Yeah the worst level in DKC2 level is probably the spider level where you traverse a bunch of bottomless pits. Or the autoscroller that just scrolls up. The hot air balloon one is pretty bad too. Going slow just feels brutal in a game where the mechanics encourage momentum and speed.
5 Likes
Similarly, the water levels that were a nice pacing break in the first game become slow slogs in the second. I think they were a bit too enamored of the (very impressive) 3D and lighting tricks they could pull and kept stuffing them in.
2 Likes
To be fair, I was even impressed with the effects this time around. The levels of the ship look like textured polygons. It canāt be mode 7 because mode 7 only has a single background layer, so itās some like bespoke per-scanline background layer manipulation which looks really great. And on top of that the waterline has 3D perspective parallax too. Really fantastic stuff for the SNES.
I also thought the turning light thing was a really neat trick (which was also present in the dark cave level in DKC1). When your character turns around the cone of light gets bigger to simulate it turning towards the screen, and then thereās a frame where it flashes like the light was pointing right at the player. Itās very effective!
8 Likes
Yeah, I can see why ājust one moreā neat trick for a 5-minute level seemed worthwhile
1 Like
I think a lot of it is tone, too. DKC1ās water levels feel chill because they have the chillest (and probably most memorable) track in the game. And the stages are colorful and vibrant.
Contrast that to DKC2ās water levels which have a rather tense soundtrack and take place in a catastrophic and dimly lit sunken ship.
3 Likes
Definitely^
It feels more like a puzzle platformer. Less chaotic than 2.
Describing DKC2 as Kaizo is good. I hated it because it did expect you to die and laugh and stress out at all the instant death spikes.
I always stop 10 minutes into 3 when they intro the 4th kind of currency.
3 Likes
yeah, itās the first hint of the bad old PC Rare coming back and it presages the N64 Rare
even funnier when the context is this
9 Likes
I have weird conflicted feelings about FF6, because I have nothing but fond memories of it, and the combat made me swear off JRPGs for 25 years
4 Likes
That Pac Man 99 logo is so ugly on my home screen
1 Like
I think DCK3 only has one more collectable than 2, in the form of banana birds which you obtain through some trading sidequests and a pretty pointless simon game. Theyāre very superfluous and I donāt they you can actually spend them on anything, you just get a cutscene with a big banana bird if you collect them all.
Everything else has an analog in 2, thereās a general currency you use to pay for things from NPCs, thereās a currency you get from bonus levels that you use to unlock secret levels, and there are DK coins of which one is hidden in each stage.
still, 4 is at least a 50% bigger number of things than 3
8 Likes
yes true canāt argue with math
3 Likes
Also I am taking some observational notes for DKC3 because yeah this game is pretty weird. I do love how the map looks though. I think the animated water goes a long way in making it look way more alive than the previous games.
2 Likes
that overworld theme sets a nice sunny vacation tone
2 Likes
this is easily my favorite sentence Iāve seen on this internet website all day
1 Like
Whatās the platformer with the best bonus areas? (i.e. minigames or small platforming challenges hidden as secrets or side areas in bigger levels) Iām pretty confident itās not any of the DKC games.
Rayman Legends was v good for this
Rayman Legends is probably the best modern DKC game
3 Likes
I replayed Rayman Legends a couple years ago. Somehow I had forgotten all about the Eye of the Tiger level, so it was a fun surprise all over again.
1 Like
Iāve been playing that Operencia: The Stolen Sun and itās kind of a mixed bag
The good:
- The extraordinary feeling of rigid grid based movement with a completely free camera
- Enemies donāt respawn and each battle is pretty lively
- The setting is a bit less generic than youād expect
- Full respec anytime? I like it
- Some Chocobo hot and cold nonsense to find hidden treasures
The bad:
- Whedon quips
- Interface as bad as any 90s PC RPG, I still canāt deal with the menus, 6 hours in
- You can tell the systems are good but the game doesnāt communicate them well and trying to learn them is boring. What does Ā« frightened Ā» mean, what do any of these numbers and icons mean, etc. In battle I tend to just randomly unleash all the stuff I have then go back to a camp when we run out of juice. Dumb but it works even on hard mode
The ??? :
- The narrator from the Big Lebowski is one of the playable characters I think
5 Likes