#Donkey kong country 2 poster full#
In that game, you had to mindlessly jump in every pit just in case one of them scrolled down to reveal a secret instead of killing you.Īnother interesting unwritten rule is about running at full speed through dangerous levels. DKC1 did not follow this rule, and that resulted in much frustration and throwing of controllers. In effect, the bananas themselves are a character-a sentience-trying to help you at all times. If a banana is over a pit, it always signifies that jumping in the pit will not kill you. If a single banana is placed in some precarious, seemingly impossible to reach spot, it's always pointing to a secret. If they spell out a letter or an arrow, it's always a genuine clue, never a trick. First, bananas (the common items littered everywhere on every level) are always helpful. In order to create this feeling, the game established and religiously followed a few unwritten rules. This gives the player a clear idea of their mission: to prove Cranky wrong.
![donkey kong country 2 poster donkey kong country 2 poster](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/7151l-0i7EL._AC_SY741_.jpg)
All the while, the character Cranky Kong taunts the player by telling them how they have no hope of finding all the DK coins and bonus rooms. They can also easily check if they've found the DK coin on any given level, and if they've found all the bonus rooms on a given level.
#Donkey kong country 2 poster free#
One to three other secrets you "have to" find (the bonus rooms),Īnd other, less important secret items (banana coins and free guy balloons).Īt any time, the player can check how many total DK coins they have and the percentage of bonus rooms they've uncovered. And don’t get me started about blue coins in Mario Sunshine.ĭonkey Kong Country 2 has a well-designed hierarchy of secrets. There's something magical about finding that single, well-hidden secret on every level that just isn't the same as finding 5 Jingos (Banjo-Kazooie), 100 coins (Mario64), or any of the ten zillion tedious things on your shopping list in Donkey Kong64. It's a ridiculously large, shiny, spinning coin that somehow manages to be hidden on every level. I think the DK coin is the greatest thing in platform games. Each of the 40 levels has one to three bonus rooms and a single "DK coin." The real game, though, is to uncover all the secrets. Even very young players should be able to get through the difficult parts through repetition. Dying is somewhat frequent, but the difficulty is pretty low and free lives are plentiful.
![donkey kong country 2 poster donkey kong country 2 poster](https://i.etsystatic.com/12175780/r/il/ecad02/1922093117/il_570xN.1922093117_jmu5.jpg)
The game is fairly easy to "win" simply by completing all of its levels. I think Donkey Kong Country 2 was the first to implement this concept so masterfully, and it remains one of the best examples even today. It's carefully designed and hidden, and carefully pointed out by clues. The answer, just like a secret in a platform game, isn't randomly created. The answer has to be hidden well enough that there's a sense of accomplishment in finding it, but there have to be enough clues to make finding the answer possible. The writer actually wants the reader to figure out the answer-just not too early. A mystery is not a zero-sum game of writer versus reader. Think of these secrets the same way a mystery author thinks about their plots.
![donkey kong country 2 poster donkey kong country 2 poster](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/d1EAAOSwJrdepJCp/s-l300.jpg)
The secrets I'm talking about here are carefully, intelligently placed and they're meant to be found.
![donkey kong country 2 poster donkey kong country 2 poster](https://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000193637939-2zxy66-t500x500.jpg)
This is not a good modern design sensibility though. You could put it in a random location that looks the same as any other, and make it nearly impossible to find because it's so obscure. You could hide a secret in the game somewhere ridiculously obscure.