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Thoughts on a classic video game: Donkey Kong Country 2
Yesterday, I took a stroll down memory lane and decided to play Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy Kong's Quest. I could remember playing this game as a youth and feeling excitement as well as frustration (due to the extreme difficulty). Now, being an adult, I found that not much has changed. I was still excited to see Diddy, the end of the level win animations, all the goofy Kong family characters and yes, the difficulty that made me want to tear my hair out. But alas, I rediscovered how fun this game truly was. I marveled at the superb platforming, the outstanding soundtrack and also nodded in approval of the 3d graphics, which were extraordinarily great for a game released in 1995.
After playing for half an hour, I realized that platforming video games have clearly gone down in quality (with the exception of Psychonauts in my opinion). DKC2 was a complete package, and its tough to live up to such a fun game. It was also a very warm welcome to play a game with little to no violence in a world dominated by bloody first person shooters. Now I like FPSs just as much as the next guy, but DKC2 just had an innocence to it that has been lost over the years. This game really put a smile on my face and made be look back in fondness to the year 1995.
And finally the difficulty. Now its widely known that video games have gotten easier with health bars instead of having a single hit, and endless lives due to auto save, but I long for the days of difficult games. DKC2 was one of the toughest games I've every played (along with Contra and Ninja Gaiden) and it was mainly because of the enemies and non existent health system. One touch from an enemy and Diddy and Dixie are down for the count. Technically, two hits from an enemy and its game over, since players have both Diddy and Dixie to play as. In DKC2 there were no med-packs or regenerating health bars, it was do or die every minute of the game.
All in all, Donkey Kong Country 2 has really stood the test of time in terms of gameplay, and I doubt that it will ever cease to amaze me.
I'd have to rate this game a 8.9/10 in retrospect. It has the signs of a great game: a memorable soundtrack, graphics and controls.
After playing for half an hour, I realized that platforming video games have clearly gone down in quality (with the exception of Psychonauts in my opinion). DKC2 was a complete package, and its tough to live up to such a fun game. It was also a very warm welcome to play a game with little to no violence in a world dominated by bloody first person shooters. Now I like FPSs just as much as the next guy, but DKC2 just had an innocence to it that has been lost over the years. This game really put a smile on my face and made be look back in fondness to the year 1995.
And finally the difficulty. Now its widely known that video games have gotten easier with health bars instead of having a single hit, and endless lives due to auto save, but I long for the days of difficult games. DKC2 was one of the toughest games I've every played (along with Contra and Ninja Gaiden) and it was mainly because of the enemies and non existent health system. One touch from an enemy and Diddy and Dixie are down for the count. Technically, two hits from an enemy and its game over, since players have both Diddy and Dixie to play as. In DKC2 there were no med-packs or regenerating health bars, it was do or die every minute of the game.
All in all, Donkey Kong Country 2 has really stood the test of time in terms of gameplay, and I doubt that it will ever cease to amaze me.
I'd have to rate this game a 8.9/10 in retrospect. It has the signs of a great game: a memorable soundtrack, graphics and controls.
Comment
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Comment by Omar Khan on October 30, 2009 at 6:32am -
Hey Ray,
I dispatched your copy of magazine to you last saturday. I have emailed
you twice but the email just doesnt get delivered to your address.Seems some technical problem with your mailbox. I guess you should be receiving the magazine any time soon. Please do
confirm once you receive. Take good care,
regards,
Omar Khan
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