Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is the second Donkey Kong game for the Super Nintendo. It is the sequel of Donkey Kong Country and the predecessor to Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble. It also has a Game Boy semi-sequel, Donkey Kong Land 2. It was released in 1995 and stars Diddy Kong. This game was ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2004 and on the Virtual Console in 2007.

Storyline
Kaptain K. Rool and his Kremling Krew kidnap Donkey Kong. The Kremling Leader demand the Kong’s Banana Hoard as a ransom for Donkey Kong's captivity. However, Diddy and Dixie Kong chase the Kremling Krew back to Crocodile Isle and free Donkey Kong.

The Kongs' Special Move
Each of the two Kongs can perform several moves during their adventure. The two Kongs have different moves and abilities. For example, Diddy move faster than Dixie and both characters carries item in different ways.

Cartwheel
This move allow Diddy to cartwheel into enemies, defeating them. This move can be used in conjunction with a Jump to make Diddy go farther.

Helicopter Twirl
When falling, Dixie can use this move to float slowly. On the ground, this move can be used to defeat enemies, much like Diddy's Cartwheel.

Team-up
This move can only be used when both Kongs are controlled. One of the Kongs will pick up the other one, and then it can throw it to defeat enemies or reach normally inaccessible places.

Special Areas
Various spots of Crocodile Isle are hosted by more or less benevolent characters, each of which help the duo in different way. They are:


 * Funky's Flights II is where the player can revisit previous worlds. Funky Kong also hosts flight tests in the Game Boy Advance port.
 * Swanky's Bonus Bonanza is a quiz about various obscure facts of the game. Swanky Kong and (in the GBA port) Candy Kong host it. The prize for successfully completing a quiz is an Extra Life Balloons. When a quiz is successfully completed, it can’t be played again.
 * The Kong Kollege is where Wrinkly Kong teaches a class of Kremlings. Here that the player can learn basic facts about the game's controls, how to defeat the World's Boss, and (in the SNES version only) save the game progress.
 * The Monkey Museum is where Cranky Kong shares cryptic advice on how to find secrets hidden within levels. It is replaced by Cranky's Hut in the GBA port, where Cranky also hosts the Expresso Racing minigame.
 * Klubba serves as toll-keeper to the Lost World in Klubba's Kiosk. He lets the Kongs access the Lost World if they pay fifteen Kremkoins. In the GBA port, Klubba also hosts the minigame Bag a Bug.

Animal Buddies
Animal Buddies are partners in the Donkey Kong Country Series. They help the Kongs find Bonus Barrels, DK Coins, Banana Coins, and other special items in the game with their special abilities. They often appear in levels, and the Kongs can sometimes turn into the buddy, or ride on it. The monkeys must be careful when riding on the animal though, as they will run away when hit by an enemy, very similar to Yoshi in Super Mario World. Most of the animal buddies from Donkey Kong Country return in Diddy's Kong Quest, but a few new ones also appear in the game as well. Below is a list of each Animal Buddy, and a brief description on them.

Items
Collectibles and mechanisms are found throughout the Kongs' adventure. Here’s a list of them.

Barrels
The Barrels are prominent items throughout the Donkey Kong series, and multiple variants exist, a lots of which are featured in Donkey Kong Country 2. They are:


 * Barrels can hit through numerous enemies before breaking. However, there is a kind of Barrel covered by seaweeds that will breaks after hitting one enemy.
 * Bonus Barrels will launch the Kongs to a Bonus Area when jumped into.
 * Plus and Minus Barrels are in the level Haunted Hall. Plus Barrels will add time to the timer, while Minus Barrels will decrease it. When the timer runs out, a Kackle will attack one of the Kongs. Similar barrels called Check and X Barrels are found in Target Terror. These two Barrels act as switches that open (Or close) the gates found in the way.
 * Various types of Barrel Kannons exist. However, they all have one thing in common: Those barrels send Diddy and Dixie to normally unreachable locations.
 * Steerable Barrels can be steer in any directon.
 * Rotatable Barrels can rotate in the desired positions.
 * Diddy or Dixie can use Diddy & Dixie Barrels, depending on whose face is pictured (i.e. Diddy can only use a Barrel with his face on it).
 * TNT Barrels create an explosion when thrown against something.
 * DK Barrels are where the Kongs can find their defeated partner. A DK Barrel can also be used like a normal Barrel.
 * Star Barrels mark the midway point of a level. If one of these Barrels are destroyed, the Kong will continue from where the Barrel was when losing a life in a level.
 * Breaking an ! Barrel will grant the Kongs temporary invincibility.
 * Entering an Animal Barrel will turn the Kongs into the Animal Buddy pictured on it.
 * The Biplane Barrel is available for rent at Funky's Flight II. It is replaced by the Gyrocopter in the GBA port.
 * The Krochead Barrel makes the Krocheads appear, which can then be used as stepping stones.

Change between the SNES and Game Boy advance port

 * The file selection screen at the beginning now has Diddy Kong as a cursor, a la Donkey Kong Land 2. Additionally, in PAL regions, the title screen itself is the box art of Donkey Kong Land 2 (in NSTC regions, it's the box art from the original SNES DKC2).
 * Cranky comes to talk to the player after the defeat of each boss, as in the port of the first game.
 * Swanky's quiz was redesigned, and has some new questions. Candy Kong appears here, as she was nowhere to be found in the original.
 * The view from the Kong Kollege windows changes from world to world in the remake but looks identical in every world of the original.
 * A new game mode called Diddy's Dash is available from the start. In this mode, the player can only play as Diddy, and must get to the end of the level as fast as possible. There are no Star Barrels; instead, multiple checkpoints are scattered throughout the stage. If Diddy should die, he will instantly appear back at the last checkpoint.
 * A new mini-game called Bag-a-Bug is now playable from the main menu and Klubbas Kiosk.
 * The last level in K. Rool's Keep is now on the roof rather than inside, and a new boss- Kerozene can be found here.
 * Funky's Biplane Barrel had been replaced with a Gyrocopter.
 * The explosions from TNT barrels are now bigger and more useful and are the same as explosions in Banjo-Kazooie: Grunty's Revenge.
 * When the player starts a new file, a cutscene of what is only described in the manual of the original is shown.
 * There are more color variations for Kaboings'' than the original.
 * When the player has defeated Krow, a short scene of him leaving his body as Kreepy Krow is shown, but nothing at all like this is in the original.
 * Instead of just a title screen and file select, a new main menu is present in the remake, with three selections Diddy's Dash, Start and Minigames.
 * Unlike the original all the levels that you unlock for the Lost World are accessible from any entrance to it.
 * Funky now has missions which involve flying his Gyrocopter and blowing things up ect. Tiny Kong appears in some of these.
 * Cranky's Video Game Heroes are in a different order instead of being: 1st: Mario, 2nd: Yoshi, 3rd: Link like the original it is now, 1st: Mario, 2nd: Link, 3rd: Yoshi. They are also now somewhere outside on Crocodile Isle, rather than inside a dark room.
 * There are now 67 DK Coins, as opposed to the original, which had 40.
 * The Super Nintendo controller is no longer present at K. Rool Duel.
 * The ending is slightly different. In the original, Donkey Kong punches K. Rool through the roof of the Flying Krock, while in the remake, he punches him through the window instead.
 * The levels Target Terror and Rickety Race now take place around sunset, while in the original it is the middle of the night.
 * Flotsams come in more different colors than in the original.
 * The level Lava Lagoon has been slightly altered from the original.
 * The Monkey Museum has been replaced by Cranky's Hut.
 * The music in each level is slightly different though probably due to the capacities of the Game Boy Advance.
 * Nearly all sound effects are different, enemies all have different voices, all Bosses do, and so do generic things such as explosions and wind.
 * Cranky now hosts a min-game where you race Expresso II against other ostriches
 * Wrinkly Kong gives the player a scrap book when he or she first meets her, and she asks the player to fill it. This can be done by doing certain things, such as killing enemies.
 * By pressing start on the overworld a new menu comes up allowing the player to save, see advise given to him/her by Wrinkly and  Cranky, call Funky and fly to another area, see the scrap book or check mini-game high-scores.
 * When fighting a Boss after it has been defeated, Swanky Kong will charge fifteen Banana Koins and calculate how much time it took to defeat the Boss.
 * Some of the characters have gained (or lost) sprites.
 * The Kongs have new voices clips, most of which were taken from Donkey Kong 64.
 * The player can now save anywhere on the map.
 * The Worlds' maps have been redesigned.
 * The player can travel to a different world for free at any time, as long as Funky Kong was seen at least once.
 * The death and end-of-level music no longer changes depending on the level. It instead changes depending on which character is being used at the time.
 * The music “Run! Rambi, Run!” that played when King Zing chases the Kongs in the level Rambi Rumble was removed, and replaced by the music heard when racing against Screech. The music can still be heard in the sound test, though.
 * A cheat that allowed the player to obtain all Kremkoins in the first level was removed. However, that could still be done by entering the code, "FREEDOM" in the password screen.
 * The player's lives and Banana Koins are now saved, instead of losing them whenever the game is turned off after saving.

Bosses

 * Krow
 * Kleever
 * Kudgel
 * King Zing
 * Kreepy Krow
 * Kerozene (Game Boy Advance Remake only)
 * Kaptain K. Rool

References to Other Games

 * Donkey Kong - Cranky makes a direct reference to this game in the intro by saying, "Whisking off maidens and chucking barrels seven days a week, I was!"
 * Donkey Kong Country - The reason the Kongs will not swap the banana hoard for Donkey Kong is that they had just tried hard to get them back in this game. Also a stuffed Winky is found in here. Also, Cranky states that Donkey Kong Country 2 will never be as good as this game, and then says that it was "rubbish".
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest - The remake references the original as when you have defeated Kerozene Cranky says "I bet you didn't expect that!" as Kerozene is not there in the original; also K. Rool says "You didn't think it would be so easy did you?" as Kerozene appears.
 * The Legend of Zelda - Link appears at the end as a video game hero.
 * Mainstream Mario - Mario makes an appearance as a video game hero.
 * Yoshi - Yoshi appears as a video game hero.
 * Sonic the Hedgehog - Sonic's shoes are shown near a bin labeled "No Hopers".
 * Killer Instinct - One of the tents in Krazy Krem Land says "KI here" meaning the arcade machine Killer Instinct is in there. Additionally, a poster of Chief Thunder from this game hangs in the Monkey Museum.
 * Earthworm Jim - His gun can be seen by the "No Hopers" bin.

References in Later Games

 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! - Wrinkly mentions how she has given up working in a school, which was her occupation during Donkey Kong Country 2.
 * Donkey Kong Land II - A direct semi-sequel and almost a port of DKC2, in which most of the level names and bosses remained the same.
 * Donkey Kong 64 - Paintings of Kaptain K. Rool hang in sunken ships in this game.
 * Diddy Kong Racing DS - In the castle in the track Boulder Canyon, music from the DKC2 castle levels plays.
 * DK: Jungle Climber - Banana Coins, which debuted in Donkey Kong Country 2, make a return.

Trivia

 * The subtitle of the game in North America was originally "Diddy Kong's Quest", but changed to "Diddy's Kong Quest" before release.
 * A Virtual Boy version of Donkey Kong Country 2 was in development for a short time, but was never completed due to the system's failure. Little else is known about this unmade version.
 * The game was placed 33rd in the 100th issue of Nintendo Power's "100 best Nintendo games of all time" in 1997.
 * Even though Nintendo sold Rare to Microsoft, the Rare Symbol can still be seen in the beginning of the game in the Virtual Console.