Comparing the Boss Battles of the Donkey Kong Country Trilogy Part 3: Donkey Kong Country 3

Donkey Kong Country 3 has been my favorite game of the DKC trilogy for years, and on the Super NES, it remains a fun and exciting experience 14 years later. On the Game Boy Advance, however, there were some changes that made it take a turn for the worst, and that extends to the boss battles. Some of the battles have changes that seem unnecessary, while others are still fairly good. Then we have a new boss, the likes of which I hope will never appear in a Rare game ever again. In this, the third and final installment of my articles comparing the bosses of the DKC trilogy, I shall take all of the game's bosses, compare them between the two versions, and tell you which version I prefer. Let us find out which battles are superior this time, shall we?

Belcha: This barrel actually will not hurt you if you bump into him. Rather, he has his sights on pushing you into some spikes on the other side of his barn. The only way to beat him is to break open the barrels that he spits at you, grab the bugs found inside, and toss them into his mouth. If your timing is good enough, Belcha will burp loudly and move backwards. The number of hits it takes to defeat Belcha depends on how fast you are...really good players can finish him off in a mere two hits. The strategy was actually unchanged for the Game Boy Advance version save for the somewhat longer death animation. It is virtually a tie this time around, but if I had to pick one of them, I would go for the Game Boy Advance version if only because it is a battle that seems a bit more faithful to the original version than the others.

Arich: Bouncing up and down in the trees, this wicked spider's weak point is his chin. By grabbing the barrels that appear on a tree branch and using it to hit the chin, you will hurt Arich a little. Later on, he will spit venomous goop at you, and you will need to avoid it. The goop can also break the barrels unless you set them down. After four hits, Arich will be defeated. For the hand held remake, the only real changes are a delayed reaction before Arich starts spitting out goop, a slightly longer death scene, and some pretty neat music that unfortunately is only heard during the fights against Arich and Kroctopus. The rest of the bosses all share another battle tune...it is even used for K. Rool in place of a final battle theme unlike the SNES version. The new music helps the GBA version to surpass the SNES version, if just barely, though both fights are quite fun.

Squirt: Hiding behind a waterfall is this strange creature, who appears to be a cross between a snail and a clam to me. As Ellie the elephant, you must jump on the rather slippery platforms as you avoid Squirt's circling water attacks, which get longer as the fight progresses. Using the water that Ellie drinks from the waterfall, you will then need to squirt his eyes shut. After three successful rounds of doing this, Squirt will be defeated. For the Game Boy Advance version, the battle has become more annoying. Now you will need to squirt his eyes shut five times, and as the fight moves on, his water attacks will circle at varying speeds, making it tougher to jump around on the platforms to avoid them. Later on, you will need to avoid two streams of water, and just before the final hit, one of those streams will move faster than the other. This makes the fight quite frustrating, and thus, the SNES version is the way to go in this case.

Kaos: This mechanical monster (actually Donkey and Diddy, who have been brainwashed into controlling the robot) starts by moving back and forth across the room, firing his jet engine at times. When he stops, you must jump on the rotating blades while avoiding his boxing gloves to hit his head. Eventually, Kaos' first head will fly off and he will sprout a new head. After the first four hits, Kaos will send his first head after you, and it will periodically shoot laser beams at you (three the first time, four the second time). Two more hits will force Kaos to give up for a while, but you will face him again later. The biggest change in the GBA version happens late in the battle when the first head comes after you. Now you will need to hit Kaos three more times instead of two, and the first head will shoot three laser beams at you each time instead of four just before you are ready to strike Kaos one more time. Such artificial lengthening of the fight is a bad thing in this case, and that is why the fight against Kaos in the Super NES version is better.

Bleak: In one of the series' more unique battles, it's the Kongs in a snowball fight against a cold-hearted snowman. At first, he will merely throw snowballs at you, sometimes from a distance (meaning you will have to adjust your throws accordingly). You will need to toss snowballs at his chest to hit him. After two hits, Bleak will start firing snowballs at all directions from his hat, first one at a time and then multiple snowballs at once. When he pauses, that is your cue to hit him. Two more hits will force Bleak to toss snowballs at a faster rate. The next hit will force him to shoot even more snowballs from his hat. Fortunately, the pauses in between snowball attacks make them quite manageable to avoid. One more hit, and Bleak will be finished. This battle was quite butchered for the GBA port. First, with the removal of Swanky's Sideshow and thus no way of practicing for the fight, it may be a bit tough to get the hang of throwing snowballs at first. Bleak will throw snowballs at a slower rate, and no longer speeds it up late in the battle. Worst of all is when he shoots snowballs from his hat, since not only are you pelted with more snowballs, but he does not pause in between attacks, making them harder to avoid. Once again, needless frustration added to a battle in the remake results in the SNES variation being the clear winner.

Barbos: Enguarde the swordfish takes center stage in this fight against a giant sea urchin. She (yes, Barbos is female according to the DKC 3 Player's Guide from Nintendo Power) will send smaller urchins at you, and you must poke them and send them flying towards the urchins that Barbos uses as shields. When she is defenseless, you can poke her and force her to retreat to a lower chamber. There, Barbos will send sea creatures that act like torpedoes. You will need to fool them into defeating two more urchin shields, making Barbos vulnerable to another poke. After that, she will move to another chamber, and bob up and down, sending spikes at you. After avoiding the spikes, you can then attack Barbos once more. Repeat this two times, with more rounds of spikes each time, and Barbos will be defeated. The somewhat worst hit detection of the GBA remake makes it a bit harder to hit the urchins without taking damage yourself, the torpedoes seem to take a bit longer to charge at you, and you only need two hits to finish off Barbos in the last part of the battle, and the amount of spike attacks do not increase. The SNES version is better in this scenario, as Rare clearly dumbed down the battle with Barbos in addition to moving her from Razor Ridge to Pacifica.

Kroctopus: Taking Barbos' place in Razor Ridge is one of the sorriest excuses for a boss that Rare has ever created. He is quite an ugly looking octopus...at least Kerozene in the remake of Donkey Kong Country 2 looked intimidating. The battle is no better: as Kroctopus uses his tentacles to grab you, you must avoid them and trick him into grabbing bombs that fall onto the platforms before they explode. Doing this is too easy, even when the bombs explode at a faster rate later in the battle. He will eventually use two tentacles to try and snatch you, but you can feasibly stay on one platform while Kroctopus will be stupid enough to snag a bomb from another platform and take damage. Nine hits will finish him off, but the ease and lack of creativity of the battle hardly makes it worth the effort. Even the cool boss music played here is not enough to make the battle a great one. I would rather have it so that either a better boss was added to the remake or no new bosses were included, as the fight against Kroctopus appears to be proof that Rare is running out of great ideas.

Baron K. Roolenstein (First Time): This long battle starts with a brief rematch against Kaos, who is actually slightly easier to beat this time. He will fire his jet engine periodically as before, and this time, you must toss a barrel at him to damage him. This will cause the robot to sprout one more head, which will shoot bombs that hit the floor. When his jet engine shuts off, that is your cue to run to the other side of the castle, pick up a barrel, and throw it at Kaos. This will put him out of commission for good, but before you can rescue Donkey and Diddy, you will first need to defeat Baron K. Roolenstein, the robot's creator and the true villain of the story.

K. Rool will move back and forth across the room, and you will need to avoid him while pulling switches to make barrels appear. These barrels can be used to attack the Baron's back, causing him to fly wildly around the room. After two of these attacks, he will switch on the electricity that surges across the floor, forcing you to stay on a platform and use more ceiling switches to make barrels appear. Hitting K. Rool with these barrels will cause him to land on the floor and become electrocuted in typical cartoon fashion. Eventually, the platform will move back and forth, and you must duck under the baron as you activate the switch, make barrels appear, and use them against K. Rool. Lastly, the electricity will turn on and off every few seconds, forcing you to quickly grab a barrel, jump onto a platform before you get shocked, and attack the baron. Once hit, the game comically delays the baron's electrocution, giving you a sense of "wait for it, wait for it..." and then shocking him. Three of these attacks will defeat K. Rool, but he will get his revenge on you late in the game.

What was an exciting fight in the SNES version was butchered for the Game Boy Advance remake. First, Kaos' bombs fire more slowly than they used to, making the effect less dramatic. Next, when K. Rool is attacked, it now takes ages for him to be electrocuted as opposed to him being quickly shocked in the original version. The worst part was reserved for the final part of the battle. The comical portion of the fight was ruined, as the baron now gets instantly shocked upon touching the floor. Also, it only takes two more hits instead of three to defeat the baron. Lastly, as mentioned before, he shares the same boss music that most of the other bosses have, making this fight a bit anticlimactic. As such, the SNES battle, for being more epic and more classic than the GBA fight will ever be, is the preferred fight here.

Baron K. Roolenstein (Second Time): As with DKC 2, your reward for completing the Lost Worlds stages is a final match against K. Rool. At first, he will use his gun to shoot fireballs at you, and an electrical force field will appear above your head. When it disappears, you can throw a barrel into a hole at the top of the screen, and with good timing, you can strike the baron. He will then chase after you, but two hits from barrels will force him to retreat and repeat the first part of the battle. Eventually, he will activate the conveyor belt on the floor, making it a bit tougher to dodge the fireballs. After another hit, K. Rool will fly above you, and send electricity after you from the left or right sides. Only by keeping the barrel on the floor and having it absorb the electricity will you be protected. Then, you must quickly hit the baron with the barrel. The conveyor belt will eventually be turned on again, making the battle a bit harder. After a few more hits, however, K. Rool will be defeated once more, and a DK coin will be yours.

The basic battle strategy for the GBA version is the same until K. Rool turns on the conveyor belt for the first time. It does not move as fast as before, and thus it is easier to avoid attacks. It also seems easier to attack K. Rool in the last part of the battle. If all of that was not bad enough, the reward for beating K. Rool-a measly Bear Coin-hardly seems worth the effort (though you will get to see the final ending if you fight K. Rool after acquiring all of the game's collectibles). Since the battle was dumbed down and the reward quite half-hearted, the SNES version, once again, is superior.

All together, we have six battles that were better in the SNES version, two battles that were at least fairly good in the Game Boy Advance remake, and a new boss battle that is among the worst ones in Rare's history. Clearly, the SNES version of Donkey Kong Country 3 was better overall, and that extends to the boss fights. Rare tried to fix what was not broken for the GBA battles, and they largely failed miserably. At least for the other versions, there was a sense that they were trying to make them a bit better, but this time, they had dropped the ball. What a sad way to end their days of creating GBA games. Thus concludes my series of articles comparing the boss battles of all three Donkey Kong Country games. Fight these battles yourself if you never have, and see if you agree with my opinions about all the variations of the bosses in this wonderful series.