Squawks's Shaft (Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest)

Squawks's Shaft is the tenth level of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Land 2. It is the fifth area of Crocodile Cauldron.

As the title implies, this level takes place inside a mine shaft, and Squawks (in his first playable appearance) can be found throughout the second half. Krooks make their first appearance in this level. Other enemies include Klomps, Kannons, Zingers and Klampons.

Donkey Kong Country 2
At the beginning of the level, Diddy and Dixie must travel east to the barrel floating nearby. Aiming carefully, they need to shoot themselves up to the platforms above and climb up them where there will be three Klomps. The heroes should defeat these foes and hop into the next barrel above the platform to the left. Again, there are three Klomps to beat, and then the Kongs must hop into a barrel floating in the air. Once they shoot themselves up to the higher platform, they need to move east in the large mine shaft. There are two Krooks to attack the monkeys and stop their quest, but they can easily be defeated by a cartwheel, or by simply being jumped on. Then, the small group must jump into the following barrels and be shot upwards to the platforms above. There is a lone Zinger in their path, but when it moves away, they can shoot up to the next barrel. when they succeed passing the insect, they should jump across the platforms to the left and beat the Klampons on them. Again, the Kongs will need to get in another barrel and shoot into other barrels hanging in the open space. Eventually, they can get to the next platform and break open the Star Barrel.

Now that they are halfway through the level, the heroes must hop in the barrel to the right and shoot up to another platform. On the way, there are two Zingers to watch out for, so the monkey need to be quite cautious of their aim. Not long after that part, they will continue on and break open a Squawks box and be able to ride on Squawks. Using the egg-spitting bird, they need to fly upwards. There are several enemies on the way up, including Zingers. There are Krooks hanging around on the side of the level, and they can throw their weapons at the group. If they bird is hit, he will drop a monkey, so the heroes must be extremely careful! There will also be Mini Neckys, another hazard, charging at the animals. As they make their way through even more obstacles, a Kannon will be spotted, shooting his cannons at the heroes. Once they pass a few more red Zingers and Mini Neckys, they will make it up to a safe platform at last, where the monkeys and bird will cross the "No Squawks" sign. This will unfortunately make Squawks disappear, but a few steps ahead is the end of the level!