Donkey Kong Land 2 - Diddy's Kong Quest (GB) (Donkey Kong Land 2 - Diddy's Kong Quest (GB))

Member Name: thole09

Product:	Donkey Kong Land 2 - Diddy's Kong Quest (GB)
Date:	22/04/09 (33 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Graphics, Audio

Disadvantages: Save feature

"Donkey Kong Land 2" is a video game released for the Gameboy console in 1996 by Nintendo. It is the second installment of a trilogy. In the United States, the game received a rating of "K&A" by the ESRB panel which deemed it suitable for both "Kids and Adults".

Gameplay reflects the platform genre. In it, players control both Diddy and Dixie Kong and guide them on an adventure. It is a typical platform title with the player being required to guide his or her character from the start of the stage to the finish while avoiding enemy encounters and gathering items. One particular complaint many players cited about the first game was its inaccessibility to the "save" feature. Donkey Kong Land 2 improves on this but does still remain a difficult chore. Instead of obtaining a series of letter coins, the player is required to gather "tokens" throughout the game. When a player wishes to save he or she must pay two tokens per save slot. A player may also access "Funky's Flights" to return to a previously played area in the game, perhaps to recover a missing token, but this also costs the player two tokens. Again, this comes across as being a hindrance for such necessary features.

The graphics of this title have improved considerably over the first game. This could be to reflect the technologies devoted into the Super Nintendo counterpart but are in and of themselves excellent. The animations are very sharp, almost flowing in display and come across very well for a primitive monochrome display. While this game was released for the original Gameboy, I have tested it as working on the later Color console with the display showing a slightly greenish tinge. The audio is also of a comparably good standard with the developers taking the Super Nintendo's soundtrack and compressing it to suit the Gameboy's lowered hardware capabilities, and did so with success.

Donkey Kong Land 2 retains what made the original a good title and that is good gameplay combined with good graphics and audio. I would once again be hesitant to suggest this to prospective buyers due to the excessive requirements in saving a game.

Summary: Thumbs in the middle