I'm going to apologize in advance for the fact that most of this closing review is going to be about Donkey Kong Country 3. Anyone who has played DKC3 probably understands why, anyone who did a full completion of DKC3 SUPER understands why.
Let's get the short and obvious part out of the way: Donkey Kong Country 2 is an amazing game that I have only two complaints: Rattly Sucks and later game Kong College points are somewhat cruely placed. It comes reccomended and I even reccomend getting all the bonus coins to unlock and complete the Lost World levels and boss fight. DK coin collection I don't particularly recommend but at the least those are for bragging rights and not tied to any actual endings or the like.
Now onto DKC3 WHICH I want to emphasize despite what I'm going to say below I still think is a fine game and worth playing. However, for the love of all that is good and or bad in this world do not 103% this game.
Anyone who has played DKC3 already knows that from the gate this game feels the same yet different than DKC2; Tim Stamper was still director but there was one new designer on the game and a new programmer and composer. Put a pin on the fact that there is a new programmer by the way. I also find the decision to not have Donkey Kong playable still strange to this day considering Kiddy (we'll get to the hell child soon) plays mostly like DK did in the first game. Keeping Dixie though was a good idea, Dixie rules. Enemy design changed drastically; Kremlings are just kinda generic looking lizards and the zingers are now mechanical looking bees with buzzsaws for butts, among other things. I find these changes and decisions weird since Stamper was still director and all that and there was only one new designer on the game; I guess Stamper possibly wanted to reflect the new setting/the fact that K Rool is a mad scientist now.
Now let's talk about DKC 3 level/boss design and in that nearly all of them needed to have some form of stage gimmick. This is not to say that DKC2 didn't have stage gimmicks but DKC2 didn't feel like there was some new mechanic that was there for only one stage for every single level. At least the gimmicks are pretty non-intrusive and are easily conquered, sometimes even fun, but there are a few blatant war crimes such as lightning bolts that feel driven by RNG or a swimming level where your left and right is reversed or a vertical autoscroller where a giant saw is trying to kill you. As for the bosses though, all the bosses save one just suck because their gimmicks are pretty dumb and bad. Isn't feeding a giant barrel with bad teeth bugs so that it can burp it's self into a pit funny? The late 90s were just so wacky! Also some bosses are clearly balanced around using a certain Kong and if you're not using said Kong you're gonna be at a bad disadvantage. At least the snowball fight against a evil snowman that laughs like a deranged Pillsbury Doughboy when he takes a hit is pretty fun.
Okay, now we can talk about the Baby Gorilla in the room and by extension this games really poor hitboxes and hurtboxes. Kiddy isn't great and no not because when you lose a life as him he cries, that's a vat of whatever and indicative of a skill issue (authors note I'm being facetious, I never actually use the term skill issue in earnest ever). Kiddy sucks because he feels like "what if we programmed Donkey Kong from the first game wrong, as a joke". You see, the games hitboxes are wrong and since Kiddy is a big boy he too has wrong hitboxes. For the life of me I thought I was going insane with my playthrough because of some of the hits I was taking feeling wrong, I thought I was just playing poorly, but no once I got to one of the last few bonus levels in the game I got actual proof the hit and hurt boxes extend outside the bounds of some of the models and it's just Incorrect. Also Kiddy's weight never really comes into play as a mechanic outside a number of instances that can be counted on two hands, if that. The fact that he throws Dixie fairly far is what is more important about his kit, and probably the only useful thing he does outside of holding barrels in front of him.
DKC3 is the proto collect-a-thon and I mean this in a derogatory sense, despite being a big collect-a-thon fan because I have that brain that gets endorphins off of checking off boxes. DKC3 has a lot to collect and if you want to get that 103% (once again, don't do this) you need to collect EVERYTHING. DKC3 also has overworld progression like how a lot of future collect-a-thons have, beat levels to get an upgrade that allows you to progress to more levels and explore secret areas. Alongside the bonus coins and the DK coins there are now Banana Birds and the Bears in which you have to engage in their crypto currency scam in order to get the Banana Birds to get the 103%. You'll easily max out the Bear Coins and they do save when you save your game so the massive bear engagement side quest isn't really all that frustrating. As for the Banana Birds the ones not obtained from bear training are found via secret caves that require you to play Simon says in order to free them. A strange choice to me but it could be worse, like trying to beat every level in Kremtoa. Oh god Kremtoa is mostly a horrible warcrime and it lets you know that in the first stage. The first stage of Kremtoa is a not-minecart level in which you control Ellie the Elephant complain who gets spooked by mice (hey remember that old myth?) and then takes off at high speeds in which you need to make frame perfect jumps to not take a hit or die. No I'm not exaggerating, this level becomes less of a skill check and more of a "I hope you stockpiled lives to memorize the level" check and I am nowhere near a fan of a video game telling me that I need to memorize a level in fine detail to not eat shit and die. What also makes matters worse is that you are running a escort quest with the little sparrow friend to the end of the stage because they spawn a bonus barrel at the end of the level which you need to get that completion. Also the secret final boss is an utter pushover and it is the most anti-climatic end ever because you need to get the rest of the banana birds with the Gyrocopter that costs all 40 DK coins! And then you free the Mother Banana Bird and you get a lame secret ending! Everything is suffering!
In conclusion after a long winded grump fest about me making bad decisions in regards to DKC3, both games are good as casual games especially so DKC2. Just only play DKC3 casually and if you can't get though DKC3 you're valid and honestly a smarter person that me.