donkey kong country 2, man. i hadn't played any of the donkey kong country games up until recently, in february of 2023, i decided to give them all a crack, and while every game was a blast, this game in particular stood out to me the most. so much so, that is the only game on my entire backloggd profile i feel confident giving a 5/5 rating to, it quite literally is basically flawless in my eyes, and i'll elaborate on that in this review.
this game is such a massive improvement from the first donkey kong country, it is insane; just about every single issue i had with the first donkey kong country game was ironed out in this game, making for a blast from start to finish. like i said, i concluded that this was the best game in the franchise and called it there. i wouldn't touch the franchise again until just about a week ago, when i decided to replay DKC2 from start to finish, whilst going for 102% completion. i won't lie, i was slightly nervous because what if the game wasn't as good as i remembered? well, literally within the first world my fears were quelled, as the game introduces fun, unique, and difficult (but fair) platforming off the rip.
both diddy and dixie control amazingly, i do prefer controlling diddy since he has more spring to his jumps and such but dixie is amazing at making those precise jumps. the 2 work in tandem better than diddy and donkey, or dixie and kiddy ever could. as i said, right from the rip the game introduces fun and engaging platforming, not only is the platforming excelled by the tight controlling jumping/moving, but diddy's roll makes for a fun way to replay levels and discover routes you may have not discovered in previous playthroughs (dixie's roll to a lesser extent).
throughout the past year or so, since i played DKC2 in february, i would listen to the game's soundtrack on loop, literally every song in this OST is a hood classic, i'm not sure if there is a single fucking miss. and upon this replay going for 102%, i have found even more newfound appreciation for some of the tracks i would play less than others. picking favorites among this soundtrack is a difficult ask but if i had to choose between 3, it's probably: forest interlude, mining melancholy, and snakey chantey. all 3 exude fairly different vibes but they all fit so well in the levels they're placed in and just make me float man. easily the best video game soundtrack of all time, in my opinion. and i know that's not exaclty a hot take but it's impossible to talk about this game without bringing up the OST accompanying the gameplay itself.
the sprite work in this game too is something else man, how they got this shit onto a SNES is beyond me, that combined with the music makes for a more visually-pleasing experience than most modern AAA titles provide me, honestly. it's honestly kinda jarring going from any 1 of the 3 DKC games to another SNES title as these games are just beyond the system's limits. this game in particular has incredibly striking background and foreground work though - there's a reason the background of bramble blast is as iconic as it is.
back on to the topic of difficulty, it is extremely fair and i remember the difficulty curve being way steeper than it actually was. now, that may be just because i was more familiar with the game this time around, but i struggled far less generally than i did my first time through. the difficulty definitely goes up around gloomy gulch or so but it never gets outright unfair or ridiculous. there is ONE instance in animal antics (a lost world level, so you have to go out of your way to play this one), where a checkpoint seems to be placed kiiiindaa soon and not in the ideal spot, which i believe was rectified in the GBA port, but it never actually frustrated me, since the stuff that came after the checkpoint was, again, incredibly fair. animal antics made for a very great send-off to DKC2. every challenging level felt great to beat and... yeah, i want even more of this game. DKC3 provides that but, if i recall, it just isn't as consistent.
going for 102% gave me even more appreciation for this game i already love so dear, truly, this is the one game i can give a perfect score to, if i had to really, really nitpick, some of the DK coins and kremkoins can be hidden in some pretty far out places, but cranky does provide some genuinely useful tips and it's never a bunch of bullocks, so finding them without the help of the internet is definitely doable.
if i haven't made it clear, i love this game dearly, and if you haven't played it and are for some reason reading this very long review, please do yourself a favor and play it. it really is unlike any other 2D platformer i've played. and if you don't play it, that's fine too, i just hope everyone can have a game like DKC2 to them, cuz it's really something connecting with a game like this. definitely a game i’ll be replaying every so often.
this game is such a massive improvement from the first donkey kong country, it is insane; just about every single issue i had with the first donkey kong country game was ironed out in this game, making for a blast from start to finish. like i said, i concluded that this was the best game in the franchise and called it there. i wouldn't touch the franchise again until just about a week ago, when i decided to replay DKC2 from start to finish, whilst going for 102% completion. i won't lie, i was slightly nervous because what if the game wasn't as good as i remembered? well, literally within the first world my fears were quelled, as the game introduces fun, unique, and difficult (but fair) platforming off the rip.
both diddy and dixie control amazingly, i do prefer controlling diddy since he has more spring to his jumps and such but dixie is amazing at making those precise jumps. the 2 work in tandem better than diddy and donkey, or dixie and kiddy ever could. as i said, right from the rip the game introduces fun and engaging platforming, not only is the platforming excelled by the tight controlling jumping/moving, but diddy's roll makes for a fun way to replay levels and discover routes you may have not discovered in previous playthroughs (dixie's roll to a lesser extent).
throughout the past year or so, since i played DKC2 in february, i would listen to the game's soundtrack on loop, literally every song in this OST is a hood classic, i'm not sure if there is a single fucking miss. and upon this replay going for 102%, i have found even more newfound appreciation for some of the tracks i would play less than others. picking favorites among this soundtrack is a difficult ask but if i had to choose between 3, it's probably: forest interlude, mining melancholy, and snakey chantey. all 3 exude fairly different vibes but they all fit so well in the levels they're placed in and just make me float man. easily the best video game soundtrack of all time, in my opinion. and i know that's not exaclty a hot take but it's impossible to talk about this game without bringing up the OST accompanying the gameplay itself.
the sprite work in this game too is something else man, how they got this shit onto a SNES is beyond me, that combined with the music makes for a more visually-pleasing experience than most modern AAA titles provide me, honestly. it's honestly kinda jarring going from any 1 of the 3 DKC games to another SNES title as these games are just beyond the system's limits. this game in particular has incredibly striking background and foreground work though - there's a reason the background of bramble blast is as iconic as it is.
back on to the topic of difficulty, it is extremely fair and i remember the difficulty curve being way steeper than it actually was. now, that may be just because i was more familiar with the game this time around, but i struggled far less generally than i did my first time through. the difficulty definitely goes up around gloomy gulch or so but it never gets outright unfair or ridiculous. there is ONE instance in animal antics (a lost world level, so you have to go out of your way to play this one), where a checkpoint seems to be placed kiiiindaa soon and not in the ideal spot, which i believe was rectified in the GBA port, but it never actually frustrated me, since the stuff that came after the checkpoint was, again, incredibly fair. animal antics made for a very great send-off to DKC2. every challenging level felt great to beat and... yeah, i want even more of this game. DKC3 provides that but, if i recall, it just isn't as consistent.
going for 102% gave me even more appreciation for this game i already love so dear, truly, this is the one game i can give a perfect score to, if i had to really, really nitpick, some of the DK coins and kremkoins can be hidden in some pretty far out places, but cranky does provide some genuinely useful tips and it's never a bunch of bullocks, so finding them without the help of the internet is definitely doable.
if i haven't made it clear, i love this game dearly, and if you haven't played it and are for some reason reading this very long review, please do yourself a favor and play it. it really is unlike any other 2D platformer i've played. and if you don't play it, that's fine too, i just hope everyone can have a game like DKC2 to them, cuz it's really something connecting with a game like this. definitely a game i’ll be replaying every so often.