Nintendo Wii Fanboy

The game looks okay, and despite reservations, we're open to the idea ... but the video preview of DK Jet at Jeux France makes us wince in anticipated wrist pain. There's a whole lotta shakin' goin' on there, and we're not sure that's really a good thing. Bongos, at least, were a little easier on the arms. However -- the good folks at Jeux France do make the point that maximum shaking motion is only necessary to gain max speed at the beginning of a race, and if you're stopped or slowed by obstacles during the race. Once you've achieved maximum speed, with no interference, you have only to concentrate on the rest.

The long preview offers a nice walkthrough of the menus and gameplay (albeit in French; where's My French Coach when we need it?), and the game itself looks good. We'll just have to give the controls a try for ourselves at some point to see just how intense they really are.

Also, we really need to steal that plush Donkey Kong featured in the video.

We're still not clear on whether or not DK Jet will allow players to use their bongo peripherals, but even that might not be enough to save what looks like a half-hearted effort from developer Paon. The former GameCube title's official site has several videos illustrating its new control scheme with the Wii remote and nunchuck -- drum both to tear through the course at breakneck speeds of 30 mph, waggle with only one hand to veer right into a wall, and put them back down when you decide to play Mario Kart DS instead!

There are a lot of movies and sections at the site that haven't been revealed yet, so there's still plenty of opportunities for DK Jet to impress us before its June 28th release in Japan. If you listen to the ridiculous noises Donkey Kong makes with every jump, however, it sounds like the depressed groan of a gorilla who just wants to go home. Throw a barrel past the post break for one of the demonstration clips we grabbed.