by
Ted Kritsonis
Faze Video Game Editor

Donkey Kong is a franchise that’s been around almost as long as I have. It was about 20 years ago that Donkey Kong started out as a villainous gorilla, only to re-emerge as a hero in the now-classic Donkey Kong Country for the Super NES.

Nintendo ported the original game onto its Game Boy Advance, but the conversion was less than stellar, thanks to a loss of quality in graphics and sound. Donkey Kong Country 2 is a second attempt at recapturing that past glory for a franchise that is one of the most widely recognized in the world. For those who grew up enjoying classic side-scrolling adventure games, this one does a great job of bringing back the basics.

In this particular game, Donkey Kong is actually a prisoner of Kaptain K. Rool and his gang of reptilian pirates, leaving Diddy Kong and girlfriend Dixie to fight to save him. The two characters have abilities that weren’t seen in the original SNES version: Diddy Kong can use Dixie as a cannonball and throw her at enemies, while her ponytail can help Diddy hover ever so slightly onto spots that he otherwise can’t get to by jumping. Other animal friends will make appearances to help you out as well. A few are from the original game, but some new ones like the spider and rattlesnake will help you along the way too.

All the enhancements, which include a variety of mini-games to break things up, are seamlessly added and work very well within the larger game itself. For those who didn’t grow up playing games on the old SNES, DKC 2 may not grow on you right away since side-scrolling games are long gone for the consoles, but handheld gaming is a different type of experience, and I couldn’t help but get old childhood feelings rekindled while playing this game.

Although dying over and over can get very frustrating in your average game on the consoles, repeating a board in a game like DKC 2 10 or 15 times doesn’t garner the same feelings. Now, I admit this may be because of the nostalgia I felt while playing, but something tells me that some newcomers would agree with me.

DKC 2 is an excellent game for the GBA, and it does everything it’s supposed to do. Its replay value may not be very deep, but it’s got plenty to entertain just about anyone. There’s no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best ports from the SNES to the GBA, and is well worth a look.

Publisher:
Nintendo
Developer:
Rare

Platform:
Game Boy Advance

Rating: 9/10