The Center Network

    Donkey Kong and his little buddy Diddy Kong set out to recover Donkey’s stolen banana hoard from King K. Rool and his band of vicious Kremlings.

    Donkey Kong Country is a classic 2D platformer. The player plays as the team of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. Donkey is the larger and stronger of the two, who can pound the ground for hidden collectables and defeat some enemies that Diddy cannot. Diddy is the smaller and faster of the two. As is common with platformers, one hit will knock out your Kong, but unlike other platformers, both Donkey and Diddy can be available for use at the same time via a tagging system. Both will use numerous types of barrels both as thrown weapons and as cannons to propel them forward. A defeated Kong can also be rescued from DK barrels.

    Assisting the Kongs are various animal buddies and the members of the Kong Family. The animal friends are available in specific levels. Rambi the Rhino’s horn can inflict tremendous damage and bust down secret walls. Expresso the Ostrich can fly and walk over smaller enemies. Engarde the Swordfish can defeat water enemies and can swim much more easily than the Kongs. Winky the Frog can jump exceptionally high and can bound off of bee enemies. Squawks the Parrot also shows up in a dark cave to help out with a light. Each member of the Kong family provides a different service. Cranky Kong (who also happens to be the original Donkey Kong) will provide some helpful information and a few laughs. Candy Kong will save your game. Funky Kong will transport the player from world to world via his Funky’s Flights service.

    Along with the various Kremlings, in each level are a number of collectables. Bananas are strewn about, and collecting 100 of them will bestow an extra life. Collecting three golden animal tokens will transport the Kongs to a bonus level containing mini-tokens that act the same way bananas do. There are also four golden letters that spell “KONG” in each level. Collecting all four bestows an extra life. Multi-coloured balloons will also provide free extra lives. Hidden in each level (excepting water levels) are a number of bonus barrels. Hopping in a bonus barrel will open up a secret area or mini-game with many of the previously mentioned items as prizes.

    The game is split up into multiple worlds, each containing a number of stages, one each of the Kong family member areas, and an end level containing a large boss character. The game will keep track of the visited and completed areas, as well as the number of bonus barrels found, by a percentage score on the save-game feature. Also available is a two player mode, where players can co-operate or compete with each other.

- Rolling Hit Detection: Not necessarily a huge problem, but once in awhile the timing on Donkey’s roll or Diddy’s cartwheel will make you take a hit instead of dishing out a hit.
- Bonus Barrel Locations: Some bonus barrels require leaps of faith, blind luck or FAQs to find. This can be particularly annoying for the completist if the player is missing one or two barrels from a level and has searched all the logical places.
- Extra-Life Heavy: It is very easy to build up a large amount of extra lives even when they do not get saved, which can be a negative for those looking for that extra challenge.

- Graphics: Donkey Kong Country is one of the best looking games ever released for the SNES, and was one of the first to used pre-rendered 3D graphics.
- Music: King K. Rool’s theme and the water level theme in particular are excellent examples of one of the best SNES soundtracks.
- Platforming: While not the greatest in its class, what often gets ignored is that the game has solid platforming action that encourages exploration of each stage.

    Donkey Kong Country seems to have developed a bad rap in recent years, but this is undeserved. Donkey Kong Country was beautiful looking for its day, is beautiful sounding even today, and provides one of the most enjoyable platforming experiences available on the SNES.