Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is the second installment in the Donkey Kong Country series released in 1995. It was developed by Rareware and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. It is a sequel and direct follow-up of Donkey Kong Country; the game stars Diddy Kong, as he and his girlfriend, Dixie Kong, make their way through Crocodile Isle to save Donkey Kong from the Kremling Krew. A sequel to Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest was released in 1996, Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!

In 2004, a remake of the game was made for the Game Boy Advance. It features several differences, including the addition of photographs and extra Cranky's Video Game Hero Coins. It omits the Diddy's Kong Quest subtitle, thus the game is simply known as Donkey Kong Country 2.

In 2007, the original version was re-released on the Wii's Virtual Console. On November 25, 2012, for reasons unknown, Donkey Kong Country 2 and the other two original Donkey Kong Country games were delisted from the Wii Virtual Console, but on October 30, 2014, the games were relisted in Europe and Australia. Around the same time, the games were released for the Wii U's Virtual Console in Europe and Australia, in Japan on November 26, 2014, and in the United States and Canada on February 26, 2015. For handhelds, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest was ported exclusively to the New Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console in March/April 2016. It was made available on Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online for the Nintendo Switch on September 23, 2020.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is the sixth best-selling Super Nintendo Entertainment System game, with its predecessor being the third. A similar Game Boy title was released a year later, in 1996, Donkey Kong Land 2.

Story
"Arrrrgh! This story's even worse than DKC! They're really scraping the bottom of the barrel this time!"

- Cranky Kong

Some time after the events of Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong is relaxing at a beach, sitting on a chair while drinking a banana milkshake. Funky Kong is busy surfing waves among the seagulls. Cranky Kong walks up to Donkey Kong and hits him on the head with his cane. Cranky asks Donkey Kong why he is sitting around if he's a "big star". Donkey Kong replies that even stars need time off. Cranky says that he never took breaks, "whisking off maidens and throwing barrels seven days a week". Donkey Kong asks Cranky to leave him alone and stop pestering him, so Cranky leaves. Donkey Kong then goes to sleep in his chair.

At night, Diddy Kong and his girlfriend, Dixie Kong, are worried because Donkey Kong has not returned. They go to the beach to investigate, and the Kongs find many footprints surrounding Donkey Kong's broken chair. They find a note in the chair which reads:


 * Hah-arrrrh! We have got the big monkey! If you want him back, you scurvy dogs, you'll have to hand over the banana hoard! Kaptain K. Rool

Cranky suggests handing over the banana hoard to K. Rool. Diddy refuses because of how much effort he and Donkey Kong went through to retrieve the bananas, and that he would be very upset if his bananas were stolen again. Cranky asks if they have any better suggestions, and Diddy and Dixie both say that they want to rescue Donkey Kong themselves. The two get in a brief argument with Cranky, who does not believe Diddy qualifies as a video game hero. Thus, it's up to Diddy to save Donkey, and alongside Dixie, who insisted on joining him, starts his journey.

The two Kongs travel through Crocodile Isle, the hometown of the Kremlings. They defeat numerous enemies and collect items on their way. Diddy and Dixie first travel aboard Gangplank Galleon, a large pirate ship docked at the coast. After completing the world, Diddy and Dixie move on to the volcanic world, Crocodile Cauldron, then the swampy Krem Quay, then the abandoned amusement park Krazy Kremland, and a spooky woods, Gloomy Gulch. Diddy and Dixie eventually reach the end of the sixth world, K. Rool's Keep, where they find Donkey Kong tied up in a chamber. Just as they celebrate, Donkey Kong is pulled up into K. Rool's personal airship, The Flying Krock.

Aboard the giant airship, Diddy and Dixie find Donkey Kong tied up, and they battle Kaptain K. Rool. Donkey Kong eventually breaks free from his ropes, and he uppercuts K. Rool out of the roof. Kaptain K. Rool falls all the way down Crocodile Isle and into the surrounding water, where he is seemingly eaten up by sharks.

During their adventures, Diddy and Dixie can also enter the Lost World by paying a Kremkoin fee to Klubba at his kiosk. The Kongs eventually enter Crocodile Isle's power source, Krocodile Kore, where they re-encounter Kaptain K. Rool. After a short battle, K. Rool's blunderbuss explodes, which propels him into the energy geyser powering Crocodile Isle. This blocks the power flow, which then destroys Crocodile Isle.

From a cliff, Donkey Kong, Diddy, and Dixie watch as Crocodile Isle explodes while sinking into the ocean. Just before the isle sinks, K. Rool escapes on a boat, laughing as he sails off into the horizon.

Abilities
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is a 2D platformer like its predecessor, Donkey Kong Country. The player controls Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong, whose basic abilities include jumping, climbing, and swimming. The Kongs usually jump to cross gaps and grab airborne items. Either Kong can perform a mid-air jump if they cartwheel or spin off a nearby ledge, often necessary for reaching secret areas or collectibles. Like Donkey Kong Country, Diddy can perform a cartwheel attack and still retains his agility (he can jump, climb, run, and swim a bit faster than Dixie). Dixie's equivalent to the cartwheel attack is the Helicopter Spin, where she spins into an enemy. Dixie has the advantage of also being able to perform the ability in mid-air, where she whirls her ponytail to glide to nearby areas or to cross some large gaps. There are more enemies that Diddy and Dixie can defeat by their respective cartwheel or spin attack, rather than a jump attack.

If both Kongs are on screen, they can perform team up, where either Kong piggybacks on the other in front. While this slows Diddy and Dixie's movement, either Kong can be thrown to reach items or higher areas. When a Kong is thrown to a higher platform, the lead Kong automatically moves up there with them.

Diddy holds a carriable object in front of him, which includes barrels, crates, and treasure chests. This way Diddy can defeat an enemy who walks into the object. Dixie holds an object over her head with her ponytail, which defends against foes above her.

The swimming mechanic is similar to earlier Super Mario platformers. The player must hit, the jump button, to advance upwards into the water. If the player does not press the button, the Kongs slowly sink to the bottom. Pressing enables them to swim quicker, and  and  controls their ascent and descent.

Modes
When starting a new file, the player has the option to choose between one or two player modes. The original Super Nintendo version has two hidden modes which can be accessed by pressing Down on the a number of times.

Kong Klan
Diddy and Dixie are assisted by four members of the Kong Klan, two of whom return from Donkey Kong Country and two who debut in the game.

Animal Buddies
Animal Buddies are animals who help Diddy and Dixie on their adventure. Each Animal Buddy has its own abilities to help the Kongs find Bonus Barrels, Cranky's Video Game Hero Coins, Banana Bunch Coin, and other collectible items. There are a total of seven Animal Buddies, one of which has two variations. Diddy and Dixie can only transform into or ride five of the Animal Buddies. Animal Buddies have a larger role than in Donkey Kong Country, because many levels cannot be completed without them, and more Bonus Levels can only be accessed by them. Some Animal Buddies can perform a super move, where they build up energy before unleashing a powerful attack.

Cranky's Video Game Heroes
The Cranky's Video Game Heroes ceremony features three cameos of other game protagonists, each with their own amount of Hero Coins collected.

Enemies
The game features a handful of enemies, many of whom are Kremlings. Most of them first appear in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, though a few of them return from Donkey Kong Country.

Barnacled Bosses
Like Donkey Kong Country, a boss is fought at the end of every world after beating every stage in their respective order. Every boss level has a unique stage, a notable difference from Donkey Kong Country where every boss stage took place between similar piles of Banana Bunches. Every boss's name in the game begins with 'K'.

Items
A variety of items and objects appear throughout the levels, and they each have a unique purpose.

Barrels
Barrels are prominent objects throughout the Donkey Kong franchise. Multiple variants of these objects exist, many which are featured in Donkey Kong Country 2.

Supporting locations
There are five unique locations which are hosted by a supporting character, and these areas appear in most worlds.

Cheats
In the original version, when the player starts a new file, they can press Down numerous times to navigate down to the hidden Cheat Mode option. While highlighting the option, the player can press a combination of buttons to enter one of two cheats:
 * One cheat removes all the DK Barrels. It is activated by entering: B, A, Right, Right, A, Left, A, X
 * One cheat causes the Kongs to start with 50 lives. It is activated by entering: Y, A, Select, A, Down, Left, A, Down

Differences in other versions
In addition to regional differences, there are two main revisions of the SNES release. Changes from the first version:
 * V1.1
 * Jungle Jinx and Klobber Karnage both have their bonus areas' color schemes swapped from the previous version.
 * King Zing moves faster during King Zing Sting.
 * Infinite throwing jump glitch fixed.
 * Various bugs fixed.

Castle Crush glitch
Note: This glitch only works in the SNES and Wii U versions.

To perform this glitch, the player must enter Castle Crush with Diddy Kong as the lead character (Dixie is optional, but cannot be the lead character). Then, the player must pick up the first DK Barrel and hold it against a wall. The player must now drop the barrel and quickly pick it up again; if done correctly, the barrel will break, but Diddy will act as if he's still holding it. Upon throwing the "invisible barrel", it will be replaced with a nearby object, with the exact object depending on how much of the level had been traversed before throwing. Throughout most of the level, this will cause an enemy to warp in front of Diddy, following which the enemy will often die immediately. If thrown near the top, it will be replaced with the "No Rambi" sign. Both of these outcomes are relatively harmless. However, if thrown shortly after being "picked up," the invisible barrel will be replaced with the nearby Rambi Barrel. The transformation aspect of the Rambi Barrel becomes broken after this happens, and will typically cause Diddy to either turn into a screen-sized glitchy mess, an incorrectly-colored Klubba with no hammer, which stands in place, or a fully-black Kleever, which moves slowly to the side while spinning. In all three of these cases, the game typically will softlock shortly thereafter.

Quotes

 * Wrinkly Kong
 * "All those Kremlings want to do is learn how to fight and squash monkeys!"
 * "Those naughty crocodiles! All they want to learn is how to fight and squash monkeys, Tsk!"
 * "When you see Kaptain K. Rool, can you ask him if he has done his homework?"
 * "Hurry along! School is nearly finished! You need to study a little more if you're going to beat the Kremlings!"
 * "You're looking a little weary dear. Would you like to save your game?"
 * "Good luck, children."
 * "Be careful now, Kongs."
 * "Have you been to see my husband Cranky? He complains a little, but he does know everything about this island."
 * "Goodbye, dearies."
 * "Don't be a stranger now."
 * "Well! Just look at all those sums those Kremlings have done. Disgraceful!"
 * "I hope you're better behaved than those reptiles. Why I even caught one sharpening his sword in class yesterday."

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 Jr. - The overall game's plot was similar to that of Donkey Kong Jr., where Donkey Kong was abducted by an old foe (Mario in the case of Donkey Kong Jr., and K. Rool in Donkey Kong Country 2), with the main protagonist (the eponymous character in Jr., Diddy and Dixie in Donkey Kong Country 2) having to travel from their home to the main villain's home to save Donkey Kong.
 * Super Mario Bros. - The instruction manual's description of the Minus Barrel jokingly states that it will send the player to the Minus World.
 * Super Mario series - Mario makes an appearance as a video game hero as first place or second place depending on the number of Cranky's Video Game Hero Coins obtained. Yoshi also appears in second or third place depending on the number of coins obtained.
 * The Legend of Zelda series - At Cranky's Video Game Heroes, Link can be seen in third place or ranked out.
 *  series - Sonic's discarded shoes is seen among the "No Hopers" pile in the original SNES game.
 *  - A Killer Instinct arcade cabinet and a poster of Chief Thunder can be seen in Cranky's Monkey Museum.
 *  series - Earthworm Jim's discarded blaster is seen among the "No Hopers" pile in the original SNES game.
 * Donkey Kong Country - This game is a sequel and follow-up to Donkey Kong Country. Some graphics, notably for Diddy Kong and several items and objects, are reused from this game. The reason the Kongs do not swap the banana hoard for Donkey Kong is because they had just tried hard to get them back in this game. Also a stuffed Winky is found in the game. Additionally, Cranky states that Donkey Kong Country 2 will never be as good as Donkey Kong Country, and then says that it was "rubbish". The sound effect Steel Barrels play can be heard in Kannon's Klaim, and when Kleever is hit by a cannonball. Steel Kegs cameo in the "ship hold" level type's scenery.

References in later games

 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! - This game is a follow-up to Donkey Kong Country 2. Wrinkly mentions how she had given up working in a school, which was her occupation during Donkey Kong Country 2. Also, many of the item sound effects and graphics in Donkey Kong Country 2 are used again in this game. In the Game Boy Advance version, Swanky looks the same as he did in Donkey Kong Country 2.
 * Donkey Kong Land 2 - A direct semi-sequel to Donkey Kong Country 2, in which most of the level names and bosses remained the same.
 * Donkey Kong 64 - Banana Bunch Coins, which debuted in Donkey Kong Country 2, make a return. Paintings of Kaptain K. Rool hang in sunken ships in this game.
 * DK: Jungle Climber - Funky's Theme in this game is a cover of the theme Funky the Main Monkey.
 * WarioWare: D.I.Y. Showcase - The microgame DK Country is based on the game.
 * Donkey Kong Country Returns - Ship levels and volcanic levels make a return as well as Banana Coins.
 * Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze - The enemies in this game are vikings known as Snomads, but since vikings are a type of pirate, that could be a reference to Donkey Kong Country 2. Also, Dixie Kong returns as a playable character, and her gumball gun and air guitar idle animation (as well as playing a real guitar during the ending) are reminiscent of her blowing bubble gum idle animation and victory animation, respectively, from Donkey Kong Country 2. A bramble level returns, and is named Bramble Scramble after the one in Donkey Kong Country 2.
 * Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - In this game, one of King K. Rool's attacks involves him using his blunderbuss and he also wears his pirate hat when using the move. Kaptain K. Rool also appears as a spirit in this game, using his artwork from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. In King K. Rool's announce trailer "The Rivals", Donkey Kong's and Diddy Kong's eyes comically bulge out in horror when they witness King K. Rool knock away King Dedede (who had posed as King K. Rool as a prank), referencing their reactions when about to face a boss in Donkey Kong Country 2 (and to a lesser extent, Donkey Kong's reaction whenever Kaptain K. Rool regains consciousness and starts the next phase of the final boss battle).

Development
Even before the first Donkey Kong Country turned out to be a blockbuster success, the game's development team already had plans for a sequel. The team focused first on the game's environments; the game's setting was informed by Gregg Mayles life-long obsession with pirates and the fact that the first Donkey Kong Country had already featured most stock platforming level archetypes. While some ideas from its predecessor were carried over, all of the levels in Donkey Kong Country 2 were brand new. Replacing Donkey Kong with new character Dixie Kong came from a desire to take risk and surprise players.

Speaking of the game's level design, Mayles explained that Donkey Kong Country 2 went with a more exploration-based structure as "If we had made it speed runs again then there wouldn't have been much scope for us to go anywhere different with it" and to make the game more different from its predecessor. Secret collectables and the Lost World were included to give the game more intrigue and extend its replay value. Nintendo was less involved in Donkey Kong Country 2's development, which Gregg Mayles chalked up to the success of the first game.

Rare Witch Project preview and German strategy guide
The Rare Witch Project website once had previews of several upcoming enemies and characters for Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Among these enemies was a sinister looking character simply dubbed "Mr. X". Mr. X was an early version of the enemy Kackle, a ghostly Kremling that appears in the level Haunted Hall and chases the Kongs throughout the level in the final version of the game. Mr. X was a phantasmagoric white Kremling with red eyes, wearing a large black jacket covered in army medals, he also possessed two small hooks for hands. Despite his status as an unused element, Mr. X somehow managed to be included in the official German player's guide, which cryptically states that he is a character no one has known or has seen.

Reception
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest received widespread critical acclaim, considered by critics to be among the best titles on the Wii's Virtual Console.

Staff

 * Head Programmer
 * C. Sutherland
 * Assistant Head Programmer
 * M. Wilson
 * Technical Programmer
 * B. Gunn
 * Programmer
 * T. Attwood
 * Characters / Animation
 * S. Mayles
 * Objects and Additional Characters / Backgrounds
 * M. Stevenson
 * Backgrounds
 * C. Gage
 * J. Nash
 * A. Smith

Trivia

 * The game was placed 33rd in the 100th issue of Nintendo Power's "100 best Nintendo games of all time" in 1997.
 * The subtitle was originally "Diddy Kong's Quest", but was later changed to "Diddy's Kong Quest", which is a pun on "conquest".
 * This is the only game in the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy where the players start with four lives by default. The other two games have the players start with five lives by default.
 * The game over screen is also used in error and anti-piracy screens in-game. This also occurs in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.
 * An arcade game manufacturer named Sunwise made a Japan-only slot machine game based on the Japanese version of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest called Swanky no Bonus Slot (which translates to "Swanky's Bonus Slots"). The game would play a music piece while the wheels would spin.