Donkey Kong Country 2 Level Ranking

Continuing on, Donkey Kong Country 2 is a very solid sequel that improves upon the original game in almost every aspect. It's got more creative levels, more side content, better boss fights, more impressive visuals and music, and more fleshed-out character movesets. In terms of overall atmosphere and presentation, I'd easily call it the best in the trilogy, as I love its darker tone, bizarre environments, and haunting soundtrack. And at its best, DKC2 boasts some of the best platforming the SNES has to offer, but at worst, it suffers from some massive difficulty spikes and an overabundance of Animal Buddies. As a result, expect a much wider range of quality in terms of the stages.

39. Animal Antics

Did you know that over 50% of Donkey Kong Country 2's stages feature an Animal Buddy? Personally, I think that's a bit too much, but whatever, most of them are generally fine to control even if I prefer playing as the Kongs. However, the one Animal Buddy that I absolutely despise playing as is Squawks. His movement feels unwieldly, his hitbox is baffling, his projectile arc is deceptively hard to gauge, and most of all, he lacks the same skill ceiling of all the other Animal Buddies. There's little player expression to Squawks, dude doesn't even have a charge move like all the other Animal Buddies, so his stages are a glorified autoscroller at best and an exercise in frustration at worst. And the worst part is that someone at Rare seems to love the guy because he has the most stages out of any Animal Buddy in DKC2 at a whopping ten stages.

This is all to say that Animal Antics is a perfect example of DKC2 at its worst. It's meant to be the ultimate test to make sure you know how to use all five Animal Buddies, and for the first four, it does its job well. Hell, I'd even argue the Squitter and Rattly segments are kinda fun. And then Squawks comes in to ruin everything. Not only do you have to carefully pilot Squawks through a cramped, lengthy, checkpoint-less bramble maze, but you have to do it while dealing with intense winds constantly changing directions at what feels like a random pace. I swear, I think most of this trilogy is really well-designed, but this one section feels so blatantly cheap that I can't imagine defending it. As someone who hates playing as Squawks, his segment in Animal Antics is so miserable that it alone makes this my least favorite DKC level, probably of all time.

38. Screech's Sprint

Okay, so look, in theory, Screech's Sprint is a really cool stage. The final main level being a race against the evil counterpart of the game's most iconic Animal Buddy is a neat concept. The race track has a lot of shortcuts you can take if you're skilled enough, and since you're not carrying the Kongs around, Squawks flies a bit faster than he did in some of the earlier levels. However, I still don't like playing as Squawks and while Screech's Sprint is one of his better-designed stages, I don't enjoy playing it at all. Even the early section with the Kongs is kinda frustrating, especially that part with the two Cat O 9 Tails.

37. Glimmer's Galleon

So, remember Torchlight Trouble? That one level in the first game where you have to use a flashlight Squawks is carrying to see, but Squawks flashes the light every time he turns around making for a really unpleasant stage? Well, that mechanic is not only back in DKC2, but now you have to deal with it underwater. As a stage, Glimmer's Galleon is once again pretty inoffensive, with tighter paths but still generally fair enemy placement. However, having to deal with Glimmer's light constantly flashing in your eyes every time you turn, in a level where turning around is designed to be a lot more frequently, really drags this stage down for me.

36. Gusty Glade

The wind mechanics in DKC2 are really annoying. While probably not random, they are erratic, constantly changing on the fly which makes a stage like Gusty Glade incredibly frustrating and seemingly unfair for a first time's player. Sure, you can probably memorize the wind patterns but that just makes the stage trial and error, and it doesn't exactly fix how unfun dealing with the wind is in the first place. Getting Rattly early on does make the first third of the stage a bit more manageable, but once he's gone, Gusty Glade is a real slog.

35. Arctic Abyss

Arctic Abyss is the Enguarde stage and it's fine, it's whatever. My big problem with Enguarde is that he can only hit enemies from the side, and even then, his hitbox feels small and inaccurate, so his signature stage featuring multiple cramped vertical stages can be a bit frustrating. The one thing that saves Arctic Abyss for me are the moments when you can use Enguarde's fast and fun charge move which this stage thankfully has in abundance.

34. Red Hot Ride

Red Hot Ride is the first truly jarring difficulty spike most players are going to experience, and not in a good way. The stage revolves around piloting these incredibly sluggish balloons across long stretches of lava, only using tiny wind gusts to keep yourself afloat. It's not an especially fun mechanic, and the sheer crushing length of this stage makes having to replay it pretty dull. This is also the first stage where Zingers start to become a real problem as having to carefully weave yourself around them while piloting the balloon will really start to make you notice how weird the hitboxes in this game are.

33. Bramble Scramble

So apparently Bramble Scramble is pretty widely beloved as a stage. I mean, I know the brambles as a setting is iconic, and for good reason. Stickerbush Symphony is one of the most transcendant pieces of video game music ever made, and the serene skybox only heightens the vibes. But as a stage, Bramble Scramble doesn't do it for me at all. The parts where you're just playing as Diddy and Dixie, carefully platforming through the tight brambles are decently fun, but let's be real, that's like 10% of the stage. Most of Bramble Scramble is a Squawks level that's bad for most of the same reasons the previous ones were bad, though having to carry around the Kongs who extend your hitbox and weight you down makes this stage in particular feel like even more of a chore.

32. Web Woods

Squitter is the Animal Buddy I'm the most mixed on. He plays totally fine, and making your own platforms can be a fun mechanic, but only in moderation. When you give him an entire level, you start to realize just how slow Squitter's gameplay is. As a result, while Web Woods isn't really a bad stage, it drags pretty hard, especially when even accessing the bonus levels requires you to wait out those slow-moving cannonballs.

31. Toxic Tower

Toxic Tower is basically an early version of Animal Antics, testing you on Rattly, Squawks, and Squitter, and as such, it has the same issues. The Rattly section is awesome, basically being a combination of Rattle Battle and Slime Climb. It's a tense test of your reaction time that I find really satisfying to beat. The Squawks section on the other hand isn't especially fun, and having to quickly scale a wall as Squitter of all characters is especially miserable (though thankfully, you can skip most of Squitter's segment, albeit with a similarly hard bonus stage).

30. Topsail Trouble

Topsail Trouble is basically two levels in one which does make it feel a tad unfocused, but neither half is especially bad or unfun. The first half is a Rattly introduction, and he's probably my favorite animal buddy in this game. He feels really smooth to control and you can use the superjump to pull off some fun skips. The second half is your introduction to the Zingers as you have to dodge them while climbing across some nets. Zingers in DKC2 specifically can feel pretty jank in terms of their hitboxes, but they're generally fine in this stage.

29. Hornet Hole

The beehive is probably my least favorite location in DKC2. I already don't like dealing with Zingers so having a whole location built around them isn't ideal. Hornet Hole on its own isn't an especially fun stage due to having to deal with all that sticky honey slowing you down, but I'd say it really comes to life if you can find Squitter since he can walk over all the honey at the cost of slower vertical movement. I like how the stage is designed so that you can beat it either with Squitter or with the Kongs, and it showcases how I think the Animal Buddies should've ideally been implemented, not forcing them on you but giving you the option to tackle the stage in a different, equally challenging, way.

28. Windy Well

Windy Well is a bit of a weird stage. The main mechanic is that now the wind pushes you upwards, and you have to dodge enemies and obstacles while floating up. It can be a fun challenge, almost like a reverse Parrot Chute Panic, but it also feels a tad awkward in its implementation. The wind only activates when you pass invisible triggers, and while it's not hard to intuit where those triggers are, it leads to this strange feeling that you have to just trust the stage will take you where you need to go rather than having any agency yourself.

27. Gangplank Galley

Gangplank Galley is a stage I always found pretty forgettable, but it's really not bad at all. The main mechanic are these hooks you can hop between, nothing too crazy but I like how they don't really stop your momentum allowing you to platform across them at a brisk pace. There's a big focus on exploring what enemies can do as well, between the abundance of chests you can use them to break and that pretty fun setpiece with the invincibility barrel. But the thing that stood out to me the most with this stage was the gorgeous sunset that slowly shows itself as the stage progresses.

26. Squawks's Shaft

Well, this is it. The first level to introduce the worst thing about DKC2. That technicality aside, though, this is a fine level. The Squawks segment is short and inoffensive enough, even if having to carry the Kongs means he generally controls even worse in this stage, and that's not to discount that the vast majority of Squawks's Shaft is still a pretty fun cannon-centric level more reminiscent of the first game.

25. Jungle Jinx

For as hit or miss as the Lost World stages are, Jungle Jinx is pretty much right in the middle for me. It's a fine stage with a simple gimmick involving bouncing across rolling tires that it slowly expands upon over the course of the level. Honestly, I'm just not a huge fan of the Lost World jungle setting as I find it a bit generic, but as a stage, Jungle Jinx totally does its job.

24. Mudhole Marsh

Mudhole Marsh is a fairly solid swamp level with some fun platforming across small platforms, but a lot of it feels especially derivative of Krockhead Klamber without adding much new to help it stand out. In a game where each stage brings at least something new to the table, Mudhole Marsh's sole addition being the Cat O 9 Tails, probably the most annoying enemy in the game, just doesn't feel like it's enough for me.

23. Fiery Furnace

Fiery Furnace introduces probably the weirdest barrel type, these barrels that you can just straight-up move from one position to another. At its best, it can feel really satisfying to perfectly lineup each cannon with the next one, but I think they move a bit too slowly to be especially fun to mess around with. Bump up the movement speed of those barrels and Fiery Furnace probably would've gotten a higher spot on this list.

22. Rambi Rumble

Poor Rambi, he's the only Animal Buddy to not even get a full level to himself. Rambi Rumble is still like 50% Kong. The first half of the stage is pretty standard beehive fare, but once you turn into Rambi, his section is quite fun. The highlight though is definitely that King Zing chase, which isn't even especially hard but does a great job at getting the player to panic at first. For all my misgivings towards King Zing's boss fight, more on that later, the decision to introduce him the level before was brilliant.

21. Chain Link Chamber

Out of all the endgame stages, I think Chain Link Chamber is one of the more successful ones, being a comprehensive test on the climbable nets, one of DKC2's most defining new additions. The only problem, however, is that this stage is Zinger spam incarnate. There are rooms in this stage that are absolutely littered with these bugs and their massive hitboxes, to the point where this stage lags more than any other stage in DKC2 from my experience.

20. Pirate Panic

Pirate Panic isn't quite as perfect of a tutorial as Jungle Hijinx was, but it's still a strong first level that covers all the necessary ground to introduce the player to the new mechanics and setting. I like how you can visit the captain's cabin to get a bit of backstory, and how there's a hidden path that utilizes the team-up toss before the stage properly teaches you how to use it. The stage also introduces Rambi and while I have my gripes with the animal buddy abuse in later stages, I do think it's worth noting that the introduction of the charge move does a lot to make Rambi in particular more fun to mess around with.

19. Bramble Blast

Bramble Blast is easily my favorite of the two bramble stages, mostly down to the fun but tight barrel cannon sequences. While some of the mazes can feel a little annoying to navigate, I do like how you're rarely ever timed on using the barrel cannons. Complementing the calming atmosphere, you're encouraged to take your time and examine your surroundings. The only thing preventing this stage from being higher is, of course, the "optional" Squawks path which is mercifully short but still ends the stage on a sour note.

18. Castle Crush

Castle Crush is a stage I am a little bit mixed on. It's certainly an iconic stage, and for good reason too. Dealing with the rising platform and not getting squished is a fun challenge, the enemy placement is actually really clever, and even the Squawks section is fun since he serves as a means to let you get ahead of the platform. However, it's hard to deny the fact that this stage is just an autoscroller, and a lengthy one at that.

17. Mainbrace Mayhem

The ship mast is one of my favorite settings in DKC2 for a number of reasons. It's primarily vertical allowing for some solid platforming variety, the audiovisual presentation is absolutely breathtaking, and it allows for the introduction of the climbable nets which are really the only reason you would ever pick Diddy over Dixie. As a second level, Mainbrace Mayhem makes the most of these advantages, and is the first stage to truly show how much more cinematic DKC2 is than its predecessor.

16. Lockjaw Locker

As a first underwater stage, Lockjaw Locker already has way more going on than the underwater stages in the first game. The water is constantly rising and lowering, there's tons of hidden paths through all the crates, and there's a variety of enemies to deal with but also fairly wide open areas to deal with them. Special props go to how well this stage uses Engaurde, most foes can be easily taken out by his horizontal stabs, and the DK Coin requiring you to charge up a dash just as the water starts to lower is a fun challenge. 

15. Black Ice Battle

Black Ice Battle is a stage that requires patience above all else. It's a long vertical drop down an icy chasm filled with Zingers to dodge, and if you try to rush through it, you'll definitely be hit with hazards you don't have time to see coming. However, if you're willing to takes things a bit slower, Black Ice Battle is still pretty fun as you carefully weave around hazards and try to maintain your footing while dealing with all the Klobbers. I always liked this stage, even with its difficulty.

14. Parrot Chute Panic

With how much I rant about Squawks, you'd think I'd dislike Quawks as well, but no. As a one-off Animal Buddy, Quawks is actually quite fun to control, and carefully weaving around Zingers is a fun challenge. This stage makes plenty of clever design decisions too, Quawks is placed at the top of the screen so you always have enough time to react, and you can use the D-pad to speed up and slow down his descent which gives his gameplay a bit of extra depth. My only gripe is that the hitbox issues are probably at their worst here, since this stage really makes you deal with some tight gaps between Zingers, but overall, Parrot Chute Panic is a pretty fun time.

13. Ghostly Grove

Ghostly Grove is just a solidly designed level all around. The main mechanic are these ghastly ropes that appear and disappear in cycles, but they usually pop up once you spawn them on-screen, meaning that the stage doesn't really have any downtime for those who want to speed through it. These ropes are fleshed-out well over the course of the stage, with the amount of time they spend on-screen getting smaller as it goes on. It's just a classic, well-designed DKC level, no complaints here.

12. Kannon's Klaim

Kannon's Klaim is the first level centered around the cannons, and if you know me, you know that I love cannon levels. But I like how Kannon's Klaim doesn't just settle for the same timed cannon challenges that the first game has in spades, instead utilizing them in a new way with upward facing cannons that you have to launch yourself between. Like with all the best levels, it's got a nice flow and uses the vertical layout of the mine setting quite well. I also like that early bonus stage where you have to quickly swap between Diddy and Dixie to use their designated cannons, even if hiding a DK Coin there is pretty BS.

11. Clapper's Cavern

Clapper's Cavern brings back Clapper from Lava Lagoon, but this time he freezes the water into ice you can walk across. Like with that stage, I think this is a really fun premise that adds a nice level of tension since the fish from Slime Climb is swimming around in the water if you do happen to fall in. The only reason why I still prefer Lava Lagoon though is the random Enguarde section in the middle of the stage which distracts from the more interesting concept.

10. Rickety Race

As usual, I personally tend to love the minecart or minecart-adjacent stages, so expect all the rollercoaster levels to be high up on my list. However, Rickety Race easily stands out as the weakest of the pack solely for conveyance issues. This is the only minecart stage in the entire series where you can actually control your speed, and to beat the race and get the DK Coin, you'll even need to know that you can reverse your minecart and hit a speed booster behind the starting line. I honestly don't know how you can figure this out without looking it up, and I used to always get confused as to why I was losing.

However, once you do know what to do, Rickety Race is really fun and blisteringly fast. You get a chance to really play aggressive and the stage is designed generously enough that you can afford to go at max speed without worrying you won't have time to react to anything. I also like the bonus level in this one, getting there with precise mid-air team-up tosses feels really nice.

9. Klobber Karnage

This is a very love-it-or-hate-it stage, and I used to not like Klobber Karnage all that much either, but the more I play this stage, the more I come to love it. Klobbers have a very specific movement pattern and while it is totally possible to get bounce-locked into spikes if you're not careful, there is a strategy to dealing with them, you just have to play cautiously. The same thing applies to that infamous rotating cannon sequence which I actually really like, just stay calm and focus more on being precise than fast and you'll find it's a really satisfying challenge to conquer. The only thing preventing this stage from being even higher is that one part where you have to very precisely launch yourself over Zingers which I'll concede is kind of BS.

8. Barrel Bayou

Most of the swamp levels have a pretty smooth sense of flow to them and Barrel Bayou is no exception, primarily being focused around these barrels that you can aim yourself. Precise control of the barrels can really help you get through the stage fast, and it makes for a level that feels great to master. Beyond that, the Kloaks are pretty cool enemies since they can toss a variety of objects at you including bananas, and you can use them to access some of the bonus levels. The early-stage Rambi section is also quite fun since the horizontal layout allows for some crazy charge dashes. Overall just a really smooth and well-crafted stage.

7. Lava Lagoon

Lava Lagoon is yet another really creative underwater stage, with its main premise about using these seals to turn the lava into water for brief periods of time. It's not only an inventive concept explored quite thoroughly, even having bits where you can use the invincibility barrel to swim through the lava, but it also gives the stage an excellent layer of tension as you'll never truly know when the water is going to turn back.

6. Hot Head Hop

Hot Head Bop is one of the most iconic DKC2 stages in my eyes, just impeccably-crafted all around. The main mechanic of hopping across crocodile heads, some of which can launch you into the air, is a fun one that's slowly developed over the course of the stage. Squitter also gets a very well-done introduction, easing you into probably the trickiest animal buddy to learn, which also hiding a ton of bonus stages and collectibles in the air for those who've already mastered his moveset. Add in the striking volcano setting and one of the best music tracks in the game, and you get a stage I've always held up as one of my favorites.

5. Krockhead Klamber

Krockhead Klamber is basically Hot Head Hop 2 in that it's yet another stage focused around hopping across crocodile heads. However, I'd say this stage surpasses its predecessor with the addition of the Krockhead Barrels which cause crocodile heads to pop up for only a short period of time. It's a very classic tension-adding DKC mechanic that encourages you speed through the stage, and that's good because this stage, more than any others in the game, feels like it's built for speedrunning. I constantly bring up how good DKC levels can create a satisfying sense of flow as you platform across obstacles at a brisk pace, but no level encapsulates this more than Krockhead Klamber. There's no downtime and you'll never need to lose momentum for anything, so it feels absolutely incredible to master.

4. Target Terror

Target Terror is the first rollercoaster stage, and it's as fast and frenetic as you could want. The main mechanic being to hit or avoid certain target barrels to raise the gates is a bit more involved than the minecart stages in the first game, but it's still really fun and satisfying to nail without messing up. I also really like the Klanks that ride in front of you and toss barrels for you to dodge, which helps to give the stage a more varied and dynamic feel.

3. Slime Climb

Slime Climb is another one of the more infamous difficulty spikes in DKC2, but I also think it's one of the most fun levels to master. There isn't really anything unfair about Slime Climb, if you slip up and fall into the slime, it's usually your fault for being too slow or being too careless. This makes for a stage that feels really rewarding to beat for the first time, especially as a kid, and being able to blaze through it with little issue now feels great. I also like how you still have a tiny grace period if you do fall since you only get damaged if the fish touches you, and the multiple collectibles doing the Lava Lagoon thing where you have to get an invincibility barrel and purposefully enter the slime is a nice touch. Definitely another really iconic level in probably the best world of the game.

2. Haunted Hall

Haunted Hall is easily my favorite rollercoaster stage, and one of my favorite minecart stages period. It basically plays out like a fusion of a minecart stage with Tanked Up Trouble, tasking you to collect Plus barrels to keep you from being caught by an evil ghost furiously chasing you. The stage escalates at a perfect pace, starting with only Plus barrels, then having you deal with Minus barrels that decrease your time, then ending it off with a tense final challenge that has you dealing with both type. Also, props go to the bonus levels which really mess around with the minecart mechanics in some fun ways.

1. Rattle Battle

Now, with all I've complained about the Animal Buddies, it might surprise you to hear that my favorite level in Donkey Kong Country 2 is an Animal Buddy stage. As a matter of fact, it's the first stage that lets you transform into one entirely. But what makes this stage so fun for me is that the Animal Buddy in question, Rattly, is easily my favorite one in the game. He controls incredibly smoothly and reliably bouncing off of enemies with him feels intuitive and satisfying, he's really the only Animal Buddy that I like controlling as much as the Kongs. At first, Rattle Battle may seem like a bit of a difficulty spike as the stage tests you on how accurately you can platform as Rattly, especially once the Kannons come in and add an element of timing. However, once you master Rattly's controls, Rattle Battle almost feels like a fun breather stage that really lets you let loose on all the enemies in your path. Being able to bounce around most of the enemies in the stage without hitting the ground feels like such a power trip.

As for the bosses, as I mentioned, they are a massive improvement over the first game. While there's still a few stinkers here, the high points rank among my favorite bosses in the series.

7. King Zing

In case you still think my hatred for Squawks is overblown, keep in mind that he's the only Animal Buddy in DKC2 to get a boss fight. If that's not developer bias, I don't know what is. It's a shame too because, as mentioned, King Zing being teased at the end of Rambi Rumble is such a cool set-up and it pains me that his boss fight is so dreadfully annoying. Having to hit King Zing's tiny weakpoint with Squawks' wonky projectile arc is just an exercise in frustration and the very inconsistent hitboxes doesn't help much. The second phase where King Zing turns into a normal Zinger isn't as bad, but it's not especially fun either. Either way, this is easily the least enjoyable fight in DKC2, if not the entire series.

6. Kudgel 

The fight against Kudgel is boooorrriiiing. Not only is he just a reskin of Klubba, but his fight solely consists of waiting out his jumps before hitting him with a TNT barrel. The second phase doesn't do anything to make the fight more interesting, and once you get the very easy pattern down, there's no reason why you should ever get hit.

5. Krow

The first fight against Krow doesn't do anything especially remarkable, but it's still a more interesting fight than most in the first game. The addition of a second pinch phase where Krow bonks his head on the mast causing eggs to fly all over the place is a fun touch, though it's still pretty easy to deal with.

4. Kreepy Krow

Putting aside the disappointment of getting a reused boss fight as the penultimate encounter, I do think Kreepy Krow is a solid step-up from his original incarnation. Dodging the Neckies seems easy at first, but by the end of the fight, you'll have to deal with a ton at once and it can be genuinely challenging. The real highlight, though, are the interims between each phase which have you climbing up the mast dodging eggs coming from all directions. It can feel a bit too random for its own good at points, but I'd still say it's a decent challenge.

3. Kaptain K Rool 2

K Rool's secret second fight is honestly more of a glorified final phase to that first fight, with him launching an onslaught of cannonballs at you in various patterns before you land that final hit. It's not especially complex and some may even call it underwhelming, but some of those aforementioned patterns can be quite difficult to dodge and slowly build on each other as the fight goes on.

2. Kleever

Kleever is the point where you truly realize just how much better DKC2's bosses are. Despite the weird premise of fighting a flying sword, this is a really tense and dynamic encounter. The first phase has you dodging fireballs while trying to find an opening to hit Kleever with a cannonball, but once again, the fight really shines in its second half as Kleever starts furiously chasing you and you have to try and buy time until another cannonball drops down. This boss really made me tense as a kid, and I love it for it.

1. Kaptain K Rool 1

Rare has always been great with final bosses that test you on everything you've learned and Kaptain K Rool is the best example of this. This is pretty much a perfect final boss, each phase tosses something new into the mix that builds on the phases that came before, constantly surprising you with twists ranging from cannon fire that reverses your controls and K Rool turning invisible. It's all totally fair and learnable though, and the fight keeps up a brisk pace so having to replay it doesn't become too tedious.