Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Donkey Kong Country 2 was actually the only game from the original trilogy that I didn't grow up playing. My brothers and I passed around the first game on GBA all the time, and I played Double Trouble on the SNES to completion with my dad. We did briefly try out Diddy's Kong Quest on Wii Virtual Console, but paying coins to save just did not jive with me at the time, so much so that I didn't come back to it until now. Because of my general lack of exposure, I was pretty surprised to learn that this is popularly regarded as the best game of the three. However, even without being able to play as the series' titular ape, I now fully understand that consensus.

The basic structure of this game, compared to its predecessor, is pretty much the same. You'll platform your way through linear levels, jumping on enemies, blasting out of barrels, riding animal buddies, and collecting items. On the surface, it may even seem like the developers just swapped out one of the Kongs and made some more levels. Since Dixie is my favorite playable character in the series, that might have been okay, but I'm almost sure I would have wished for some variety. Fortunately, variety is what we got. Rare managed to make this entry better by expanding and improving upon the mechanics from the original, rather than wasting time to make something entirely new. A notable example of expansion from the original is in the collectibles. The bananas, balloons, and Kong letters from the original are still present (although the golden animal tokens and their bonus levels were removed), and now three new varieties of coins are available too. Kremkoins can be collected by beating bonus barrel challenges and unlock different pathways in the overworld, banana coins can be found scattered plentifully throughout levels and can be gambled or spent to save the game and get hints, and DK coins are limited to one per level and are exclusively for the bragging rights. Collecting these coins adds an extra layer of challenge to the main game and offers players a reason to explore the levels rather than beelining for the finish. 

Unfortunately, I didn't think that absolutely everything was improved in this sequel. With this entry taking place on the Kremlin's island instead of the Kong's, everything is themed a bit darker. Where the original Donkey Kong Country had color and variety throughout its levels, this game felt dim and cramped. The stages are still memorable and often quite aesthetically pleasing, but the limited variety in the atmosphere really hurt my appreciation of the game world. Ultimately, my enjoyment of the game wasn't hurt too much by this complaint, but it kept coming to mind during my playthrough, so it's definitely a problem.

I'm disappointed that it took me this long to finally play this game, but I'm glad that I'm at the point that I can really appreciate it. Donkey Kong Country 2 is a fantastic example of a platformer built with care from start to finish. Every level feels perfectly crafted to complement the abilities of Diddy and Dixie, and it feels rewarding to figure out what a stage requires from you. This game is also a shining example of a sequel done right. The foundation laid by the original was tweaked and expanded just enough to create something that is familiar, yet clearly better. Plus, replacing Donkey with Dixie as a playable character keeps things fresh without feeling like it betrays the game's spirit. Based purely on nostalgia, I prefer the original, but it's impossible for me not to see how this game is a clear improvement in almost every way. Please do yourself a favor and give this one a try. In all honesty, you should probably play the whole series, but DKC2 might be a good choice if you only have time for one.

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