Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
By Chaser and Budge007, the l33test reviewers under the sun.

Quick Info
Platform: Super NES, GBA, Due to be released on the Wii Virtual Console service
Developer: Rare
Publisher: Nintendo
Players: 1-2
Genre: Platform
Price: TBA - Probably 800 Wii Points
Release Date: 1996-2005
Media: 36-Megabit Proprietary Super NES cartridge,
128-Megabit Proprietary GBA cartridge
Rating: ESRB: Everyone

Intro

Chaser says
Hi Budge, and welcome all to this review, this time we’re going to discuss Donkey Kong Country 3! The Kong's third country romp delivers graphically yet again...yet don't you feel something is lacking when you play this? I often get the feeling I've played this game somewhere before...

Gameplay

Budge007 says
Well Chaser that may be because this game plays exactly like both of its predecessors with only a few exceptions.

Chaser says
Ah, that's the thing, those few 'exceptions' could be called redeeming features, I particularly enjoyed the little tweaks to the gameplay especially the introduction of the new character, Kiddy Kong, although he could do with a session or two with Jenny (Jenny Craig is an Australian weight loss program), he was fun to play.

Budge007 says
But that is not always a bad thing, much with how Mario continues to beat Bowser and collect coins. The Kong's must defend their banana hoard and save poor old Donkey Kong from Captain K. Rool.

Chaser says
Great analogy there, I found it quite humorous how Rare uses Donkey Kong as the peach style 'lady in distress' character. Moving on to gameplay, whilst Donkey Kong Country had minor little adjustments that worked for the greater good, the level design just didn't seem interesting enough to me. Where are the jungle trees? The swinging ropes? The toxic filling towers? I just think the level design is too much of a departure from the original mix, and not for better. The difficulty of the series is still excellent, this isn't a game you will breeze through over the weekend although it can become frustrating, I think it hits the optimum spot for a 'hard' type difficulty.

Budge007 says
I found that the original lacked a lot compared to this one, I know it's out of the jungle and everything but I must admit I had more fun beating this game than I did with DK's first SNES outing, even if I did suffer Dejavu in the process.

Graphics

On to the graphics, for the time, this game boasted the latest graphical display ever seen on a videogame machine. The characters and levels were created entirely with 3D sprites which actually worked really well with the title. Rare and Nintendo really made a smart move with the graphical aspects of the game.

Chaser says
Indeed they did, the game still uses the ACM (advanced computer modeling) equipment to pump out those glorious pre-rendered graphics from heaven. But have the graphics gone anywhere, or are they simply a rehash of the first two games?

Budge007 says
Actually, a few things did change. I did notice how the 3D effects of the ocean in the levels shot out into the distance and very cleanly as well, changing anything graphical with this game would have been a mistake and I'm glad they never changed it.

Chaser says
Yeah, Rare spent a huge fortune on SGI processing equipment to make the graphics and they were the most impressive 2D graphics I've seen on the SNES. It would’ve been a disaster to change the formula. The overworld had also been improved graphically and it was far more interactive as well. But as I said, we need more tweaks!

Sound

Talking about the sound, I found that this installment had the weakest soundtrack of the series, what did you think of it?

Budge007 says
Well I do agree with you on this, I enjoyed some of the sounds and music in this title but the original still stands out the most in my book.

Chaser says
Yeah the original was brilliant; crazy, funk, jungle-gorilla music is a hit in my books any day! Too bad they couldn't replicate the sound, sometimes it would trick my brain into thinking there was a CD in my cartridge.

Multiplayer

Budge007 says
Moving on, multiplayer didn't change much from the original game, you had the choice of Co-op play and Vs play modes as with the other titles.

Chaser says
True, the inclusion of a new mode would've been nice but the multiplayer is still top class even if there hasn’t been any change (this seems to be the case with a lot of things). The Co-op 'DK team' mode is a real standout and the more you work as a unit together, the more you succeed. What did you think of it?

Budge007 says
It was good, but if you were playing and were about to get attacked you could always swap to them and sacrifice them. Apart from that little situation, it was quite fun.

Chaser says
It's definitely not a mode for the ‘less agreeable’, thus the 'DK Contest' mode where the players are pitted against each other in a race to the end. I didn't enjoy this mode as much because it took too much time to progress and waiting for your turn can get annoying. One of the main themes of DKC3 is to play bite size pieces.

Mechanics

Donkey Kong doesn't make an appearance but Kiddy Kong, a fat, cuddly baby gorilla takes his place. He has some cool team-up game mechanics with Dixie such as when he is thrown, he can break through floors. Dixie has the same moves in her arsenal as her Donkey Kong Country 2 outing, although I think her 'glide' move is imbalanced and makes things too easy.

Budge007 says
Kiddy Kong was a hilarious character, I loved it when he got killed by an enemy and he would have a little spaz. Speaking of new replacements, let us not forget the elephant, which it would seem replaced Rambi the Rhino. Rambi was much more useful though, as the elephant can't really charge through enemies and it can only shoot water through its trunk. It also makes certain levels harder by being scared of the rats, but hey, it's a challenge that I think gave the game a little bit of edge over the originals.

In conclusion

Chaser says
Kiddy Kong was comedy gold, but sadly it’s time to wrap things up. Let’s give you readers an analogy; You dine at a fine restaurant and eat two main courses, but by the third you have grown tired and want a change of food. I think the series was stretched more than MJ's face by the third installment. If you've played the series, you already know what to expect and it's probably worth a play, if you haven't then this is the game for you! Any last thoughts Budge?

Budge007 says
Put simply, this game has somewhat stale gameplay styles but I think it does manage to reinvent them slightly.

Budge007 -
Graphics: 8/10 Very nice to look at but not a huge jump from the previous titles.
Sound: 9/10 Nice upbeat tunes and familiar sound effects.
Gameplay: 8/10 Controls smoothly and plays exactly as it always did.

Chaser -
Graphics: 8.5/10 Nice draw distance and water effects but fails to reinvent.
Sound: 7/10 Tunes feel too unfamiliar but nice sound effects.
Gameplay: 6/10 I’m starting to feel bored with the series although it is fun at times.

Overall
8