Donkey Kong has been "kongnapped" by the nasty K. Rool and the Kremlings, and it is up to Diddy Kong and his girl-friend Dixie Kong to save him.
All the familiar enemies and helpful friends return, along with some new characters, including the wise Wrinkly Kong who will teach you some important lessons in gameplay. Again the emphasis is on banana collecting, where as every one hundred bananas makes one extra life. Apart from beating K. Rool and rescuing Donkey Kong, there are extra missions that can be completed. Collect enough K. Rool Kremkoins to open up the routes to the Lost World, while every level has a hidden Hero Coin to collect.
The Game Boy Advance version also includes a bonus game mode with three minigames (Expresso's Racing, Funky's Flights, and Bag a Bug) plus a time attack mode called Diddy's Dash (complete levels as fast as possible as Diddy Kong). This version of the game also includes an additional boss (Kerozene) and two more collectibles (Golden Feathers that increase Expresso's stats in the Expresso's Racing bonus game and photographs that fill out a scrapbook). Due to the addition of the bonus games and the scrapbook 28 more Hero Coins were also added.
According to David Wise, an DOS port was planned, but was cancelled because Nintendo wouldn't let them get away with that.
References
In Cranky's Museum (SNES and Wii version), a poster of the character Thunder from Killer Instinct can be seen on the wall.
After participating in Cranky Kong's "Video Game Heroes" contest, the players' results are tallied on a screen that shows the three top-scoring characters standing on pedestals. If you look below this, you will see Sonic the Hedgehog's red sneakers and Earthworm Jim's trademark plasma gun discarded alongside a trash can and a sign reading "NO HOPERS". Apparently they didn't make the cut.
Awards
Game Informer
August 2001 (Issue 100) - #65 in the "Top 100 Games of All Time" poll
Game Players
Vol. 8, No. 13 (Holiday Edition) - Best SNES Game of the Year 1995
Vol. 8, No. 13 (Holiday Edition) - Best 16-Bit Graphics of the Year 1995