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.

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