Donkey Kong Country 2 Review - GBA

Being a remake, Donkey Kong Country 2 follows the original very closely in terms of gameplay; the addictive yet frustrating side-scrolling levels are back. In addition to this however, you can, of course, expect to find some new additions and improvements to the game as a whole; the game features a Bonus Games mode that contains fun mini-games such as Funky's Flights, in which you must complete an objective in Funky Kong's gyrocopter, and Bag a Bug, in which you must collect as many fireflies as possible while avoiding Klubba, the big, strong Kremling. There's also a mode called Diddy's Dash, in which you can play any level that you have completed in the single player adventure and compete against the clock to complete it as quickly as possible.

Donkey Kong Country 2 holds a both a single player and multiplayer adventure mode, although the multiplayer mode is quite superficial as it involves passing the GameBoy Advance to your friend so that they can play as Dixie once you die as Diddy - unless, of course, you fork out enough money to own two GameBoy Advances, two copies of Donkey Kong Country 2 and a link cable. The game's bonus games can also be played with multiple players - up to four in fact - but then you're going to need much more equipment. Whether you choose to play alone or with a friend, however, you'll be carried along the same quest to retrieve Donkey Kong from Kaptain K. Rool's evil clutches.

The game takes place over eight worlds, each world featuring around five levels and a different theme to the last. During levels you'll control both Diddy and Dixie Kong - of course, not at the same time, but by cleverly switching between the two by tapping the L button. Whichever character you aren't controlling at the time will follow closely behind, ready to be tagged to take the lead. Strangely, the trailing character doesn't become confusing or annoying at all, and you'll often find that you won't even notice them until you want to switch characters.

Both Diddy and Dixie Kong have similar moves; they can attack, swim, climb, throw objects and jump, and neither moves faster or jumps higher than the other. What's the point of switching characters, then, you ask? Well, Dixie has one move that Diddy doesn't; she is able to use her tresses in her hair as helicopter blades, allowing her to float slowly to the ground and to glide over long distances. She also has a slightly different trajectory while (continued next page)