Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

"This is Rare at its best..."

Yep. Rare at its best. That’s a huge accolade for this game, but this deserves it. Trust me, this is one of the most fun, challenging games you’ll ever play. Everything about this game is excellent, from the graphics to the sound to, of course, the gameplay, which manages to be fun, challenging, and varied. The only shortcoming to this game is that you’ll “only” spend around 15 hours on it – less if you don’t feel like getting 102%. Still, that’s pretty long for a SNES game, and trust me, you’ll enjoy every minute.

Gameplay: 10+

Damn this game is fun! Yes, that’s right, fun. By today’s standards it doesn’t have any flashy graphics, sounds, or FX, but the game will still hold your attention every moment you’re playing it. DKC2 manages to be challenging and fun at the same time, which is something games nowadays are having trouble with. The overall concept is simple – get to the end of each stage and progress to the next stage and, eventually, world.

What makes this game so fun is the huge variety of levels and things to do. There are ship levels, beehive levels, ice levels, and more. These levels all have very different looks and feels. For example, you’ll be twisting and sliding on the icy levels to very nice, moody music (similar to the kind in the Ice world of DK64), while a few levels later you might be shooting yourself out of barrels in a bramble-filled world, or swimming in lava, or turning into a rampaging rhino. Each level is different from the others, and each has its own “feature”, whether it is pitch-black underwater swimming, toxic slime, or sticky honey. From level to level you’ll be required to swim, fly, climb, drop in parachutes, and more. As you play you’ll be more and more keen to open the next level, as you’ll come to expect another fun surprise. The first few levels and bosses are pretty easy, while the last third of the game is very challenging. The last boss fight is very hard yet fun at the same time, and you’ll get a few laughs from the fun effects. Even the best gamers will struggle a bit before beating the whole game (secret levels included), because some are extremely (but not frustratingly) hard.

There are other things to do apart from just completing the levels. These bonuses help you in your quest, and if you’re to open secrets and stuff you’ll have to find and complete them. There are Banana coins scattered in odd spots, which serve as currency and can buy you tips, instructions, and lives; Kremkoins, earned through beating bonus games, which open access to, er, the aforementioned secret areas; and more, including letters, bananas, and balloons, which give you more lives, and DK medals, which are quite hard to get and which measure your hero status.

Don’t worry though – this game is not, I repeat, NOT, a scavenger hunt. Most of the bonus barrels, coins, etc. are literally right in front of your face, and can be accessed easily if you know what you’re doing. Also, they are not mandatory in opening new spaces (unless you’re going for the secret levels), so you can just concentrate on beating the levels the first time around, then come back later for the bonuses. Also, the bonus levels are generally short and easy – just accessing them (through crafty moves and maneuvers) is half the work. Don’t worry, there aren’t any extremely challenging, frustrating bonus levels like there are in DK64.

Graphics: 9

You probably think I’m crazy, giving a SNES game a 9. Well, DKC2 deserves it. The graphics were very impressive at the time this game was released, and while they’re nowhere near the current standard (obviously), the game still looks nice and crisp. Honest, I’ve seen nasty, grimy PSX games that look a lot worse than this game.

All the levels look very good, and each world has its dominating theme and graphics. The bramble levels – where you often fly in the form of a parrot – have nice, floaty music, and a very nice blue background. In contrast, the fire levels have a dark-red background, which, coupled with a bright-red lava-filled foreground and a thumping musical score, leaves an oppressive mood. There are numerous effects, from blasts of rain to gusts of wind to yellow, hazy, fog, which is a great atmosphere-setter.

The Kongs and Kremlings all look good and move fluidly. The bosses are very impressive, with none of the spriting that plagues some other SNES titles. All in all, the levels look very nice (a mix between cartoonish characters and realistic environments) and the characters look and are animated well.

Sound: 9

Well, there are few vocals (a few yelps here and there, and that’s it) and the sound effects, while good, are not outstanding. As with most earlier titles, the main thing you’ll notice is the music.

The music is very good. Every level has a different score, although levels in the same world will have a common theme (for example, water, ice, fire, honey, etc.) and so will have similar music. Most of the music consists of little orchestral melodies combined with a regular drum beat that is nice to listen to, not annoying, and not overly obvious. The music also does a great job of setting the mood – just listen to the difference between the happy music of the ship levels, the melancholy music of the ice levels, and the spooky music of the swamp levels. Well done Rare!

Replayability: 7

The replayability is average (above-average compared to other platformers). Every once in a while you’ll feel a pang for nostalgia and come back to your favorite levels, but apart from that, you won’t really play through the game a second time after you’ve finished. Mind you, there’s a lot of replayability “built-in” as finding all the Kremkoins, Bonus Barrels, DK Coins (which are placed in ingenious, very hard-to-reach spots) will take up a few hours and a lot of searching. Don’t worry – it doesn’t really get tedious, a la DK64, as every time you find a few Kremkoins or DK coins you’ll be able to see your Hero status jump or open up a new secret level. Plus, the secret levels in themselves are very challenging and fun and whenever you’re feeling a tad masochistic you might want to replay them (seriously, there are one or two levels that I’ve only beaten once).

Having said that, there are a few levels you’ll never want to come back to…

Story: 7

What? Do you really care about the story!?

Typical platformer stuff: Kaptain K. Rool has kidnapped our beloved Donkey Kong! Newfound heroes Diddy and Dixie Kong must embark on an adventurous quest to save DK, and so on and so forth.

Presentation: 9

Nice box; humorous, informative, foot-in-mouth manual done by Cranky Kong. There’s not really much of a presentation factor in-game as you don’t get any fancy-pansy menus in SNES games. Still, the fact that you can visit Funky’s Airlines (travel back to previously beaten worlds), Swanky’s Quiz Show (answer correctly to win lives), Cranky’s hut (for info on secrets and such) and Wrinkly’s school (info on enemies, moves, etc.) adds a little fun to the simple, linear style.

Overall: 10+

This game is fun and challenging while possessing a low frustration factor. The visuals are nice and are complemented by the moody, ever-changing music score. The gameplay is great and fun, and you’ll be looking forward to the next level, boss, and world. Basically, just get this game. There’s no cheaper or better way of getting a solid 15 hours of fun and challenge.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 05/22/01, Updated 05/22/01