Donkey Kong Country 2 (SNES, 1995)
The perfect sequel? I think so.
Nostalgia Factor: Massive. This was one of the first games I’ve ever owned.
Difficulty: Medium to hard. Some really tough challenges towards the end. This is probably the most challenging of the DKC trilogy.
It seems rare (har har) to get a truly great sequel to a hit video game. When one-hit-wonders are followed up with a dud, it can mean that the developer used up all of their bullets and just ran out of ideas or energy. Donkey Kong Country (DKC) was a revolutionary platformer, and Rare somehow managed to release an absolute banger of a sequel just 13 months later. It makes you wonder if the Stamper brothers and the Rare team got any sleep at all in the mid 90s.
DKC2 takes the best of DKC and adds even more. The visuals are just as impressive, if not more so. The 8 completely new worlds with 52 total levels (compared to DKC’s 7 worlds with 40 levels) feature a whole new palette of eye candy. The pirate ship levels look great, with ropes that extend high in the sky. The way the viewport sways subtly left and right while on the pirate ship is a really nice effect. The background in the underwater ship levels may be the best-looking utilization of the SNES’s mode 7 I’ve ever seen. It’s incredible. The subtle foreground decorations add a lot of depth as well.
Krem Quay introduces a swampy bog, continuing a dark and moody vibe that persists through the whole game. Krazy Kremland has some brilliant night-time amusement park cart levels, with a few hornet hive levels thrown in. The “dripping honey” foreground in the hives is a nice touch. The level design is just fantastic. Many levels opt for twisting, winding, maze-like paths with lots of height instead of the traditional left to right design. They constantly keep you guessing with super creative hidden areas and bonuses. There’s much more incentive for exploration than in DKC.
There’s just so many new features and improvements that DKC2 feels very fresh. The weather effects looks way better. The hot air balloon sequences are interesting. The timed barrels are a fun new addition. Other new gameplay features include the seal lava levels, the sticky honey walls, the disappearing ghost ropes, strong wind that affects your trajectory, character specific barrels, invincibility barrels, floating hooks, and more.
Three animal companions return from DKC — the rhino, the swordfish, and the parrot. This time, each companion has new abilities. Rambi and Enguarde have a charge attack, and Squawks the parrot coughs up, ummm, projectile eggs out of his mouth. A bouncing rattlesnake and a web slinging spider are my favorite newcomers. The spider gameplay is some of the best in the whole game. He shoots webs (you can also aim slightly upwards or downwards) and he creates his own web platforms. This opens up a lot of possibility for exploration and bonus hunting. Also, he looks hilarious with those high top sneakers on all eight of his feet. He’s like a wacky-waving multi-leg-flailing Muppet marching wildly through the level.
Diddy feels familiar, though a little smoother than in DKC. The sprite animations are pristine. Diddy is still very quick, and the way he holds barrels in front comes in handy for certain enemies or bosses. Dixie is the new addition, and even though her movement and barrel throwing is notably slower, her hair-twirl glide is so much fun to use. I’ll often just kamikaze into voids with Dixie’s glide, hoping to find a secret barrel or platform. It feels so rewarding when you do find something. Cranky Kong has a hilarious 4th wall breaking line about Dixie:
Diddy, I thought you were a cheap character in DKC, but Dixie's even worse!
The soundtrack in DKC was killer, and DKC2’s soundtrack is somehow even better. David Wise has done it again. The dark tone of many of these tracks matches the generally dark vibe of the game. There’s an intensity to songs like this, this, and this that you don’t really find much on the SNES. “Crocodile Cacophony” is the hardest hitting track in any SNES game. There are some gorgeous ambient tunes as well, like “Stickerbrush Symphony” and “Forest Interlude”. The sound effects are also top notch. Is there a more satisfying sound than collecting a banana coin or DK coin?
Again, like DKC, there’s not much story. However, the minimal plot in DKC2 is much more interesting than the “Oh no, they stole all the bananas” premise of DKC.
The game is more challenging than it’s predecessor. The later kart levels are tough (for my aging reflexes), the bramble levels can be frustrating, and some of the bosses may take several tries. I died a handful of times until I figured out the trick against King Zing. I died over 30 times against Kreepy Krow at the end of Gloomy Gulch. The rope climbing sequence with eggs flying at you at high speeds was eating my lunch (Yeah yeah, I know, “git gud noob”). Toxic Tower, Screech’s Sprint, and Animal Antics are also notoriously hard levels.
Thankfully, there are simple tricks to farming lives and banana coins. Once you complete a level, you can exit at any time by pausing the game then hitting select. It will bounce you back to the world map, but you get to keep any loot you gained while briefly in the level. You can use this to your advantage with levels that have balloons or banana coins near the start. Grab the loot, pause and hit select, then repeat.
Definitely check out Donkey Kong County 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. No game is perfect, but this is a 10/10 in my book. Just play the whole DKC trilogy actually.
