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

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
North American SNES box art
Developer(s)	Rare
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Director(s)	Tim Stamper
Producer(s)	Andrew Collard
Designer(s)	Andrew Collard Paul Weaver
Artist(s)	Mark Stevenson Neil Crook
Composer(s)	Eveline Fischer David Wise
Series	Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong
Platforms	SNES Game Boy Advance
Release date(s)	22 November 1996 SNES Game Boy Advance
Genre(s)	Platformer
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, known in Japan as Super Donkey Kong 3: Mystery of Kremis Island (スーパードンキーコング3 謎のクレミス島, Sūpā Donkī Kongu Surī: Nazo no Kuremisu Shima), commonly abbreviated to DKC3, is a 1996 platforming video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was the final installment in the Donkey Kong Country series to appear on that console. Donkey Kong Country 3 was released in late 1996 in North America, Europe and Japan. The game was ported to the Game Boy Advance in 2005 with a different soundtrack and added features. The game was released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in North America on 24 December 2007 (unavailable from 16 November 2012 until 26 February 2015), and the following day in Europe as a special Christmas update (was unavailable in Europe from 25 November 2012 until 30 October 2014) as well as for Wii U on 30 October 2014 in Europe, on 26 November in Japan, and in North America on 26 February 2015.

Gameplay

File:Donkey Kong Country 3 Shot 1.png

Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong in the level "Riverside Race", present in the second world.

Donkey Kong Country 3 is a platform game where players control Dixie Kong and her cousin Kiddy Kong through 48 levels. Many of the gameplay elements from previous games in the series see a return in this game, such as barrels, bonus levels which reward the player with special "bonus coins," DK coins, animal helpers and co-operative play. Both of the two playable Kongs have unique abilities, such as Dixie's ability to slow her descent by spinning her pony-tail, and Kiddy's ability to bounce across open water. The Kongs can also throw each other around levels to break cracked floors, hit switches or reach secret areas.

Levels in Donkey Kong Country 3 include a mixture of straight platforming, swimming and on-rails levels. They are based around several returning themes including forests, cliff-sides, factories and mountain tops, and a host of new themes, such as a pier and inside a mill. The level design is more diverse compared to its predecessors, with more complex puzzles and obstacles. For instance, in one level, Riverside Race, players are followed by a swarm of bees which can instantly kill them and must race to the end of the level against the clock. Replacing Banana Coins are Bear Coins, which are often found along the path of the level; they are also used as currency in the game. Every level has an enemy called a Koin; each of these enemies bears the DK Coin of their respective level, holding it as a shield. As these enemies always face towards the Kongs, they must be defeated by throwing a steel keg over them so it bounces off a wall behind them so it can strike them from behind. The game overworld is also more complex, allowing players to explore between each area instead of forcing them along a linear path. The game includes several vehicles such as a motorboat and hovercraft which can be used to traverse the overworld.

Several animal helpers return from previous games, including Enguarde the swordfish and Squitter the Spider. New helpers include Ellie the Elephant, who can suck up water in her trunk to spray enemies with, and Parry the Parallel Bird who flies directly above the players character and can be used to collect out-of-reach items. As in the previous game, players can directly control animals instead of just riding them.

Scattered around the Northern Kremisphere overworld are the Brothers Bear, a family of bears which provide the players with hints, key items or other services. Players can collect items in levels to trade with the Bears for other items or to help progress to later levels; one such kind of item is the Bear Coin, which functions very similarly to Banana Coins from the last game as a medium of exchange found in levels. Other members from the Kong family, such as Cranky Kong, Wrinkly Kong, Swanky Kong and Funky Kong can also be found around the overworld.

Plot

Characters

Further information: List of Donkey Kong characters

The player characters in this game are Dixie Kong, who is Diddy Kong's girlfriend, and her younger cousin Kiddy Kong.

Donkey Kong Country 3 sees the return of several characters from the previous games, but although neither Donkey Kong nor Diddy Kong makes a major appearance in the game, their kidnapping is the impetus of the story. Scattered about the overworld are various other characters: Wrinkly Kong appears in "save caves," which when entered let the player save their game; Funky Kong plays a key role in the game, as he supplies the player with vehicles to traverse the overworld; Swanky Kong, reappearing from Donkey Kong Country 2, lets players challenge Cranky Kong to a contest involving throwing balls at targets in exchange for Bear Coins; lastly, new to the series are the Brothers Bear, thirteen bears providing the player with services in exchange for Bear Coins, some of whom are instrumental for advancing through the game, such as Boomer. The main antagonist of the previous games, King K. Rool, reappears under the moniker of Baron K. Roolenstein. To defeat him in this game, the Kongs must rescue mysterious creatures called Banana Birds, which can be taken to Wrinkly's Save Cave for shelter.

Story

Sometime after the events of Donkey Kong Country 2, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong suddenly disappear in the Northern Kremisphere, which bears a geographical resemblance to Canada and Northern Europe. Dixie Kong sets off to find the pair and is joined by her cousin Kiddy Kong, aided by Funky Kong's vehicles to traverse the land. They reach Kastle KAOS, the lair of a mysterious robot named KAOS, who was thought to be the new leader of the Kremlings. After they destroy KAOS, the curtain in the background rolls up to reveal the robot was being controlled by Baron K. Roolenstein, the new moniker of King K. Rool. After the duo fights him, Donkey and Diddy pop out of the destroyed KAOS, implying they were being used to power the robot.

Dixie and Kiddy uncover the legendary, extinct volcanic island of Krematoa (whose name is a play on Krakatoa). They meet Boomer, an exiled member of the Brothers Bear, inside his bomb shelter. He agrees to blow up the rocks hindering the path in exchange for bonus coins. After Dixie and Kiddy find all bonus coins and five cogwheels hidden in Krematoa, the duo gives the cogs to Boomer, who puts them into a machine which reactivates Krematoa, revealing Knautilus, K. Roolenstein's personal submarine. The Kongs board the submarine and do battle against him in there, but he escapes once again.

Once the Kongs collect all DK coins, they give the coins to Funky, who in exchange gives them a gyrocopter. The duo then finds a mysterious creature called the Banana Bird Queen, who is bound to a barrier cast by K. Roolenstein. She tells the Kongs that she can only be freed if her separated children are returned to her, and that she will rid the land of K. Rool if she is freed. The Kongs find each of her children in a cave, where one of the birds is trapped in an egg which hatches when the Kongs complete a Simon-like memory game. After rescuing them and completing a large trade sequence between the Brothers Bear, the Kongs return the children to the Queen. The Queen and her children all sing, annihilating the barrier. The Queen proceeds to chase K. Rool, who is fleeing in a hovercraft. When she catches up to him, she drops a giant eggshell on top of him, which Dixie and Kiddy land on. The Kongs repeatedly knock on the shell, annoying K. Rool.

Development and release

Donkey Kong Country 3 was developed by Rareware and published by Nintendo, just like the last two games. Tim Stamper retook the role as director.

While the game sold over 2 million units worldwide, it has been believed that its sales were hurt by its November 1996 release, which was when the Nintendo 64 console had the majority of industry's attention.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was composed by Eveline Fischer and David Wise, with Fischer producing most of the game's music.

GBA port

As with the past two Donkey Kong Country games, a Game Boy Advance port was developed by Rare. The title omits the original's subtitle "Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!". Amongst the changes is Pacifica, a bonus world exclusive to the GBA version of the game, accessible halfway through. With Pacifica put into the game, the boss known as Barbos was moved there, and in its original place was a whole new boss, Kroctopus. The port also featured a new cheat menu and an all-new soundtrack composed by David Wise from the ground up, which replaced the original; however, Tim Stamper stated that he wanted to include both the original and the new soundtrack on the GBA version, but was limited by the small cartridge space. GameSpot said in their review that the music was in some cases better than the original, such as the boardwalk levels of Lake Orangatanga. The port also had a number of minor changes, including a brighter screen, around the time when the Game Boy Advance SP had the backlight refitted. Wrinkly Kong's save caves are also omitted; the first one was replaced by Wrinkly's retreat and the rest are replaced by Cranky's Dojo. Swanky's bonus games now feature a virtual reality where the player must collect stars. Some of the Brothers Bear locations and items were altered as well. This is also a side effect of Pacifica's addition, as an extra bear location was added.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate score Aggregator Score GameRankings 85% (SNES) 75% (GBA) Review scores Publication Score EGM 8.12 of 10 (SNES) Game Informer 9 of 10 (SNES) 8.5 of 10 (GBA) GamePro (GBA) GameSpot 7.8 of 10 (GBA) GameSpy (GBA) IGN 8.5 of 10 (SNES) 7.5 of 10 (GBA) Nintendo Power 8 of 10 (GBA) Play 9 of 10 (GBA) Yahoo! Games (GBA)

It was rated at 86% positive for SNES and a 75% for Game Boy Advance on GameRankings, the lowest of the five Donkey Kong Country games. However, Ben Bertoli of Kotaku argued that Donkey Kong Country 3 is the best game in the series, stating that "But when it comes down to which title in the series stands above the rest in an overall mix of gameplay variety, overworld/level design, music and atmosphere — Donkey Kong Country 3 takes the banana cake." Nintendo Life awarded the Virtual Console re-release of the SNES version 9 out of 10. Sales of the game were hurt by the release of the Nintendo 64, which came out only months earlier. Despite this, the game was still a commercial success, selling over 2.89 million copies worldwide, with 1.7 million copies sold in Japan and 1.12 million copies sold in the United States.

External links

• Official website at the Internet Archive
• Official website (Japanese)
• Official Nintendo Game Boy Advance website (Japanese)
• Official Nintendo Wii Virtual Console Minisite (Japanese)
• Official Nintendo Wii U eshop Minisite (Japanese)
• Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! at MobyGames