Also, Land 2‘s backgrounds are less detailed than those seen in the original, meaning they blur together with its sprites and foreground less frequently. Every level’s name is now displayed on the map screen, a minor but nevertheless welcome enhancement. However, your banana, banana coin, and life tallies are reset upon exiting the game, an inconvenience lifted from Kong Quest. The KONG Letters’ life-granting functionality has also been restored, so Land ’s Kong Tokens are gone. Unsurprisingly, bananas still help guide players through courses and, upon acquiring one hundred of them, grant an extra life. Using their services requires spending banana coins, which are readily found throughout each stage. Funky and Wrinkly Kong reprise their Country 2 duties, respectively helping you travel across worlds and save. Īccompanying Land 2 ’s narrative recycling is a truer replication of the series’ Super NES stylings.

Under Rare’s tenure with the Donkey Kong property, Diddy’s goal was to grow into a “video game hero.” Kong Quest wonderfully explores that with its premise, one so compelling I can tolerate its handheld followup shamelessly repeating it. So they depart, venturing out to the harsh, bleak Crocodile Isle. Not only does newcomer Dixie Kong spring to her boyfriend’s defense, she says she’ll join him. However, Diddy Kong volunteers to rescue his mentor, though Cranky’s dismissive, claiming the youngling hardly qualifies as a hero. He offers the Kongs an ultimatum: if they relinquish their banana hoard, he promises the gorilla’s safe return. Rool – is back, having kidnapped Donkey Kong Island’s namesake champion. Strong, well-written narratives aren’t exactly a Donkey Kong hallmark, but Diddy’s Kong Quest has a legitimately worthwhile one. Programmer Robert Harrison and level designer Lee Schuneman were among those behind this Land sequel. So is this Land worth playing during a time when Kong Quest is readily available on numerous platforms, handheld or otherwise? It plays the “lesser version of a console game” trope straight, effectively rehashing Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. But its creative spark was sadly extinguished for its sequel, 1996’s Donkey Kong Land 2. It inherits plenty from Country – its protagonists, some baddies and backdrops – yet augments that with new material, leaving it a worthwhile entry within the Donkey Kong canon despite its shortcomings. Rare’s Donkey Kong Land partially follows that example, sitting somewhere between being a direct sequel to and “downport” of Donkey Kong Country. Striving to avoid simply retreading their console counterparts, these side-scrollers often featured distinct stories, settings, and enemies. Countless portable titles of yesteryear have fallen into obscurity, including platformers starring mascots Mario and Sonic.

Donkey kong land