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Donkey Kong Land, Country Roll Onto Virtual Console
Nintendo has released a barrel-blasting series of games onto its 3DS and Wii U Virtual Consoles. The first three entries in the Donkey Kong Land and Donkey Kong Country games are now available for download.
Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, are available for $7.99 apiece. The first game was a milestone in its day, presenting pre-rendered characters that were unlike the vast majority of games on the SNES.
Donkey Kong Land, Donkey Kong Land 2, and Donkey Kong Land III were all fun portable riffs on the series, but the most noteworthy thing about them is they shipped on yellow carts.
All were developed by Rare, so we can only assume that the "Publisher Nintendo" bullet point on each game's Virtual Console landing page is a consistent typo.
The games were made available on the UK's Virtual Console late last year, and North American audiences are getting the games as well as an accompanying promotion. If you buy one or more of these titles before March 3, you can get 30 percent off the eShop purchase of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze on Wii U or Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D for the 3DS. If you want to fully lose your mind, Donkey Kong style, you can download an NES Donkey Kong theme for your 3DS, too.
Our Take
If you like playing Mr. Kong in Smash Bros., you can thank Donkey Kong Country. Before that series re-imagined the character, he was dangerously close to becoming second-tier has-been. Donkey Kong Country gave him a makeover as well as most of his trademark moves. Think of that game every time you grab an unsuspecting doofus in Smash and walk off the stage with him in your arms.
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