Criss Kross Cliffs

Criss Kross Cliffs is the thirty-seventh level in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! It is the second level of the lost world, Krematoa. In the Game Boy Advance remake, it is the forty-third level.

Summary
The main feature of Criss Kross Cliffs is a Bazuka at the very bottom of the level. It is directly firing Steel Kegs directly up the mountain, which Dixie and Kiddy Kong must bounce on to go up the area. In parts of the stage, the Kongs must utilize Switch Barrels to change the Steel Kegs to TNT Barrels, to defeat a red Buzzes blocking the path. After defeating the Buzz, the Kongs must revert the Switch Barrel back to firing Steel Kegs because the TNT Barrels injure them. In some segments, the Kongs cannot revert it back to Steel Kegs until a certain point, and must cross the mountain while dodging TNT Barrels to proceed. Aside from Buzzes, there are many horizontal tightropes featuring Klasps.

Criss Kross Cliffs was made slightly easier for the Game Boy Advance remake. The most notable difference is that the Switch Barrels revert back to Steel Kegs automatically after a few seconds, and therefore it is optional to manually revert them. However, touching the sides of the blasting Steel Kegs injures the Kongs. The Klasps also move slower than in the original version.

As with the other Krematoa levels, the level gets a reddish-orange tint after the Knautilus is revealed. In the Game Boy Advance version, this tint is featured in the level both before and after the Knautilus is revealed.

Level layout
When the level begins, the Kongs find the letter K above them and ride along some steel barrels being shot from below. They are taken to a higher level, where they find a DK Barrel. Moving farther up, they hit a Switch Barrel to defeat a red Buzz, then hit it again to turn the TNT Barrels back into steel barrels. Continuing upwards, they find another red Buzz in the way, whom they should defeat by climbing up several wooden platforms nearby and hitting a second Switch Barrel. Once the Buzz is defeated, the Kongs are able to bounce to the next area with the barrels, where they jump into a Barrel Cannon and automatically hit a Switch Barrel. It turns the steel barrels into TNT Barrels, which the Kongs need to avoid. They pass the gap with the TNT barrels shooting upwards and climb upwards, using some wooden platforms. They move across the gap with the TNT Barrels again to find a switch, which turns the barrels back into steel barrels. The Kongs ride up the barrels and move through a large area, followed by a small alcove. If they get in this alcove, they find the Star Barrel.

About halfway into the level, the Kongs find a fork in the road. Taking the left passage makes them head past some Kuff 'n' Klouts, while heading to the right makes them climb up some horizontal tightropes, avoiding Klasps. The two paths later meet. The Kongs ride up the mountain with more steel barrels and pass the letter G, found in another small alcove. Heading left, the Kongs go to the top of the area with some platforms and defeat a Buzz by using a Switch Barrel. If they move farther up at this point, they are taken to another area, where they will find a Barrel Cannon. It shoots them to a set of tightropes to climb. Once they get up the ropes, they move along more kegs to be taken to a part of the mountain with more horizontal tightropes. After they jump up from the two ropes, they hit a Switch Barrel to defeat a red Buzz in their path. Soon, the Kongs find the Level Flag, which rewards them with one of the Lost World's Cogs.

Trivia

 * The European and Japanese versions of the original Donkey Kong Country 3 feature more red Buzzes than the North American version.