This review is probably my hottest take yet. While a lot is improved from the first game, notably the additional grab mechanics, level gimmicks, and dixie kong's hover ability, I do think the difficulty is a little ridiculous at times. In both this game and the first, the sheer lack of checkpoints makes wanting to fully 100% this game seem like more of a chore than something that is fun. The camera for this game seems just a little too zoomed in, making upcoming enemies unexpected and leads to a lot of frustrating deaths. I love difficulty especially in platformers, but this game really pushes my frustration too much that makes replayability seem like too much of a hastle, even if thats a big point of the game and it's collectathon gameplay. The bosses were more of a toss up in this game, but I really digged the sword fight. I like this game more than the first and I think there is a lot more notable levels that stick out positively. I will say that the artstyle, character design, and music for this game is absolutely phenomenal and is probably my favorite of any SNES game right next to Super Metroid and Mega Man X. An improvement over the first, but still a lot holding it back. 7/10