Wow.
I can't thank you all enough for the warm
reception of the last video on how to speedrun
DKC1, it was a neat idea for those that are
interested in dipping their toes into speedrunning,
and it seems like most people really enjoyed
it.
Make sure you check it out in case you missed
it, who knows maybe we’ll see more of this
type of thing covering other games in the
future.
But today, we’re continuing the series with
Donkey Kong Country 2, which is not only my
favorite game of all time, but probably the
speedgame I’ve had the most fun playing
through over the last few years.
As many of you know, we used to do DKC2 races
for charity during Donkey Kong Month and that
blossomed into a real thirst for getting better
at running the game and now it holds a very
special place in my heart.
Personally I enjoy it even more than DKC1
speedruns, and it has an equal amount of wild
and crazy tricks throughout, so just like
last time I thought it’d be interesting
to see what an average run looks like even
if you’ve never speedran a game in your
life - so welcome to the beginner’s guide
of how to speedrun DKC2: Diddy’s Kong Quest,
any% category.
Let’s kick things off by talking about the
basics.
Obviously this time around Donkey Kong has
been replaced with Dixie, which means that
unlike the original, now there actually is
good reason to switch kongs and use each of
their unique abilities.
Diddy may still be faster, especially for
rope climbing, but Dixie’s hair twirl comes
in handy all over the place.
Plus you now have the team up toss maneuver
which is used pretty often throughout the
run.
Each level ends with a target that you jump
on, but if you get enough height it triggers
a fancy little fanfare that wastes several
seconds, so the best thing to do is to hit
the target low enough that you skip this whenever
possible.
That being said, occasionally you’ll have
no other choice but to sit through it, like
after a boss battle, so it’s important to
know that Dixie’s guitar solo is significantly
shorter than Diddy’s boombox beat, which
means that you’ll always want to end a boss
fight with Dixie in front.
But even switching kongs can waste a little
bit of time, so a neat little trick you can
do is called goal swapping.
If you land just beyond the end target and
press select to change kongs, it’ll register
the other kong being on the target immediately
and do a much faster transition than normal
while also exiting the level.
This is used a few times to set up certain
kongs being in front for future stages.
Finally, as I said last time, button inputs
are on screen so you know exactly what I'm
pressing to do certain tricks, and the overall
goal of this video is to just get you started,
so I won’t be going over every single trick,
especially the more complex ones, but if you
are invested and want to become more advanced,
I’ll link some resources at the end for you.
Let’s dive in to the first world of Gangplank
Galleon.
In DKC1, there were a ton of warp barrels
scattered throughout the different areas you
would visit to skip to the end of levels,
but here in DKC2, all of them are in the first
two worlds.
Each stage has a warp barrel hidden somewhere,
so really you just need to know where to find
them - here’s the first one in Pirate Panic.
The 2nd one in Mainbrace Mayhem is underneath
the first platform and requires a cartwheel
jump by Diddy to reach.
Gangplank Galley’s warp is right next to
the bonus barrel at the very start of the
stage, use a team up toss to reach it.
In Lockjaw’s Locker, you can quickly roll
through this secret pathway then team up toss
from the ground to reach the barrel right
here.
And finally Topsail Trouble’s warp is right
underneath you at the start.
Finish things off with a goal swap by jumping
past the target and switching to Dixie for
the first boss fight.
Now Krow has one of the very few elements
of RNG in the run - some of the eggs he launches
are fake and won’t land on the platform,
wasting time, but it’s still pretty minimal.
Start off the battle by keeping the screen
as far to the left as possible so he doesn’t
have to travel as far to drop an egg, hit
him with the first one and run back to the left
to do the same thing again.
After the 2nd egg is where the RNG comes in.
Quickly team up toss to the nest and jump
to the left to avoid damage.
It’s faster to be up here to knock down
the eggs as soon as they spawn by gliding
above the nest.
Some of them may be duds, but as soon as one
lands on the ground grab it and hit him with
it, then repeat the process one more time
to take him down.
If he’s on top of the nest it may be better
to just stay down below to ensure you don’t
lose a kong.
Crocodile Cauldron is much the same, but I
do a bit more goal swapping here.
The first warp barrel is right on the cave
entrance to the left, team up toss twice to
reach the barrel - this is a big reason why
it’s pretty important to keep both kongs,
getting a DK barrel wastes some time here.
I swap to Diddy as I enter Kannon’s Klaim
because the easiest way to reach this one
is by grabbing a TNT barrel and jumping over
the rats to kill the Kruncha and roll into
the hidden warp.
Swap back to Dixie as you enter Lava Lagoon
because the end requires a barrel shot at
the target which will trigger her shorter
fanfare animation.
The warp is right after the first Klampon.
In Red-Hot Ride, hair twirl over the first
gap, then team up toss with a little leap
of faith off this hot air balloon to reach
the next warp barrel.
Swapping to Diddy is a tiny bit faster than
jumping on the target normally.
Finally a quick cartwheel with Diddy at the
start reaches our last warp barrel in Squawk’s
Shaft, and make sure to switch back to Dixie
one last time for the boss.
Kleever can be a little tricky, the biggest
thing is making sure you don’t waste any
time once a cannonball spawns in to hit him.
After the first 3 hits, he’ll roam around
freely to chase you so work on leading him
just high enough that you can quickly hit
him with the cannonball when it drops on each
side.
Krem Quay is where the run really takes off,
and it starts with a stampede...heh get it
cuz this level has Rambi.
It might seem a bit scary, but charging with
Rambi over these sections is by far the fastest
way and it’s really not too bad once you
memorize the right times to jump and whatnot,
if you’re worried about dying, take it easy
when you’re just starting out.
But once you pass the No Rambi sign, and reach
these back to back arrow barrels, team up
toss Dixie into the 2nd barrel and continue
on.
This sets up a super jump that Dixie can execute
by taking damage with Diddy on this Kloak
right before the final barrel that normally
takes a lot longer to complete.
Instead she’ll have gained enough extra
height that she can twirl her way across the
entire area.
Huge bonus swag if you collect the G letter!
Glimmer’s Galleon is one of the very few
water stages in this run, the biggest thing
to watch is making sure not to bump corners
as you’re navigating through the maze since
it'll slow your momentum completely.
Rattle Battle is notorious for having terrible
hitboxes with Rattly so expect to get hit
a lot, but staying in the air as often as
you can is the fastest method, as well as
trying to stack combos of bouncing on kremlings
heads.
If you do happen to take damage and end up
with only 1 kong, make sure to grab the invisible
DK barrel past the target, because you need
both kongs and Dixie in front for the next
level.
Okay, now Slime Climb has probably the hardest
trick we’ll cover in this video but I promise
it’s the easiest of what are called wrong
warps.
In simplified terms a wrong warp convinces
the game that certain objects have the wrong
ID number and therefore when you enter a barrel,
it’ll eject you to the map screen with the
level completed as a failsafe written into
the coding.
To start off we’re gonna do a neat little
trick that’s unrelated to the wrong warp.
As Dixie, roll off into the water and press
B, then quickly swap to Diddy and jump back
out of the water before the piranha bites
you.
Now as you climb these ropes and take damage
from a beetle, for some reason it gives Dixie
this HUGE jump boost that can launch past
a ton of obstacles and reach a DK barrel up
and to the left.
Now here’s where things get a little tricky.
Face to the right as you land on the mast
to spawn in the first beetle.
Follow it to the left and jump on the 2nd
beetle near the edge of the screen.
Pick it up, then throw and repress Y quickly
as the other beetle runs into you.
If you did it correctly, as you run past the
first beetle, Dixie will be holding an invisible
object in her hair, there's a pretty forgiving
frame window to pull this off.
From here just continue the main path and
fall off the ledge to the right of the continue barrel.
Follow the line of bananas and throw the invisible
object to the left by letting go of Y right
before you enter the bonus barrel and you
will automatically exit the stage and be able
to move on.
A great way to know exactly when to throw
it is to follow this notch in the pole and
right as it goes off the top of the screen,
throw to the left.
It might take some practice but it's a big
time save and one of the easiest “harder”
tricks in the game, if that makes sense.
Last before Kudgel is Bramble Blast, which
can be confusing if you haven't memorized
where to shoot yourself, but the biggest skip
is near the end of the stage.
You can do a damage boost after the midway
barrel to shoot through this bee, but I don't
recommend it until you're confident because
you need both kongs for the next part.
After the Klampon, roll off the ledge with
Diddy, and clear the next platform of beetles.
Then team up toss and throw Dixie high to
the right off the left side of the ledge.
If you did it right you'll land on the above
brambles, get hit as Diddy then jump into
the last barrel of the final section, meaning
you can just quickly shoot your way to the
end from here and finish the level in style.
There really isn't much to say about Kudgel
other than making sure not to get stunned
and hitting him as soon as he lands 6 times
to move on to world 4.
Krazy Kremland begins with Hornet Hole, so
keeping Dixie out in front for the beginning
might be nice so you can skip over the sticky
batches of honey with hair gliding.
Be sure to go up and grab Squitter along the
way because you'll need him for a really fancy skip.
Just past the midway point, make some web
platforms under this hook after taking out
the bee.
Jump off of Squitter with X to cling on the
hook then jump back on Squitter and quickly
leap off of him to the right, roll through
the Spiny then team up with Dixie before you
reach the honey.
The screen will start to auto scroll without
having to move and if you jump as you pass
over the Krook and throw Dixie as you move
you can speed right by this whole section.
It’s kinda crazy.
In the final stretch, bounce off this final
Krook to reach an easier alternative up top
and congratulate yourself on doing the “scrolly
scroll” glitch...yeah that's the official name.
Target Terror is an auto-scroller which means
it's a great time to read some donations.
Now in Bramble Scramble there's a wrong warp
that can skip the whole stage but I definitely
don't think you should give it a go right
away, it's probably one of the hardest tricks
to pull off.
It can be a pretty punishing stage otherwise
though so make sure you give your Squawks
ability some practice.
Pro-tip, you can rest on the brambles below
you without taking damage.
Rickety Race has a hidden barrel if you go
backward at the starting line that blasts
you ahead at breakneck speeds which is great
because it finishes the level faster but it
makes it much harder to react to the obstacles
in your way.
200cc too fast!
The hardest part for me was the #2 position
kremling, if you jump too late you can land
right down a pit.
Same thing, practice is a good call for this
one.
I affectionately refer to the next stage as
Butthole Marsh because it also is pretty unforgiving,
but there is an invincibility barrel off the
top of the screen where this lone banana hints
at, making the following section of mini-Necky's
much easier.
If you're feeling adventurous you can even
jump on the heads of the later Neckys too
to get through unscathed.
Finally, Rambi Rumble starts with a team up throw
super jump by tossing your buddy into a Klampon
then jumping right as the kong returns to
you to reach the hook up to the left.
If you don't get a high enough jump here, a backup
strat is on the next ledge by damage boosting
on another Klampon after tossing a kong up
toward a different hook here.
In the final Rambi section, you can easily
sprint past the onslaught of bees by simply
charge dashing and jumping.
It's about as free as it gets, have fun with
it.
King Zing can be scary but if you work on
getting right up behind him and shooting him
in the stinger, it's pretty straightforward.
Press toward the bottom right after defeating
him to trigger the fanfare as fast as possible.
Gloomy Gulch certainly kicks things up a notch,
beginning with Ghostly Grove which is a level
all about cycles and execution.
There isn’t a lot of crazy tricks, but it’s
probably my favorite stage in the run because
it shows off exactly how great of a speedgame
DKC2 is.
Unlike other games where certain objects load
in at the start of a level, the sprites you’ll
interact with in Donkey Kong Country are loaded
as you approach them within the stage, so
if you’re going through at a brisk pace,
the ghost ropes will appear at just the right
times so that you won’t have to wait for
them to reappear.
All enemies and items behave this way in the
DKC series, it’s like they designed the
levels with speed in mind, I just love it.
Near the end a Kloak will try to disrupt your
flow, but you can just look to the left to
despawn him and continue to the exit.
Haunted Hall is not only an autoscroller making
it a great time to read some more donations,
but it also has a couple important spots to
keep in mind like these bees that have a tight
jumping window, jumping up slopes and into
doors to save frames, and THIS right here,
DON’T jump to cross this gap otherwise you’ll
enter a bonus room and waste a ton of time.
And ESPECIALLY don’t do what I have done
and out of gut reaction to my mistake jump
again to enter the 2nd bonus room to waste
even more time.
Yeah I’m still bitter about this one.
Gusty Glade will definitely try to ruin your
day with wind physics, but I prefer to use
Dixie in this stage for that extra cushion
of maneuverability.
Especially near the end of the stage once
you reach this peak, you can simply jump and
glide all the way to the target.
Beautiful.
Okay, now Parrot Chute Panic is probably the
most terrifying looking stage and certainly
was a reason that I hesitated to start speedrunning
DKC2 in the first place, but it looks a lot
more menacing than it actually is.
Basically, it’s way too slow to beat the
level the normal way, so instead you need
to just fall down the pathways avoiding bees
and obstacles.
A lot of this will come down to memorization,
but also utilizing DK Barrels to damage boost
through tough spots.
For example, the ending is probably the most
important part, and definitely looks the coolest.
As Dixie, jump off the final parrot and glide
past the first row of bees, then run into
the bee in this corner and let Diddy bonk
his head on the roof above, then with invincibility
fall to the left, hugging the wall until the
shaft opens up, then move to the left again
after you pass the 2nd row of bees to finish
the stage without getting stung to death.
Whew, way to go!
Now calm yourself down, because Web Woods
is a similarly daunting task to overcome,
but a neat trick that helped me out was that
Squitter can make web platforms instantaneously
underneath him if you press L and R at the
same time, as long as it’s when you’re
moving upward instead of down.
This can save a lot of time since you’ll
be making so many platforms, but it certainly
can be frightening as a wrong move means instant
death.
Other than easily skipping this section of
Necky’s by going up higher, the rest of
the stage comes down to...you guessed it,
practice.
The Kreepy Krow fight was one I hated as a
kid, but it’s not too terrible to speedrun.
You can line yourself up to hit the correct
Necky much faster, and make sure to have Diddy
for the rope climbing sections, otherwise
these flying eggs could be a bit of a problem.
Switch back to Dixie for the final phase and
you are on your way to the last full world!
As you enter K Rool’s Keep, right off the
bat in Arctic Abyss, you want to jump up to
the ledge on the right and bounce off the
Klobber to reach a shortcut and then enter
the Enguarde barrel.
The key here is to charge at the right times
to clear large sections as fast as you can.
Use that shish kebob nose to your advantage!
In Windy Well, there’s a couple tiny little
skips like moving underneath this wall of
bees by holding to the left, or damage boosting
on this section at the top of the bees to
jump up high and skip a large batch of the
stage.
The important thing here is to finish with
both kongs, so be very careful at this part,
I always got hit when I was starting out.
If you do happen to lose a kong go back to
the start of Arctic Abyss and grab a DK barrel
then start + select out to the map screen.
Castle Crush has one of the easiest skips
in the entire game and it saves the
most time of anything.
Right at the start it’ll give you a DK barrel,
but you’re going to want to keep that barrel
alive by either placing it down and not holding
Y or holding onto it and not jumping on enemies.
Just be sure it won’t get crushed from the
walls and do your best to ensure its survival
until you reach this section of bees, then
pick up the barrel, hug the wall to the left,
and simply set it down and quickly repress
Y right as this chain is exiting the bottom
of the screen.
If you did it correctly Diddy will pick up
an invisible item, then run into the Spiny
that enters from the right and it will glitch
out the level and bring the target straight
to you - no really!
Now stay to the left to make sure you don’t
get stuck underneath, and exit the stage.
Not too much to say about Clapper’s Cavern,
there’s an invincibility barrel before
the final stretch which can make it a lot
simpler, but personally I just grab a barrel
with Diddy and run through, killing a bee
then ducking under the last section since
I was able to keep my momentum, and finish
strong.
Toxic Tower can be tricky, but there are a
couple tiny skips you can do, like jumping
with Rattly at the peak of his little bounce
to reach certain ledges without having to
do a charge jump.
Other times you will need to hold A for a
giant leap, but make sure you don’t let
go too early otherwise you’ll have to just
do it again.
I take a damage boost on this last section
of bees with Squawks because the rest of the
stage is smooth sailing, you just do some
quick webs with Squitter along the left wall
and prepare yourself for the final gauntlet.
Your last roadblock before K. Rool is Screech’s
Sprint, which certainly can be nerve-wracking.
Start off the stage with Dixie and damage
boost into the thorns before the line of Klingers
to roll through them with Diddy using your
invincibility frames.
If you scroll the screen to the left before
moving past the 9 tails, you can roll through
them as well.
In the final race, you can maneuver above
Screech to not activate the countdown lights,
but it’s very dangerous because you might
take damage and not have a safety net for
the rest of the race.
Instead, I just move ahead regularly, then
go to the left to reach some barrels that
blast you far ahead of your competition, making
the stress go away a little bit of having
to beat your opponent.
Instead I put all that focus on staying alive.
You’ve finally made it to Kaptain K Rool,
a ruthless 3 and a half minute duel that you
can’t really skip but there are a couple
things that can make it easier for you.
I normally have Diddy out in front because
while it’s a little harder to avoid cannonballs
with him, Dixie is your fallback in case you
do get hit and she can dodge them with ease.
Basically it helps to have her in reserves
instead of potentially losing her first.
In the purple, reverse controls phase you
can team throw over the entire section to
avoid it, and then just hold to the left as
Diddy while K Rool does his final sucking
attack and he will never catch you.
Even if you do accidentally get hit by the
purple goo, you can just hold to the right
instead of the left, then grab the last cannonball
to finish a Donkey Kong Country 2 speedrun.
You did it!
Enjoy those well earned credits my friend.
A few final thoughts: obviously if there’s
anything to take away from this tutorial it’s
that practice is key.
Just like DKC1 the less you die or take unintentional
damage the more time you will instantly save,
it just takes the effort to get there.
I hope you enjoyed a brief look at all the
wacky stuff you can do in this game, it’s
an incredibly fun and rewarding run to play
through.
As I said at the beginning, there are a lot
of even harder and more in depth tricks that
you can look into if you’re interested at
dkcspeedruns.com.
I can’t plug this site enough, it’s unbelievably
helpful with in-depth guides for every stage,
even including different difficulty levels
for those just starting out or veterans wanting
to perfect their craft.
I genuinely believe that the DKC series is
a perfect diving in point if you’ve never
speedran a game before, and I hope that you
give it a try yourself.
Thanks for watching Donkey Kong Month this
year, it was really enjoyable for me to do
something totally different.
I stream all the time over on twitch.tv/snomangaming,
so be sure to follow there and maybe you’ll
even catch me running DKC2 in the near future.
I’m also planning on doing a stream here
on Youtube of running DKC1 and 2 back to back
to finish off the month of celebrating all
things Donkey Kong, you won’t want to miss
it, so stay tuned.
I’ll see you guys next time, stay frosty
my friends!
