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System:
SNES
Genre:
Platformer
Publisher:
Nintendo
Developer:
Rare
Players:
1-2
Release date/year:
1995
Other systems:
-
» Screenshots
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- Donkey Kong Country 2
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1995 Rare - Nintendo - SNES
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Donkey Kong Country is a great series, and this is probably the peak of it. The original Donkey Kong Country set the stage for the great series to emerge. I gave the first one an 10, this one is better. I have heard many people say that this is the peak of the series, and I think I will have to agree. The first one was great, but this one is amazing, then, the third one is slightly worse. I first played the original, and then the others in order, which may or may not be the ideal way to do it. With me starting off on the first I was set up for a surprise with this one. Here is a more detailed description.
- {~~Main Scores~~}
BREAKDOWN
Gameplay - 10
Graphics - 10
Sound - 9
Enjoyability - 10
- Gameplay
The gameplay is probably the best part of this game. They tweaked all of the little things that could have been wrong with the original, and made this really amazing. The premise is quite simple. You need to save Donkey Kong. At the end of the original game, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong beat King K Rool on is ship. This time around, Donkey Kong has been kidnapped by King K Rool, and you need to get him back from this new island. But, without Donkey Kong, how is Diddy Kong going to do it all alone? Well, the simple answer is that he isn’t. He enlists the help of a young upstart named Dixie Kong. Now, let me tell you, Dixie is a very welcome edition to the Kong team. She has one ability that sets her above any of the other playable characters in the Donkey Kong series; Her hair. Her hair is really long, so when she spins in while she is in the air, she almost flies, or at least falls slowly. That is a huge asset because it allows crossing over normally un-passable gaps. In this there is also a guy named Klubba, he has a kiosk. When you get a special coin from completing the special tasks in each area, you give the coins to him, and things occur which I shouldn’t give away.
Along with Dixie, are two other Kong family members coming into the spotlight. One of these new entries is a good thing, and one of them is a bad thing to have added. This bad person is Wrinkly Kong. She is the very old, decrepit wife of Cranky Kong. She isn’t a bad person really, but she replaces my favorite character from the original Donkey Kong series, Candy Kong. The other new addition to the family is Swanky Kong who runs mini-games along the way, where you can win things. His games are always fun, and he is a welcome Kong. The other Kong family members are all returning this time around. These are Cranky Kong, the dispenser of advice, and Funky Kong, who runs the Bi-Barrel plane which transfers you from section to section. The bad thing about these returning characters is the fact that your so called ‘family’ now charges for their services. The currency that you use to pay off your family are hero coins. These coins are hidden throughout the level. Wrinkly charges two coins to save, Cranky charges two coins for his advice, Funky charges two coins, and finally Swanky charges one coin.
There are many different enemies in this game, many of them are returning from the last installment. These enemies range from armadillos, to large lizards, to big women I like to call ‘Bertha’. Back to help you kill all of these new enemies are your old animal friends. These guys include a rhino, a swordfish, and a bird. But, unfortunately, not returning this time around are Winky the frog, and Expresso the ostrich.
Overall, the gameplay is quite good. The original Donkey Kong had great gameplay, but it did have a couple minor flaws. This game repairs all of those little flaws with new features. The only thing that I didn’t like in the gameplay of this game is the stingy family. Why do they need so much money to help out their own family member? Don’t ask me…
- Graphics
The graphics are greatly improved over the original. Everything looks much more detailed and clearer. The graphics, as with any game, look better because they were done later in time, with many improvements in the graphical world. In the time between Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2 there may not have been that many improvements, but there were enough improvements to make this game look much better than the last.
The character designs are one of the better areas of the graphics. The characters look very detailed, and look very three dimensional for their time. Take for example Dixie Kong’s hair. When it spins around making her fly, it looks very realistic. As well do any of the other hair on characters, and anything else on the characters at that,
The backgrounds in this game were made a lot more multi-layered and detailed. I seem to mention detail a lot in my graphical descriptions, but it is the one thing that makes the game look great. Anyway, one thing I didn’t like is the elimination of the jungle, because I very much liked the jungle. But, the new backgrounds are indoor backgrounds, and they don’t look too bad either. I just prefer jungle scenery I guess.
- Sound
I am always very critical on the sound area of any game. I believe that the sound is one of the most important area of a game. Some games have soundtracks that have you humming and whistling along, and some games have soundtracks that make you turn down the sound. Any regular game player will tell you that the games with great soundtracks are always the better overall games. This is one of those games. The music is very well composed, and sets the slightly darker mood. I would have liked the jungle music from the first to return, but they did a very good job with the new criteria. The sound effects help a lot too. The most common sound effects is the ‘ook’ and the like from the Kongs. But, by far the best is the sound the enemies, and even the Kongs make when they die. They were greatly improved, as was the sound, good job.
- Enjoyability
The enjoyability of this game is probably the highest of al the areas. Every other area of this game, sound, gameplay, and graphics are well done on their own. When those are all combined together into one area, the enjoyability, we get the ultimate fun factor. This game is just extremely addictive. The best part of the game is the gameplay, but it is followed very closely behind by the graphics, and sound too. Very fun.
- {~~Other Important Scores~~}
Replay Value: High
This game is very easily replayed. You will have so much fun playing it for the first time through, that when you finish it, you wont have any huge objections to doing it again in the near future. The Enjoyability is basically the contributor to that. It is so fun that it will be great to play multiple times. Not to mention it isn’t too long for each play through.
- Challenge: Average
This game is not overly challenging. Occasionally, you will find yourself having some problems, but looking at the overall picture it isn’t too hard. The enemies are very easy to kill with a simple jump, or barrel. But, the bosses aren’t on the same page, they are very hard to kill, much harder than in the last installment. I’m not saying that is bad though, I like hard bosses.
- GOOD POINTS
-Gameplay
-Length
-Graphics
-Sound
-Challenge
-Replay Value
-Enjoyability
-Dixie Hair Spin
- BAD POINTS
-Your Family Charges For Their Services
This Game Easily Gets A Seifer Guarantee! Get It Soon!
10/10
//Seifer psx
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