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Saturday 26 January, 2008
GAMEPLAY
In the second play session I mostly came across more of the same but with slight variations on the theme. I worked through two more regions with very distinct themes. The first area had been a pirate ship. The next two were a volcano and a swamp respectively. Many areas also included animal helpers which could be ridden. These imbued me with new abilities such as flight or higher jumping.
I also had to fight bosses at the end of each region. While they were a nice change of pace and contributed to the themes of the region, they were rather predictable and not particularly difficult to beat.
DESIGN
One of Donkey Kong Country 2’s strong points is a cohesive style. Levels are very good at conveying an atmosphere. The levels inside of the volcano all have orangish hues. The music echoes like it might in a cave. In contrast, the swamp levels are composed with hues of greens with music infused with the sounds of chirping frogs. All of the music in the game is top notch and I actually find myself humming the tunes every once in a while.
The game also has several features which were innovative for the time. The game gives the player two characters to use. They each have slight variations to their abilities. Each also has the ability to pick up and throw the other across gaps. The level designs take advantage of these abilities well too.
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