DKC3: Most Difficult Levels

After playing through Donkey Kong Country 3, I felt compelled to examine the game's most challenging levels.

Back when first playing DKC3, stages where you ride a sled like Demolition Drainpipe (4-2) or Tearaway Toboggan (5-2) would have been among the most challenging... Much like the mine cart levels in DKC. Now that I seem to have quicker reflexes and more experience, it's fun to take a look at which levels still snag seasoned DKC veterans.

Ripsaw Rage (4-3) makes the short list for many players. A huge-ass saw blade continually forces you to climb your way up higher through the trees. Personally, I had trouble with the DK Coin on Krevice Kreepers (5-1).

Years ago, Barrel Drop Bounce (5-3) gave me a hard time. Jumping from barrel to barrel as they flow down the waterfall... Falling down and having to re-start, plus they're starting to make us work for the bonuses and DK coin. Buzzer Barrage (6-1) is an underground cavern with Kopters and Buzz bees, another level on the blacklist.




 

Kong-Fused Cliffs (6-2) is disliked by some, mainly due to the ropes you're climbing are actively burning, requiring a fast climb upwards as you jump to dodge bees and incoming Kopters. Pot-Hole Panic (6-4) is also disliked by many players, possibly due to the atmosphere and coloring.

An honorable mention for Creepy Caverns (7-2). It can take a while to get timing of the ghost barrels, and not getting blasting yourself into a Buzz saw. Finding Squitter and getting him to the bonus area is a bit unintuitive, but I think that's the point...

I remember it used to take me forever to figure out how to snag the DK coin in Creepy Caverns. Involves a perfectly timed jump into a ghost barrel. The metal keg is tossed over this Buzz, with a simple throw that goes high, up and over, so it'll take as long as possible to reach Koin... Giving you time to position yourself so it hits him properly.

Another noteworthy  mention goes to Koindozer Klamber (7-4). Most players have it on their list. (I know it reminds me of Klobber Karnage from DK2's lost world. Hell, even the jungle brush and scenery bears an odd similarity...) Can take a minute to find the switch to change Bazuka's TNT barrels to steel kegs to defeat the lone green Kremling that's carrying the actual DK coin. A bonus barrel is also hidden up in the leaves in a similar fashion.




It's always tough to rank one stage as truly more difficult than another, but I've settled on two levels that are surely to be on every players short list as the most difficult in the game...

Lightning Lookout (7-3). This level had me almost ready to throw the controller through the screen. Sure, I could pick it up now, and probably complete the level with a life or two... But even after playing through the game again more than twenty years later, I died more times here than on any other level. Even the bonus level to "Collect 15 Green Bananas" is in the friggin' lightning! Thankfully the first bonus level "Bash the Baddies" didn't have lightning... (Adding lightning to that first bonus game could have made it damn near impossible to complete)

Poisonous Pipeline (7-5)
No, your controller isn't messed up. They've just reversed your controls... Ensuring when you instinctively try to avoid something, you'll crash right into it and die. That's just plain evil. I think we ended up holding our controllers backwards, which though difficult, seemed easier than having your controls reversed. The DK coin can be a tad tricky until you figure out the angle - bounce the keg off the wall while you jump, timing it so Koin will be shielding high when the keg hits him.





Not surprising, the most challenging levels of all are found in DKC3's Lost World of Krematoa:

*Stampede Sprint (Lost World 8-1) Running full speed ahead as Ellie the elephant, trying to dodge everything.

*Swoopy Salvo (Lost World Level 8-4) Climb through trees and avoid swooping woodpeckers and red Buzz saw bees.

*Rocket Rush (Lost World Level 8-5) Little room for error as you pilot a rocket-fueled ship made out of a barrel. Many space monkeys died to complete this mission.