LogFAQs > #951794685

So people don't think that I'm dead, I'm going to post another entry since it was part of my 10+ that I had written well over a week ago.

31. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (SNES, 1995)
30. Donkey Kong Country (SNES, 1994)




The SNES DKC trilogy is one of the more distinctive series out there. It plays like any other 2D platformer, but in what was maybe the height of the platforming era, the DKC games were so aesthetically, atmospherically, and tangibly different from anything else that it's hard not to be in awe of them regardless of how fun you found them to be. Now this isn't an indictment on DKC3 given it isn't on my list and how high I have the other two here. DKC3 is a great game, but the competition to make my Top 100 was too fierce.

While not first introduced in DKC, the series is probably what most people, or at least us, think of first regarding pre-rendered graphics. Several members of Rare have said that was the most difficult and time-consuming part of the developmental process, but their work certainly paid off. They are especially striking given the genre of platformer necessitating a more zoomed in camera to help show off all the details.

While the graphics and art played a major role, the most important piece to the series' excellent atmosphere was the work of David Wise (as well as Robin Beanleand and Eveline Fischer). From the tone-setting DK Island Swing to the chilling underwater tunes of Water World, the series provided hit after hit of songs that were as excellent in-context as they were out of it. As a kid, I would sometimes turn on the the first two games for the sole purpose of listening to Aquatic Ambience and Stickerbush Symphony, so when I quickly entered the VGM scene upon my arrival on B8, the board's affinity toward some of the more personal VGM of my childhood was a major reason why I stuck around.

I talked about how in awe I am of Super Mario Bros. as its excellent jumping physics was unlike any game that came before or after it, and in a way, the DKC games remind me of that. While not a physics/platformer, the series does have a distinguished feel to it that emphasize things like weight and momentum. Rare did an excellent job at designing the earlier levels to help the player get comfortable with it, and unlike other games that had a similar approach, the physics have aged superbly.

A few years back, I had a conversation with some B8ers on the series where I said that I felt that DKC2 designed its levels more around enemy placement while DKC1 is built more on pure-platforming. The supplementary stuff like the atmosphere/music favors DKC2, but the platforming core is where I prefer the original, so that is why I ultimately prefer the original above the rest.

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KCF can't actually be a real person but he is - greengravy
If you smell what the rock is cooking he's cooking crap - ertyu