Great OP friend Owl
I wanna talk about the DK Coin for a minute aka the greatest platformer collectible of all-time.
You collect things in platformers. That's been the standard procedure since players started running into all those coins in Super Mario Bros 1 and seeing that the game kept track of them. As the genre evolved, the variety and scarcity of the kind of collectibles increased. Some, like the DK bananas in DKC or the rings in Sonic, are basically everywhere, and work as guide posts to tell you what areas you haven't been to yet. Others, like extra lives or invincibility power-ups, are more rare and thus more special.
DKC2 has MANY collectibles, including 1-2 bonus rooms for Kremcoins that will take you to the Lost World, the hidden post-game world filled with devious challenges. But there is only ONE DK Coin per level.
Somewhere in this level is this big, shiny, golden badge of awesomeness, waiting for you to find. The levels aren't THAT big, so where could it be!? As players explore the stages, they start to have a conversation with the developers. They start to learn what kind of hiding places these things would be in. There are little rules Rareware sets up to guide the player.
For one thing, every time you see a single banana, you know its a safe route. This is the first time you've gotten Engarde, they want you to hold A to you his special move and smash into that box revealing a secret. If a banana is over what looks to be a bottomless pit, you can jump in knowing full well it won't kill you. When the game's momentum naturally pushes you in one direction, or you find a little secret...dig deeper. Isn't there something suspicious about that area, why would it be there? Push a little further in the other direction, and there's that DK coin!
Here's one of my favorites. This is near the beginning of a new level, and since this is a 2D platformer, you natural inclination is to run to the right. But as soon as you star the level, you hear the familar buzzing of the Zinger enemies. Well...they aren't here on the right? Its because they're actually on the left! You have to use the "beginning of the level DK Barrel" to get past them. Look at the way Rare tries to guide the players with the banana trail, teaching them a higher level movement mechanic which is is rolling off an edge and then jumping at the last second to cover more ground. You then have to careful jump(or use your post-hit invinciblity) to get to the treasure chest in the back, which can only be opened by smashing it against the four zingers, to unlock the DK Coin.
This is the only DK Coin hidden at the left side of the screen, but its the kind of thing that keeps you on your toes. Hell, one of them is actually hidden
inside a bonus room. A secret within a secret.
Best thing of all, you wanna click all 40 of these because fuck Cranky Kong. Every time you check on your DK Coin collection status, Cranky Kong talks about what a fuckin joke of a video game hero you are. Look at Sonic and and Earthworm Jim over there with the trash! That's you if you can't even manage 30 of them!
You get all 40, Cranky Kong finally acknowledges you as a true hero, and goddamnit it feels good.
