Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Donkey Kong Country is one of the best 2d platformers of all time, and it's sequel doesn't fall short either. This game has some very creative level design and it does things that a lot of platformers nowadays would be scared to do. Really the things you see in levels are sometimes on the level of insanity that you see in modern difficult indie 2d platformers, and it's great.

There are so many ideas jampacked into the game, almost every level feels like a brand new and unique idea and it never stops throwing those new ideas at you. In one level you could be using the updraft to ascend up a perilous well and in the next one you'll be freezing the rising water by jumping on seals.

Like most SNES games, the presentation is still great to this day, but thanks to the unique art direction of these games, they are some of the best looking ones on the console. The amount of detail in the animations and the backgrounds is insane.

Still, the graphics and gameplay being as good as they are, the hands down best part about DKC is the music. The quiet but catchy tunes are all memorable and atmospheric.

Still prefer the first game, but this was a very good sequel.

Long ago, I remember jumping for joy when I saw the commercial for this game as a little kid. I couldn't wait to play it. And it turned out to be my all-time favorite game for the SNES.

This was the darkest game in the series, and it shows. Right off the bat, Diddy and Dixie are dropped off on the Kremlings home world, Crocodile Isle. Its entire dangerous landscape is a stark contrast to DK Island, like the active volcano Crocodile Cauldron, the broken-down theme park Krazy Kremland, to K. Rools ominous looking Keep at the peak of the island.

There were some great new characters introduced, most prominently Diddy's girlfriend Dixie Kong, who makes a splash with her always helpful hover ability. We also got new animal buddies with unique abilities, like Squitter the spiders web shooting to attack enemies and create steppingstones and Rattley's the rattlesnakes charged jumping.

There is a more exotic and wide range of level themes, like pirate ship decks, volcanoes, swamps, ice caverns, and castle interiors. Plus, there were new items introduced, like the invincibility barrel, crates, plus and minus barrels in roller coaster levels. The difficulty was increased by the necessity of collecting every bonus Kremcoin to access the final battle against Kaptain K. Rool in the Lost World and truly beat the game. Plus, there's a hidden DK coin on every level needed to achieve a full 102% success. It's challenging, but that's what made it more fun and appealing than the original for me.

There were more difficult gimmicky levels, like Windy Well with its wind currents, Slime Climb involving the relentless and invincible piranha Snapjaw pursuing you. The bosses were a lot tougher, like King Zing with his stinger being his only weak point, Kudgel with his ground shaking jumps, and rounding them out is Kaptain K. Rool himself with his projectile dodging focused battle.

But best of all was the amazing soundtrack that marked David Wise's peak. From Welcome to Crocodile Isle with its deep and ominous organ chimes and drumbeats that hammers home you're on K. Rools turf now, to the intense and dark techno final boss theme Crocodile Cacophony, and the ever popular Stickerbush Symphony, which was arguably Wise's greatest work with the soft, peaceful, and soothing piano notes and violin strokes that will put your mind at ease.

Even today, the game is an absolute blast to play, especially for retrogamers looking to take a nice trip down memory lane. So, try it out on the Nintendo Switch if you like.

I loved the first Donkey Kong Country and I was hoping for more excitement in this sequel. You can do more things in this game such as the helicopter twirl and buddy animal special abilities. The graphics and music are equally awesome as the first. So why do I give this an 8? The first thing that turned me off a bit was the coin system, in the first you could save your game free of charge, but here you need two to do that and if you are broke you're in big trouble. The same thing if you need to go back to previous levels. The second is the challenge can really rack your nerves till you go crazy. The commercial for this game said "even tougher than the original" and sure enough they weren't lying. I do like this game just not as much as the first.

The original "Donkey Kong Country" game was such a success that it pretty much usurped Mario on the SNES console for the title of "best side-scrolling adventure". This sequel, "Diddy's Kong Quest", however, manages to even improve upon the gameplay of its predecessor and make for an even better gaming experience.

There are two main reasons why this game is better than the original:

1. The level designs manage to be even more interesting. Not that the levels in "DK1" were bad, by any means, but they are just more interesting in this effort. When I think back to the iconic levels in this series, I'm usually thinking of ones from this game.

2. Dixie Kong is a better playable character than Donkey Kong. The main trouble with the DK/Diddy combo of part one is that DK is such a sluggish character. He "gets the job done", but only passably for a game that requires so much jumping. In that game, Diddy is the much better character. In part two, though, the Diddy/Dixie combination are pretty much equals. Diddy is still a bit more agile and nimble to work with, but the hair of Dixie (used for flying and throwing) makes her very valuable as well.

The only reason I can't give this game the full five stars? It doesn't let you save after every level. I know, I know...gamers weren't used to that feature like they are now. But it still doesn't make it any better (at least for me). After about the second stage, the levels in this game get quite difficult. Difficult to the point of the gamer feeling a real accomplishment after completing a level (which of course is the point!). Yet, there is a clunky system of gathering coins in order to save (and even then it is only after you reach the "save point" in each stage). You may have to beat 3- 4 VERY difficult stages (often with only a few lives to work with) in order to save your progress. I don't care what the "times" were like...that makes for more frustration and less fun.

Overall, though, "Diddy's Kong Quest" manages to slide in slightly ahead of its predecessor (no easy feat). I always had a bit more fun playing this game than the first one.

Donkey Kong has now been kidnapped by Kaptian K.Rool and now Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong must save Donkey Kong from the clutches of the fat kremlin and his crew of kremlings.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is a great sequel to the original Donkey Kong Country though sometimes I think this one lacks a little bit behind. I hate how they put some of the new systems in there like the coins to save a game and many coins to get to lost worlds though I like a bit of challenge. Like the original though there is really nothing to hate. What i've just said there was the only thing I didn't like.

An improvement is that now the levels are 200 times harder, Instead of having a heavy Kong and a Light Kong You end up having two flexible Kongs and now you get to buy Lost Worlds and the feel of the Kong Island/Jungle theme is gone and Now in this sequel we have K.Rool's lair and the theme is pirates.

I like the Honey Comb land like levels and you still get Animal Buddies back just like you do in the first one though there are newer ones.

This sequel does keep up well with the original though I still like the original better. I give this sequel an outstanding 9.1/10