Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble

"Three's a crowd."

You have conquered DK Island and reclaimed your banana hoard from the clutches of King K. Rool. You have triumphed over Crocodile Isle and rescued Donkey Kong from a vengeance-seeking former king. Every steaming jungle, bramble grove, and simmering volcano has been scoured in an effort to defeat the Kremling Army. Yet K. Rool refuses to acknowledge when he has been beaten. While Donkey Kong Country breathed life into a struggling Super Nintendo with its unprecedented rendered graphics and superb platform fundamentals, its sequel managed to obtain perfection in a formula not even Mario could reach. The third installment in the trilogy creates a hat trick, with the same winning platform elements that helped the series become such a success in the first place, while introducing numerous new concepts to help it create its own identity. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble marks a stupendous send-off to one of the finest side-scrolling franchises ever to grace the gaming industry.

Retiring from the pirate business altogether, formerly King K. Rool has entered the world of modern science. Under the title Baron K. Roolenstein, the new doctor in town has created a robot named Kaos to command his reformed legion of beefed-up Kremlings in the Northern Kremisphere. Worse yet, K. Rool has kidnapped both Donkey and Diddy Kong in order to power Kaos' energy force. Alerted by the news, Dixie Kong sets off for the Northern Kremisphere and meets up with the remaining Kong family members. While visiting Funky, she encounters her cousin, Kiddy Kong, a toddler ape with a bulk of muscles and an unstoppable tantrum. Like its predecessors, Dixie Kong's Double Trouble features an overworld system that connects each stage and world. However, the worlds are much more interactive this time around, with rental boats you can check out from Funky that can take you all around the Northern Kremisphere. You can also scour around each map in order to find elusive crystal caves which house mysterious treasures.

Similar to the previous two installments, you will control both characters at the same time, with the one in front doing the primary maneuvering. Dixie Kong controls very similarly to how she did in Diddy's Kong Quest. She is nimble, versatile, and perfect for quick strikes. Her most useful ability is the helicopter spin, which enables you to glide across lengthy chasms or gently float downward. She can also spin into enemies and pick up barrels with her ponytail. Kiddy Kong is somewhat similar to Donkey Kong in his abilities, although he has a handful of skills of his own. His Water Skip ability enables him to bounce across watery surfaces, while if Dixie tosses him, Kiddy can bust open cracks in the ground. Other Kong members will also provide you with assistance, like Wrinkly Kong, who will enable you to save your game (for free this time).

The game's worlds are wonderfully diverse, ranging from perilous industrial factories to gigantic redwoods. The waterfall stages, for instance, pull you in with their serene atmosphere and majestic music. Little do they cue you in on the vigorous challenge and deathly cliffs they have in store. Pathways swerve both in front of and behind the falls, creating a new layer and dimension. Failure to take into account the slippery ledges and double dimensions results in falling behind ledges that lie in front, sending you back to a far earlier point in the stage. As Zingers cloak themselves along the falls, a blind jump could signal the end of your monkey. Such is the nature of Rare's devious challenge, but what would any of this challenge be without a menacing cast of enemies to boot? The more standard drones maneuver in predictable manners and are simple to defeat. Others utilize more creative tactics, such as taking cover in barrels or arming themselves with giant cannons. Some of the tougher enemies cannot be defeated with a mere bop on the head, and thus require alternative methods of offense.

Bananas are standard DK loot. As always, they generally indicate paths to follow. But Barrels are the key items, and come in a number of varieties. Most barrels can be used for busting objects or taking out enemies. If you have lost one of your teammates and stumble across a DK Barrel, tagging it will return that partner to your team. TNT Barrels will create massive explosions, perfect for clearing out larger enemies or obstacles. Invincibility Barrels do exactly as one might expect them to - Render your monkeys temporarily invulnerable. The Animal Barrels also return from the previous game, which will transform your Kongs into the Animal Buddy whose face is painted on the outside, as opposed to merely riding them. Lastly, Bonus Barrels are what make this game's secrets so expansive. These generally well-hidden barrels appear in secrete locations in each stage. Once inside the barrel, you will be transported to a Bonus Area, where you must complete a certain task to receive a Bonus Coin. In general, this includes completing an obstacle course, obtaining green bananas, or collecting a number of trinkets.

Several of the animal buddies from the previous installments return for this title, in addition to a few new faces. Ellie the Elephant is the first of the new animals introduced that you will encounter. She can pick up barrels with her trunk and lob them at enemies, in addition to sucking up water and shooting it. If Ellie sees a rat, however, she will flee in terror. Enguarde the Swordfish sports no true changes. For those unfamiliar, his sharp nose can pierce through any aquatic fiend you may encounter while underwater. Squawks the Parrot plays similarly to how he did in Diddy's Kong Quest, able to spit giant coconuts to rid himself of airborne enemies. He also now has the ability to pick up barrels with his talons and drop them on foes. Squitter the Spider is also unchanged, who can shoot web projectiles at enemies, as well as make web platforms that can be used as temporary ledges. Lastly, Parry the Parallel Bird, a newcomer, will fly parallel to your monkey, and if you can keep him alive, you will reap prime rewards.

Donkey Kong Country single-handedly revolutionized the gaming industry with its Mode-6 “rendered” graphics, and its sequel took the same engine and sharpens the models a step further. Number three follows the same suit. Blowing away everything else of the time period visually, the characters and atmosphere look absolutely stunning for their age. The environments appear fluid and detailed, like the stunning backdrop of bottomless twisting canyons or the captivating and eerie depths of coral reefs. Yet the audio is perhaps equally ahead-of-its-time. David Wise, the genius who worked on the first two titles' musical masterpieces, is absent for this installment, but his replacement, Eveline Fischer, does a pretty damn good job nonetheless. For instance, the theme of the canyon stages is utterly fantastic, with imposing riffs that truly set the atmosphere of the stages. While I would not place this game's soundtrack on such a majestic pedestal as that of its predecessors, the music is still fairly extraordinary for a relatively primitive system.

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble is platform mastery at its finest. It takes the successful platform elements and industry-defining technical aspects of its predecessors and successfully applies them for a third and final triumph in this critically-acclaimed series. And yet...this particular installment receives far short of the love and appreciation that it deserves. Nonetheless, its characters are delightful, its environments are gorgeous, and its amount of depth and secrets are limitless. It also presents a challenge not present in the majority of platform titles. While the GBA port is an adequate substitute and features numerous stages and modes not present in the original, its watered-down features and soundtrack still cannot recapture the pure enchantment of the game's original form. Any platform fan owes it to themselves to hunt down this timeless final installment in this classic trilogy.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 12/10/07

Game Release: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble (US, 1996)