In my on going quest to please the vgchartz community and to not be banned, I'll be making threads of pure awesomness for you. Enjoy.
After playing Donkey Kong Country Returns through and rough a couple times, I've decided to compile a list of the top 15 best levels in the game. Why 15? Because only 10 wouldn't be enough to sustain the high number of quality levels in this game. Yes, it is that good, and if you haven't bought yet you better do it before I find out. Even with a top 15, I still had to cut off 3 arms and 1 tongue in pain of not including all the other levels in the game (execpt 9-1).
I also added some rules to the list:
1- I’ve played all the levels of the game at least twice before making this list.
2- Boss levels and bonus levels such as Lift-Off Launch aren’t included
3- At least one level per world*
*Except for World 9
With that on mind, onto the list:
#15_ 3-3 Mast Blast
Starting the list with the somewhat weak World 3 (but only compared to the other worlds!), Mast Blast stands out for it's cheer variety, starting by sliding ruins, then dodging bomb on the beach and finnaly wreking as many ships as you can. Particularly awesome part where you are at the botton of the first ship and you can see underwater, problably the best we'll get for a water level in the game.
#14_ 4-4 Mole Patrol
Hated and avoided by many , this rocket barrel level stood out for me. I don't know, unlike most people, I actually liked the rocket barrel levels and did not find them as hard or frustrating as said. Instead, I found this particular level an interesting challenge. Bonus points for the awesome part where the excavator is still digging the tunnel while you chase it(shown above).
#13_ 2-5 Stormy Shore
Already known as one of the best levels in the game even before it launched, this levels is just crazy. If a giant octopus started chasing me, I would just run away as fast as I can. But not DK, our hero, who manuveurs through the monster's vicious attack's in many surprising ways.
#12_ 6-5 Precarious Plateau
A really cool level featuring the animal buddy Rambi, blasting through anything he finds including giant rocks, this just can't result in anything but epicness.
#11_ 2-7 Tidal Terror
Giant waves come from the background instantly killing you if you aren't protected by a rock. The level get's harder when rocks start getting smaller or further one from another. The music is very fitting and one of the best original scores in the game.
#10_ 8-3 Roasting Rails
If monkeys riding in minecarts weren't crazy enough, just try doing it in a freaking volcano. Yes, just by reading this this levels is already good, but it is also one of the hardest levels in the game where there are almost no places to rest and where action gets you wherever you are.
#9_ 7-7 Music Madness
One of the best concepts on the game, this level just blows everyone minds away. All the actions in the stage are in synchrony with the music (and it has perhaps the best original music in the game). The stage is pretty hard too (not as much as some others in world 7), with a total of 3 checkpoints to be sure you won't go back too much after loosing a life.
#8_ 7-K Treacherous Path
A level that requires a lot of good reflexes and skill, Treacherous Path has you pressing switches to make appear the track a small platforms goes . If you miss any of the switches, you'll loose the level. I like this level for the high speed and action it has.
#7_ 5-8 Muncher Marathon
This level has a bunch of killer spiders running after you since you crush some of their eggs. This has the speed I so much like in this game, as you don't have time to think and if you loose too much time stuck somewhere you'll die.
#6_ 6-6 Crumble Canyon (O.o at the number)
At first looking like the last level of world 6, Crumble Canyon litteraly crumbles before your feet as you move from rock to rock, requiring a lot of ability and speed to survive. In the end, a giant rolling stone chases you a la Indiana Jones style.
#5_ 7-6 Switcheroo
A fairly popular theme in gaming is having two colors of platforms that switch between each just to screw you, Switcheroo being one example is a very very hard stage (and much harder in multiplayer) that takes this concept one step up and requires mad precision to hit (or to not hit) the switches that instantly change the ground you have.
#4_ 4-3 Bombs Away
Many don't like the mine cart levels for thinking they are hit or miss or just plain decoration of them, but I think they require more fast thinking and ability to dodge all obstacles of the course. Bombs Away is exactly this, you'll face many hard parts where you have to press down to not be hit or not jump very high as well, but this levels is just pure win, from the mole (in the foreground) trowing bombs at you in the backround or the mind blowing part at end where you rail through a circular rail (in the pic above).
#3_ 6-8 Clifftop Climb
In the last level of world 6, Clifftop Climb ends my favorite world in the game like a cherry completes an already tasty ice cream into something even better. You have to climb vertically fast because the rocks you are on start shattering the more you stay on them. Also has some barrel shooting for the win.
#2_ 1-1 Jungle Hijinx
What a better way to start an awesome game other than with an awesome level? (for those who though "with a 30 minutes intro video", you're just wrong). Jungle Hijinx is not only a pretty good intro level that shows pretty much everything of the basics, but it has some of the best things in the game, like visiting DK's hut and cave, or getting the bananas that fly from the statues mouths and receive a prize of thousands of butterflies, or shaking that button on the floor to go the the background for the first time. In the end, I have replayed this level more than 10 times just because it is really really good.
#1_ 6-7 Tippy Shippy
This choice will surprise many, but Tippy Ship is that one level that blows your mind away for me. It is not just for the platforming, enemies or atmosferic music, or the very tense sensation in the parts of the cannon platforms or the falling ground in the end, but what separates this level from the others and put it one step above of what already is a game with over the top stages is that it messes with your mind. What are those ships doing there so high in a canyon? Maybe DK Island was flooded centuries ago and they got stuck there, or maybe a giant tornadto trew them there? I don't know, but that feeling that I have while playing this stage is just good. The drawback of this stage is that it very long, maybe the longest in the game, but that doesn't make it any less awesome.
I could also put a whole list of levels that just missed the list and are equally cool, but it would be far longer than this top 15.
Feel free to comment on my list and to make your own suggestion on what levels you think are the best.
Above: still the best game of the year.
