The Greatest Games I’ve Played: #22

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest

The original Donkey Kong Country was the first game that I actually anticipated.  I was 9 at the time.  Yes, I had played many games before, but I didn’t really know of their existence until they were in my hand after opening a Christmas or birthday present.  But by 9, I had found sources of advance information– magazines at bookstores, the Toys-R-Us Thanksgiving Toy Book, etc.  And when I saw Donkey Kong Country, my little world was rocked.  

A new Donkey Kong game, after all these years?  And Donkey Kong is the good guy?  And 3D graphics? This can’t be real!

So I saved up my allowance money, and bought my first game.  And it was worth it.

But for everything that DKC did well– the beautiful, colorful jungle worlds, the incredible soundtrack, the spot-on platforming mechanics– its legacy is the introduction of a little baseball-cap-wearing monkey by the name of Diddy Kong.  

Diddy was everyone’s favorite.  He was somehow both cute and cool, he was fast, and he made adorable monkey sounds.  In comparison, Donkey Kong was a drag.  There was no contest.

So, in a genius move by developer Rareware, the second Donkey Kong Country was Diddy’s show.  In DKC 2, Donkey Kong has been kidnapped, and it’s up to Diddy– and his… girlfriend? sister? cousin? Dixie Kong– to save the day.  The world is greatly expanded, taking you through pirate-infested harbors, amusement parks, caverns, swamps, haunted bogs, castles, and nightmarish brambles (which were a PAIN).  Everything that was enjoyable about the original is turned up to 11.  It’s classic, fun SNES side-scrolling at its best.  

But here’s the ironic thing…

So Diddy is awesome, right?  Yet I – and everyone I knew– always played as Dixie. Why?  Because Dixie can somehow use her long blond ponytail (we’ll ignore how creepy that is) as a helicopter propeller, allowing her to slowly and safely glide down from a jump.  It was an essential tool… sometimes when you’re jumping, you have no idea what is below.  Spikes?  Porcupines?  Monstrous, spiky bumblebees?  They’re all waiting.  I’m sorry Diddy, even your level-ending monkey-rap sessions can’t trump the helicopter spin.  And that’s probably why you got kidnapped in DKC 3.  

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