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[Nocturnowl]

Played this game in co-op again today for the first time in over a year, with a good partner co-op is the nuts, stages like the later ones in the cliffs with half the environment crumbling as you step on it requires synergy with your partner. Weighty Way and Platforming Panic were stand outs from this bout of co-op.

Meanwhile Sonic 4 episode 2 in co-op is just awful...

 

[bndadm]

I may need to revisit DKCR because neither my wife or I really cared for any of the Cliff area levels. Yet everyone on here praises them.

It might have just been the color choices they used, but I was happy when they were over.

I was NOT happy when the game was over though. It should have never ended...

 

[ghibli99]

Factory 7-1 (Foggy Fumes): What a treat! Loved the throwback elements throughout the level. Great design, with the exception of one puzzle piece, which seemed a bit too obscure. Other than that, I really enjoyed it.

 

[ghibli99]

Factory 7-K (Treacherous Track): Pretty intense! I lost 40 some-odd lives on this one learning the patterns and getting all the puzzle pieces. That ending took some crazy concentration, too. Whew... my hands are still shaking. Lots of stupid mistakes.

Much like the SMG games, this just keeps on getting better. How lucky are we?

 

[jb1234]

Interesting. I had a fairly smooth time with 7-K. In fact, I'd call it one of the easier temples.

(On the other hand, I found 8-K a pain in the ass and others said that it was easy for them, so...)

 

[ghibli99]

Interesting. I had a fairly smooth time with 7-K. In fact, I'd call it one of the easier temples.

(On the other hand, I found 8-K a pain in the ass and others said that it was easy for them, so...)

Adrenaline might've influenced my excitement there. LOL

One of my weaknesses (in a bad way) are stages like this where I'm not controlling the pace... I remember there was a moving platform stage pretty late in Super Mario World where I died dozens of times. I don't know why I have such a hard time with them... maybe it's having to focus not just on platforming, but well-timed platforming where if you mess one thing up, you're dead. I also don't handle doing things over and over very well, either, so I then have to take a break and walk away for a while, or I start making lots of dumb errors, which just add to my growing frustration.

I was reading some threads afterwards, and it was crazy how much of a variation there was of opinions on this game's hardest stages, so yeah, there are probably a number of different factors contributing to that, including external distractions.

Factory in general, though, was fantastic!

 

[msdstc]

DKCR was dissapointing... but it was still a good game. DKC 1 and 2 are without a doubt my favorite games of all time, 2 takes the edge. I can beat the first with 101% in 52 minutes, and the second with 102% in 1:50. The soundtrack from DKC2 is unmatched.

 

[The Real Abed]

DKCR was dissapointing... but it was still a good game. DKC 1 and 2 are without a doubt my favorite games of all time, 2 takes the edge. I can beat the first with 101% in 52 minutes, and the second with 102% in 1:50. The soundtrack from DKC2 is unmatched.

I was only sad that there was no K. Rool. But I guess it was expected since Rare created him. Did they try to get the rights, or did they just want to move on? Shame. But it was still awesome. Though I never finished the final boss. It was another one of those "memorize the pattern because I'm going to do one of three things. Smash with left hand. Smash with right hand. Or bash with head" type battles like the GameBoy Donkey Kong game and Super Meat Boy have. I just could never get the pattern right.

DKC2 is my favorite of the series because it has the best elements. The best music. The best setting. The best enemies. The best bosses. The best character selection of the four. Overall it was the best.

 

[KevinCow]

I was only sad that there was no K. Rool. But I guess it was expected since Rare created him. Did they try to get the rights, or did they just want to move on?

They have the rights. He's appeared in a number of games since the split. They just didn't include him because they didn't want to.

 

[ghibli99]

Made it through Volcano 8-2 (Hot Rocket) and 8-3 (Roasting Rails). I had a harder time with Roasting Rails for some reason. Guess I've gotten used to the rocket barrel controls and anticipating where/what things will appear. The last section of Hot Rocket reminded me of the

Spoiler

Gradius

series, which was really cool!

Getting close to the end... starting to feel a little sad that it will be over soon. I know that's a sign of a really great game, but still.

 

[jb1234]

I found 8-3 to be the hardest level in the world. You're almost home free!

 

[kittens]

Just picked up the GBA version of DKC2 at a local games shop today. It'll be my first time playing it! :-D

 

[ghibli99]

I found 8-3 to be the hardest level in the world. You're almost home free!

I'm having some problems with Moving Melters (8-5)... grabbing stuff that's falling slowly at an angle while riding atop moving platforms is pretty tough. The fire/lava/heat effects are just superb, though. Really enjoying the look of this world.

Just picked up the GBA version of DKC2 at a local games shop today. It'll be my first time playing it! :-D

Enjoy it! Is this your first time playing DKC2 ever? If you end up liking it, pick it up on Virtual Console or original SNES. It looks - and especially *sounds* - so much better!

 

[ghibli99]

Finished! Got all the pieces in 9-1. I don't think I'm going to mess with Mirror Mode much. The core game was more than enough. Fantastic to the very end. Gonna gather my thoughts on this and update the OP with my review.

What a ride! Definitely one of the best games I've played this generation.

 

[Nocturnowl]

Finished! Got all the pieces in 9-1. I don't think I'm going to mess with Mirror Mode much. The core game was more than enough. Fantastic to the very end. Gonna gather my thoughts on this and update the OP with my review.

What a ride! Definitely one of the best games I've played this generation.

I'm glad you understand.

 

[PataHikari]

I'd like to throw in a vote to use codes to enable Classic Controller support. You can make all the arguments you want about how precisely timed your waggles can get once you really get used to it and good with it, and how it can get almost as precise as a button press if you really try, but it will never be AS good as a button.

You're right.

It's better.

 

[ghibli99]

I was really worried that I'd have problems with waggle or the analog control, but I can honestly only count maybe 2 or 3 times where it didn't do what I wanted. On 9-1, there was one spot where I wanted to ground pound and instead I did a roll... to my death. Besides that one, maybe very early on, but that was it. The majority of my deaths - apart from the mine cart and rocket barrel stages - were from ill-timed/placed jumps that had nothing to do with waggle.

I'm glad you understand.

Indeed.

 

[PataHikari]

. On 9-1, there was one spot where I wanted to ground pound and instead I did a roll... to my death.

That means you were pressing forward. The roll only happens while you're moving. It had absolutely nothing to do with motion controls.

 

[ghibli99]

That means you were pressing forward. The roll only happens while you're moving. It had absolutely nothing to do with motion controls.

Right... I was probably in the middle of letting go of the stick as I shook the nunchuk. My point is that this type of situation rarely happened to me, and for the most part, analog/waggle worked rather flawlessly for me. That's pretty amazing to think about since you wouldn't expect either of those things to be precise enough for a game like this.

 

[jb1234]

I finished the first world in mirror mode but lost interest. It's not that it's *bad* as much as just anticlimatic.

 

[ghibli99]

I finished the first world in mirror mode but lost interest. It's not that it's *bad* as much as just anticlimatic.

Yeah, I can see that. Time Attack isn't all the compelling to me, either. Would've been cool to remix the KONG letter locations and maybe unlock Dixie, like how Luigi is unlocked in the SMG series and SM3DL. There's so much potential for what they could do in a sequel!

 

[jb1234]

Yeah, I didn't bother with Time Attack either. Honestly, the game is long enough without the added modes (especially if you're hunting for all those puzzle pieces). I'm just happy I gave the game a second chance. It ended up being very satisfying. Hope they make a sequel!

 

[MechaX]

Just decided to pick up DKC2 from where I left off in the VC version.

Jesus, were the castle levels always this hard? I apparently also got the DK coin for Animal Antics but don't remember a lick of it. But given that Squawks part, maybe that is for the best...

 

[ghibli99]

Just decided to pick up DKC2 from where I left off in the VC version.

Jesus, were the castle levels always this hard? I apparently also got the DK coin for Animal Antics but don't remember a lick of it. But given that Squawks part, maybe that is for the best...

I still wake up in a cold sweat because of that section!

 

[jb1234]

I'm replaying DKC2 right now. Made it to the third world pretty quickly. The game is easier than I remembered.

 

[BHZ Mayor]

Just decided to pick up DKC2 from where I left off in the VC version.

Jesus, were the castle levels always this hard? I apparently also got the DK coin for Animal Antics but don't remember a lick of it. But given that Squawks part, maybe that is for the best...

Because the other parts of the level are so disproportionately easy compared to the Squawks part that everyone who played that level will undoubtedly remember.

 

[ghibli99]

After I finish games, I like to listen to the soundtracks on their own. I'm finding that - at least early on - the DKCR soundtrack has a lot more variety in the old themes than I remember from the game.

For example, when I was playing it, the DK Island Swing update just seemed like the same song with updated instruments, but there's a lot of new/different stuff, too. Pretty cool, actually. Is it derivative? Sure. But maybe not as much as I initially thought.

Here's the playlist I'm listening to on YouTube.

 

[ghibli99]

OP updated with my DKCR review. Thanks again, all -- this thread's been a lot of fun.

 

[uncleslappy]

I DESPISED Donkey Kong Country. DESPISED!

 

[jb1234]

Still playing through DKC2. The reliance upon banana coins to save and simply to leave a world is extremely frustrating at times (as is the fact that your lives don't carry over when you load a saved game). I'm glad they fixed those design decisions with DKCR.

 

[MvmntInGrn]

Saw this thread pop up a few times these last few days and it inspired me to finally go back and finish at least the core game (not paying much attention to collectibles).

I played this a few days after release and got to the world 8 before I got distracted. Revisited it a few months back because, for some ridiculous reason, I wanted to see if I could get the shiny gold medal on a level. So I went with 1-1.

I can't recall now, but I think it took me hours.

Returning now I finally decided to listen to those saying to go with the nunchuck and it really helped. Rolling just feels better, even if switching directions with the analog stick takes some getting used to. I'll definitely need to replay this at some point, the visuals are absolutely phenomenal as is the level design. Such an impressive effort by Retro. I don't love the control choices, but I know they work. I think its an easy game to blame controls on, as it can be very difficult.

 

[hydragonwarrior]

Agreed with the OP on the Stickerbrush Symphony song fav.

But... damn, this is actually pretty good:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcrmckntm0A&feature=fvwrel

 

[Lucid Faia]

.

 

[ghibli99]

I hate to be a nit about this, but it's called Stickerbush Symphony. Somebody mislabeled an mp3 or an spc as "Stickerbrush" years ago and the error has stuck.

Whew, I got it right in the OP!

 

[Adam Prime]

I just finished DKC2 yesterday, playing it for the first time ever on Wii/SNES9X

Wow. That game was brutal. I'm sure most of you played this game for the first time years ago, and so now every subsequent play through, even years later, the game doesn't seem as hard. I played DKC2 immediately finishing DKCR, and DKC2 is loads and loads harder. There is NO way I would've had the patience to finish this game without the very liberal use of save states. I could've brute forced my way through the game as a kid with all summer to play through a game. But man, I died so many times. I can't imagine having to redo section after section, redo level after level, and then refind banana coins to save every 3-4 levels. This game is unforgiving as fuck on your first time through when you have to learn everything fresh level after level.

And it really is when you're playing for the FIRST time. One of my save states failed and I had to replay three levels, that must've taken me a full hour to get through. On the replay through those three levels it took me five minutes tops. It's one of those things, once you've seen the levels and know how to approach everything, it seems really easy. But that initial play through... man.

I think one thing that contributes to this game being so challenging is one of the game strength's: every level is unique and you learn a new mechanic or way to play. It keeps the game feeling fresh, but I think you really lose the "rhythm" that you feel in DKCR. In the end, after every level I felt either "That was fun, I'd like to do that again" or "Yeah, that wasn't fun."

Fun = jumping levels, barrel levels, rhino levels, mine cart levels
Not Fun = Bird levels, bee hive levels, spider levels, windy levels

So for me, half the game had enjoyable levels, the other half didn't. I felt like DKCR they took out all the things that weren't fun, minus the rocket barrel levels, and the game was just "the best of the best" without all the fluff.


So I may be one of the few who prefers DKCR over DKC2. If someone told me that DKC2 is the best platformer of all time, I wouldn't argue. The game just didn't seem to have the same fun level progression as DKCR did.

For the record I finished the game at 48%. There's A LOT of extra stuff I know I didn't see. But I don't really have the desire to go back and do it all, I'd rather do all the item hunting in DKCR instead. The wack-a-do rolling actually felt better in DKCR, on the Classic Controller, of course.

 

[KevinCow]

For the record I finished the game at 48%. There's A LOT of extra stuff I know I didn't see. But I don't really have the desire to go back and do it all, I'd rather do all the item hunting in DKCR instead. The wack-a-do rolling actually felt better in DKCR, on the Classic Controller, of course.

Nooo, you gotta do the Lost World! Those are the hardest levels! At least do Animal Antics. Because

Spoiler

you hate bird levels, windy levels, and spider levels? It has all three!

You're not the first person I've seen say that DKC2 is really hard, and it's kinda funny to me. Not because I think you're wrong, but because it came out when I was 7 and I've played it so many times since then that I know every last inch of it by heart, so it's been years since I've thought of anything in it as hard.

 

[jb1234]

I have found my replay of DKC2 (haven't played it since I was a teenager) to be challenging but not as bad as DKCR. There's certainly nothing in the former as cruel as the temple levels. Squawk does piss me off, though...

 

[Adam Prime]

You're not the first person I've seen say that DKC2 is really hard, and it's kinda funny to me. Not because I think you're wrong, but because it came out when I was 7 and I've played it so many times since then that I know every last inch of it by heart, so it's been years since I've thought of anything in it as hard.

That's the thing, most people have played DKC2 and DKCR years apart. I've played and finished both games in 2 months. There is not a reasonable doubt in my mind that DKC2 is leagues more challenging than DKCR. There are tons more precision sections in the game, sometimes made tougher by the weird hit detection on sprites on DKC2 because of the graphical art style, ya know that 3D-ish look DKC2 has going on the SNES. There are multiple times where it's hard to tell where sprite hitboxes should begin because everything is so... ya know, pixelated. I don't know the technical term, but I assume yall know what I'm talking about.

DKCR definitely has a rhythm to it's game play in the jumping that DKC2 does not have.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

I just finished DKC2 yesterday, playing it for the first time ever on Wii/SNES9X

Wow. That game was brutal. I'm sure most of you played this game for the first time years ago, and so now every subsequent play through, even years later, the game doesn't seem as hard. I played DKC2 immediately finishing DKCR, and DKC2 is loads and loads harder. There is NO way I would've had the patience to finish this game without the very liberal use of save states. I could've brute forced my way through the game as a kid with all summer to play through a game. But man, I died so many times. I can't imagine having to redo section after section, redo level after level, and then refind banana coins to save every 3-4 levels. This game is unforgiving as fuck on your first time through when you have to learn everything fresh level after level.

And it really is when you're playing for the FIRST time. One of my save states failed and I had to replay three levels, that must've taken me a full hour to get through. On the replay through those three levels it took me five minutes tops. It's one of those things, once you've seen the levels and know how to approach everything, it seems really easy. But that initial play through... man.

I think one thing that contributes to this game being so challenging is one of the game strength's: every level is unique and you learn a new mechanic or way to play. It keeps the game feeling fresh, but I think you really lose the "rhythm" that you feel in DKCR. In the end, after every level I felt either "That was fun, I'd like to do that again" or "Yeah, that wasn't fun."

Fun = jumping levels, barrel levels, rhino levels, mine cart levels
Not Fun = Bird levels, bee hive levels, spider levels, windy levels

I loved it all! Such a perfect game. I understand not liking the Bee Hive levels, though.

 

[Datschge]

I think one thing that contributes to this game being so challenging is one of the game strength's: every level is unique and you learn a new mechanic or way to play. It keeps the game feeling fresh, but I think you really lose the "rhythm" that you feel in DKCR. In the end, after every level I felt either "That was fun, I'd like to do that again" or "Yeah, that wasn't fun."

So for me, half the game had enjoyable levels, the other half didn't. I felt like DKCR they took out all the things that weren't fun, minus the rocket barrel levels, and the game was just "the best of the best" without all the fluff.

So I may be one of the few who prefers DKCR over DKC2. If someone told me that DKC2 is the best platformer of all time, I wouldn't argue. The game just didn't seem to have the same fun level progression as DKCR did.

First of all I'd suggest not stopping at 48% in DKC2, that's literally less than the half of the game.

I played through DKC2 when DKCR annoyed me (unplayable without a friend for me). DKC2 for me is all about tight control. There is no analogue leeway that can mess up your controls, so all the "hardness" comes from the unique challenges put up in specific stages. And those are really unique, every single stage has it's own variation of settings and applications of gameplay without relying on any artificial meta-urgency like a race timer (eww DKC3). Its pure and consistent variety in gameplay is still unbeaten.

In DKCR on the other hand, while having nice visual variety, the stages feel highly repetitive to me since the gameplay challenges don't change constantly (it's more of a carbon copy of DKC1 in this regard) which is annoying especially with the overuse of cart (same as DKC1!) and rocket stages. Instead from variety in gameplay the "hardness" for me is due to the sloppy analogue controls, analogue walking and rolling allow for an additional margin of error that doesn't exist with purely digital button input. So as a player who always preferred the latter and never got into the former this kind of "challenge" is a cheap replacement for actual challenges through gameplay variations. (Come to think of it the looser controls in SMW and subsequent games are why SMB3 is still my favourite Mario to this day.)

 

[ghibli99]

Agreed... I would also recommend going back through DKC2 and finding all the bonus rooms and playing those Lost World levels. A couple of them are *tough*, but are among the most memorable of the series.

I have found my replay of DKC2 (haven't played it since I was a teenager) to be challenging but not as bad as DKCR. There's certainly nothing in the former as cruel as the temple levels. Squawk does piss me off, though...

This seems like a pretty common sentiment, and I was thinking about this earlier in the week about how the rocket barrel is almost like DKCR's version of Squawks. The whole tapping the button thing to float, and just the looseness of how it all feels. There's a similarity there even though the execution and presentation is quite different. It's almost as if Retro was like, "Oh, you guys hated Squawks? Here, try this then. It's like Squawks in a mine cart level. Have fun!"

 

[Datschge]

This seems like a pretty common sentiment, and I was thinking about this earlier in the week about how the rocket barrel is almost like DKCR's version of Squawks. (...) "It's like Squawks in a mine cart level."

I strongly disagree, if only because controls of Squawks (and underwater for that matter) are actually very tight once one is aware that mashing the button while pressing down easily allows one to move in a straight line (and faster up when pressing up). DKCR's rocket barrels rely on the button mashing alone with up and down having no effect at all.

 

[ghibli99]

I strongly disagree, if only because controls of Squawks (and underwater for that matter) are actually very tight once one is aware that mashing the button while pressing down easily allows one to move in a straight line (and faster up when pressing up). DKCR's rocket barrels rely on the button mashing alone with up and down having no effect at all.

I decided to load up DCK2 again and see if memory was serving me correctly. Now that I tried it in both Squawk's Shaft and Animal Antics, you're right... but I think most of our memories of Squawks *is* from Animal Antics, and that stage is TOUGH. I mean, I know it's supposed to be, but that ends up being one of the last memories of him from that game... so it's not a very positive one for most. In other stages where enemy placement and clearances aren't so narrow (nor where you're having to fight against the wind), he's not too bad. So I stand corrected... but I'm still not a fan.

 

[tiggerkiddo]

I'm not too intimidated by Donkey Kong Country 2's difficulty but I also played it a bit before finally being able to play it with a hard copy so I'm a bit used to it. Nothing could prepare me for Animal Antics without save states though. I think I would load up on lives on the first world and still burn through them all and it was just because of that one Bramble section.

I wish I could get into DKCR more but it seems to lack the charm of the other games so I lost interest. Very well made game though and that secret level in the first world is an absolute thing of beauty.

 

[jb1234]

I strongly disagree, if only because controls of Squawks (and underwater for that matter) are actually very tight once one is aware that mashing the button while pressing down easily allows one to move in a straight line (and faster up when pressing up). DKCR's rocket barrels rely on the button mashing alone with up and down having no effect at all.

Yeah, it's hard to complain about the controls in DKC2. They're very tight, no matter what animal you're riding. Another thing I noticed in my replay is how individual the levels are.

Haven't played Animal Antics since I was a kid. I'm not looking forward to it...

 

[Anticitizen One]

This thread inspired me to finally complete this series (Previously I have only beaten DKCR). I started up the first game last night and im currently on the snow levels and my word are these levels hard.

 

[Nocturnowl]

This thread inspired me to finally complete this series (Previously I have only beaten DKCR). I started up the first game last night and im currently on the snow levels and my word are these levels hard.

Snow Barrel Blast is probably the hardest stage in the game when I think about it so really once that's done there shouldn't be too many stages that pose much trouble.

 

[secretanchitman]

i have completely beaten dkc 1/2/3. loved all of those games but for me, 1 is still the best followed by 3 and then 2. have yet to play dckr - maybe will get it soon.

 

[Celeryface]

Edit: Made a thread for this post http://neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=40416950#post40416950

 

[ghibli99]

i have completely beaten dkc 1/2/3. loved all of those games but for me, 1 is still the best followed by 3 and then 2. have yet to play dckr - maybe will get it soon.

Definitely give DKCR a shot! What a game.