Maybe Donkey Kong Country 3 just lost its charm since Nintendo was clearly pushing it’s true 3D hardware. That’s like a coffee table book about coffee tables. Look at this boss where you have to throw barrels into a barrel to have it burp it’s way backwards. The Boss battles definitely check all the boxes. This can give you a reason to go back and find stuff you missed and that worked well. There’s also the DKC coin you can get by picking up a barrel and figuring out a way to hit this enemy from behind. The hidden areas are in clever spots that you can explore and find.
It’s got all kinds of bonus levels and item pickups. When the bar was set so high with Donkey Kong Country 2, it’s clear to me that this is a step down. For starters, Rare didn’t use composer David Wise nearly as much in the soundtrack. The common theme with Donkey Kong Country 3 is that everything is not as memorable as the first two games. It doesn’t get more experimental than that! Then there’s Poisonous Pipeline which flips your left and right buttons around on the controller. I mean come on, this has to be one of the hardest Super Nintendo stages of all time. It’s got these somewhat random lightning shots that come down at you as you’re making your way through the level. If you’re up for a challenge, check out lightning lookout. Then there are these stages where you have to avoid these exploding barrels that chase after you. A stage where there’s reduced gravity, that’s really neat. Take this level where you’re climbing a hollow tree where the monkeys are throwing stuff at you. Yeah, Yeah I might be a little harsh on Donkey Kong Country 3 since it does offer some great levels that I haven’t seen before. Instead we got the slower Kiddy Kong who has that annoying cry every time he dies.
Diddy and Dixie worked so well in Donkey Kong Country 2, it should have been a no-brainer to take that formula and just, well give it more of the same.
Let’s take the main character Kiddy Kong. I didn’t want to shoot water at bad guys. But then you look under the hood and see how the Elephant stages really take away from what makes Donkey Kong Country great, it’s a great platformer. If you’re seeing Donkey Kong Country 3 for the first time, you’re probably thinking WOW these graphics are just as good, look at all the variety in the levels and whatnot. I’ll always have a soft spot for the Super Nintendo especially the later released games like Dixie Kong’s Double Trouble. Even though Nintendo was clearly focused on their new tech hardware in the Nintendo 64. I was so hyped for the third Donkey Kong Country game.