"It's been 8 Years......... it's still great!"

In 1994 a little known British Company entitled "Rareware" (or simply Rare) was given the rights to the Donkey Kong Franchise from Nintendo to reinvent the series. Reinvent they did. They brought about not only a wonderful memorable game but also gave plentiful upon plentiful items for us Fanboys/girls to collect, some good (Soundtracks, T-Shirts, Toys), some bad (The Horrible TV Show/Musical) one year afterword Rare made a sequel. It was better than the first. Then in the dying days of SNES and birth of N64 Rare made one last Hurrah for the Donkey Kong Country Series, making it a complete trilogy. The game was Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble.

STORY:
The basic story is this: Dixie wakes up one morning to find DK and Diddy trying to find a Lost World in the Northern Kremisphere. She gets worried after a few days and them not going back, and so she decides searches for them with her Cousin Kiddy Kong (who tags along thanks to Funky). There is much more to this story, which is revealed in the end of the game. The storyline is a good structure showing that the Girl isn't always going to be the "Maiden in Distress" but a true blue....... er pink and brown, heroine. HOWEVER the story could be a little bit better.......
TOTAL SCORE: 7/10

GRAPHICS:
This is the third time Rare used the Computer Modeling Graphics for their SNES games while they are the same some new stuff was added in. You'll see when ya play. ;) But they are still very good even today. However Mario 64 outshone the graphics......... because as stated above it was released in the birth of the N64. But as stated magnificant graphics. The levels look great as expected. ESPECIALLY the Waterfall levels........ especially those.
TOTAL SCORE: 9/10

GAMEPLAY:
The Gameplay is very good. Similar to that of DKC2. The ability to carry your partner is back with some humorous twists (Kiddy is hefty after all O_o;;). And there are special tricks to the trade now. There is also a new RPG like overworld where you can swim in the open waters........ but still stay on path. You can also drive 3 different boats across the Northern Kremisphere. Worlds are plentiful with clever levels with unique ideas. (I.E. keeping a fish well fed but not too well fed, a saw chasing you through a tree etc.)
TOTAL SCORE: 8/10

MUSIC:
The music in this game is wonderful, it gives you a feel for the inviroment. In the Water Levels you get a feeling that you ARE Underwater. In the Waterfall levels you get relaxing music you'd get staring at nature, a hard-core rock like music for the factory levels, simians howling and hooting like crazy in the jungle levels. Rare did great work here, as always with their games.
TOTAL SCORE: 9/10

LASTING APPEAL:
If you're an avid DKC player this game should take no longer than around 2-3 days. If you've just started expect to be playing for 3-5 days. But that's if you just want to zoom through it. If you want to collect EVERYTHING it'll take a good week or two just to find the bonus/DK coins. (W/O using a Faq). But it also has a charm that makes you coming back for more after you've beaten the game.
TOTAL SCORE: 9/10

BUY/RENT/STAY AWAY?:
DEFINANTLY Buy if you love platform games with twists. If you're still unsure then rent it. But with the way rental stores are today..... it'll take a while to find, unless a friend has it. Then you can try. If you hate platformers, stay away.
OR You can wait a while since Rare may port DKC3 for the Game Boy Advance as they've done DKC1 and DKC2. (TIME OF DATE REVIEWING GAME: 9/10/04)

Donkey Kong Country 3 ended the series on good terms. In fact it's my favorite of the three. Mainly because of Kiddy Kong. And the Music. The game is definantly something you should look forward to playing if you haven't. It'll get ya hooked on the DK games. If not...........then whatever. (Oh BTW there may be some typos. Ignore please. X-x;)

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/13/04