soupjhhs's Full Review: Donkey Kong for Game Boy Advance (GBA)
Donkey Kong Country 2 brings together the entire Super Nintendo game with some new features to create a sound plat former that surpasses time. DKC2’s beautifully rendered environments can compete with graphics from even the most recent GBA games. DKC2 has a very small learning curve and immense replay value thanks to simple gameplay and fun locales. Three new minigames and a tme trial mode are added to this Super Nintendo giant to improve an already superior game. Donkey Kong Country 2, while satisfying those searching for nostalgia, becomes a whole new game in itself.
Donkey Kong, whom the game is named after, is kidnapped by K. Rool, the evil lizard king. The task of rescuing the hairy hero is left in the capable hands of Diddy Kong, the cute little monkey with the baseball cap, and the all new Dixie Kong, the female monkey with the long whippy hair. Both Kongs are relatively similar in skills. This young duo will have to go through a pirate ship, an all-lizard amusement park, a haunted forest, and four other worlds in order to rescue their lost friend.
It would be a crime to not talk about Donkey Kong Country 2’s simple gameplay. Through rolling, barrel throwing, and jumping, the player can defeat the enemies that get in their way. The Kongs can now team up and throw each other to access hard to reach places. All of this can be completed with only two-three buttons. The animal friends make their return from DKC and add a cute, little twist to the game. Whether it be Ramby the Rhino, Enguarde the Swordfish, or Rattly the Rattlesnake, the Kongs will have help from seven friends to take on the army of Kremlings (lizards), rats, porcupines, bees, and more. This simple gameplay is put to the test in the latter part of the game as the player must use all the Kong and animal skills to his or her advantage. Since the player will never have to memorize any frivolous control schemes, he/she can concentrate on the hard levels and the beautiful levels.
Each world/domain has five to six beautifully designed levels, a Cranky Kong level, a Wrinkly Kong level, a Funky Kong level, a Swanky Kong level, and a boss level. The levels range from the deck of a highly detailed pirate ship to a fast paced roller coaster ride to a bee’s hive. As the game goes on, the levels get progressively harder. The first couple of worlds are a breeze, where as the last worlds are nail-bitingly difficult. The goal of each level is to reach the end and to hit the Kong’s target. It never gets more complicated than dodge or attack enemies; however, the setup and difficulty of enemies provides a nice challenge. The player must be precise in order to get past the level. The aforementioned Kong levels either give advice on how to find hidden items (Wrinkly and Cranky), offer a trivia game with lives on the line (Swanky), or offer a flight minigame in which player can earn some rare coins (Funky). There is a boss level on each stage. The bosses all fit the theme for the world very well. Whether is be a giant pirate bird, a sword with its own agenda, or a giant bee, they offer a nice challenge and require some strategy to get passed.
Donkey Kong Country 2 just wouldn’t be a plat former without having tons of collectible items. Throughout the game, the player can collect DK coins, Kremkoins, banana coins, golden feathers, photos, bananas, life balloons, and K.O.N.G. letters. The DK coins can be found once per level (usually very well hidden) and are a gauge of the player’s skills. The Kremkoins come from the bonus stages hidden throughout the levels and are used to unlock the last five stages of the game. The banana coins can be found throughout all levels are are used to purchase trivia. The golden feathers are as rare as the DK coins and can be used to power up Expresso in his racing game. The photos can be found throughout the game and are CG renders of characters and enemies. Bananas, life balloons, and K.O.N.G. letters all add up to the player’s life total. The bananas are the most common item in the game. If you love to collect hidden stuff in games, then DKC2 has a lot to offer you. If you don’t, it really doesn’t affect the main game, since only the Kremkoins matter. From the collecting of items to the replaying of the fun levels, the replay value in DKC2 is huge. The game takes about 6-10 hours to complete thoroughly. Even so, DKC2 is one of those games that is fun to pick up and play at the most random of times, giving the game replay value rarely seen on the Game Boy Advance.
Donkey Kong Country 2 comes complete with three new minigames and a time trial mode. These help to set the GBA version apart from the SNES version. Bag a bug, Expresso’s Racing, and Funky’s Flights are all brand new minigames. Bag a bug is an overhead game in which the player must guide Diddy as he tries to collect as many lightning bugs as he can while avoiding a giant Kremling. Expresso’s Racing stars an ostrich named Expresso. Players will play as Expresso as he races against three other ostriches. The racing never gets more complicated than the use of boosts and the dodging of water. Funky’s Flights is a helicopter piloting adventure in which the player has to deliver a package, get to the exit, etc. Every single level from the main game is in the time trial mode. As Diddy Kong, players will race against the clock with only random checkpoints to return to if they get knocked out. These minigames and time trial mode help to add replay value to an already loaded game.
Though Donkey Kong Country 2 is more then ten years old, it is still graphically strong. Even though DKC2 is a direct port from a much stronger system (SNES), the graphics only suffer slightly. The environments are still beautifully rendered and highly detailed; everything from the planks on the decks of pirate ships to the bee larvea in the bee-hives is highly detailed. All the Kongs are detailed, from head to tail. The creature renders are just as detailed, with all parts being well rendered. While the frame rate is high and the movement smooth, the game still is a little choppy in the more intense parts of the game. The environments have also been lit up, enabling more of the game to be seen on a much smaller screen. All in all, the graphics are just slightly below the original SNES quality, making DKC2 one of the sharpest looking GBA games to date. At times, I just wanted to stare at the environments.
With the smaller speakers of the GBA, the sound quality indefinitely suffers. Despite this, the sound still comes are surprisingly clear and sharp. Perhaps one of the greatest feats in the game is the soundtrack. The soundtrack is both relaxing and intense. With a combination of piano, stringed instruments, and a more techy upbeat sound, the soundtrack fits every environment with the greatest of ease. The sound effects are also surprisingly on par. Despite the GBA speakers, I didn’t notice any difference between the GBA sound effects and the SNES. All the creature grunts, growls, squeals, and more are clear and well planted throughout the game.
Donkey Kong Country 2 will completely fulfill the nostalgic gamer’s desires, while also being able to drag newcomers into this fantastic series.DKC2 doesn’t suffer on a lesser system (when compared to the SNES). With solid gameplay and with environments that can compete with even the most recent of GBA (and some DS games), DKC2 is a must grab for not only platform lovers and DKC fanatics, but for anyone who owns a GBA.
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