Donkey Kong Land 2

"More fun than a barrel of monkeys"

Donkey Kong Land 2 was the first game I ever bought for my GameBoy, and I'm still glad I made that decision. It cost me $20 dollars, which I think is a good deal for a game like this. I would have to say that this game is one of the best ever made for the GameBoy.

In this game, Donkey Kong has been captured by the evil Kremlings, led by King K. Rool. The Kremlings will only give Donkey Kong back in exchange for the Kong banana hoard. Diddy knows his father would be upset if they lost their banana hoard; so he must team up with his friend, Dixie Kong, to help save his father from the infamous K. Rool and his gang of Kremlings.

Gameplay (10/10): Donkey Kong Land is a side-scrolling platform game. There are seven worlds you must complete in the game before rescuing Donkey Kong. There are over forty levels throughout the whole game, and the levels are accessed by a game map. After completing the first few levels of any world, Wrinkly's Kong Kollege will appear on the map; this is where you can save your game progress, but you have to pay the teacher Banana Bunch Coins to have your progress saved.

Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong are interchangeable throughout the game, but this is only possible when you have your partner available. This is indicated in the bottom right corner of the screen. If your partner is not available, you have to find and break a DK barrel in order to get your partner with you. If you have your partner with you and the character you are controlling gets hit by an enemy, that character will disappear and the other character will appear on the screen with no partner available. If you get hit by an enemy with no partner available, you will lose a life.

There are many items you will find along the various levels. Of course, there are the enemy Kremlings that will try to keep you from proceeding. There will be bonus barrels hidden throughout the levels; when you find one, you will proceed to a bonus level where you must complete a task in limited time to collect Kremkoins, which you need at the end of the game. Also, there will be a Video Game Hero Coin hidden in each level; the number of Video Game Hero Coins you collect determines your rating at the end of the game. Banana Bunch Coins, which you need to pay Wrinkly Kong to save your progress at Kong Kollege, and bananas, which you need to gain extra lives, will be scattered throughout the levels. You can also find the letters ''K,'' ''O,'' ''N,'' and ''G'' in each level to gain an extra life.

Sometimes, you will find an animal barrel while proceeding through a level. These barrels have a picture of an animal on them and will turn you into that animal when you jump into the barrel. The animals you can transform into are Enguarde the Swordfish, Rambi the Rhino, Squitter the Spider, Rattly the Rattlesnake, and Squawks the Parrot. These animals have different abilities, such as being able to jump high or being able to fly, that you may need to continue through the level.

Game control in this game is excellent. As Diddy Kong, you can perform cartwheels to knock out enemies. As Dixie Kong, you can spin to knock out enemies and you can twirl your hair to be able to descend slowly like a helicopter. And, of course, both Diddy and Dixie can jump on enemies to defeat them. The actual button response is also excellent; the characters are easy to control and the buttons are very responsive.

Graphics (10/10): The graphics here are great, probably the best you'll ever see in any GameBoy game. Even for an older game that uses a gray palette, this is extremely detailed. Every object and character in the game is given an excellent realistic effect with great light and shade details. Even the backgrounds are very detailed and well done.

Animation is abundant in this game. Even when you're not moving your character, the monkey will still be moving around a bit; Diddy Kong will be turning back and forth, as if he's looking around, and Dixie Kong will be blinking her eyes. The DK barrels and the bananas will be constantly rotating, too; and the enemies are lively and animated very well. The graphics and animation in this game are excellent.

Sound (9/10): There is much variety in the music throughout the game. The music is great and it always seems to fit the mood of the game very well. The sound effects is the first not-so-good thing that I have to say about the game. The sound effects are very good and they accompany their actions very well, but there should be more of them. There are no sound effects that you hear when your character performs an action, besides being hit by an enemy and jumping on an enemy.

Challenge (8/10): Some of the levels in the game are very difficult, but a lot of them are pretty simple to get through. What makes this game very hard is looking for the hidden bonus barrels and DK coins. These hidden items can be very difficult, if not almost impossible, to find throughout each whole level.

Replay (7/10): This game doesn't have a total replay value to it. There are the hidden bonus levels and DK coins, but you would have to find these items to completely finish the game anyway. So this makes for no extra secrets the second time you play. This game is very fun to play, though. This gives it a pretty high replay value.


Overall (10/10): The excellent design of this game has one simple explanation. It was designed by Rare. Rare has a reputation for making high quality games, and Donkey Kong Land 2 definitely adds to that reputation. I do recommend buying this game as a good addition to your GameBoy game collection.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/02/00, Updated 11/02/00