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

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
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
Platform(s)	Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console
Release date(s)	November 22, 1996 SNES NA November 22, 1996 JP November 23, 1996 PAL December 19, 1996 Game Boy Advance EU November 4, 2005 NA November 7, 2005 JP December 1, 2005 Virtual Console NA December 24, 2007 PAL December 25, 2007 JP October 21, 2008
Genre(s)	Platforming
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Rating(s)	ACB: G ESRB: K–A, E PEGI: 3+

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! is a platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo and was the third and final installment in the Donkey Kong Country trilogy until Nintendo announced Retro Studios would be developing the next installment, Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Nintendo Wii. It was released in late 1996 for the Super NES. The game was ported to Game Boy Advance in 2005 with a different soundtrack. The title was released on the Wii's Virtual Console service in North America on December 24, 2007, and the following day in Europe as a special Christmas update.

Overview

In the game Dixie Kong and her toddler cousin Kiddy Kong have to discover the location of missing vacationers Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, who went on a fishing trip. Meanwhile, the Kremling Krew returns under the leadership of the mysterious robot KAOS, whom K. Rool (now a mad scientist and under the name of Baron K. Roolenstein) is secretly controlling.

Unlike the previous installment, which featured a pirate high-seas adventure theme, this game has more of a mix between a mechanical theme (especially the technological island of Mekanos) and a generic theme similar to the first game, but unlike Donkey Kong Country's often tropical sceneries, this game features locations much more similar to northern maritime and continental climates, including the presence of evergreen and deciduous forests, snowy mountains, cliffs, waterfalls and a group of allies called Brothers Bear. Many of the Kremling Krew appear to be genetically altered or fused with objects, which hints at the mad scientist nature of the end boss, K. Roolenstein. The events of the game were located in the Northern Kremisphere, a previously unseen part of the DK Isles. Unlike ports of the original two games the GBA port of this game did not have an extra intro story.

Screenshot of the level Riverside Race, present in the second world.

Gameplay

The third installment in the Donkey Kong Country series tracks the player's progress through the game using a percentage similar to the first two games. Following the tradition of the others, the total possible percentage is 100% plus the installment number; in this case, a total of 103%, the highest of the series. An additional 2% can be achieved when the cheat TUFST (toughest) is applied, which turns off the checkpoint barrels and DK barrels, making the gameplay much more difficult. Returning also are the collectible DK coins that first appeared in the second game, with one hidden in each level. Unlike in Donkey Kong Country 2, rather than simply having to track down the hidden coin, the player must solve a small puzzle involving using a rolling barrel to strike an enemy using the coin as a shield from behind.

Dixie Kong retains essentially the same move set she had in the second game. Diddy Kong is replaced by Kiddy Kong, who plays more similarly to Donkey Kong. Kiddy also has a few new moves previously unseen in the series - he is able to repeatedly bounce along the surface of water during a roll by pressing the jump button with the correct timing, and he is able to throw Dixie significantly farther when he is carrying her on his shoulders than any other Kong family member combination. Dixie Kong can also ride on top of Kiddy Kong when he is thrown, much like riding on steel barrels.

The hub world is more open-ended when it comes to exploration, for the first time allowing the player to stray from set paths between established area or level markers. As a result, hidden areas can be found by traveling to the right location on the world map, also a first for the series. Most of these hidden areas have a collection of colored crystals that are arranged to mirror the button colors and locations on the traditional Super Nintendo controller; in a game very reminiscent of Simon, the player is required to repeat a series of tones that sound when a crystal lights up, using the buttons on the controller, to acquire hidden items. On the SNES, the buttons used are those that match the colors of the crystals (A B X and Y), while on GBA, the D-pad is used, matching the crystals positions on the screen, although the SNES colors remain. On virtual console the controls are exactly the same as the SNES and the control pad is identical to that of the SNES, just lacking the iconic colored buttons.

Also introduced in this game is an expanded inventory system, allowing the Kongs to hold up to four items at a time that can be exchanged for lives, coins, or other hidden items.

Soundtrack

DKC3's soundtrack was composed by Eveline Fischer and David Wise, although Fischer produced most of the music in the game.^[1]

GBA re-release

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. This differs from other GBA ports like Yoshi's Island, where new stages only become accessible after the game's completion. With Pacifica put into the game, the boss known as Barbos was moved there, and in its place was a whole new boss, Kroctopus. The port also featured a new cheat menu and an all-new soundtrack composed by David Wise^[1][2] from the ground up, which replaced the original. GameSpot said in their review that the music was in some cases better than the original, such as the boardwalk levels of Lake Orangatanga.^[3] 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 scores
Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	85%[4] (SNES) 75%[5] (GBA)
Review scores
Publication	Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly	8.12 of 10[4] (SNES)
Game Informer	9 of 10[4] (SNES) 8.5 of 10[6] (GBA)
GamePro	[7] (GBA)
GameSpot	7.8 of 10 [3] (GBA)
GameSpy	[8] (GBA)
IGN	8.5 of 10[9] (SNES) 7.5 of 10[10] (GBA)
Nintendo Power	8 of 10[6] (GBA)
Play Magazine	9 of 10[6] (GBA)
Yahoo! Games	[11](GBA)

The game went to sell 2.89 million copies worldwide, with 1.7 million copies sold in Japan, and has a 86% for SNES and a 75% for Game Boy Advance on GameRankings, the lowest of the three Donkey Kong Country games. The game was significantly hurt by the newer generation Nintendo 64 console, which was released only several months before.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Rareware.com: Scribes – February 9, 2006 at Internet Archive [David Wise composed "Dixie Beat", "Crazy Calypso", "Wrinkly's Save Cave", "Get Fit A-Go-Go", "Wrinkly 64", "Brothers Bear", and "Bonus Time" (along with "Bonus Win" and "Bonus Lose"); and Eveline Fischer composed the rest of the soundtrack.]
2. ^ "Donkey Kong Country 3, for Game Boy Advance". Moby Games. http://www.mobygames.com/game/gameboy-advance/donkey-kong-country-3-dixie-kongs-double-trouble. Retrieved December 18, 2010. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Provo, Frank (2005-11-14). "Donkey Kong Country 3 Review for Game Boy Advance - GameSpot". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/gba/action/donkeykongcountry3/review.html. Retrieved 2009-10-10. 
4. ^ ^{a b c} "Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble for SNES - GameRankings". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/snes/588284-donkey-kong-country-3-dixie-kongs-double-trouble/index.html. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
5. ^ "Donkey Kong Country 3 for Game Boy Advance - GameRankings". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/gba/928294-donkey-kong-country-3/index.html. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
6. ^ ^{a b c} "Donkey Kong Country 3 Reviews and Articles for Game Boy Advance - GameRankings". Game Rankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/gba/928294-donkey-kong-country-3/articles.html. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
7. ^ Burner, Rice (2005-10-07). "Review : Donkey Kong Country 3 (Game Boy Advance) - from GamePro.com". GamePro. http://www.gamepro.com/article/reviews/49650/donkey-kong-country-3/. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
8. ^ Stratton, Bryan (2005-11-10). "GameSpy: Donkey Kong Country 3". GameSpy. pp. 1–2. http://gba.gamespy.com/gameboy-advance/donkey-kong-country-3/665921p1.html. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
9. ^ Thomas, Lucas (2008-01-04). "IGN: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble Review". IGN.com. http://retro.ign.com/articles/848/848225p1.html. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
10. ^ Harris, Criag (2008-11-08). "IGN: Donkey Kong Country 3 Review". IGN.com. http://gameboy.ign.com/articles/665/665438p1.html. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 
11. ^ Saltzman, Marc (2005-11-08). "Donkey Kong Country 3 Review / Game Boy Advance Game Reviews - Yahoo! Video Games". Yahoo!. http://videogames.yahoo.com/gba/donkey-kong-country-3/review-411058. Retrieved 2009-10-06. 

External links

• Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! at MobyGames