Donkey Kong Land III

Donkey Kong Land III
North American box art
Developer(s)	Rare
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Gary Richards Huw Ward
Writer(s)	Leigh Loveday
Composer(s)	Eveline Fischer
Series	Donkey Kong
Platform(s)	Game Boy, Game Boy Color, 3DS Virtual Console
Release	Game Boy Game Boy Color 3DS Virtual Console
Genre(s)	Platforming
Mode(s)	Single-player

Donkey Kong Land III (initially planned for release with the subtitle The Race Against Time) is the third and final entry in the Donkey Kong Land trilogy of games for the original Game Boy and later became ported to the Game Boy Color exclusive to Japan, under the name Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong (ドンキーコングGB ディンキーコング&ディクシーコング, Donkī Kongu Jī Bī: Dinkī Kongu & Dikushī Kongu). It was developed by Rare and distributed by Nintendo. Like the other games in the series, Donkey Kong Land III served as the portable counterpart to the SNES game Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. In this case, Donkey Kong Land III is both a remake and a partial follow-up to Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. Like the other games in the Donkey Kong Land series, Donkey Kong Land III was enhanced for the Super Game Boy and was packaged with a "banana yellow" cartridge.

Gameplay

See also: Gameplay of Donkey Kong Land

Plot

A contest has begun with big prizes for the first person who discovers the Lost World. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have already taken off to find it, leaving a disgruntled Dixie Kong behind. Deciding to prove herself every bit of capable as them, Dixie partners up with her little cousin Kiddy Kong. Unfortunately, Baron K. Roolenstein and the Kremling Krew are also searching high and low for the fabled land. While never stated outright in the game, it's believed that the setting is the Northern Kremisphere, as the level archetypes are the same as in Donkey Kong Country 3 which took place in the Northern Kremisphere. While the levels have the same environments and the Donkey Kong Country 3 bosses return, the worlds and stage layout are all unique.

Wrinkly Kong is the only non-playable Kong family member to make an appearance. A character simply titled Bear or "Brothers Bear" gives Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong hints and can teleport them to another world as well as hosting them a card mini-game. He bears a resemblance to Bazaar Bear from Donkey Kong Country 3. The Animal Buddies Ellie the Elephant, Enguarde the Swordfish, Squawks the Parrot, and Squitter the Spider all return. Donkey Kong Land III also marks the only time in a Rare Donkey Kong game where neither Donkey Kong nor Diddy Kong actually appear.

Game Boy Color update

On 28 January 2000, over two years after the game's North American and European releases, Nintendo released an updated Game Boy Color version of the game in Japan. Titled Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong, it wasn't released out of Japan. This version is the same as the Game Boy version, but lacks some animations and dialogues. This was also the version released on the Japanese 3DS Virtual Console in 2014.

Reception

Donkey Kong Land III received a score of 81.25% at GameRankings based on four reviews. Nintendojo praised the game and awarded it 8.5 out of 10, citing the "brilliantly designed" levels and "impressive" visuals. Nintendo Life gave the Virtual Console re-release 9 out of 10, declaring it be "The best of the DKL trilogy and one of the best options for 3DS-owning platform fans."

External links

• Official website Template:Ja icon
• Official Nintendo 3DS eshop Minisite Template:Ja icon
• Donkey Kong Land III at MobyGames
• Donkey Kong Land III at NinDB