DESCRIPTION

Super NES's Donkey Kong Country franchise goes portable with Donkey Kong Land for the Game Boy. The second game in the series, Donkey Kong Land offers more than 30 brand new levels of monkey business and platform adventure. New areas to explore include such exotic locations as: Kremlantis, a complex of ancient ruined temples; and Chimpanzee Clouds, which is located at the peaks of some of the highest mountains.

Once again, King K. Rool and his gang of Kremling creeps have hidden and scattered Donkey Kong's bananas all over Donkey Kong Island. You must help Donkey Kong and his little buddy Diddy Kong find them. If you are controlling Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong will follow in your footsteps. Likewise, if you are in control of Diddy, Donkey will stay on your tail. If you have yet to crack open a Buddy Barrel, or if the character you are controlling gets nailed by an obstacle or enemy, only one of the apes will be onscreen.

As you run, swim, ride, climb, swing and jump through this game, collecting bananas and looking for hidden secrets, a variety of creatures and nasties will make your job difficult. New baddies to the series include Hogwash the Flying Pig, Fangfish, Nemo (a strange shellfish) and Hard Hat (a mole). Most of the enemies are vulnerable to Donkey and Diddy's rolling (Donkey rolls and Diddy does cartwheels) and jumping attacks. Our simian heroes can also pick up barrels, which appear frequently in the game, to use as weapons. Barrels with starbursts on them can be used to launch the Kongs into other parts of the level.

According to Cranky Kong, who is a wise, yet bitter patriarch of videogames, the key to playing Donkey Kong Land lies in gaining as many extra lives as you can. You do this by finding Kong Tokens that are hidden throughout the game and cashing them in to play bonus levels. You also get an extra life for every hundred bananas you collect.

In certain areas of the game, animal friends Expresso (an ostrich) and Rambi (a rhino) will be on hand to give you a ride. A small tornado called a Swirlwind can be used as a moving platform. Sparkling circles that act as continue points appear throughout, and the game cartridge contains battery-backed memory for use in saving your progress.

When played using the Super Game Boy (the adapter that lets you enjoy Game Boy titles on your Super NES), Donkey Kong Land has more colors, more detail in the graphics and a 256-color jungle border. ~ Brett Alan Weiss, All Game Guide