Which Donkey Kong Country Game is the Hardest?

[@TempoKong]

Saying that Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest has no level variety is wild and blatlantly false.

[@BuddhaJesusSoul]

For real! What the heck!?

[@TempoKong]

@@BuddhaJesusSoul Honestly there's a lot of things that bothered me in that video but this one really annoyed me, it's like he's struggling to find something bad in DKC2 and found something that was litteraly a strength of the game...

[@tetermc]

Then why do so many levels look and feel the same?

[@BuddhaJesusSoul]

@@tetermc have you played the game man? Are you saying there are too many platform levels in a platform game?

[@TempoKong]

@@tetermc This is simply not the case. Yes, levels reuse assets, like every platformers of that time. DKC2 has 14 themes for 39 levels, which are distributed at a rate of 3 levels per theme, with the exception of the two rollercoaster themes. Meanwhile, DKC1 only has 12 themes for 33 levels, which may sounds like a slightly better ratio until you remember that the jungle theme is used for 4 levels, the aquatic theme is used for 5 levels, and the cave theme is used for 5 levels. Yes, sometimes there's the theme that's only used 1 or 2 times that break the pace, but this is at a cost of no new level theme being added past the first level of the 5th world. DKC2 always add something new to each world (except the one that only has one level, guess why). DKC3 is no better: it has a grand total of 40 levels, yet it only has 12 themes. From the 5th world onward, the game only adds one theme per world, and the most boring (caves, jungle...) ones are generally added on the latter half. It's also worth adding that the level themes in DKC1 and DKC3 are way more similar to each other than in DKC2. In DKC1 you have a lot of forest-themed levels (the jungle, the spruce forest, the treetop..) and especially a LOT of cave-themed levels (the caved, the mines, the mine cart, the mines.. again). DKC3 is slightly more original but they rarely break the mold. DKC2 in another hand? The worst thing I can say is that it has 3 ship level themes... which all look and play fundamentally different. One being classic, one being vertical and one being aquatic. And then you have volcanoes. Diamond mines. Marsh. Bee hives. Haunted forest. Castle. Jungle. Bramble. Haunted house. Roller coaster. Saying that the game has no level variety per look is just absolutely insane, especially compared to the other games, and no amount of bad faith will make me believe it. So then there's the "they all feel the same to play" which... did we play the same game? DKC and especially the 2 is crazily creative and always throw a new thing to each level past the first world that makes each level feels unique. So you know what? Let's do it: Gangplank Galleon: 1) Pirate Panic: tutorial level 2) Mainbrace Mayhem: tutorial vertical level 3) Gangplank Galley: tutorial level that introduces bouncing enemies 4) Lockjaw's Locker: tutorial aquatic level 5) Topsail Trouble: tutorial level about navigation between ropes Crocodile Cauldron: 6) Hot-Head Hop: level that plays between green and red head floating crocodile head in lava (the red makes you jump) 7) Kannon's Klaim: level where you must navigate between arrow barrels 8) Lava Lagoon: level where Clapper must temporarily turn the lava into water 9) Red-Hot Ride: you must navigate between balloons that move upon lava 10) Squawks's Shaft: introduces Squawks, you must navigate between Krooks Krem Quay: 11) Barrel Bayou: level constructed around timed turning barrel 12) Glimmer's Galleon: aquatic level in the dark where Glimmer must help you 13) Krockhead Clamber: you must navigate between cattails and timed crocodile head 14) Rattle Battle: testes your ability to play Rattly 15) Slime Climb: a vertical level where water is going up and there's an invisible Lockjaw in the water 16) Bramble Blast: barrel navigation level between dangerous brambles Krazy Kremland: 17) Hornet Hole: makes you from honey to honey 18) Target Terror: a minecart level where you must get the green barrel and avoid the red barrel (huge skill issue if you lose at this one, except if you're colorblind) 19) Bramble Blast: make you navigate in a maze of brambles with Squawks 20) Rickety Race: a whole race in roller-coaster 21) Mudhole Marsh: makes you avoid walls of mini-neckies, and throws at you a lot of cat'o'9-tails and Kannon. It's probably the weakest concept of the game, I'll give you that (tho it's a good level) 22) Rambi Rumble: testes your ability to play Rambi and also throws a huge Zinger at you. Gloomy Gulch: 23) Ghostly Grove: you must travel between ropes that quickly disappear 24) Haunted Halls: minecart level where you're followed by a ghost and you must take the good barrels so the timer can be more and more generous and advantageous to you 25) Gusty Glade: you must walk around horizontal wind 26) Parrot Chute Panic: a level centered around Quawks, which are Squawks variant that can't fly or throw peanuts. It's very fun to speedrun too 27) Web Woods: testes your ability to play Squitter K. Rool's Keep: 28) Arctic Abyss: testes your ability to play Enguarde 29) Windy Well: you must navigate through vertical wind (that don't play like in Gusty Glade) 30) Castle Crush: autoscroller where the ground moves 31) Clapper's Cavern: you must use Clapper to temporarily turn water into frozen ice 32) Chain Link Chamber: navigation between ropes, but this time the difficulty has been turned to maximum 33) Toxic Tower: toxic water that slowly but surely goes upward The Flying Krock: 34) Screech's Sprint: testes your ability to play as Squawks while putting you in a race against a bird Lost World: 35) Jungle Jinx: you must navigate from jumping wheel to another 36) Black Ice Battle: vertical level you play backward 37) Klobber Karnage: level centered around Klobbers and a lot of different barrels 38) Fiery Furnace: level centered about timed barrels you must move around 39) Animal Antics: testes your ability to play as each animal buddies. Also there's the Squawks section where you must navigate between brambles while there's horizontal wind. No, it's not impossible, I have a friend who struggled to do Bramble Scramble and yet did this section first try. I also managed to do this whole section with Squitter, which is one of the hardest things you can do with this game. So to conclude, every single levels throw something different at the table, and often more interestingly than in the other DKC SNES game (like, DKC1 has as one its final level a level where the gimmick is just "mist"). And obviously, it's miles better than games like Super Mario World. Now I think I proved that the statement of "levels looking and feeling the same" is just plainly wrong, especially in comparison to the other games.

[@charl2182]

Aesome video, but I don't know if deaths are the most accurate metric to determine difficulty when you consider that some games are much longer than others. Like, if you die the same amount of times on DKC1 as you do on Returns, when Returns is a significantly longer game, that probably means that Country 1 is more difficult.

[@Legend-of-Kai]

That's a good point. Also the order in which I played them probably also had an effect. By the time I got to the later games I had already played through 3 other games so I was locked in you could say. That being said I like to add it as it at least provides something measurable. But I agree, there's probably a better way to gauge difficulty.

[@charl2182]

@@Legend-of-Kai Yeah I'd say definitely include the deaths but probably come up with a separate ranking based solely on your own opinion.

[@MarioMastar]

@@Legend-of-Kai In fairness, I do recall the first time I played these games as a kid and a lot of the issues you mention are issues I had as well. Now I can play them in my sleep (even 100%ing) but a large part of what makes the earlier games so hard is they don't give you nearly as many lives as the Retro games (which give you lives for breathing, I think I capped out on lives despite dying way more than the other games, but those K Levels are BRUTAL). I think capturing the elements that first time players would recall from thier experiences did the video justice. Granted I played DKC2 to death while I never really finished 1 and 3 as a kid (just didn't have interest, 2 was my first one and was superior to 1 in every way and I didn't like 3 much either due to the more stop and go gameplay that generally punished moving fast) I do recall dying a ton in 2, and that's before even going for 100%. The Retro games are "harder" but just a lot less "punishing" thanks to the numerous checkpoints and lives letting you try again really quickly and being able to save everywhere meaning you don't have to redo entire worlds because you game overed, but that meant the game could afford to be a lot more punishing with the level design (on top of the levels being far far longer) So giving up mid level (or presumably getting a game over) would be a lot more brutal if they didn't drown you in lives.

[@Ciara_Foxx]

Well since he has played these before this adds an X factor of his experience level. If he has beaten DKC Twice in his lifetime, but DKC3 thrice and his deaths are higher in DKC it doesn’t necessarily mean 1 is harder because he is just better at 3. This also means if he plays these in a marathon, the games he plays later in the marathon he will play better as he has improved his skills on the entries played prior. If he plays DKC2 and then DKC 3 and his deaths are higher in DKC 2 but his playtime shorter in DKC3 we cant just do deaths/playtime because his skillset is more refined on his playthrough of 3 since he got better by playing DKC2 as the very nature of good platformers is a fair skill curve. Honestly we can nitpick his methodology for days because the only real way to rate these difficulties would be an expansive study involving groups of experienced gamers and groups of nongamers who’s first and only game they played is the DKC they were assigned. Documented various metrics across the inexperienced and experienced; then examining trends across that data. Deaths is a perfectly acceptable metric for 1 individual playing through the franchise.

[@TBoneTony]

7:05 Welcome to 90s British humor. RAREWARE were notorious for their crude humor in their kid friendly games. That was part of the fun for playing RARE games as a teenager at the time.

[@lilaclunablossom]

It literally spits out nuts and it doesn't sound like a euphemism whatsoever. Jeez you dorks need to get laid

[@gdassspar6nar]

Goddamn kazooie

[@MarioMastar]

The fact that Conker's bad fur day exists on N64 is nothing short of ultimate. I mean Nintendo was ALWAYS known for being uber kid friendly and there they have one of the raunchiest games arguably in history. That cow sh8tting scene in full view... there will NEVER be another game that has that. XD

[@aph613]

Considering that they are British can someone please tell me HOW TF DID LED ZEPPELIN NOT SUE RARE INTO NOTHINGNESS? I can think of 2 times where they BLATANTLY ripped off Kashmir (GoldenEye 007 Main Menu Theme and Nuts and Bolts from DKC3)

[@Kwioresma]

​@@aph613music copyright and licensing is a wild thing my guy. You can sample and alter melodies and themes very obviously without anyone being able to punish you for it.

[@dovewon8258]

We need 1 more Donkey Kong Country game from Retro Studios so the Modern Trilogy can be completed!.

[@darkaoshi27]

Oh yeah! That'd be awesome!!! And it should star Kiddy Kong!!!

[@juanqarlos94]

Donkey Kong Country: Arctic Meltdown

[@MarioMastar]

Make it have a city world like Donkey Kong Land. My boy STARTED in a city, and the ONE time he goes through a city stage is in an often forgotten gameboy remake of the first game. I'd really love to seem them try more exotic or even man made themes for stages like a modern metropolis, a space station, a carnival, etc. Make him save his son DK Jr from an evil "Mario" like the plot of Donkey Kong Jr arcade. (only to find it's all a misunderstanding and Mario was really trying to help Jr but DK thought he was back to abuse him). That'd be really cool.

[@normal7877]

​@@MarioMastar The new donkey kongs have a heavy emphasis on beautiful backgrounds and level designs, so I doubt they make a city stage. Personally I think it would be bad, but maybe they make a good city world like the factory.

[@Phredreeke]

7:21 you can go back and save at Candy's at any time while you're still in the world (or have access to an earlier world through Funky's flight), this isn't SMB3 where locations on the map are one and done.

[@christianstenger7280]

This baffled me as well

[@MarioMastar]

He addresses that later in the video. He says "You can use Funky to save yourself a couple of levels, but the problem is you still have to do all 5 Gorilla Glacier levels in a row without game overing before you can save again (as Funky's flights is often just before the boss), which is his complaint.

[@diegojara2687]

one thing to note is that returns and tropical freeze have the temple levels when you collect all kongs letter and it's in that part where the difficulty is way higher

[@clipmaster6941]

+ Mirror / Hard mode

[@k-leb4671]

Yeah, if you 100% those games, then they definitely become the most difficult.

[@OChunks]

My fingers hurt after beating Bopopolis...

[@GhostCastle88]

I’m sure someone said… I’m Halfway through the vid - but Squitters webs can be angled with up or down when shooting. It took forever as a kid to get that and then it was so much better.

[@Sam_T2000]

_Donkey Kong Country_ > 2D _Mario_

[@mrtree1368]

On the snes the dkc trilogy beats super mario world by alot . Mario just has more games that eventually stack up a little higher but rpg isn't even a platformer

[@Sam_T2000]

@@mrtree1368 - Mario obviously has had many more games, and many more opportunities to be great… but as far as 2D platformers go, _DK _*_Country_* is king… but _Jungle Beat_ and those sort of spin-offs, no so much. and _Mario 64_ is definitely better than _Donkey Kong 64…_ but I think it’s a shame they haven’t made more games for DK. I think a semi-open world 3D platformer similar to _Sonic Frontiers_ would work well for Donkey Kong 🤙

[@ShadowWizard224]

⁠@@Sam_T2000 Donkey Kong Country also has some of the best music ever.

[@Sam_T2000]

@@ShadowWizard224 - very true… I often listen to the music just for fun 👌

[@WCircuit7224]

Donkey Kong Country > Kirby > 2D Mario

[@Heliodorian]

DKC 2 is the best one in the franchise. Playing it back then for the first time was an incredible experience. No social media , no cheats , no spoilers just pure discovery and exchanging info with your friends. Best time ever!

[@a_b897]

13:30 I’ve loved DKC2 for over 20 years and never noticed that it’s “Diddy’s Kong Quest” not “Diddy Kong’s Quest” until now, amazing title and I feel very foolish

[@PyroPikmin500VivianShadowGirl]

When I was young, I thought of that too! DKC2 is my childhood game and honestly laughed when I got a good look at the title... Also I raged quit Tropical Freeze due to Fruit Factory... I lost all of my lives to that level expressly to that level alone

[@TheSilentflight]

Quick note on the save points in DKC1: You can go back to the save points at any time and it will save your current level progress.

[@Toadiferous]

I was not expecting the video to be this long when I originally opened it, but I'm glad I found it! Regardless of if your personal experience/ranking differs from any of us, it's still a really great analysis of what makes each game special in general.

[@LU_Speedruns]

What a fun video to watch through, that was really well done! As someone who first played Returns in the series but didn't quite finish it due to the last world and then proceeded to put way too many hours into Tropical Freeze and then first Speedrunning every level in both modes and then the entire game I found your takes quite interesting. In my opinion, after also playing through DKC1, 2 and 3, tropical freeze is the natural evolution of masterful gamedesign that has the best balance for all playstyles (casually, 100%, speedrunning) which I've rarely ever seen since then. I found Returns to be quite brutal at times and at the end too overloaded and there honestly wasn't as much variety as in tropical freeze, due to too many levels with the same elements (especially too many minecart and rocket barrel autoscrollers) and Diddy and the environment (e.g. no swimming or other mechanic, the blowing feature didn't do too much strategy/gameplay wise imo) didn't allow for too many fresh concepts as in tropical freeze. As with the OG trilogy, I honestly like them but the gamedesign feels very outdated, because they feel like old-school arcade games that feel just long due to their difficulty. Due to technical limitations that (also sometimes on purpose) tried to obscure and limit your sight made these game more difficult than necessary. The saving feature is probably the worst I've ever seen in any game (only DKC1 in particular) because the level order, placement of checkpoint areas and funky's flights was 100% on purpose to make you get a game over multiple times, which results in playing already beaten and difficult levels with a reset life count over and over again , which some find fun but I found unnecessary. Boss wise, most of the bosses in the original trilogy weren't pretty innovative and rather basic from today's standpoint (aside from some exceptions of course), where Returns and tropical freeze made the most significant improvement, having a variety of clever phases and patterns. And no, I'm not saying that the original trilogy was bad, I actually really enjoyed them. However, this was how games were often made back then I think, which is because I think people shouldn't be too fixated on difficulty, difficulty should be like in tropical freeze be dependent on the playstyle and involve ways to change ones strategies for an adaptive difficulty (e.g. different modes, Kongs from barrels, items for the hardcore casuals, risk and reward decision making, varyingly difficult routes for speedruns ). This in my opinion is the perfect difficulty balance that should both satisfy pros and pure casuals. This is also why I didn't enjoy the difficulty system in the old games as there isn't a lot you can control (except intentional speedrunning design that allows a higher skill ceiling for better players, maybe abusing saves and funky's flights for less backtracking). What I like about tropical freeze after speedrunning every level with both Funky and the other Kongs is that Funky Mode actually makes this game more interesting, with many unintentional and really precise routes and strats through levels, that require creative double jumping (techniques) because the game was designed to be played with multiple styles from the beginning (except from some found hyperspeed exploits found over the years that sometimes require near perfect, sometimes even near-frame perfect inputs in a row but even there it always feels like the game was always build that way). Therefore I would say, that for casuals, Funky is easier, but for speedrunners, it pretty much raises the skillset and that even more than in original mode (and no, Funky is actually slower than the other Kongs, there is a high-risk, high-reward system, where switching Kongs mid run, especially to Diddy and Cranky (Dixie is the worst Kong for the speedrun most of the times) instead of Funky is actually the fastest way to play the game and therefore allows many routes). I also agree, that Dixie is too overpowered and therefore overused by most casual players. What Retro should've done there is to make only one certain Kong be available and that less frequently throughout some stages. Then the shop would've had a more strategical role for people who struggle for planning the most optimal barrels instead (oh and the items are very OP, giving you up to 25 more hearts in Funky Mode, if you have 75 coins on your hands). Another solution would've been to only allow one certain Kong (like Cranky) for a section or entire level but it's understandable why that wasn't done because of 2 Player.

[@warioland523]

DKC2 is a very difficult game but it got easy for me but only because I played it so many times. For an instance the final level of World 1 introduces some tricky rope climbing while avoiding wasps that patrol the ropes forcing you to jump and climb with some form of accuracy. The game only gets more difficult with World 2 incorporating various gimmicks and somewhat tricky platforming sections and it only gets more difficult from there. The game falsely leads you into a false sense of security since some of the early levels like Pirate Panic are easy but this is probably a deliberate design choice to make it easy to grind Banana Coins and 1up Balloons to be prepared for the game's more trying sections. And if you are into completion there's the secret 8th world where all the gloves come off and you get introduced to some of the most brutal levels in the game. Hope you like thorns combined with wind and wasps. Because you are going to die a lot to that on a first playthrough.

[@themanwithsauce]

Really good breakdown/review of the series! I like that you didn't just summarize each game in 3 minutes and say it's hard or not hard, and broke it down almost level by level. It's nice to hear the train of thought and helps as a viewer understand why you came to the conclusions you came to. I saw someone else bring up that death counters alone might not be the best way to "measure" this, and I think this style of commentary renders any "measure" of difficulty to be a bit redundant. You back up your statements with 15-20 minutes of gameplay experiences so I think you're good if you want to say "I may have died more in this game, but the game had great controls and explained its puzzles and gameplay well so I rate it as easier than this other game". I would prepare for the pushback on saying DKC2 has worse level variety, though. It's not just that it's a difficult statement to agree with (the way you word it makes it sound like you just wanted more varied tilesets. Like you're saying the lava level where you get squitter and are jumping on croc heads is the same as the one where you're on hot air balloons) but the "fanbase" of the series has only recently stopped hating on DKC3 due to having "too many gimmicks" and favoring the "purer, more skill based structure" of DKC2's levels. I can see that some worlds in 2 do have levels that just feel like a direct sequel to a previous one in the same world, but it really does have a LOT more variety of mechanics than 1, and 3 perhaps threw out too many gimmicks and tilesets in some worlds which reduces the "theme" of each world. So a bit of column A, bit of column B....but overall not a statement I think was necessary to go back to again and again about 2. It felt more like you wrote the line and then spent time in the video trying to justify it rather than it coming out naturally from you describing your experience.

[@haberbro5282]

When I was a kid both returns and tropical freeze walled me at the second world as they came out, which was absolutely brutal. I wasn't good enough to beat either of them until I was a little older.

[@SuperMSL]

I think overall I find Tropical Freeze to be the hardest with 2 being a fairly close second. Especially when it comes to going for full completion, those 2 games can both be an absolute nightmare. And in TF's case, I'm only talking about all KONG letters, puzzle pieces and all levels beaten. If you wanna add time trials and hard mode on top of that, then it's easily the hardest one overall by a wide margin IMO. 1 is definitely the easiest I'd say. It has some hard moments, but it's pretty tame compared to the harder moments from the other games. And Returns' difficulty fluctuates a lot. It can be either really hard or really easy. That said, I feel like it really starts to pick up during the second half. 3's difficulty for me generally comes from the completion side of things. Beating the levels on their own aren't too bad (for the most part), but when it comes to finding all the bonuses etc, and beating Krematoa, it starts to become way harder. Also we need a new Donkey Kong game already PLEEAAASSSEEE!!! I'll take a DK64 2 at this point. I just wanna play as the funneh monkehs again. ;(

[@pferdesalami69]

didnt expect to watch the full hour of this but the video got me hooked somehow nice work man

[@MarioMastar]

It's a trip down memory lane.

[@LeroyHGuitar]

Donkey kong country returns is slower paced in most areas, but the secret kong letter stages are a lot more fast paced and hard, especially the one with the platform that moves along the rails and you have to select the switches to build the path

[@WeegeeKong]

Clapping Necky's Nuts.

[@thoughtstorn854]

😂

[@TheStarGhost]

Off topic, but unexpected spongebob reaction clips will always make me laugh 😂

[@djpegao]

Every mine cart level is a pain in the ass to deal with. They can range from ridiculously easy to nightmarishly hard in a couple of seconds.

[@ttewelow1]

Donkey Kong Country Returns DESPERATELY needs a remake on the Nintendo Switch

[@Ultimabuster92]

A simple port would make me happy already...

[@killedbycrit]

it already got a 3ds port and knowing nintendo's seeming policy of one remake per game unless it was on the nes or game boy it's stuck forever on wii and 3ds

[@ttewelow1]

@@killedbycrit That would be a royally stupid decision considering the success that the Nintendo Switch has seen. Not to mention the astronomically high demand for a new Donkey Kong game of any type at this point

[@ttewelow1]

@@Ultimabuster92 I only said a remake because I thought there were features that Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze had that Donkey Kong Country Returns didn't have, but I was wrong. The only thing I would really modify in a port is the ability to swim in the game, but other than that, it pretty much has the same features that its sequel has

[@السراقالمجهول]

no?

[@Kazmahu]

21:30 It's a collection of factors. Squitter can only have 2 web platforms active at a time. If you deploy a third, it culls the one Squitter stood on last, as of the moment the third web was shot. So you were sabotaging yourself by launching the next platform while jumping forward - you need to land on the next platform, then make another.

[@rafresendenrafresenden.1644]

Nintendo please port Country returns to the switch!!!!!

[@raylewis60]

Update: so yea they added the new levels from the 3DS version Lowkey wish they also added Dixie, Cranky (Tawks could take his spot at the shop just like in Tropical Freeze) and Funky as playable characters

[@CommanderTartarSauce2576]

YES

[@GameFreakSucks]

I’d say they should make a new dkc game. It’s been 10 years since tropical freeze

[@manupm9161]

Or make a new game...

[@rafresendenrafresenden.1644]

@@manupm9161 but make the port first

[@Hilversumborn]

I'm really hoping for a new Donkey Kong game.

[@internetera1523]

DKC Returns came out in 2010,14 years after DKC 3.We are now 14 years removed from it,so we could very well have a DKC Re-Returns.Something to think about

[@mrtree1368]

They need to make a new dkc game that looks more like the original trilogy. I want lot more zoomed in less on screen

[@swootproonce634]

But tropical Freeze came out in 2014, so we have to wait until 2028

[@Zephhi]

It's literally been 10 fucking years

[@swootproonce634]

Yeah, 10. Not 14

[@awkwardsilence4427]

If we’re basing difficulty on deaths, then DKCR would technically be my hardest game due to dying over 90 times _in a single level._ But that was largely due to me misinterpreting the controls of the rocket riding; due to how you started up the rocket (pressing A multiple times before it gets going), I thought it meant that it was controlled by rapid button presses (with how quickly you mash determining the vertical height of the rocket) instead of just holding the button down. You have _no idea_ how much harder doing it that way makes those stages. The worst part was that I only discovered the correct way to play those stages on like the second to last rocket stage.

[@megasuperbonus]

These videos are so good!! Always excited when one drops!

[@qwertygutierrez1293]

Tropical freeze optional levels and the secret hard mode are extremely challenging beating these long ass levels with no checkpoints and 1 heart is painful

[@noodleman4555]

Returns personally gave me the most trouble overall. Smooth sialing until the cave world and then it all went down hill from there.

[@boomstickYT]

Never cook again with the squirt boss segment

[@Legend-of-Kai]

LOL stove is forever off don't worry

[@WTheW_gaming]

For the record, I also thought DKC 2 was the hardest and that 3 was easier and 1 was even easier (though still challenging). (I don't know how my brother and I got through DKC 2 when we were younger; more recently, when I played through the game as an adult, I used the Switch's rewind feature extensively.) I never got a chance to play the newer DKC games, so I can't speak to their difficulty or lack thereof. Overall, great video; the sheer amount of work you put into making this should not go unappreciated!

[@ManlyKiri]

Great video! As a lover of the DK series I was really happy to see a ranking video for it. Imo DK2 is the hardest in the SNES trilogy due to new mechanics and especially because of the secret levels. Also Stickerbush Symphony still my favorite OST ever, glad you mentioned how good it is!!

[@ohno5559]

I'm playing through DKCR currently and there is absolutely no way that Cave is the second hardest world. The biggest difficulty jump is from Cave to Forest, and every world after Cave is harder than Cave. It's harder than the ones that come before it but that's to be expected.

[@TheBeird]

Returns for me I only managed to beat it after mastering Tropical Freeze

[@moosedude8918]

It’s weird because I grew up playing returns and I used to be able to clear any level I wanted to because it was so easy to me. Now the game is as hard as the others to me

[@MintyMonke7VR]

It's definitely donkey Kong country returns, I've spent so much time on just one level sometimes then compared to the other games Edit: then again I've never played DKC Tropical Freeze, and I own DKCR on the 3DS only, so that's probably why I think it's the hardest

[@mstrax0258]

You didn't really finish DKCR tho, collecting all the KONG letters from each stage unlocks a bonus temple level for each world, all with the same ancient theme. They are the most difficult levels in the game, and are also very well designed providing a good level of challenge with a satisfying flow, rewarding a higher-paced approach. I really enjoyed those.

[@Trasc066]

I miss K.Rool as a boss, thought he'd be the next Bowser

[@ethanknapp-ek8rl]

Id say that DKC Returns was more harder for me in general the K levels inside of the game are quite difficult and require a lot of precise jumping, and dying over and over. 1 example is the world 5-K level I died around 20 times inside of it and had to buy more lives.

[@aquinoima]

Hear me out. Nintendo Switch 2, new Donkey Kong Game…. W/ the return of King K. Rool! Talk about an amazing Buisness move.

[@knuddelmops1094]

you forgot the Friut Temple levels in Returns. those are hard af

[@GMKGoji01]

The real enemy that made Donkey Kong Country Returns hard was the pig with glasses. He has bats and spiders!

[@snacpop]

Extremely good content. Your channel will get huge very soon I’m sure

[@EHShinobi]

Honestly, half of my love of the games comes from the fantastic minds of Kirk Hope and the rest of the audio team. Making and putting in some of the best gaming bangers of the first 20 years, even when Halo dropped its iconic choral piece, it kept me for a while before ultimately taking a back seat once more to the genius that was the DKC Soundtrack. Even now, with all the technology of today, very few games have the sort of soundtrack to reel you in. Then the tight gameplay while frustrating was fair and a lot of fun as a child but easy now.

[@nbboxhead3866]

With Co-op, Returns and Tropical Freeze both become way harder when death count is your metric of difficulty. Sure, you only need P1 or P2 alive at any given time to beat the level, and you can come back if you're dead at any moment if you have lives left, but you each use a life whenever you die, you can easily leave each other behind if you're not careful, you go back to having 2 health each and the vehicles and Rambi are controlled by both of you at the same time, and all the loot is split between both of you so you use more lives and healing. It's way more fun with Co-op, and the game is balanced in a way that makes it the best experience imo, unlike the original trilogy which prioritizes solo play and has you take turns for Co-op.

[@Random_idk_whoknows]

Tropical freeze will always be the hardest one for me, and here's my actual ranking: 1.- Tropical freeze 2.- Returns 3.- Diddy's kong-quest and Dixie's double trouble 4.- Donkey Kong Country

[@Sam_T2000]

_DKC Returns_ is the most difficult, and possibly my least favorite of the franchise… though it’s the only one I haven’t completed… and I think my bias might have more to do with the Wii controller, rather than the gameplay. I’ve been meaning to give it a try on the 3DS 👍

[@SomeRPGFan]

I 100% completed the original trilogy but I am finding Tropical Freeze impossible! I barely made it into the second world.

[@Random_idk_whoknows]

@@Sam_T2000 The mirror mode is a fricking torture

[@Random_idk_whoknows]

@@SomeRPGFan Tropical freeze has the hardest levels in the whole saga imo

[@tombruncker7013]

Returns is easily the most difficult game for me although I wouldn’t classify any of them as particularly easy games. The first and third DKC games are pretty comfortable in terms of difficulty, 2’s harder but not ball busting, Tropical Freeze is much harder than the SNES trilogy but not as hard as returns

[@RainyDayDance]

the thing about dkc2's difficulty is that I'm still having fun when I'm dying over and over again because its only my fault how bad I am at the game. So many older games are hard just to be hard but it ends up making the actual gameplay lack. dkc2's gameplay is so good that I am HAPPY to play the same level over and over again just to try and not die at the same spot because im having a good time with the gameplay.

[@Snoflakes_1]

Bro, Meltdown Mayhem was a breeze for me! It's the levels where you have to time your jumps, like Frozen Frenzy, that got me

[@seaotter7927]

Great work on this video--writing, recording, editing--all great. Keep it up and keep growing!

[@theskyisteal8346]

Hearing my boy say "Engwarday" like he's never fenced before in his life. 😤

[@wkmalory]

DKC2 is my favorite game id say that DKC2 is hardest just because of the tower level towards the end its so fast and unforgiving however the general difficulty curve is fine

[@Sam_T2000]

it’s such a shame we never got the third game in the _DKC Returns_ trilogy… I wish they made it for the Switch, early in it’s lifespan, and that it featured the return of K. Rool and the Kremlings as the villains. and then we could’ve got a _Returns_ trilogy collection late in the Switch’s life, giving is the original returns game in HD for the first time… and maybe it could’ve even included the original SNES _DKC_ trilogy as well, so we could have them in an HD physical release as well 👌

[@theStridingRebel]

The Returns games are genuinely the greatest platforming games ever made

[@TheCoasterSerpent]

It's interesting to see this from the viewpoint of someone who has been playing these games since their release. I have always seen them as pretty easy because my troubles with these levels were all solved when I was 8 years old. I blew thru DKC2 just this weekend and I lost about 5 lives during the whole playthrough. I haven't seen those game over screens in many years. I was going to say DKC1 was the hardest due to that first snow level.

[@davion4777]

My friend, you lost any bits of credibility when you said DKC2 lacks level variety. That is just false. It’s like you were trying to say something bad about it just to be edgy or something.

[@kennycarter5682]

one thing the 2 newer dk games is that every single cave is a minecart or rocket level. i was shocked and super happy to have one proper cave level in returns. aka crumble cavern, through the whole level, i was expecting a minecart or rocket barrel.

[@rorytheshinygmaxgengar6907]

49:07 the first time I played tiki tong was in 2 player mode because me and my dad would play this game together when I was younger but we never beat the boss so I got a new Wii and replayed the entire game just so we could finish this game but I later found out playing the boss in 1 player that the attacks that target a player are much easier as it isn’t a 50/50 on who it attacks making the hits on him much easier and in 2 player mode there is the respawns when one player is still alive but we didn’t use it as it felt like cheating but it definitely would have made this easier (I’m currently going for 200% after finishing it in tropical freeze last year and I would recommend no one tries it I have found it too be one of the hardest post games I have ever done but I am using a Wii remote not the Wii pro controller which would make this a lot easier I assume)

[@nikoisland6731]

how did you get the dkcr gameplay? it has xbox controller buttons in the ui, and it looks smoother.

[@MarcoCafagna-s6v]

Why people always forgot donkey kong 64 and the one on gamecube that I always forgot?

[@robertlauncher]

Zingers are also wasps, horrifying.. giant… low buzzing wasps

[@InsaneSalami]

You can't really go wrong with the Donkey Kong series if you love platformers

[@mauriciom5555]

Really grat video compilation, awesome work, I love this franchise!

[@michaelhockaday7426]

All bosses in DKC 1 have one phase. All bosses in DKC 2 have two phases. All bosses in DKC 3 have three phases. Accident or planned?

[@TempoKong]

King K. Rool has 3 phases Kudgel, Kreepy Krow and Kaptain K. Rool in DKC2 both have 3 phases Not a single boss in DKC3 has 3 phases outside of Barbos, Baron K. Rooleinstein and the GBA exclusive Kroctopus

[@michaelhockaday7426]

​@TempoKong ok. Partly true. But Kreepy Krow and Kudgel in DKC 2 both have 2 phases. Bleak and the first Kaos in DKC 3 both have 3 phases.

[@TempoKong]

@@michaelhockaday7426 Idk how I did to forget that Kudgel has 2 phases but you're absolutely right. However, you have to hit Kreepy Krow 3 times in 3 different arenas (even if you only have 2 platforming sections) and Kaos only has 2 phases (the one you must dodge fire and the one you must dodge laser). Bleak is too chaotic to even have a notion of phases.

[@michaelhockaday7426]

@TempoKong you have to hit Kreepy Krow 4 times. 2 times for each phase making 2 full phases. As for Kaos the First, I'm quite sure it's 3 phases. It's just that the first two are blended together. The first phase Kaos just goes back and forth shooting occasional blasts of fire from the rocket. The 2nd phase are the circling blades.

[@TempoKong]

@@michaelhockaday7426 you're confounding Krow and Kreepy Krow I think. Also, the circling blades on Chaos are there no matter the phase.

[@LukasArailiys]

Donkey Kong is actually the better swimmer. That’s the only reason you’d pick him over Diddy: water levels

[@JohnPaul-pw7hp]

I love Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze! I got the game when I was 9 years old, and then it seemed almost impossible to beat, especially the final boss which took me forever! When I played through it again a year or two ago, it was definitely not as hard, but still a pretty difficult game. I would probably agree with this ranking though I have never played Donkey Kong Country 3 or Returns

[@mazm8536]

Next to the barrel music colonel pluck has the greatest music in the game, this was my childhood game yes I’m bias

[@JojoJere]

21:29 When bro doesn't realise you can aim the webs up and down

[@TBoneTony]

I got through Donkey Kong Country 2 via playing GameBoy version Donkey Kong Land 2. I would say the GameBoy version is easier, but the screen crunch proves to be harder in certain levels where you need to know what is coming before you react to it.

[@cole6843]

Tropical freeze is one of my favorite games!

[@Chara_Dreemurr1]

LETS GO! LETS START THE MUSIC! DK! DONKEY! KONG!

[@gregoryaraganto9378]

Dkc 2 was amazing when I was 7 yo, very challenging, but you forgot the secret world, the bonus stuff like giant bird on Dkc 3 was very innovative for the time.

[@fatalwaffle1715]

Cool Interesting Video Bro!

[@richardbean1707]

Am I missing something here? As a kid it was pretty common knowledge that DKC was nowhere near the difficulty of classic 2D Mario games (Super Mario World perhaps being the one exception). Rare made an amazingly entertaining game, but it was pretty easy for even young children to finish it without too much difficulty.

[@Fonz128]

Returns has the hardest final boss.

[@goldenguy7470]

The British and American people knew what level design was and all the people who made these games are legendary

[@thevoicesaregettinglouder16]

The water maze in tropical freeze made my mom cry with rage

[@Blockulous]

your contents really good, hope you grow big one dY

[@NintendoMania]

Imo, hardest is dkc 2

[@matthewbryson6423]

Tropical Freeze is SO much fun!

[@doddsino]

19:57 I mean...it's pretty obvious you aren't supposed to hit the red X barrels considering you're supposed to follow the banana path. Yes, it gets more challenging, but that is the point. If they had the same gameplay as in DKC1, then it would be a total waste. Yes, I know Rare likes to screw with their players, but let's not act like this is a situation where you have to do a blind jump into a death trap like in Battletoads.

[@Mornech10]

Straight from Donkey Kong Country 3 to........ 2010? There was definitely a Donkey Kong 64 and one on the Gamecube too I believe.....

[@IILewciferII]

DKC2 is 100% the hardest. The difficulty spike from 1-2 was WILD playing it as a kid…

[@rockinggamerdude]

I got trouble freeze digitally on you couldn’t beat the final boss, but once it was on switch, I beat it in funky mode

[@jaredholloman5300]

Kind of sad the devs decided to use the same moveset on the viking boss as they did King K. Rool in DKC1

[@MarcoFD]

@36:12 i used to turn my controller upside down for this level as a kid as to re invert the controls ;P

[@benabaxter]

DKC3 was the one I owned as a kid. I can't go back to the others. It was too fun having an over world and these sprawling levels with animal transformations. It's kind of the Arkham City problem---who can go back to the earlier game?

[@benabaxter]

100 percenting DKC3 is very tough. Hard recommendation.

[@ShadowWizard224]

DKC3 was the one I played the most. It has a completely different vibe compared to the first two games and the boss theme slaps 🔥

[@toooydoeur]

worst of the trilogy also 2 has animal transformations too lol

[@Infindox]

Dkc3 is the worst of the three... Lol. It's still a good game but it has a lot of issues. Never understood the "we have an overworld, it's better!" sort of thing.

[@Zephhi]

DKC1 is definitely the hardest but I still find it easy cause I've played it so many times lol

[@paulgilbert5278]

It's the most cryptic but 2 and 3 are still tougher in level design

[@bruhgaming462]

Muncher Mayhem in Returns is perhaps one of the hardest levels in gaming

[@waluigiforthewin777]

I actually didn’t have trouble with that one recently Golden Temple is like 10X harder then Mumcher Mayhem and that’s coming from someone that got ALL puzzle pieces

[@JojoJere]

20:20 Maybe ur just bad. 1. The door was already open 2. The barrel has a big X on it. When I played that level, I had no problem with the first two barrels

[@TheSilentsaber]

90s kids built different having to deal with DKC

[@boomstickYT]

I will say, in my own experience, counting the secret worlds, I think DKC2 is the hardest while DKCTF is the hardest while still feeling fair. I've never played all the way through DKCR though so that's the only game I can't take into account

[@JonathanGrimes-ed4cu]

DKC2 was best in the series.

[@mattdog1000000]

Be honest, you didn't know how to suck up water in Tracker Barrel Trek, did you? It's a lot easier to take out those Buzzes with Ellie if you knew you could shoot water at them.

[@JojoJere]

You can press up+A to make sqwaks fly up faster

[@vonkunstler884]

Donkey Kong Country 2 is better than anything out now. The only way you can beat the original is by doing a 3D / HD soft reboot of it

[@cinnamonsugarcourtney6073]

You do know that you can hit the ground with Donkey in DK1 right? I'm guessing not, if you're mentioning it as a new mechanic in Returns.

[@mariocartmichael6133]

While stickerbrush symphony is a great song, i prefer Forest Interlude, Bayou Boogie, Hot Head Bop, Jungle Hijinx, Voices Of The Temple, and Tidal Terror. Quite a few remix songs from dkcr/tf also top it. Still an absolute banger tho

[@GreatRaijin]

You didnt mention the best one, aquatic ambience

[@TheNewRobotMaster]

The brawl version of Stickerbrush Symphony is one of the best songs I've ever heard. It's perfect.

[@JojoJere]

31:10 Bro forgot about the water meter 💀