Summary

  • Donkey Kong games are known for their brutal difficulty, surpassing even Mario games.
  • Donkey Kong 64 has a high number of collectibles, setting a Guinness World Record.
  • Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is the hardest in the series, featuring unforgiving gameplay.

Nintendo's biggest platformer series has to be Mario, but right behind it is 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Donkey Kong. While starting off within the Mario series in 1981, DK spun off into its own series with a large cast of unique characters. Many prefer t🧜hese platformers over the Mario games, but what can't be disputed is the difficulty.

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Yo𝓀u will end up going bananas over how brutal some of these DKC Returns HD levels can get!

Especially in the 2D Donkey Kong games, the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:difficulty of some of these levels is obscene, and if you want to reach 100 p✨ercent, you'll need to be one of the game's best players. Nothing says this better than beating ever🐟y level without taking damage.

6 Donkey Kon⛦g Arcade 🌱

Way Harder Than You'd Think

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Donkey Kong
Arcade
Systems
Released
July 31, 1981
ESRB
e
Developer(s)
Nintendo R&am♏p;D1, Ikegami Tsushinki
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
Franchise
꧋🅷Donkey Kong

Platform(s)
Arcade, Atari 2600, Nintendo Entertainment System, Commodore 64, 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Nintendo Game Boy Advance

Many younger gamers will not see the brutal difficulty of the original Donkey Kong coming. They'll probab🗹ly think it's like Pac-Man, where the game slowly eases you into it and gets brutal later. Donkey Kong starts savage from the get-go. T𒊎he barrels and obstacles coming at you are very unpredictable when you're brand new to the game, leading to a ton of deaths.

In certain versions of the arcade game, you don't even play all four levels in a row. You'll need to do three entire loops to play them all for game completion, leading to the second-hardest Nintendo arcade game behind Super�🍃� Punch-Out!! Ev💮en the standard version takes a wild amount of practice to beat without getting a game over, and it would really suck if you had to do that to beat any other Donkey🦹 Kong game.

5 𒈔 Donkey ꦍKong 64

A Guinness World Record Holder

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168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Donkey Kong 64
Platformer
Systems
Released
November 24, 1999
ESRB
e
Developer(s)
Rare
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
Engine
NEC VR4300
Multiplayer
Local Multiplayer ꧑
Franchise
𒉰 Donkey Kon𒀰g

WHERE TO PLAY

PHYSICAL

How Long To Beat
27 Hours
Metascore
90

Not only is Donkey Kong 64 an absolute pain to 100 percent, but many haven't beaten the game at all due to the fact that you'll have to beat the DK arcade game to unlock the final boss. That's wild, and 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:the sheer amount of collectibles isn't any easier. As DK64 was a collectathon platformer in the vein of Banjo-Kazooie, you know there's going ꧋to be a ton, but nobody c♎ould have expected the final amount.

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The N64 is ღstill one of Nintendo's most beloved consoles, and these games a♔re the reason why gamers will always adore it.

There are 3,821 total collectables in DK64, a Guinness World Record for the most 🎉collectables 🌌in a platformer game. 100 percent completion in this game is just not fun with how long it takes, especially because you'll have to swap characters constantly to pick up character-specific collectables.

4 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

The Ultimate 2D Platformer On The SNES

Donkey Kong Country 2 Diddy's Kong Quest

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Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Platformer
Systems
Released
November 21, 1995
ESRB
e
Developer(s)
Rare
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
Multiplayer
Local Multipl♛ayer

How Long To Beat
5 Hours
Metascore
80 (GBA)

While Donkey Kong Country 2 has to be 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:one of the best games on the SNES, it's also one of the hardest. This game makes Super Mario World look like a joke in comparison. First off, you have a bunch of collectables to 100 percent 👍the game, including 40 DK Coins and 75 Kremkoinಞs.

There's actually a secret way you can get all 75 Kremkoins in the first level, but the game just has to have its cake and eat it, too, because doing it that way doesn't count towar🌊d your completion stat. Thanks, Rare! You'll need all 75 to access the Lost World, which contains the hardest levels DKC2 has to offer. The Squawks section of Animal Antics, in particular, is notorious for its brutal difficulty with how tight the space is.

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

Harder Than The First, But Not As Hard As The Second

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Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Platformer
Systems
Released
November 22, 1996
ESRB
e
Developer(s)
Rare
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
Multiplayer
🌠 Local Multiꦜplayer

WHERE TO PLAY

PHYSICAL

How Long To Beat
5 Hours
Metascore
77 (GBA)

The reason why Donkey Kong Country 1 isn't that difficult to 100 percent is because beating the game and finding all the bonus rooms is all you have to do. Donkey Kong Country 3, while not as difficult as DKC2, still has a bunch of requirements that make it harder than the original. You now ha🌃ve three collectables this time: Bonus Coins, DK Coins, and Banana Birds.

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The Banana Birds are the most well-hidden; you'll likely need a guide to find them all. The Lost Wor𓆉ld returns, though it's named Krematoa in DKC3, and the levels here are challenging but not nearly as bad as the prior instalment. Still, DKC3 requires significantly more🌠 work for 100 percent completion than DKC1.

2 🐈 Donkey Kong Country Returns

The Series' Difficulty Returns With A Vengeance

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168澳洲幸运5开奖网: Donkey Kong Country Ret💟urns HD 🎉
Platformer
Systems
Top Critic Avg: 77/100 Critics Rec: 72%
Released
January 16, 2025
ESRB
𓆏 E for Everyone - Mild fantasy violence 🅷
Developer(s)
ᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚ Forever Entertainment
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
Multiplayer
Local Co-Oꩵ💯p, Online Co-Op

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL

Number of Players
1-2
Nintendo Switch Release Date
January 16, 2025 𒀰
How Long To Beat
11.5 hours 🌟
How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
31 hours
OpenCritic Rating
Strong

If you thought the Rare Donkey Kong Country games were bad, you haven't seen anything yet. Retro Studios not only brought DKC back in a phenomenal way but made it harder than ever, especially to 100 percent. There are eight main worlds, and each has a temple level to play after getting all the Kong Lett𝄹ers. These start off pretty easy, but they get ridiculously hard once you reach the World 4 temple le🍸vel.

You'll need perfect timing to beat these levels; items al🔜so help. After completing all temple levels, you'll unlock World 9, and after beating that, you unlock Mirror mode. In this mode, all levels are flipped, Diddy's absent, you have only one hit, and no items can be used. Beating every level in Mirror mode is for the absolute best DK players.

1 Donkey Kong Country:﷽ Tropical Freeze ꦓ

The Hardest Donkey Kong Yet

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Your Rating

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Platformer
Systems
Top Critic Avg: 84/100 Critics Rec: 87%
Released
February 21, 2014
ESRB
E For Everyone due to Mild Cartoo🐷n Violence
Developer(s)
🌞 🏅 Retro Studios
Publisher(s)
Nintendo
Multiplayer
🍰 Online Multiplayer

WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
PHYSICAL

Metascore
86
OpenCritic Rating
Mighty

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze works very similarly to Returns, but Retro Studios made it even harder. You only have six ma🅷in worlds this time, which sounds easier, but to compensate, the difficulty ramps up much sooner. Even within the World 2 temple level, you'll have to start doing perfect bounces on enemies to reach the end.

The b൲osses are also significantly harder, with each having multiple phases, compared to Returns, which only had phases for the final boss. The cherry on top that makes this the hardest DK game is the revamped Mirror mode, now called Hard mode. The same rules apply here, except now you don't even get checkpoints. You'll have to complete every level in♛ its entirety without getting hit, which is for the hardest of the hardcore out there.

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