Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

"An Incredible Adventure About Two Monkeys Vs. Crocodile Pirates"

It was only a matter of time before a sequel to Donkey Kong Country was made. The first DKC was such a success, why not make even more money with a second? Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest came out for the Super Nintendo way back in 1995, and is still considered a gem of a game for the console.

Gameplay ~9/10~ DKC 2 still has the same average gameplay as its predecessor, but with a few upgrades. Like DKC, DKC 2 is a side-scroller. You can control two characters in this title, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong. Neither has the power that DK had in the original, but Diddy is really fast, which can work to your advantage many times. Dixie isn't as fast, but she can hover in the air for a short period of time. Like before, there are barrels throughout the stages, which you can use to throw at your enemies. There are also bananas in most levels. These are similar to the coins in the Super Mario Brothers games, if you collect 100 bananas you get an extra life. In the original game, there were crates scattered throughout levels that when jumped upon, would unleash an animal to ride on, like a rhino or something. That feature still exists in DKC 2, but now there are even more animals.

There are a few new features in this game, such as the ability to pick up your partner and chuck him or her at anything you want. DKC 2 also has many different types of special coins scattered throughout every level, each serving a different purpose. Such coins include Banana coins you use to buy things, DK coins you use to get a high score in the game, and ''Kremcoins'', which you only find in bonus levels, are used to unlock secrets later in the game. There is a great variety of stages in DKC 2. Some levels take place on a boat, others in amusement parks, and some are even in the depths of volcanoes! So, as you can tell, the levels are very diverse. That's about it for gameplay.

Challenge ~9/10~ DKC 2 is by far the hardest of the three Donkey Kong Country games. The bosses are definitely more difficult to destroy in this game than in the first one. In the original DKC, for most bosses, you just needed to jump on their heads to kill them. Not this time. Now, you need to come up with more complex ways to ensure a boss's defeat. The levels are laid out longer than the ones in the original, and are filled with more enemies.

Story ~6/10~ Donkey Kong's been kidnapped! It's up to Diddy and his girlfriend to save him! Yeah that’s it.

Graphics ~10/10~ The graphics in Donkey Kong Country 2 are simply phenomenal. The 3-D models of the character are extremely detailed, and look kind of real. More work has been done on the character models in this game, and it shows. The bosses are more innovative, and aren’t simply super-sized enemies this time. The animation isn’t as choppy as it was in the first one, and looks more defined. The backgrounds are also superb. What can I say, it all looks great.

Sound ~10/10~ The audio, like just about everything else in this game is remarkable. The music fits each level perfectly. For instance, there's a whistle like tune for the boat levels, eerie music for the castle stages, and quick paced music for the boss arenas. The music for some of the levels sounds like it was composed more thoroughly than levels in the first DKC. You can also make out the small screams of your enemies as you knock them on the head with ease. That’s another thing that has been improved from the original Donkey Kong Country: The enemy sound effects. Most enemies shared the same little girly scream when they died. Now they each have their own specific sound.

Playtime/ Replayability ~10/10~ I don't see how one could get bored of this game while playing it. There's just too much good stuff in it. The levels aren't repetitive, the challenge is good, and the gameplay is great too. As for replayability, there are plenty of things that will make you want to come back and play this game again. You could try to collect all the bonus coins, get every banana, or just whoop your friends at multiplayer.

Rent or Buy? This is a definite buy. If you liked the original, then there shouldn't be any reason why you wouldn't want this.

In my personal opinion, the original DKC was the best, but this game is far from being bad. After you beat this, I'd recommend playing Donkey Kong Country 3.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/03, Updated 06/30/03