Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, known in Japan as Super Donkey Kong 2, is a video game made for Nintendo's Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Famicom in Japan) video game console. It was released in 1995 as a sequel to Donkey Kong Country. It was developed by Rare Ltd. and published by Nintendo.
| Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest | |
|---|---|
| Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest game box. | |
| Developer(s) | Rareware |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Platform(s) | Super Famicom/Super NES, Game Boy Advance |
| Release | November 20, 1995 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Mode(s) | Single player, Two player |
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Game info
In this game, Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong have to save Donkey Kong from Kaptain K. Rool, who was called King K. Rool in the previous game. It had a slightly more pirate-ish theme than the first, and included many new features like the ability to transform into various animals (while the first game included the animals, the characters rode them rather than transformed into them). This game featured not only the return of familiar characters like Cranky Kong and Funky Kong but also introduced Wrinkly Kong and Swanky Kong. This game was the first of the Donkey Kong series to include a secret world, as well. It is hailed by most to be the best game in the Donkey Kong Country series.
Worlds
Gangplank Galleon The game begins here on K. Rool's ship, which has been shipwrecked on the beaches of Crocodile Isle. It is one of the two worlds without Klubba's Kiosk. The boss of this level is a giant bird named Krow.
Stages:
- Pirate Panic
- Mainbrace Mayhem
- Gangplank Galley
- Lockjaw's Locker
- Topsail Trouble
Crocodile Cauldron
A fiery world full of volcanoes and mine shafts.
The boss of this level is a giant sword named Kleever.
Stages:
- Hot-Head Hop
- Kannon's Klaim
- Lava Lagoon
- Red Hot Ride
- Squawks' Shaft
Krem Quay A swampland that is the site of another shipwreck. The boss of this level is a member of the Kremling crew named Kudgel. Kudgel is a palette swap of Klubba.
Stages:
- Barrel Bayou
- Glimmer's Galleon
- Krockhead Klamber
- Rattle Battle
- Slime Climb
- Bramble Blast
Krazy Kremland The Kremling's broken-down amusement park. The boss of this level is a giant bee named King Zing.
Stages:
- Hornet Hole
- Target Terror
- Bramble Scramble
- Rickety Race
- Mudhole Marsh
- Rambi Rumble
Gloomy Gulch An eerie forest full of ghost ropes and powerful gusts of wind. The boss of this level is the ghost of Krow called Kreepy Krow.
Stages:
- Ghostly Grove
- Haunted Hall
- Gusty Glade
- Parrot-Chute Panic
- Web Woods
K.Rool's Keep K. Rool's tower located high in the mountains of Crocodile Isle (which explains why some of the areas are ice caves). No boss was featured in the Super Nintendo version, but the boss Kerozene appeared in the Game Boy Advance version (see below in "Changes").
Stages:
- Arctic Abyss
- Windy Well
- Castle Crush
- Clapper's Cavern
- Chainlink Chamber
- Toxic Tower
In the GBA version, the levels were rearranged into the following order:
- Arctic Abyss
- Castle Crush
- Clapper's Cavern
- Windy Well
- Chainlink Chamber
- Toxic Tower
The Flying Krock A short world with only one stage and a boss battle. It's one of the two worlds without Klubba's Kiosk and it doesn't have Monkey Museum. The boss is Kaptain K. Rool.
Stage:
- Screech's Sprint
The Lost World The Kremling's secret world that's only accessible from Klubba's Kiosk. The final boss is Kaptain K. Rool, again.
Stages:
- Jungle Jinx
- Black Ice Battle
- Klobber Karnage
- Fiery Furnace
- Animal Antics
Ports
Rare began porting the game to the short-lived Nintendo Virtual Boy, though the project was cancelled at an early stage. [1]
In 2004, a Game Boy Advance port was released. The game included new features such as mini-games, a new boss, and the insertion of characters that didn't appear in the original. (See below)
Changes
These are the changes made in the GBA version of DKC2:
- New animation has been added to Dixie: Balancing at the edge of a platform, just like Diddy and Donkey did in DKC.
- Some characters have voice clips, most are copied from Donkey Kong 64.
- The world maps have been remade.
- A cheat was removed where you could earn every Kremkoin in the game in the first stage.
- A few stages in K. Rool's Keep have moved around.
SNES version: Arctic Abyss, Windy Well, Castle Crush, Clapper's Cavern, Chainlink Chamber and Toxic Tower. GBA version: Arctic Abyss, Castle Crush, Clapper's Cavern, Windy Well, Chainlink Chamber and Toxic Tower.
- Kerozene is the boss of K. Rool's Keep.
- Some characters (mostly enemies) in the game gained or lost game sprites.
- There are new minigames: Funky's Flight, Expresso Racing and Bag-a-Bug.
- Monkey Museum is now Cranky's Hut.
- On the world map, pressing start brings up a menu that lets you save the game, keep track of your status and advice from Cranky and Wrinkly and quit your game.
- Boss rematches cost 10 coins and are timed. You can continue to play them and improve your times. Some players didn't approve of paying for boss rematches, compared to other Donkey Kong Country games, where boss rematches are free.
- Diddy's Dash, a mode where you try to reach the exit as fast as possible.
- There's a thunderstorm during the world 2 boss, but only during the first battle (none during time trial rematches).
- Sometimes there are little animals in the background including birds, frogs and spiders.
- The game saves the number of coins and extra lifes you have. Some players claim this eliminated much of the challenge from the game. This feature has also been critisied in other GBA ports like Yoshi's Island.
- The title screen is different; it is identical to the game's box art (mostly the SNES version).
- Candy Kong has been added to the game; she serves as a model on Swanky's game show.
- The song Run, Rambi! Run! is removed from the stage Rambi Rumble (however, it can still be heard in Sound Test mode). The new song is the same one used in Screech's Sprint.
- You only get to see the two endings once each.
Cameo appearance by other Nintendo characters
During the ending sequence of the game, Nintendo characters Mario, Yoshi and Link make an apperance. Link only appears if players collect fewer than 19 DK Coins. Also in the Game Boy Advance version, Yoshi only appears if players have fewer than 35 DK Coins.
A few more extra appearances of non-Nintendo characters' trademark devices are that of Sonic's Shoes and Earthworm Jim's Gun by a trash can with a sign that says "No Hopers."
Credits
- Head Programmer: Chris Sutherland
- Assistant Head Programmer: Mark Wilson
- Technical Programmer: Brendan Gunn
- Programmer: Trevor Attwood
- Characters / Animation: Steve Mayles
- Objects and Additional Characters / Backgrounds: Mark Stevenson
- Backgrounds: Christine Gage, John Nash, Adrian Smith
- Graphics: Manipulation Chris Peil
- Additional Graphics Manipulation: Steven Hurst
- Music / Sound Effects: David Wise
- Audio Programmer: Phillip Wattis
- Game Testing: Huw Ward, Gary Richards, Paul Weaver, John Hastie, John A. Charlesworth, Gavin Hood
- Nintendo Product Testing: Michael Kelbaugh, Rich Richardson, Armond Williams, Tim Bechtel, Erich Waas, Robert Johnson, Chris Needham
- Manual: Daniel Owsen, Nintendo Power
- Story: Leigh Loveday
- Special Thanks: Hiroshi Yamauchi, Minoru Arakawa, Mike Fukuda, Howard Lincoln, Stephen Stamper, Simon Farmer, Joel Hochberg, Shigeki Yamashiro, Hiroyuki Yamada, Kensuke Tanabe, Masato Hatakeyama, Louis Ashley, Charlie Moyse, Véronique Chantel
- Software Systems: Rare / Nintendo ACM 2, Silicon Graphics
- Hardware Systems: Rare Systems, Silicon Graphics
- Original Donkey Kong Creator: Shigeru Miyamoto
- Assistant Game Designer: Andrew Collard
- Game Design: Gregg Mayles
- Producer: Gregg Mayles
- Executive Director: Tim Stamper