Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest spoilers below
22. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest – K. Rool Duel
No, it wasn’t planned for this moment to be at the same number as Diddy Kong! I put all these lists together separately without looking at the others in the process, so anything like this is pure coincidence! I’m also including the Lost World version of this boss fight in this because, for one thing, it’s my list and I can, and secondly, even though it’s not as good overall as the original, it’s still awesome because it’s like K. Rool is angry as can be and he’s throwing one last gasp effort at beating you with a nearly relentless barrage of attacks. The main issue with it is that you only have to hit him with the cannonball once to win, so the fight generally only lasts like a minute and a half if you can do it right, but of course, doing it right is the tricky part.
Anyway, I feel like this is a pretty underrated boss battle overall, and a pretty underrated boss battle theme! It seems like K. Rool Duel doesn’t ever seem to get brought up in any sort of discussion about last bosses, which is a shame, because it’s great. It’s basically a platforming challenge, as K. Rool shoots all sorts of cannonballs (and eventually weird skull things) at you in varying patterns, gradually getting more difficult as the boss fight progresses. Watching videos like this on YouTube where the guy does it (almost) perfectly make the boss fight seem less fun if you’re looking at it from an outsider perspective, but it’s very difficult to pull that off the first time you fight K. Rool, trust me! It’s possible to beat it relatively quickly, sure, because the game throws you a couple of DK partner barrels in between phases in case you mess up, although that last phase is the roughest. By the way, did anyone else get ganked by the delayed blast from K. Rool’s gun from the last cannonball because you thought you knew exactly when it was going to blow, but then it didn’t, and you fell right into the cannonball? That was a stroke of evil genius on Rare’s part, especially because instinctively you KNEW that had to be the kill shot and you just got tricked into dying.
But one of the great things about K. Rool Duel is replaying the fight and noticing yourself gradually getting better and recognizing the patterns so you can avoid them. Beating this fight for the first time without getting hit was an immensely satisfying feeling, and kudos to any of you who manage to do it as Diddy because holy crap, that last phase is hard to do as him without hitting anything. I mean, it’s possible to hit a skull as Diddy and still survive since they’re not insta-death things, but if you can do that without even TOUCHING one of those things as him? Props to you, man. Dixie’s helicopter twirl makes jumping over nearly anything easy, but Diddy doesn’t have that cushion. I believe he can jump higher and farther than Dixie if she doesn’t use the helicopter twirl, but you gotta be able to get the necessary running start first to make that leap, and it’s not easy when you don’t have a lot of room to maneuver.
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"I couldn't stand a day without a past or future. I need to live each moment to keep fighting here and now."