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

In the final chapter of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are missing. It's up to Dixie Kong (and her younger cousin Kiddy Kong) to find them!

Game Boy Advance

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

Overview

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (known in Japan as Super Donkey Kong 3: Nazo no Krems Shima, or Mystery of Krems Island) is a 2D platformer developed by Rareware and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System on November 22, 1996.

The third and final installment of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy, Donkey Kong Country 3 has both the titular gorilla and his nephew Diddy Kong missing-in-action in the Northern Kremisphere. It's up to Diddy's girlfriend, Dixie Kong, and her younger cousin Kiddy Kong, to traverse the kremling-infested lands to search for them.

The game was later ported to the Game Boy Advance on November 7, 2005 (adding new levels, a new soundtrack, and new mini-games) and digitally re-released on the Virtual Console for the Wii on December 24, 2007, Wii U on February 26, 2015, and New Nintendo 3DS on June 2, 2016.

Gameplay

Donkey Kong Country 3 retains the same gameplay from the previous two installments but with some new additions. One of the new additions is the use of vehicles on the world map screen. Unlike the plane used in the previous games, these vehicles range from a motorboat to a helicopter and help Dixie and Kiddy Kong get to different locations throughout the northern Kremisphere, as well as secret places that would be unreachable otherwise.

The two kongs make their way through various levels like woodland areas and mechanical factories picking up all sorts of items along the way whether it be bananas, coins or balloons representing extra lives. They are once again aided by animals to guide them in defeating the kremling krew and other enemies that are about.

In this edition, the Kong family are joined by the Brothers Bears who are situated all throughout the northern Kremisphere. They have their own dilemmas and will help Dixie and Kiddy in their adventures in exchange for bear coins and certain items found throughout the world.

Hidden throughout the northern Kremisphere are caves that contain an important part of the game, banana birds. In order to free the birds from their crystallised cages, the Kongs have to match the sequence of sounds that play for them when they enter the cave. Some are given to them by the bears in exchange for helping them out. In order to unlock the true ending, the player must obtain all 13 banana birds throughout the land.

Characters

Playable Characters

Dixie Kong - Girlfriend of Diddy Kong who can use her ponytail to glide along and reach certain places throughout the land.
Kiddy Kong - Cousin of Dixie Kong who can use his weight to his advantage in certain scenarios.

Supporting Characters

The Kong Family

Wrinkly Kong - Having quit her job as a school teacher, Wrinkly now spends her time exercising, sleeping and playing games in her cave. She is always there to save the game's progress and keeps the rescued banana birds.
Swanky Kong - Is the host of his own sideshow attraction where Dixie and Kiddy can play for prizes including bananas, bear coins and lives.
Cranky Kong - Is the opponent in Swanky Kong’s sideshow attraction. Does not give advice in this edition of the series.
Funky Kong - Owns Funky’s Rentals and helps develop new vehicles for the Kongs in order to reach new areas of the northern Kremisphere.

The Brothers Bears

Bazaar - Runs his own general store on the world map and helps the Kongs in exchange for bear coins.
Barnacle - Found in Lake Orangatanga and wants the Kongs to help him complete his shell collection.
Brash - Found in Kremwood Forest and is proud of his record for the fastest playthrough of Riverside Race, until the Kongs beat it that is.
Blunder - Found beside Kremwood Forest. He tends to blab out important information like the location of the lost world, Krematoa.
Blue - Found in Cotton-Top Cove. Is quite unhappy, as he believes his brothers have forgotten his birthday.
Bazooka - Found in Mekanos. Is an old general who operates a cannon known as Big Bessie.
Bramble - Has a flower shop near Cotton-Top cove.
Blizzard - Found in K3. The only bear of the family that actually got Blue a present for his birthday but needs the Kongs to deliver it for him.
Benny & Björn - Found in Razor Ridge. They operate the chair lifts so that Dixie and Kiddy Kong can get through the area.
Barter - Like Bazaar, also runs a shop on the world map.
Baffle - Found in KAOS Kore. He specialises in cracking codes that help the Kongs on their adventure.
Boomer - Found in Krematoa. Will help the Kongs make their way through Krematoa by blasting the rocks blocking their path. He does this in exchange for bonus coins.
Bachelor - Found in the GBA version of DKC 3 in Lake Orangatanga. Wants Dixie and Kiddy to get chocolates and flowers for a date he is having.

Bosses (In Order)

Belcha: Giant man-eating barrel that resides in a mill at Lake Orangatanga.
Arich: A large red spider faced at Kremwood Forest.
Squirt: An odd looking face that squirts jets of water, encountered at Cotton-Top-Cove.
Bleak: An evil living snowman met at K3, utilizes cannonballs in the form of snowballs.
Barbos: Some sort of spiked...clam. It fires needles and nautilus (type of shelled fish) missiles at the Kongs, faced at Razor Ridge.
KAOS - Considered to be the new leader of the Kremling Krew. However, it is actually being controlled by the true leader, Baron K. Roolenstein otherwise known as K. Rool. It is first encountered at Makanos and then at KAOS Kore at the end of the game.
Baron K. Roolenstein (K.Rool) - Created and operated the mechanical robot known as KAOS in a bid to stop Dixie and Kiddy thwart his evil plans; The final boss, faced at KAOS Kore and at the lost world of Krematoa.

Worlds

In Donkey Kong Country 3, there are eight worlds altogether (nine in the GBA version) including the lost world of Krematoa. Each world has 5 stages and a boss at the end for the Kongs to defeat. The worlds are as follows: Lake Orangatanga, Kremwood Forest, Cotton-Top Cove, Mekanos, K3, Razor Ridge, Pacifica, KAOS Kore, Krematoa.

Lake Orangatanga

Lakeside Limbo
Doorstop Dash
Tidal Trouble
Skidda's Row
Murky Mill
Boss: Belcha's Barn

Kremwood Forest

Barrel Shield Bust-Up (SNES version)/Springin' Spiders (GBA version)
Riverside Race
Squeals on Wheels
Springin' Spiders (SNES version)/Barrel Shield Bust-Up (GBA version)
Bobbing Barrel Brawl
Boss: Arich's Ambush

Cotton Top Cove

Bazza's Blockade
Rocket Barrel Ride
Kreeping Klasps
Tracker Barrel Trek
Fish Food Frenzy
Boss: Squirt's Showdown

Mekanos

Fire-Ball Frenzy
Demolition Drain-Pipe
Ripsaw Rage
Blazing Bazukas
Low-G Labyrinth
Boss: KAOS Karnage

K3

Krevice Kreepers
Tearaway Toboggan
Barrel Drop Bounce
Krack-Shot Kroc
Lemguin Lunge
Boss: Bleak's House

Razor Ridge

Buzzer Barrage
Kong-Fused Cliffs
Floodlit Fish
Pot Hole Panic
Ropey Rumpus
Boss: Barbos' Barrier (SNES version)/Kroctopus Krush (GBA version)

Pacifica (GBA version only)

Dingy Drain-Pipe
Stormy Seas
Sunken Spruce
Cliffside Blast
Ripcurl Reef
Surf's Up
Boss: Barbos' Barrier

KAOS Kore

Konveyor Rope Klash
Creepy Caverns
Lightning Lookout
Koindozer Klamber
Poisonous Pipeline
Boss: Kastle KAOS

Krematoa

Stampede Sprint
Criss Kross Cliffs
Tyrant Twin Tussle
Swoopy Salvo
Rocket Rush
Boss: Knautilus

Animals

Playable animals

Once again, the animals aid the kongs on their adventure to rescue Donkey and Diddy and stop the kremling krew.

Enguarde - The swordfish returns once again to poke at any enemies wishing to hurt the heroes.
Squitter - The spider from the previous game is back to help the Kongs whack enemies with his webs and to reach certain places that can’t be reached on their own.
Squawks - The parrot helps the Kongs reach places that couldn’t be reached on foot and helps them defeat enemies by spitting out nuts.
Ellie - A new addition to the lineup. Ellie is an elephant who can pick up barrels using her trunk and can use them in various ways. Also, can suck water and shoot it from her trunk to defeat enemies. Is afraid of mice and runs when she sets her eyes on one.

Unplayable animals

Parry - When released from the crate, Parry flies above Dixie and Kiddy Kong’s heads and helps them reach certain treasures that couldn’t be obtained otherwise.
Nibbla - Only appears in one level to feed. If the Kongs feed him the right food when going through the level, his mood will stay high but if he feeds on the wrong food or waits too long, the mood worsens and can become an enemy to the Kongs.

Coins

Bear Coins - These are situated throughout the northern Kremisphere and are used in exchange for items and helpful information. Can be considered the replacement to Banana coins from DKC 2.

Bonus Coins - Replacing the Kremcoins from DKC 2, these coins are obtained by successfully completing a bonus level. These are used to travel through Krematoa successfully.

DK Coins - Like in DKC 2, one is hidden in each level but unlike DKC 2, it is guarded by an enemy known as Koin. The only way to obtain the DK coin is by hitting Koin with a metal barrel in his unprotected back, as he has a shield on his front.

Game Boy Advance Version

Released in November 2005, Donkey Kong Country 3 for the Game Boy Advance is a port of the original game with a few changes. It features a brand new world, Pacifica, as well as a new boss, Kroctopus.

The game also sported a completely new soundtrack from David Wise, composer for Donkey Kong Country 2, although the music has been criticised for not holding up to that of the original by Eveline Fischer (now Novakovic).

The port has also replaced the original Swanky Sideshow minigames with some new boat games from Funky, a star-collection game set in a sewer tube with Swanky, and an echidna-blocking game with Cranky Kong. Wrinkly's save caves have been replaced by Cranky's Dojo now that the game allows the player to save at any time on the world map by hitting the start button.

The port has slightly changed physics from the original game which may be noticeable when playing them side by side; most notably that characters will move at a much slower rate in the port, including in the toboggan levels. There are also a few levels which have had objects shifted to fit with these slower character speeds, but sometimes this affects the original puzzles of levels, such as platforms being lowered to be accessible from points unreachable before, and some DK coins being accessible without figuring out a puzzle and collecting them the way the game had originally intended.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack for Donkey Kong Country 3 was the first soundtrack in the Donkey Kong Country series to not be solely composed by David Wise. Instead, Eveline Fischer was responsible for most of the composition with some help by David Wise.