In 1994, the selling point of the first Donkey Kong Country was that it was the most gorgeous game you could play at the time. It’s true, Donkey Kong Country was a gorgeous game. The first game kicked off the series with photorealistic graphics, great music and fun level design, but it was also a fairly basic game at its core.

The series didn’t truly hit its stride until the second game in the series. Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest, released in 1995. It is still one of the greatest video game sequels I’ve ever played. To this day, I still believe it to be the best 2D platformer ever made, and one that shows how to design a game.

Whereas the first game had a lot of basic levels and ambience, the second spends a lot more time with creative level design and adventure. Every level is unique. Even ones that might repeat previous concepts make sure to mix them up in strange new ways. You may only encounter something once in the entire game.