I didn’t play this game when it was first released, as I unfairly lost interest in the series on the second game when I first rented it.

Now, having completed all three games, I can say that all three were definitely worth playing. The first is my favorite, but each game after it has it’s own worthwhile changes.

In Donkey Kong Country 2, the game mechanic was changed a bit. The strong character was gone, and a character that could hover was added in his place. That meant that the strong baddies couldn’t be destroyed by either character with just a hop, and hidden passageways could no longer be found by pounding the ground.

Part 2 was a lot of fun, but I really missed that gameplay mechanic. Thankfully, part 3 added it back in. But, not with Donkey Kong. Here, the big character is a giant baby ape (which reminds me of Harvey Comic’s Baby Huey). Both Diddy and Donkey are out of the action here, but Dixie is still around, so her hovering abilities are thankfully still available. This character dynamic is the best of the series in my opinion. Diddy doesn’t really bring much to the table. He’s fast, but he lacks the brawn of Donkey or Kiddy, and he lacks the hovering ability of Dixie.

The thing that brings this game down from being my favorite of the three is the adventure mechanic. Like Sonic Adventure, there is an overworld where you must perform certain “adventure” tasks in order to proceed to other areas. Also like Sonic Adventure, it’s not so much adventurey as it is fetch-quests, and it slows the action down.

Thankfully, the levels themselves are nicely designed, and the gameplay in those levels retains the Donkey Kong Country feel even with the lack of both of the original stars from the first game.