videogamer.today.com

In today’s gaming landscape, made up of simple names like Grid, Dirt and Turok, this 1996 Super Nintendo game from Rare reads like a relic from ancient history. Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble makes up day two of my WiiWare excursion.

Thanks to the Wii’s Virtual Console, games like this one are just a Wi-Fi connection away.

Silly name aside, DKC3 was an overlooked gem from the 16-bit days for me. I had moved my attention (and cash) to the Nintendo 64 and missed out on part three of the sidescrolling mastery that makes up the Donkey Kong Country series.

I had always been a big fan of the first game, and can remember being wowed by the graphics as soon as the opening screen loaded up. The pre-rendered graphics looked great for the time and the platforming action was a breath of fresh air for me with the hidden areas and barrel-blasting aerial sections.

Taking that game to 101% completion on a few occasions cemented it for me as the greatest in the series, even if the beautiful ending screen from Donkey Kong Country 2 still stands out in my mind’s eye after clawing my way to 102% completion in that game.

After enjoying the first two games so much, I figured it was finally time to get over the embarassing Kiddy Kong character and give DKC3 a fair chance. I downloaded the game a while back and played through almost all of it, unlocking many of the early bonus areas and eventually giving up when the levels got too hard.

For my recent WiiWare excursion, I was determined to at least make it to the end of the game, even if 103% completion doesn’t seem as enticing as it once was. Picking up where I left off, I found myself playing and replaying a really challenging level. Platform jumping is one thing, but when the platforms are on top of enemies who will push you to instant death if you land just slightly off-center, the action gets pretty frustrating.

Finally I conquered the level, even running through once-difficult parts of it as if I were going for a speed run. A level or two later and I ran into the boss of the game, a revamped King K. Rool.

Imagine my surprise when I realized I had previously given up just two boards from the end. The battle with K. Rool was pattern-based and required a little trial and error before I could safely anticipate what attacks were coming, but before long, he fell.

With a glimpse of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, my adventures with Kiddie and Dixie have come to an end. Perhaps I’ll return in the future to reach 103%, but at least I can be satisfied that I saw this Virtual Console title through to completion.

Scroll down and leave a response to this post.
Find more like this at http://videogamer.today.com.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS