Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

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Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby Blaziken257 » May 19th, 2008, 2:46 pm

I'm not sure if anybody here has ever heard of this, but there was once a bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES. It's based off the one for SNES, obviously. The bootleg name is called Super Donkey Kong 2, which is what it was called in Japan. The bootleg is FAR worse than the original game for the SNES. Instead of 39 levels, this one has a whopping three! That's right, THREE levels. You don't get much for finishing it, either...

The problems don't stop there either. In the SNES game, you get to play as Diddy or Dixie, as you all know. Well, in THIS game, you ONLY get Diddy Kong, which means you can't do tag-team throw or helicopter spin, and one hit will kill you instantly. This bootleg doesn't have Star Barrels, either, which means you have to go through the whole level without getting hit once.

But that's difficult, because the bootleg is glitchy as hell. There are so many glitches that it's not even funny, and it's really difficult to play. If you jump on two enemies at the same time, you die. If you carry a crate in front of you and try to hit another enemy with it, you die. If you try to hit two enemies with one cartwheel, you die. If you fall down for too long, the screen can't keep up, and you die (yes, I know this is also in the DKL1 and DKL2, and to a far lesser extent DKL3 as well, but in this bootleg it's about 10-20 times worse). The game also has horrible hit detection. I've jumped on enemies and I've died sometimes. You die, you die, you die, you die, you die! All these glitches make the game way too difficult.

The graphics and music -- especially the music -- are flawed, which is a shame since the DKC series is known for its AMAZING graphics and music. The graphics look like everything went through a trash compactor, and there's little detail for the most part. It doesn't look that bad for an NES game though, but still, it could have been better. The music is downright horrible. All the songs are way off-key and irritating to listen to. The only redeeming thing about the music is that this bootleg is the only known game with an 8-bit Jib Jig theme but that's not saying much. Also, even Donkey Kong Land 2, which is for Game Boy, has much, much better music than this.

Now, time for the screenshots comparing the two games:

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SNES one looks much better and shinier, doesn't it? The NES one looks so dull.

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The map screen of Gangplank Galleon. The text on the bottom is missing, the ship is all bronze, and it's less colorful.

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Pirate Panic.

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Here's Neek. It's purple in the NES version. You'll also notice that there's no DK barrel.

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Now we see Klomps. In the NES version, they look awkward and a lot skinnier.

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Klobber time. In the NES version, stomping on a Klobber defeats it instantly, and you can't pick it up. There is also nothing in that pit in the NES version.

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What? No Rambi crate?

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The end of Pirate Panic. The NES version is missing a pole next to the target.

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Diddy is dancing. Worth noting is that in the NES version, Diddy will dance no matter what (you don't have to jump on the barrel platform to the left of the target).

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Gangplank Galleon map again, now going to Mainbrace Mayhem. It's further down on the NES version...

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Beginning of Mainbrace Mayhem. This level is different in the NES version: it only scrolls vertically, so the width of the whole level is one screen wide. So it's condensed in this version. It also has an annoying glitch where if you fall down too far, the screen can't keep up and you lose a life.

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Another shot of Mainbrace Mayhem.

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The end of Mainbrace Mayhem.

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The third level in the NES version is... Rattle Battle. Yep. That's weird considering that it's around the middle of the SNES game. And unlike the SNES version, where it's in Krem Quay, the NES version is still in Gangplank Galleon.

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Well... glad to see that Rattly is still in the game. But he sucks now. He can't do his charge jump move, and controlling him sucks.

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Around the beginning of Rattle Battle. Hmmm... see something wrong? The sky is orange, and the water is purple! Isn't it supposed to be green? What were the pirates smoking?

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At least the Zingers don't look half bad.

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The end of Rattle Battle. Good luck getting here, you'll need it.

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And this is what you get for finishing this buggy game. A horrible ending screen that's based off the Game Over screen but with "The End" instead. There isn't even any boss fight with K. Rool or anything. They end up in JAIL for this?!

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And here's what the Game Over screen looks like. The NES one sorta looks like the one in DKL2 now that I think of it, but with a lot more dithering.

Overall, this game doesn't live up to the SNES classic at all. It's SEVERELY watered down and buggy as hell, and isn't fun to play at all. Even for a bootleg, this game is bad.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby Tompa » May 19th, 2008, 6:52 pm

Yeah, I've seen it, hehe. Looks ugly. There's one for DKC as well, called DKC4 at most places. I tried that one for a short while, but don't remember much about it.. Youtube has videos.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby Qyzbud » May 19th, 2008, 9:28 pm

Hmm... I wonder if the people who make these are actual fans of the DKCs, or just hackers looking for a challenge. :roll:

I think it's something that had to be attempted, and I'm actually quite impressed with the graphics (despite the tile glitches atop most screens here), but I haven't played it or seen it in action yet. Obviously it's not meant to compete with the awesomeness of DKC2, but for a 'fan'-made NES game, the effort is admirable - even if it is lacking in the Dixie department.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby Jomingo » May 20th, 2008, 8:44 am

Yeah, I actually think it's pretty well done for a NES game, and a fanmade one at that.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby Metroixer » May 21st, 2008, 6:50 am

Eh, I dunno why but I actually like the look of this. Granted the whole impossible gameplay and only three levels thing are big cons. Other than that though in my opinion, the game actually looks pretty good graphically.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby Teeth » May 23rd, 2008, 6:17 am

Yeah, you slagged it off a bit there, Blaziken, but it is pretty faithful and the graphics are pretty good.

And Rattle Battle is probably my favourite level in DKC2, so it's nice that they chose it over all the others. :mrgreen:

But that ending screen is just horrible!
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby cfh » June 6th, 2008, 11:32 am

I made a video a while ago:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=h0efyEdGSiI

Honestly, I thought the graphics and music were impressive. That's about the only good thing I can say unfortunately. NES homebrew is a lot harder than it would seem.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby Teeth » June 6th, 2008, 8:18 pm

Seeing that video, I have to say that the music is converted suprisingly well - it makes me wonder why Rare didn't put Klomp's Romp or Jib Jig into DKL2 and made us listen to that bloody ship hold music instead.

Also, CFH, visually hinting the viewer to subscribe to you at the end is a tad cheeky, isn't it? :P
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby cfh » June 6th, 2008, 9:14 pm

Heh, it was a while ago... :P

A lot of people do that, dunno how much it helps.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby JadeRoseofChaos » June 28th, 2009, 12:51 pm

Ugh... What a dreadful ending screen.... :(
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby HavocReaper48 » October 19th, 2010, 8:58 am

While this is an interesting topic (bootlegs usually are), I feel it's wrong to compare the bootleg's title screen to the SNES American version. The bootleg was based off the Japanese title, see here:

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It's actually somewhat accurate but yes, extremely downgraded. Also, the NES version of the Gangplank Galleon looks like the SNES version threw up and they used that for the NES screen.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby FrankMorris » October 20th, 2010, 9:36 am

There's also DKC3 bootleg for Sega Genesis, but that isn't worth of a screenshot.

Rom can be found in the latest GoodSet (which is actually ancient if compared to No-Intro's latest)
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby BigDonkey101 » October 26th, 2010, 12:04 pm

I like the 8-bit version of Jib Jig, and for an 8-bit game it looks nice, but those are the only good things that I can say about this bootleg.

I find it funny that there are only 3 levels in the bootleg. I guess they got lazy, and decided that 3 levels was good enough.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby HavocReaper48 » October 26th, 2010, 12:59 pm

You must remember, though, they did not have the profits of the original DKC backing their game up. Also, I'm sure those guys knew what they were doing even if it's only three levels - they're accurate enough, the addition of Rattly is impressive. Heck, I bet they could at least get the whole set of levels on the G.G. there (I would like to see an NES Krow) if they had more resources. Though I'll admit the banana coins were pretty much useless.
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Re: Bootleg Donkey Kong Country 2 for NES

Postby Krow111 » October 27th, 2010, 11:52 am

Only three levels, huh? They should have at least put ONE boss battle at the end (preferably K. Rool). It was made because someone (or some people) wanted to make a quick buck and put together this horrible game.
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