[Music]
Donkey Kong he's like one of the
greatest platforming mascots ever made
with the Donkey Kong Country series
having so many great levels in them we
figured we'd under the top 10 best but
there's so many good ones out there so
to make it a little bit easier on
ourselves we're focusing on just the old
school ones so hey I'm nervous Nick for
screen cast top 10 retro Donkey Kong
Country levels number 10 dkc3 really
brings the gimmick levels harder than
the previous two but poisonous pipeline
is so extreme we've got to give it a
shout-out the polluted waters of this
level have some kind of mind-altering
effect on the Apes because the controls
get flipped backwards no joke when we
played this game recently we had to turn
our controllers upside down to beat it
as kids we weren't so smart and this was
one of the most challenging levels in
the entire game getting past merchants
while avoiding clownfish which literally
our clownfish would have been tough
enough as it is
but with Flint directional controls you
can forget all about beating this level
until you you know play it again as it
grown up and are smart enough to flip
the controller over number nine if
you're not very familiar with
platformers it's really important that
you respect the rhythm of a level it may
not be evident to everyone but even the
most plain of 2d platforming stages have
a rhythm to them kind of like jumps in
motocross you can get in this rhythm and
totally fall into this mode where you
become one with the game both classic
and new dkc games are great at this but
croc head clamor does it to perfection
the tough jumps climbing on the reeds
the hugely satisfying bounce you get
from landing on the flutters
it's one of those levels where you can
just get in the zone and you can't tell
me you don't feel like you're awesome at
dkc games when you be Crockett clammer
that is what a great level is all about
number eight it's tough to not make a
list full of gimmick levels because dkc
two and three are for so many quality
stages that really break up any monotony
but windy well throws down a new
navigation mechanic blowing hard wind up
at you so you have to flow through the
stage dodging crooks and bazooka guys
seems like not a big deal but you've got
to appreciate especially for the time
how both apes have standalone animations
the way dick sees hair blows past her
body or the fact that Diddy's animation
is completely different he's face down
doing the Tom Cruise thing yeah there's
quite a few levels that play with new
mechanics but Wendy well represents all
of them
number seven I'm gonna commit a horrible
crime here and give the screen wiping
level not to castle crush but to ripsaw
rage please don't hate me for me I guess
it's the aesthetic like imagine being
inside the trunks of giant redwoods then
this thousand foot tall lumberjack comes
up and says I hate you and then attacks
you with a giant saw the thing is this
is the kind of saw that's held by two
people working together and it's cutting
up the tree as in vertically as in that
doesn't make any sense yeah it's more or
less the same concept as some other more
iconic levels but it's a dangerously
sharp saw trying to kill a baby in his
babysitter the anxiety of making it
laterally up through multiple trees
while not getting caught under hard
edges brought the pressure and it's both
a great and simple aesthetic for a
screen wiping level number six
I remember the first time I ever played
mind cards carnage see I was a huge fan
of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
and this was the first time in my life I
got to live out the fantasy of riding in
a minecart in an extremely dangerous
mind what the heck are the cogs doing in
here like look at all these damaged
carts
I got sick how many lives were lost in
this mineshaft well we're gonna add a
couple more sure after all these years
we're good enough now to try to beat the
level blindfolded but that doesn't make
it any less of a classic the dkc games
are all about the jungle yeah we like to
explore icy peaks desert e canyons and
even industrial factories but those lush
tropical environments are what come to
mind first when thinking about DKC
levels jungle hijinks is undoubtedly one
of the best intro levels in retro gaming
I mean it did introduce you to the empty
banana hoard and all but we're going
with orangutan gang as our jungle level
2 rep dkc1 you know those silhouette
levels and the more modern dkc games say
hello to your ancestor or rang attain
gang features as you may have guessed a
gang of orangutan is that throw barrels
at you going from the dusky jungle for
to the colorful treetops maybe feel like
the world of Kong Country had an actual
day/night cycle and with all the obscure
bonus rooms that required espresso the
ostrich we spent a lot of time cleaning
this one out
number four whoa and we kind of threw
down a bit over whether this was gonna
be higher up on the list and minecart
carnage or not but it's the hard truth
rickety race is a better level because
you're not just trying to survive you're
trying to win we don't really have
context for the strange version of Hell
where you race crocodiles on a skull
roller coaster then sandwich them into
the rail and knock them off the track
but man does it feel good to get that
first place victory
am i right and if you really want the
adrenaline pumping good stuff activate
this little secret yeah that's right
play rickety race like a real trihard
and go like 37 times faster than normal
speed what the doodoo out of the other
kremlings riding the coaster and cement
yourself as a true DKC minecart champion
that's rickety race number three we've
braved jungle ruins coral reefs and a
walk villages then out of nowhere comes
oil drum alley taking the cogs into an
industrial Factory was a crazy departure
from what we had seen in the game up to
that point the hanging chains the fiery
barrels and again a great soundtrack
that combines fast-paced ambience with
jungle sounding claims it really made
the Kong's fuel out of their element and
in so the levels seemed all the more
dangerous
if we hadn't owned by then the DK seas
level design was some of the best of all
time we were convinced by oil drum alley
number two
the hardest level in the entire
franchise and I do mean the frickin
hardest basically a trial by fire that
tests your skills with each animal buddy
you will get chewed up and spit back out
by animal antics not because of rain B
the Rhino not because of squid or the
spider not because of on guard the super
fun garden like a swordsman I get it now
but because of squawks the parrot and
also mother nature cuz she like keeps
gusting wind at you while you're
navigating this giant bush it's like
trying to pull something out of your
wiener during an earthquake
sure checking out speedrunners do with
no problem but with the flat speed
ascension bees and deadly environmental
hazards this section is arguably the
most challenging in any dkc game and
that's before one final section with
Radley that's also incredibly hard don't
you dare call yourself a hardcore dkc
player unless you've conquered animal
antics it's number one
it's 1994 and Donkey Kong Country is
already the greatest looking game ever
made then you get to gorilla glaciers
first level and everything you know has
changed many levels in the Donkey Kong
Country games are dedicated to heart
wrenching barrel blasting where one
mistimed button press means immediate
death most will probably think of dkc2 s
bramble blast first but it doesn't have
the magic of snow barrel blast this one
introduced icy slippery platforms
treacherous jumps and included a
snowstorm that along with the soundtrack
cut more intense the further you went
changing weather in a Super Nintendo
game what as tense as this level would
have been on a happy sunny day having to
navigate these insane obstacles during a
blizzard up the tension and locks it in
as the best retro DK sea level