Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
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| Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest |
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|---|---|
 North American boxart, SNES version |
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| Developer(s) | Rare Ltd. |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Composer(s) | David Wise |
| Platform(s) | Super NES Game Boy Advance Virtual Console |
| Release date(s) | Super NES NA November 20, 1995 |
| Genre(s) | Platform |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Rating(s) | ESRB: K-A (SNES), E |
| Media | 32-megabit cartridge |
| Input methods | Game controller |
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Known as: Super Donkey Kong 2 in Japan) is a platform game developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Rare and published by Nintendo. Released in 1995 as a sequel to Donkey Kong Country and later followed by Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! in 1996, it was later ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2004, following the port of the original Donkey Kong Country to the system. It is also currently available for download on the Wii's Virtual Console. Donkey Kong Country 2 begins after Donkey Kong has been captured by his persistent rival K. Rool, leaving it up to Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong to rescue him.
Donkey Kong Country 2 was released to critical and commercial acclaim, having sold over 4.37 million copies worldwide, making it the sixth best-selling game on the SNES.
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[edit] Description
Donkey Kong Country 2 starts where the first game's final boss was located. The original game's island can be seen in the background, and the ship has run ashore. The first world involves leaving the ship and moving to K. Rool's island, called Crocodile Isle, where the rest of the game takes place.
In order to progress through the game, players must beat stages by reaching the finish without losing both characters. The stages are grouped into themed areas of the island (the first 6 stages of the game being pirate ship themed then progressing onto a lava theme and so on), each one normally containing a boss fight at the end which must be beaten in order to move onto the next world.
In comparison with the original Donkey Kong Country, the game contains many new features. These include 75 hidden bonus stages with a collectible token rewarded for completing each. The tokens can be used to unlock the "Lost World" and eventually the final ending. Also in terms of collectables, there exist DK coins in every standard level. The placement of these coins gets progressively more cryptic, and provides an extra challenge beyond reaching the end of each level. Level settings are now more diverse, although the staple ice, fire and jungle settings remain. The ability to befriend various animal companions returns, but the inclusion of transformation into these animals in normal levels greatly increased potential level designs. There was also a greater difference between the two player characters, as Dixie can use her hair to glide, which although not necessary to complete levels, made some levels easier to complete.
A portion of the game's theme now involves sailing and pirates, as exemplified in many enemies sporting a pirate fashion and the seaside locations in some levels, whereas the previous game featured a jungle theme.
While Donkey Kong Country 2 introduced new features such as these, it also abandoned a few from the original. For example, the steel barrel was removed, eliminating the ability to roll on barrels, and the ability to find hidden items in the ground was removed. However, some of these removed features were brought back in Donkey Kong Country 3. As a promotion for the game after release Nintendo Power ran a contest for the fastest time in which to completely beat the game, achieving 102% game completion.[1]
[edit] Characters
Aside from Dixie Kong and Diddy Kong, both of whom are trying to defeat K. Rool and rescue Donkey Kong from him, many other nonplayable characters can be found throughout the game. Kaptain K. Rool is the villain of the sequel. K. Rool now appears suited in pirate clothing with a rather large handheld blunderbuss. The majority of the enemies are the Kremling Krew, who patrol many areas of the island in hopes of capturing Diddy and Dixie (the game over screen shows this outcome). They are supported by their Animal Buddies (some returning from DKC and some new animals), and various other Kongs including Funky Kong who makes his return from DKC, and Cranky Kong who is back to divulge secrets of the game world and provide comic relief.
[edit] Music
| The Original Donkey Kong Country 2 Soundtrack | |
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| Soundtrack by David Wise | |
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| Released |
November 1, 1995 (North America)
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| Genre | Video game soundtrack |
| Length | 51:30 |
| Label | |
Donkey Kong Country 2, like its predecessor Donkey Kong Country, features a well received score with each piece[citation needed], including the defeat music (on the SNES Version), matching its designated level. The soundtrack was composed by David Wise. The music for the Bramble Blast stage, "Stickerbrush Symphony," has been given a fast-paced orchestral remix in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
[edit] Reception
Donkey Kong Country 2 was highly praised by both critics and fans alike upon release, especially in the platform gaming community. Acclaimed features such as the impressive and unique level design, well-hidden secrets and easter eggs, highly-detailed rendered graphics, a dark, mysterious atmosphere with a large sense of exploration and discovery, and a memorable orchestral soundtrack are often considered the main reasons for Donkey Kong Country 2's success and critical praise. While Donkey Kong Country 2 plays very similar to the original Donkey Kong Country, most agreed that the sequel's many improvements and added depth made it a better platform gaming experience. It has an average overall ranking of 93% for the SNES and an 81% for the Gameboy Advance at GameRankings, the same rating Donkey Kong Country received.[2] It is also considered to be the best game in the trilogy.
[edit] Other releases
In 2004, a Game Boy Advance port was released. The game, now titled Donkey Kong Country 2 (dropping the original's subtitle), A port/semi-sequel along the lines of Donkey Kong Land 2 was in development at one point for the Virtual Boy, but was cancelled due to the system's failure. A port of the SNES version was released for the Wii's Virtual Console.
[edit] Differences between the SNES and GBA Versions
- The sound effects have been changed; the new GBA sound effects are more "cartoonish" and less realistic than before.
- Some of the music was changed:
- Unlike the SNES version, "Run! Rambi, Run!" can only be heard in the sound test. In the actual game, it has been replaced with "Bad Bird Rag".
- Instead of the "Target", "Diddy", and "Dixie" endings matching the environment, one uniform tune is applied for each. This is the same case with the death tunes.
- The sound quality has been reduced in the GBA version, due to the lower performing sound chip.
- The graphics are brighter and more saturated in the GBA version than the SNES version, to compensate for the lack of brightness experienced with the original Game Boy Advance.
- The map screens have been completely changed.
- A new boss, Kerozene, was added as a boss for K. Rool's Keep.
- New mini-games, such as "Diddy's Dash", "Funky's Flights", "Expresso's Racing", and "Bag a Bug" have been added.
- The GBA version allows the player to save their progress at any time, whereas the SNES forced the player to pay Coins to save at designated save points.
- Feathers, hidden in the same fashion as DK Coins, can be found in every level.
- The player now has to pay Swanky Kong 10 banana coins in order to challenge each boss again. With success, the player is rewarded with 9 extra lives. However, this also means that a player can only view the ending scenes once per file.
[edit] References
- ^ Nintendo Power volume 83, page 43
- ^ "Donkey Kong Country 2 at GameRankings". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages2/588283.asp.
[edit] External links
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