Donkey Kong Country 3...gets a lot of unwarranted hate in my opinion. I think people think of the DKC series as DKC 2 is best, DKC is very good, and DKC 3 went off the rails at a distant 3rd. I have to disagree! I personally think that DKC 3 is the worst of the three, but is actually quite a good game.
There are a few things I don't terribly like about this game, but appreciate that they shot big in making changes, and think that they really succeeded in improving 2 and several areas (heresy, I know).
First, the bad. The visuals just don't match up to the second one. I know that they were in a new land, and so enemies would look different, but for the most part, they have the exact same enemies, just reskinned. This was pretty lazy design on their part, but would have worked if the new designs looked good. Most of the time, I find them to be a reduction in quality from the original designs.
Second, the music is just not very good, especially when compared with the great music from DKC, and the brilliant music from DKC 2. There are a few decent moments, but little about it is memorable.
Third, the end boss is simply horrible. It isn't challenging at all. It took me probably 30 or 40 takes to beat DKC 2's boss, and only 3 to beat DKC 3. I think I died more on that annoying snowman boss in DKC 3 than I did on the end boss.
But there is actually a lot to like about the game! The design of the main characters is good, and I find Kiddie Kong to be funny and to play really well as a replacement for the bruiser Donkey Kong. It was GREAT for them to embrace different character designs to force you to think strategically about which character you will use for a level, section of a level, or boss. This is just better design than the second.
Second, the big overworld map is great. It is beautiful to look at, and is far more interesting to explore than just going from point to point on a map like in DKC and DKC 2. The mechanic in which you need to find parts to get new vehicles or upgrade old ones in order to access new parts of the map is fun, and makes a lot more sense than simply climbing up a mountain like in the other 2.
Third, the level designs are extremely creative and fun. Each tends to feature a different gimmick to them that you have to master and use in increasingly challenging situations, which is fun. But the best part is that these gimmicks are rarely reused, making each level feel fresh and difficult, unlike other games that recycle level themes. Sometimes, these gimmicks are frustrating failures (THAT STUPID LEVEL WHERE YOU HAVE TO ESCAPE THE LIGHTNING BOLTS) but are far more likely to feel fun and fresh. After two previous games, bringing new ideas can be challenging, but Rare really did a great job on level design for this game.
Fourth, the bosses are just really fun, and I love that you can bring your animal companions with you to fight several of them. The bosses also follow the pattern of the levels, in that they're very creative and different than the bosses from the previous two DKC's.
So don't believe the hate. Give this one a try. It's not as good as the other two, but it's good enough to be a top 50 game on a VERY stacked console. And it's not too expensive (or you can just get a Pi, although I have it both ways). I'd give it an 8.7.
-TRO
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