Although a dated save system threatens to spoil the fun, DKC2 is otherwise a classic still very much worth playing.
Cons: Graphics are showing their age; Live and save system are extremely irritating
Ah, another classic game from my early days of gaming. The memories are all coming back. Now, if you'll let me bask in my nostalgic memories, there was one time when I first started playing this game…
…ah, to hell with it, whatever glorified nostalgia I had for this game promptly evaporated when I was repeatedly killed in one of the later levels. But from my modern perspective, I can say that this game is still legitimately great, if just a bit hard.
The premise isn't a particularly deep or original one: DK has been kidnapped by K. Rool, thus Diddy and Dixie Kong must set of to save him. It's an old-school set-up for some old-school platforming. The game wastes no time getting you started and instantly sets up your basic run, jump, climb, platforming gameplay.
There are two things that set this game apart from the rest though: difficulty and variety. The former is pretty obvious the moment your life counter starts plummeting, but is nonetheless pretty fair if you come with enough lives (more on that later). Meanwhile, even though the levels are all basic, run from point A to point B, fare, the methods by which you traverse the environment vary greatly.
One level might have you climbing the whole way, another level might pit you against a rising water level, another will put you on a roller-coaster, or perhaps let you ride a rhinocerous, or a snake, or a parrot. The game is chock full of different twists on the gameplay, ensuring that it will never get boring. DKC2 mixes things up better than a lot of modern day platformers do. Thus it has aged well for the most part.
However, the areas between the levels have not aged so well. DKC2 is chained to an archaic live and save system that is cruel in its methods. The live system isn't too bad until you realize that you can only save if you've collected enough banana coins. If you don't have the coins, then getting a game over will force you to replay every level since that last save. Banana coins aren't common enough to ensure that you can always save. Thus you are likely to have to farm for some lives and coins if you want a fair and fun challenge. This is made harder by the fact that revisiting old worlds is chained to collecting banana coins as well. Ugh.
It's not a major gripe, but I guarantee if you don't take the precautions, it will suck the fun out of your game later on. The graphics have also aged poorly. Although the pre-rendered graphics were all the rage back in the day, the limitations of the system seem all the more apparent in retrospect. Almost everything is a little blurry, many animations aren't quite smooth, and the only thing redeemable about the graphics is the ever-present personality all over. Luckily, the music has aged far better, with several catchy, and/or atmospheric tunes to accompany you throughout your quest.
At $8 the quality of the levels in Donkey Kong Country 2 definitely outweighs some stupid old-school decisions. Ensuring that you have enough lives and a near enough save to avoid a constant game over screen might be an issue, but once you get into the actual gameplay, you'll find that this classic is more fun than a barrel full of monkeys.
(ugh that was bad)