Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
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 Dixie Kong meets KAOS in a wild new adventure!
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Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! is a 2D platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo, originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1996. It is the third game in the Donkey Kong Country series, as well as the direct sequel to Donkey Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and the last game in the SNES trilogy. The game was later remade for the Game Boy Advance in 2005.
Why You Shouldn't Throw It in the Lake
- The story is well thought out and features many twists and turns, such as the fact that K. Rool (as Baron K. Roolenstein) was controlling KAOS all along and used DK and Diddy as simian batteries to power him.
- As always, the pre-rendered graphics are nice to look at and often utilize pseudo-3D effects in creative ways.
- The Northern Kremisphere is a huge, unique hub world in which Dixie and Kiddy can traverse the oceans surrounding the area using Funky's vehicles rather than simply moving in a linear fashion.
- Each area of the Kremisphere has a unique level theme, and many stages are foreshadowed by the environments, just like in the previous games.
- Lake Orangatanga is the typical first area in a game, with the easiest levels found here.
- Kremwood Forest is a thick woodland with many trees and riverbanks, and you must also race Brash in one level.
- Cotton-Top Cove is a tropical canyon full of watery levels and swimming in the lake to explore the area.
- Mekanos is an industrial area comparable to Kremkroc Industries, Inc., and ia also where the Kongs encounter KAOS for the first time.
- K3 is a snowy mountain range that also includes a barrel factory guarded by a tight security system (the Kroc) whose barrels roll down a waterfall.
- Razor Ridge is a mountainous resort where the Kongs must traverse the cliffs with Benny and Björn's Chairlifts and go through several tough levels such as Kong-Fused Cliffs.
- KAOS Kore is the HQ area for K. Rool in this game, with the toughest levels thus far found here (particularly Lightning Look-Out and Poisonous Pipeline).
- Krematoa, this game's Lost World, is a volcanic area where the Kongs must pay Boomer Bonus Coins to blow up five rocks (you must collect all 85 to complete the world) and is also where K. Rool's secret submarine (the Knautilus) is found after you collect the five Cogs and activate Krematoa's volcanic activity (which turns all of the previously-green levels more reddish-orange).
- Funky, Wrinkly, and Swanky are all supporting characters, helping the Kong's in numerous ways.
- Funky Kong gives you several vehicles for you to explore the island. His role as a mechanic in the game also makes him more interesting.
- Wrinkly no longer makes you have to go to a certain point in a world to save the game like in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (and also not charging 2 Coins just to do it), but also takes care of the Banana Birds you find.
- Swanky hosts a ball-throwing minigame, with Cranky as your opponent, which both Dixie and Kiddy can play. This can help earn you some more Bear coins, and both of these activities can be challenging and fun. It also serves as practice for Bleak's boss battle.
- Swanky also hosts a tube race minigame in the GBA remake, which Kiddy can't play since he's only a baby.
- Cranky Kong also has a Dojo to train himself for a new adventure in the Game Boy Advance port, and that is also pretty fun to try out. If you manage to complete one of his Dojo Trainings, you get a Banana Bird. This mini-game is also the first time in the series where he is playable.
- The levels themselves are fun to traverse through, with a variety of creative environments to explore, including mills, riverbanks, waterfalls, pipes, and caverns.
- Many of the levels have interesting gimmicks to them, such as using Steel Barrels to defeat the Sneeks powering the wheels, riding a toboggan through pipes and snow, using special barrels (one that launches like a rocket and another that follows you left and right) to climb waterfalls, etc.
- Good soundtrack composed by Eveline Fischer, which goes for a more atmospheric, bass-heavy feel than the previous games. Some standout tracks include Frosty Frolics (snowy levels), Treetop Tumble (forest levels), Nuts and Bolts (factory levels; it even includes a piece that sounds similar to Led Zeppelin's "Kasmir"), Rockface Rumble (mountain levels), Jungle Jitter (jungle levels), both boss themes (Boss Boogie and Bad Boss Blues), and Baddies on Parade (the ending song).
- The track Wrinkly 64 also pays a homage to Super Mario 64, being the theme of Peach's Castle played on Wrinkly Kong's Nintendo 64.
- Tight, smooth controls, just like every DKC game, for both the Kongs and Animal Buddies.
- All of the Brothers Bear are friendly and likable NPCs that give you trading sequences for Banana Birds, except for Brash (who throws a tantrum when you beat his record on Riverside Race).
- The Animal Buddies return once again, and some get enjoyable new features:
- Ellie the Elephant, who replaces Rambi the Rhino in this game, can use her trunk to grab and shoot water at enemies (by pressing L to grab water and R to shoot it), or suck barrels toward her to throw them at enemies. However, she is afraid of Sneeks and runs away if she sees one.
- Quawks, the purple parrot, is now fully playable in two levels (Low-G Labyrinth and Buzzer Barrage) and can attack enemies by picking up and throwing barrels at them instead of only being used to slowly descend.
- Squitter the Spider makes a return in this game and stars in the level Krack-Shot Kroc, which is a major improvement over Web Woods from the previous game. That level also features a "Bash the Baddies!" bonus area where you control the Kroc itself.
- Just like Animal Antics from DKC2, this game features a level (Pot-Hole Panic) where you have access to each Animal Buddy, but via Animal Crates rather than Animal Barrels.
- The boss battles are very creative and fun, such as Belcha who spits out barrels with yellow Knik-Knaks in them that you have to throw back into his mouth to make him burp to his death. Barbos fires missiles at you, and you have to make them hit other urchins for her body to become available to hit. Baron K. Roolenstein has some funny dialogue, along with needing to spawn and throw barrels to lure Baron K. Roolenstein into electricity.
- The Team Up ability returns from Donkey Kong Country 2, with the function being different depending on the Kong you carry.
- The new enemies found in this game are creative and have interesting gimmicks, such as Buzzes (who are mechanical wasps that replace the Zingers from the previous games), Kuff 'n Klout (twin Kremlings found in Krematoa who execute team attacks), Koin and the Koindozer Klan (the former holds the DK Coin in each level that you need to complete the game, while the latter are pink versions of their cousin who charge the Kongs into pits in their level), and Kopter (who is a flying Kutlass that spins in the air using a pair of propellers in his hands).
- The bosses are also fun to fight as usual, including Belcha (an anthropomorphic burping barrel who spits barrels containing yellow Knik-Knaks at the Kongs that must be thrown into his mouth), Bleak (a literal abominable snowman who must be defeated by throwing snowballs at him like in Swanky's Tent), Barbos (the mother Lurchin who summons her children or missile squids that must be hit back at her), and of course, Baron K. Roolenstein himself (who has hilarious dialogue in his two boss fights and must be shocked after throwing barrels at his Helipack).
- The main side quest of the game, finding the fifteen Banana Birds to save the Banana Bird Queen, is a fun experience, as 13 of them are found in caves where you must repeat the crystal patterns using the face buttons (SNES) or +Control Pad (GBA).
- This game has not only 103%, but also 105%, with the reward of obtaining the latter much better than the previous two games.
- The GBA remake has several new features:
- David Wise composed a new soundtrack for the game, which is just as good as, if not better than, Eveline Fischer's SNES soundtrack.
- Funky not only has the four vehicles, but also four challenges for the Kongs based on Cobra Triangle. One of them even has the duo saving the other Kong Family members, including Candy Kong, Tiny Kong (Dixie's younger sister), Lanky Kong, and even Chunky Kong (Kiddy's older brother).
- Swanky's throwing games are replaced by a tunnel running game called Swanky's Dash, where Dixie must race through a tunnel to colelct Gold Stars.
- Wrinkly's Save Cave becomes Wrinkly's Retreat due to the built-in save feature of this port, while Cranky Kong replaces her in the main worlds with Cranky's Dojo, where he trains up for his next adventure by blocking rolling Bristles with his shield.
- A new seventh world, Pacifica, was added to this port for six more levels, while Razor Ridge has a new boss called Kroctopus to replace Barbos (who has moved to Pacifica alongside Barnacle from Lake Orangatanga, and he was replaced there by Bachelor).
Bad Qualities
- Kiddy Kong, along with Ellie the Elephant, are hated characters among the community:
- Kiddy Kong's goofy design and annoying cry are the main issues as to why he is so unpopular. Not only that, but he is a clone of Donkey Kong and and has none of DK's charm.
- Ellie is said to be a notably poor replacement for Rambi by most people, especially due to her fear of the Sneek's.
- The Game Boy Advance Port is missing some things such as the Scrap Book mechanic and even a story intro from the previous two Donkey Kong Country Game Boy Advance remakes. The Game Boy Advance version also has a new soundtrack, but some songs barely fit with the levels, although the new soundtrack is probably why things such as the Scrap Book mechanic are missing.
- The ending is a little anticlimactic: After the Banana Bird Queen is freed, she lays a giant egg on K. Rool, who escapes the Northern Kremisphere on a Hovercraft. The ending would have been better if they continued the gag, such as the Baron continuing to drive after the egg landed on him and causing the Hovercraft to explode when he collides with something.
- On a similar note, despite K. Rool's main gimmick in this game being his Baron K. Roolenstein guise (a scientist), the revelation that he cast a spell to trap the Banana Bird Queen comes completely out of nowhere and isn't even hinted at prior.
- There is a slight overuse of fetch tasks for the Bear Brothers.
- Cranky no longer gives hints like he did in the previous games; instead, he is either your opponent in Swanky's Tent (SNES) or training at his dojo (GBA).
- All you get for completing the game 105% is a Cranky Kong trophy wearing a black belt karate gi and the "Immortal Monkey!" rank.
- Parry the Parallel Bird is a mostly-useless Animal Buddy who must be protected by the Kongs from any sort of harm besides Booty Birds
- It's even worse in the two levels where his prize is a Bonus Barrel, as protecting him is mandatory for 103/105%.
- Dixie is heavily disadvantaged when carrying Kiddy for a Team Throw, moving slowly and throwing him only a short distance.
- While the GBA remake is still good, it also has several problems:
- The game is missing a Scrapbook and story intro like the previous two remakes.
- While the soundtrack is good, it is also missing several tracks from the original version, such as the individual themes for most NPC's (Brothers Bear, Wrinkly's themes, etc.), Baddies on Parade (there is also no cast roll call in this port), etc. Also, some songs barely fit with the stage themes in this port.
- Kiddy can't compete in Swanky's Dash because he is too young, which is a missed opportunity to play as both Kongs.
- The game starts of simple, but it gradually gets more difficult the more you progress, especially the infamous Lightning Look Out level and the Krematoa levels.
- Additionally, one of the bigger criticisms of this game (aside from Kiddy Kong) is the abundance of gimmick levels.
Reception
Donkey Kong Country 3 received mostly positive reviews on both SNES and GBA (with the former receiving 83% and the latter 75%, respectively, on GameRankings), but was not as successful as its predecessors upon release due to being released just after the Nintendo 64 was. Praise went to the graphics and gameplay, but critics and fans were divided on the game's soundtrack and the characterization of Kiddy Kong.
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