DKC2 SNES Review

[Cajunstarwalker]

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest



System: SNES

Publisher: Nintendo

Devoloper: Rare

Released: Dec 14, 95

Genre: Platforming

Rated E for Everyone

This is one of the best video games available for the Super Nintendo. It is quite arguably the best in the Donkey Kong Country trilogy. I personally think that it is the best Donkey Kong game ever. When it was released in 1995 this game truly defined the standards for what a worthy sequel needs to be.


Plot: DK has been kidnapped by Kaptain K. Rool. It is up to a pair of monkeys to save the day and rescue their friend. The game has a pirate theme. There are creative new enemies including ones that will hide inside a barrel, ghosts in a shirt, and Kremlings with a peg leg. After getting off a pirate ship, Diddy and Dixie battle more Kremlings on Crocodile Isle to save DK. There is even a Lost World... That is pretty much all that the plot has. Along the way you'll use animals and your skills at the controller to beat Kaptain K. Rool into submission.

Gameplay: You play as a duo of boyfriend and girlfriend monkeys. You can tag the person following your current character to the needs of your current situation. The game is a platformer like the previous game. It is quite easy to control. You can collect bananas, KONG letters, and balloons to get extra lives, coins to save, and big DK Hero Coins just to see a nice little Easter egg. In some levels you will find animal buddies such as a rhino, parrot, swordfish, spider, and a rattlesnake. In some levels you even need to play as them to finish the level. You save at Wrinkly's Kong College, get game tips at Cranky's Cabin, play trivia questions about the game with Swanky, and travel from area to area with Funky Kong in an airplane barrel. You dodge Kremlings, blast through barrels, race on a rollercoaster, and much, much more! You can throw the other Kong to reach higher areas. Dixie can fly using a hair spin and Diddy cartwheels. Overall the game is easy to learn and controls are responsive making it easy to move around and defeat the Kremlings.



Levels: This is the area where to me Rare went over the top. It is simply wonderful how varied the worlds and levels are. In some levels you will need to transform into animals to play the level including one where you play the entire level as the animal buddies. The diversity of the levels is much appreciated. Some of the levels take place in: a swamp, volcano, castle, underwater, a pirate ship, on a hot air balloon, in a haunted forest, an amusement park, haunted libraries, on a rollercoaster and a beehive. The levels can be replayed unlike some where you automatically advance forward. This helps the replay value. You can replay levels to find all of the bonus areas and coins. There are many which helps to lengthen the game a lot over the original DKC. The game has more levels than DKC and are more fun too. The added DK coins will have you searching for quite a while.

Music and Sound: The music is breathtaking. Even Diddy is a little jukebox. (He plays a boom box and dances after completing a level.) Some of the levels have their own theme. In a level where Rambi the Rhino is chased by a bee, his theme Run Rambi Run plays. Each level has its own little music theme. The music puts off a fun and inviting feeling. The game has many unique touches in the sound. For example you can hear bees buzz, cannons go off, barrels blast, wings flapping, hoofbeats, and boards creak. The sound is great and the music is classic.



Graphics: The graphics are near perfect. The system really is maxed out to its potential brilliance. The characters have better models in the game than before. Diddy has more fur for example. Diddy even got his trademark shirt in this game. Backgrounds are very detailed. They tend to move are have little touches like diamonds flash in a mine. In Pirate Panic for example in the background waves are moving, in the front of the screen cannons poke out of a hole and banana bunches are visible in the ship. In some levels it rains or the clouds move. Behold the SNES in all of its glory. The graphics for this game are what RE4 is for the Gamecube. They are brighter and more colorful. It is wonderful to see the scenery and how the characters look.



Multiplayer: You can play single player, as a team, or in a contest. In single player you control both monkeys. In teamplay, you and a friend play as a team. When you switch players you switch controllers. In contest mode, you and a friend compete to be the first to finish the game. You control both monkeys and when you die you hand the controller to a friend. They try to get as far as they can before dying and then hand the controller back. While fun to play, the teamplay mode gets boring after a while. You will start to feel like you could be going faster on your own. The Contest mode is fun though because you play as long as you can before switching.



Replay Value: This is a great game. You can replay the levels as many times as you want even after you advance to the next. You will enjoy replaying it. There are many secret bonus rooms to find. You can try to beat it 100% to get a different ending. You can collect hero coins to get a higher place in Cranky's hero hall of fame which includes Link, Yoshi, and Mario. I can guarentee you will still be playing this gaming masterpiece years from now.



Review Breakdown



Graphics: 9.9: They are bright and colorful. One of the best looking SNES games.

Levels: 9.8: Run with a great variety of scenarios. Fun to replay.

Sound: 9.5: Creative touches are abundant in the sound.

Music: 9.7: The game has a memorable soundtrack.

Multiplayer: 9.1: This is a more fun experience when you play contest mode.

Game play: 9.7: Wonderful game play and responsive controls. Wonderful and creative ideas.

Replay Value: 10: This game is so fun and with so much to do you'll have this game in your SNES for a long time.

Conclusion: 9.7 : One of the best video games of all time. If you own a Super Nintendo this is a must have classic.

[Wild C]

I don't remember the rambi run stage, but I can tell you, congrats opn your decision, but I would have to disagree. DKC3 is better IMHO. Still Great review.;)

[Cajunstarwalker]

I don't remember the rambi run stage, but I can tell you, congrats opn your decision, but I would have to disagree. DKC3 is better IMHO. Still Great review.;)

It's called Rambi Rumble.  :)