Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Nintendo's got a hot new Super NES sequel to one of their most impressive titles ever: Donkey Kong County. DKC2: Diddy Kong's Quest will blow you away. Donkey Kong has been captured by Kaptain K. Rool and now Diddy must save him. Along with his new friend, Diddy must face all-new dangers. There are more secrets, different enemies and brand-new animal friends.

After a little time playing, I was pleased to find that this game is even harder than the first. The traps are deadlier, and you'll need a lot of technique.

If you enjoyed the first Donkey Kong Country, you're sure to love this one. Check out a future issue of ECM or ECM3 for more coverage on this hot game.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is a platform game developed by Rareware and published by Nintendo and later ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2004 for the SNES video game console. It has been kong-napped by the nasty K.Rool and the Kremlings, and it is up to Diddy Kong and his girl-friend Dixie Kong to save him.

Nintendo and Rare aren't monkeying around! Diddy"s Kong-Quest exceeds the standards set by Donkey Kong Country. This is the game you want under your palm tree this holiday!

Driving Miss Dixie

Even though the version we reviewed was only 80 percent complete, it already had more levels, better graphics, and better gameplay than the original had a year ago. The only thing the programmers can do is add more to this game!

In this quest, Kaptain K. Rool and the Kremlings have kidnapped Donkey Kong and are ransoming him for the Banana Hoard (from DKC). Diddy and his gorilla-friend, Dixie, set out to find Donkey Kong.

But Kaptain K. Rool isn't going to make things easy for the Kongs. He has all types of beautifully rendered (but devilishly despicable) enemies on hand, like peg-legged crocodiles, wretched rats, and pitiless piranhas. K. Rool does his deeds in some of the most cleverly illustrated levels ever seen on a home system. Wait until you ride the skulls in the Pirate Amusement Park or blast through the thorny jungles in Bramble Scramble.

The game has more than 100 levels with eight unique areas to explore. As usual, there are tons of hidden areas and bonus games, so you'll be playing this one well into next Christmas!

Safari So Good

The rendered graphics are superb and extremely clean. They're especially impressive when you consider this is a 16-bit game, not some fancy-shmancy CD system. As a matter of fact, this is what Killer Instinct should've looked like! The smoothly scrolling layered backgrounds also add nice graphical touches (like the rain in the Gangplank Galley) to this superb looker.

Like last year's DKC, the music and sounds once again equal the SNES's best. The music rocks out in places and tones down in more dramatic scenes. From the monkey's echoes of "ooh-ooh" when it's trapped in the barrels to the crocodiles' snapping jaws, this game erupts with sonic treats.

Te control is pretty much the same as in the last game. You can switch between Dixie or Diddy, and can run, jump, and throw just like in DKC. The only caveat is that some levels are extremely tough, so younger players may ask their monkey's uncles for a hand with the game.

Plan It with the Apes

As for older gamers, what more could you ask for? Yeah, it's a little cutesy, but don't let that fool you. Although you may find yourself breezing through the easy, pattern-reliant bosses, you definitely won't be able to finish this in one sitting. Since you now have to pay for Cranky's advice (and game saves, and Funky's flights, and Swank/s Bonus Games), you'll need to spend more time than ever in the Country.

Easily the best SNES game this year, Diddy's Kong-Quest is one we suggest you give a try. This game will make a monkey out of the most experienced players!

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest is a platform game developed and published for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in 1995. The game is a sequel to the first Donkey Kong Country and was later followed by a third game, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble. The game appeared for Game Boy Advance in 2004 too and is currently available for Wii’s Virtual Console.

Often abbreviated as DKC2, the game begins after Donkey Kong was kidnapped by Kaptain K. Rool. Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong remain to save Donkey. The two of them had to travel through different levels in the game. There are a total of eight levels.

The game has good graphics compared to the first release in the series and was a better game overall compared to its predecessor. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest sold millions of copies all over the world for Nintendo’s SNES and is currently the second best-selling game of 1995 and the 6th best-selling game overall.

There are many non-playable characters featuring in this game, including the villain, Kaptain K. Rool, who appears in the final part of the game. This release is the first that features Dixie Kong. Most of the enemies are the KremlingKrew who patrols areas of the island with the specific aim of capturing Diddy and Dixie. There are some animal buddies who help the two main characters to progress through, but also other family members of the Kongs, such as Funky Kong, who returns from the original game.

Wrinkly Kong, the mother of Donkey Kong, appears in the game for the first time as well. She runs the Kong Kollege, an educational facility where she guides the player. Swanky Kong appears as well. Some other characters such as ghosts, wasps and insects scattered over the island appear in the game and are helpful for the player.

The music of the game was composed by David Wise and released in 1995, like the game. The original soundtrack was a success and convinced Wise to compose music for the third game too, after doing the same for the original release of the series. The game tracks run for 56 minutes and 20 seconds.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest was well received by the audience and sold 4.37 million of copies for the SNES platform, with 2.21 million copies being sold in Japan and 2.16 in the United States. The game for SNES scored an overall score of 93% on GameRankings and the one for Game Boy Advance scored an overall feedback of 80% of Metacritic.