Thanks to Hamada for helping with edits.
Countless portable titles of yesteryear have fallen into obscurity, including platformers starring mascots Mario and Sonic. Striving to avoid simply retreading their console counterparts, these side-scrollers often featured distinct stories, settings, and enemies. Rare’s Donkey Kong Land partially follows that example, sitting somewhere between being a direct sequel to and “downport” of Donkey Kong Country. It inherits plenty from Country – its protagonists, some baddies and backdrops – yet augments that with new material, leaving it a worthwhile entry within the Donkey Kong canon despite its shortcomings. But its creative spark was sadly extinguished for its sequel, 1996’s Donkey Kong Land 2. It plays the “lesser version of a console game” trope straight, effectively rehashing Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest. So is this Land worth playing during a time when Kong Quest is readily available on numerous platforms, handheld or otherwise?
Programmer Robert Harrison and level designer Lee Schuneman were among those behind this Land sequel. (Image: Nintendo)
Strong, well-written narratives aren’t exactly a Donkey Kong hallmark, but Diddy’s Kong Quest has a legitimately worthwhile one. King K. Rool – sorry, Kaptain K. Rool – is back, having kidnapped Donkey Kong Island’s namesake champion. He offers the Kongs an ultimatum: if they relinquish their banana hoard, he promises the gorilla’s safe return. However, Diddy Kong volunteers to rescue his mentor, though Cranky’s dismissive, claiming the youngling hardly qualifies as a hero. Not only does newcomer Dixie Kong spring to her boyfriend’s defense, she says she’ll join him. So they depart, venturing out to the harsh, bleak Crocodile Isle. Under Rare’s tenure with the Donkey Kong property, Diddy’s goal was to grow into a “video game hero.” Kong Quest wonderfully explores that with its premise, one so compelling I can tolerate its handheld followup shamelessly repeating it.
Accompanying Land 2’s narrative recycling is a truer replication of the series’ Super NES stylings. Funky and Wrinkly Kong reprise their Country 2 duties, respectively helping you travel across worlds and save. Using their services requires spending banana coins, which are readily found throughout each stage. Unsurprisingly, bananas still help guide players through courses and, upon acquiring one hundred of them, grant an extra life. The KONG Letters’ life-granting functionality has also been restored, so Land’s Kong Tokens are gone. However, your banana, banana coin, and life tallies are reset upon exiting the game, an inconvenience lifted from Kong Quest. Every level’s name is now displayed on the map screen, a minor but nevertheless welcome enhancement. Also, Land 2‘s backgrounds are less detailed than those seen in the original, meaning they blur together with its sprites and foreground less frequently. There’s significantly less lag here too, and between those points, the number of unfair deaths you’ll suffer is noticeably reduced. And like the first Land, those in possession of a Super Game Boy can enjoy the second with a splash of color.
Crates, barrels, and cannonballs can be carried and thrown. Complementing each other perfectly, Diddy holds items in front of him while Dixie lifts stuff above her head. (Image: Nintendo)
Country 2’s worlds and stage gimmicks largely transition over, albeit with the major concession of Crocodile Cauldron and Krem Quay merging into Krem Cauldron. Unfortunately, Land 2’s stage layouts and boss fights never match Country 2’s in size or complexity, rendering Diddy’s second conquest an altogether easier, shorter one. Land 2 does, nevertheless, share Kong Quest’s greater emphasis on Animal Buddies (far from the last Land’s paltry two, seven appear here), verticality (some levels are purely vertical climbs), and exploration. Bonus Barrels house short challenges, still one or two per stage. Clearing them rewards you with a Kremkoin, all of which must be acquired to traverse the Lost World. Hero Coins carry over too, with one tucked away in each stage. Collecting these is entirely optional, though doing so proves Diddy’s worth to the cynical Cranky.
Nevertheless, the limitations of the 8-bit handheld linger. The Game Boy’s small screen still obscures some hazards, a particular issue in stages built around climbing upwards. Both playable Kongs retain their distinct abilities, though neither appear onscreen together. Consequently, Kong Quest’s combination moves – tossing your partner into a foe or onto a higher platform – are absent here. Some of K. Rool’s minions do not migrate over, nor does ally Glimmer despite oddly being present on the game’s box art. And though this was unavoidable, Land 2 never captures the gravitas of Kong Quest. The monochromatic visuals cannot convey the imposing aura Crocodile Isle carries in the 16-bit realm, with the biggest hit being Haunted Hall’s lackluster replacement. Land 2 is so dutifully bound to Kong Quest that then-new Rare hire Grant Kirkhope doesn’t even compose any original tracks for it, merely recreating David Wise’s score.
Seeing the Kongs’ companions return was nice. A few are somewhat less useful though; Rambi, for example, can’t break open secret passages here since there are none. (Image: Nintendo)
Now, if we’re judging Land 2 purely on a technical level, it’s superior to its predecessor. It’s more sophisticated, plays better, and proved itself a perfectly serviceable Country alternative during the era in which it spawned. But that doesn’t mean much today; its level layouts are unique, yet never bring anything new to the table. Ultimately, Land 2 is just a diet Donkey Kong Country 2, wholly overshadowed by the console classic it strives to emulate. Donkey Kong’s Land largely circumnavigates that issue, remaining my preferred one for that reason alone. Fervent fans of Rare’s Kong discography should enjoy this – it is more Country-style platforming, after all – but anyone else need not apply. Of course, a third Land exists, following up on Donkey Kong Country 3. It’s a middle ground between its forebears, sporting a unique scenario backed by stage archetypes, enemies, and bosses ripped from Dixie and Kiddy Kong’s console caper. Sooner or later, I’ll revisit Donkey Kong Land III and see how well it holds up, too.
K. Rool’s last stand here occurs in a generic cave, not an elaborate hidden palace. Still, it’s a classier abode than where he first fights you in Land III. (Image: Nintendo)
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