The Legend Continues
Donkey Kong Land 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Donkey Kong Land 2: Diddy's Kong Quest was a port of the SNES version of Donkey Kong Country 2. Well, Rare tried as best it could to make it a port, but because of the limitations of the Game Boy, several sacrifices had to be made. Though most people wouldn't have minded the lesser visuals, the problem with this version was that the two-player thrower/throwee system was completely scrapped. You could still use Diddy or Dixie interchangeably, and all of the helper animals from the SNES version were present in this title, but the ability to toss around your partner was sorely missed by most who played the original. Other than that, this game was about as good a portable version possible for the technology that was available at the time.
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble
1996 saw yet another sequel to the smash hit Donkey Kong Country. This time, it was both Donkey and Diddy Kong who were kidnapped. So, with the two main heroes out of the picture, Dixie Kong did what any self-respecting ape would do: She set out after them. Along the way, she ran into her cousin, Kiddy Kong. Dixie and Kiddy then had to explore the land in a game that featured aspects of Donkey Kong Country, Super Mario Bros 3, and even Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. While the graphics were essentially the same as they were in the first two Donkey Kong Country games, the gameplay underwent a substantial revision. You collected several different types of coins as well as bananas. The coins could be used for minigames that were held by Swanky Kong in his new carnival tent - gone were the Who Wants to be a Gorilla multiple-choice questions. Instead you challenged Cranky Kong to various carny events like knocking down targets with baseballs. Furthermore, Rare added Hero Koins, which were held by various enemies as shields. The trick was to survive the current conditions and still figure out a way to toss a barrel, TNT, or a steel drum at them in such a way that they lost their Hero Koin.
The RPG aspect came into play with a family of bears who repeatedly challenged Dixie and Kiddy. The challenges came in the form of finding missing shells and pieces to repair a broken chairlift, setting a new record on an obstacle course, upgrading a river raft, firing a cannon, and many others. Fulfilling these side quests left you with information as to the location of hidden rooms, extra lives, special game techniques, and even new levels to explore.
Other interesting additions were timed trapdoors, shields to protect Dixie and Kiddy from nut-spewing birds, and breakaway floors that led to hidden rooms. And, again, the Donkey Kong family expanded.
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