Donkey Kong Land 2

Donkey Kong Land 2 is a video game developed by Rareware and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy in 1996. It is a sequel to Donkey Kong Land and a predecessor to Donkey Kong Land III. Like its predecessor, the game features a yellow cartridge and special features for the Super Game Boy. The game has a special banana border when played on a Super Game Boy.

Donkey Kong Land 2 is very similar to its counterpart Super Nintendo title, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and is often mistaken as a handheld port of it. While it shares the same storyline, areas, and setting, each level received a new layout. Many aspects of Donkey Kong Country 2 were removed or altered for playability on the Game Boy. Its predecessor, Donkey Kong Land, features more new features, such as different location, and is therefore less similar to its counterpart, Donkey Kong Country. New areas returned in the third title, Donkey Kong Land III, but were all based on the ones in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.

The game was eventually re-released on the Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console in 2014 for Europe, Japan, and Australia, and later in 2015 for North America.

Storyline
The story is essentially a retelling of the events in Donkey Kong Country 2 and is the only Donkey Kong Land game to have the same story as its Donkey Kong Country counterpart. Kaptain K. Rool and the Kremling Krew kidnap Donkey Kong and in exchange for Donkey Kong's safe return, the Kremlings demand the Banana Hoard. Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong decline and head on a journey on Crocodile Isle to rescue Donkey Kong.

Avoiding restless bands of enemies, the two heroes travel through several worlds, including the Gangplank Galleon, Krem Cauldron, Krazy Kremland, Gloomy Gulch, and K. Rool's Keep. They fight bosses, such as King Zing, on the way, going through Kremling amusement parks and Zinger hives. Eventually, the Kongs make their way to the top of Crocodile Isle, where they find Donkey Kong tied up in ropes. Before they can rescue him, he is lifted into The Flying Krock. Chasing him into the flying ship, the Kongs meet the leader of the Kremling Krew, Kaptain K. Rool in battle. Eventually, Diddy and Dixie knock out the Kremling leader, and Donkey Kong frees himself from his chains. Before Kaptain K. Rool can attack again, the big ape knocks him out of his ship, sending him into the ocean.

However, even after Donkey Kong is freed, the Kongs' adventure isn't over. After paying a hefty toll of Kremkoins to Klubba, the way into the Kremling's Lost World is revealed. After completing the world, the mouth of the stone crocodile head opens. Inside, Diddy and Dixie meet Kaptain K. Rool again, and the two sides fight a second time. Even with his wide variety of attacks, the Kremling is, again, defeated. Afterwards, the heroes flee from Crocodile Isle, where they, along with Donkey Kong, watch as the Kremling island sinks into the ocean.

Gameplay
Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong are the main protagonists. The two share basic abilities such as running, jumping, swimming and so forth, and have unique characteristics to set each other apart. Diddy Kong has his signature cartwheel ability and speed advantages, allowing quick maneuvers, but has trouble crossing large abysses. Dixie Kong is not as fast, however can take advantage of her Helicopter Spin to whip enemies, hold Barrels over her head, or slow her descent, allowing her to hover to safety. The player can only control one Kong at a time. They can pick up various Barrels to defeat enemies in the game, utilize floating hooks that can be grabbed to gain height, and climb the various ropes and vines found throughout Crocodile Isle.

In terms of the game's progression, Donkey Kong Land 2 is modeled directly after Donkey Kong Country 2; Each world has a variety of levels that must be beaten to unlock the other ones in the sequence, until the area's boss battle is accessible. After defeating the area boss, the next world is available. This cycle repeats until the end of the game. Within each world, there is a Kong Kollege, where Wrinkly Kong offers to record the game's current progress, and there will be a Funky's Flights, where Funky Kong offers transportation with his Biplane Barrel to get out of the current world and into another one. Within each level, there will be one or two Bonus Levels, accessible from a Bonus Barrel, and a DK Coin. The Bonus Levels need to be completed to amass Kremkoins to be used to access the final area of the game, and DK Coins will help improve Diddy Kong's rank in Cranky's Video Game Heroes. Getting Kremkoins and DK Coins also contribute towards a 100% completion status of the game.

In some levels, Animal Buddy companions can be used to help progress in the stage. Rambi the Rhinoceros returns from Donkey Kong Land, retaining his ability to charge through enemies and obstacles with ease. He can no longer break open bonus areas with his horn due to the implementation of Bonus Barrels to access bonus stages, but he has gained the ability to do a charge. He can ready the charge by holding the "Select" button, and releasing it after he is fully prepared. Enguarde the Swordfish also returns, being the staple underwater animal buddy. He can maneuver underwater easily, defeat aquatic enemies, and can also do a charge thrust similar to Rambi. Rattly the Rattlesnake returns from DK Country 2, and is unchanged; He can jump very high, jump off of all enemies, and can do a charge jump by holding "Select" and releasing. Squawks the Parrot also returns from DKC2 unaltered, where he can freely fly around the levels he's featured in, and attack foes with a nut-spitting attack. Squawks' look-alike Quawks is also usable in his signature level, Parrot Chute Panic. Quawks cannot fly upward or attack foes; It can merely slow its descent. Squitter the Spider is a large arachnid companion that can defeat enemies with a web spit attack, and create web platforms to jump on. Finally, Clapper the Seal is an animal buddy that serves two purposes; After jumping on him, he will either cool off a body of lava, allowing Diddy and Dixie to swim in the cooled water, or freeze a pool of extremely cold water into ice, allowing the heroes to walk across it.

Levels
Donkey Kong Land 2 mostly features the same levels and worlds from Donkey Kong Country 2. Crocodile Cauldron and Krem Quay were merged into a single world, Krem Cauldron, and its boss is Kleever. Kudgel does not appear in the game. Two levels were replaced with loosely related ones: Haunted Hall with Krazy Koaster, and Castle Crush with Dungeon Danger.

Playable characters
The game features the two playable characters Diddy and Dixie Kong who try to save Donkey Kong from the evil hands of Kaptain K. Rool. Below they are described.

Supporting characters
Heroes can't be left alone. Below are discribed the non-playable characters from the game, which help the two Kongs throughout their adventure.

Animal Friends
Below is a table with the Animal Friends that appear in Donkey Kong Land 2.

Cheat codes
The English version of the game has three cheat codes the player can implement. The codes do not work on the Japanese version. While on the title screen, the player has to hold left or right, and input one of the below combinations. If done correctly, an extra life sound effect will play.
 * 50 lives:, , ,
 * 40 Banana Coins:, , ,
 * 47 Kremkoins:, , , (in order to get 100% completion, the standard Kremkoins must still be collected)

Trivia

 * The box art depicts Glimmer the Angler Fish, even though he doesn't appear in the game. Said box art was later used for the title screen in the European Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 2.