Retro Review: Donkey Kong Land 2

The first Donkey Kong Land game for the Game Boy was a neat, if short, adventure featuring the lovable Kong characters, much like its SNES counterpart Donkey Kong Country. Just as two additional Donkey Kong Country games were eventually released, two more Donkey Kong Land games also came out. I recently got my hands on one of the sequels: Donkey Kong Land 2, released in 1996, starring Diddy and Dixie Kong in an adventure that can be best described as a remake of sorts to Donkey Kong Country 2. For those looking for a great and challenging hand held adventure featuring the Kongs, this game is another solid entry from Rare.

The story takes place in between Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, and is a rehash of the former's tale. After Crocodile Isle sank into the ocean at the end of DKC 2, Kaptain K. Rool has somehow managed to create a replica of the island. He decides to once again try to force the Kongs to surrender Donkey Kong's banana hoard by kidnapping Donkey Kong for a second time. This means that Diddy and Dixie must go on another mission to defeat K. Rool and rescue Donkey. No new twists, no creativity...Rare must have been lazy to merely tell the same story in a different way.

If you have ever played any of the Country or Land games, this game is not very different: as Diddy and Dixie, you must travel through nearly forty stages taking place in various environments, from pirate ships and volcanoes to jungles and castles. Along the way, you can collect bananas and balloons to help you earn extra lives, which can help you survive against K. Rool's minions and traps. Both Kongs have their own abilities: Diddy can hold barrels in front of him as shields to protect him from enemy attacks, while Dixie can use her ponytail to twirl through the air. Unlike in the Country games, you cannot have both Kongs on the screen at the same time. Instead, you must press Select to choose between the two characters, provided that you have both of them. As usual, one hit causes you to lose a Kong, and a subsequent hit will result in one life lost.

It would not be a Donkey Kong game from Rare if there were not any bonus areas to visit, and there are a number of them to visit here. Most of them are accessible via special barrels, while a few require you to bring a cannonball to a cannon. In each bonus area, you will need to either run through an obstacle course, defeat all the enemies, or collect every star within the allotted time. Doing so will net you a Kremcoin, which has an important purpose late in the game. Also hidden on each stage is a DK coin. Collecting these will bring you closer to becoming a true video game hero. Both types of coins can help you achieve the maximum score of 100% (not 102% as in DKC 2).

Many levels have special barrels that you can leap into to change into a variety of animal friends. Rambi the rhinoceros can bash even the toughest foes and obstacles. Squawks the parrot can fly and spit eggs at K. Rool's henchmen. Rattly the rattlesnake can bounce extra high into the air. Squitter the spider can use webs as platforms or to take out anyone that gets in his way. Enguarde the swordfish can deal with any underwater enemy. In a couple of stages, you can use Clapper the seal to cool down hot water and to freeze it for a short time. Glimmer the angler fish is absent, though he can still be found on the game's box art.

As this is basically a remake of Donkey Kong Country 2, most of the stages share their names with those found in that game. However, the stages are entirely new, with different layouts and secrets. Each stage also has its own challenging tasks, which are even more difficult if you are trying to track down every last secret. There are 5-10 stages in each of the game's seven worlds, along with a boss battle. The fights reuse most of the bosses from DKC 2, but the strategies for every fight is different, and not every boss is a pushover. Lastly, you can use banana coins accumulated in the stages to pay Funky Kong for the privilege of traveling to previous worlds and Wrinkly Kong in order to save your progress.

Even if you manage to fight all the way to K. Rool's Flying Krock and defeat him, the game is not quite finished. As was the case in DKC 2, there is a Lost World, with extra hard stages, that you can explore. However, you will need the Kremcoins accumulated in the bonus stages in order to access this world. Unlike in other Donkey Kong games in which you could unlock individual stages by paying varying amounts of coins, you must pay all 47 Kremcoins to enter the Lost World, and the stages will open up as you complete them. It is worth the effort, though, as you will find some truly hard stages leading up to a final confrontation with K. Rool.

There is plenty to love about Donkey Kong Land 2. It is as fun and challenging as any of Rare's Donkey Kong games, and it is always exciting to track down all of the secrets. The bonus areas and boss battles are likewise filled with excitement and difficulty. That said, the game still has a few flaws. Some moves such as the team toss were removed due to the game's lack of memory, and other moves such as Squitter's platform webs are a bit harder to pull off. The controls in general do not work quite as well as they did in Donkey Kong Country 2, and the overall game is a bit on the short side. Having to pay to save your game in most cases is a bit annoying, especially since you may have to make up a lot of progress again otherwise. As a whole, however, this is another solid effort from Rare back when they made marvelous Donkey Kong games.

Once again, Rare did a remarkable job of using rendered graphics on the 8-bit Game Boy. They look as if they were copied straight from Donkey Kong Country 2, and they are quite dazzling. The music score consists of remixes of tunes from DKC 2, and many of them sound good even though they have been reduced to 8-bit mixes. Not every track from the SNES version is included-notable exclusions include the mine, forest, and Lost World themes-but what songs did make the cut still sound impressive. Of special note is that this was the first game to feature the musical talents of Grant Kirkhope, who converted the tracks to 8-bit and who would go on to compose music for such games as Donkey Kong 64, Banjo-Kazooie and Tooie, and Viva Pinata.

It is tough to track down Donkey Kong Land 2 nowadays. I was lucky to find my copy at a used game store, and I do not regret it one bit. It is every bit as good as most of Rare's Donkey Kong games. It is full of great challenges and wonderful fun. I am curious as to Donkey Kong Land 3 is also great. If ever I get my hands on that game, I will write a review for it, as well. In the meantime, if you are a fan of Donkey Kong games, then Donkey Kong Land 2 is a must. Now if only Rare would get back together with Nintendo and create more masterpieces with Donkey Kong and friends...