Underrated Classic!
Written: May 24 '06 (Updated Jun 04 '06)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Incredible graphics, gameplay, music, replayability, atmosphere, challenges, and fun.
Cons: There are only three Donkey Kong Country games...
The Bottom Line: This game is incredible... anyone can pick up and play this game, but once you get enthralled in the environment, it will blow your mind. Go play it now!
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| banks10187's Full Review: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest for Supe... |
Donkey Kong takes all of the elements from the original and improves upon them (without overdoing it, as some might argue about DKC3) to create an incredible game on many different levels. If I were to use one word to describe this game, it would be timeless, because about ten years after its release, it is still a great gaming experience.
The story continues the struggle between Donkey Kong and K. Rool, and after stealing back his banana horde, DK has been kidnapped. Diddy Kong and his cousin Dixie (showing up for the first time in the series in this game) go on a quest to find him. In contrast to Donkey Kong Island, the setting of this "country" is something far more sinister. The settings feature pirate ships, haunted forests, demented theme parks, bee hives, castles, rose bushes, slimy swamps and lava pits, all demonstrating the SNES's graphical potential in this 2D side-scrolling platform adventure.
The gameplay is much more fluid than the original, as Diddy sprints through the levels, and Dixie soars through the air with her aerodynamic ponytail. Offering various challenges such as hot air balloon rides, go-kart racing, and evasion of various nautical threats, never do the levels feel monotonous (though you'd think they should). On top of this, the graphics are beautiful. The most impressive thing about the graphics is that there isn't really much room for improvement, as the levels are animated perfectly in that specific style of animation.
The soundtrack to DKC2 is phenomenal, and though it sounds corny, many of the tracks have stuck with me to this day, occasionally popping into my head. Anything I could say about the music would be an understatement, as it is key to the atmosphere and ambiance of each level. Try playing the thorny rose bush level without pausing the game to hear the song in its entirety, or try playing the swamp levels with the volume turned off... it really might be the best video game music ever produced. To complete the effect, enemies each have specific and unique sounds when you interact, as do the Kongs.
In my youth, I would go over to my neighbor's house and play Donkey Kong Country games until someone physically forced us to stop. There's something very appealing about these games, and it's hard not to get into them. Since those great years of DKC, there have been horrendous continuations of the DK series including the awful DK64 and the crappy new Jungle Beat games that took the place of an actual DK game for the Gamecube... If you plan on getting this game, do yourself a favor and play it on a SNES, as the Gameboy versions sacrifice so much of what made this game special.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
banks10187
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Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 2 members
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