be WAY too easy, and quickly moved up to Chimp. Now, to play Gorilla, you better have some fast hands. There is also a part of the game were you choose a difficulty, and play the song out of Pure Memorization. It doesn't tell you what to do at all, except for when to hit it, which is signified by a barrel rolling by. Can we say "impossible"?

Be ready to be completely immersed for a very, very long time. The first day I purchased this, I played it for 6 hours straight. It's just so wonderfully addicting and it doesn't get old, no matter how many times or how long you play. I suggest two pairs of Bongos, though, because you and your friends may end up fighting over who plays with the one set. And a word of warning...your hands may begin to hurt from the excessive clapping.

Overall, I completely and thoroughly enjoyed this game. It's good either as a single player game, or when you have a group of friends over and is definitely one of my favorite party games. If you're looking for a fun party game with catchy music and that's just a lot of fun, then Donkey Konga is the game for you.