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[nightfly]

Been watching some playthroughs of some 20 somethings playing and.... wow, it's rough. They consistently keep running off cliffs, running into enemies, having trouble finding out where to go and constantly complaining about how brutal the difficulty is.

Perhaps as someone who played the games to death growing up I don't find them particularly hard at all, but what about you?

 

[Ceallach]

1 I don't think so at all. But 2 and 3 have less intuitive level design than the first.

 

[existensmaximum]

I actually find them super hard and frustrating, always have.

 

[nkarafo]

1st one not so much. I 101% it back in the day as a kid.

2nd one was way harder. Especially the Lost World levels. I never managed to beat those until later in emulators with save + load.

3rd one i haven't played it yet.

 

[Chuck Berry]

I always found them definitely tougher than your usual 2D platformer because of the DK's weight being a factor with the controls on top of learning how to precisely do those roll jumps.

 

[Ikutachi]

To 100%, yes.

 

[Here]

I thought DKC was the easiest of the 3, with DKC2 being a little harder but not too bad. I played those 2 games so much that I could beat them no sweat. The only hard part I remember from DKC is the very last cave level with the platforms, and maybe learning K. Rool's patterns as a dumb kid, I guess.
In DKC2, I remember some lost world levels being really hard (mostly that windy parrot bramble part in the animal level), as well as a few main levels like toxic tower and the haunted spider level. But then again, that was all as a kid and I probably died a lot before mastering them.

I played DKC3 much later and some gimmick levels where harder than others. I didn't have much problems outside of the stupid lightning level and the reversed controls water level, but I think that's in the last world anyway.

I could see how that whole trilogy could be frustrating for zoomers who are not used to being challenged, but I don't think they're "very hard".

 

[crackajack]

Not necessarily super hard, but just not enjoyable. I can't even remember if I finished any of them. Loved the music and artstyle though.
There is too much of Sonic in it, which isn't my cup of tea. On rails, learning stuff through trial and error. 2D platformers took a backseat anyway with following generations, but Mario Bros/Land/World wasn't exactly my favorites either. Loved 3D platformers immediately much more. Needed Meat Boy to make those 2D siblings finally actually enjoyable to me. Compact levels, clear routes, ie actually visible, not only memorised paths, but probably harder.

 

[Smiggs]

I'll echo the sentiments above, DCK is pretty easy to casually beat once you get a feel for the controls. DKC2 got way harder later in the game, but never thought it was too intense unless you're trying to 100% it. Never really played the third, though.

 

[Punished Miku]

It's definitely hard. I beat the trilogy on Wii U but needed to use a few extra save spots. I'm sure younger gamers are not at all used to this type of game.

 

[Kacho]

Challenging is the more appropriate descriptor IMO. The games had challenging moments, but they were doable. Dying a lot due to small errors was part of the experience which is why they showered you with balloons. At no point did any challenge feel impossible to overcome, even as a teen.

 

[Physiognomonics]

DKC1 is not hard and it has the best controls of the trilogy
DKC2 is quite harder than 1
DKC3 is a slog and I never finished the game. I never liked how the characters were handling vs 1 & 2 nor the gimmicks.

 

[Sethbacca]

I blew through them as a teen pretty easily. They're harder than I remember on emulators at this point but still not that bad, and I'm not sure if I'm just getting old or it's latency introduced in emulation. At some point I'd like to try them on original hardware again.

 

[Magic Carpet]

I'm new to most Nintendo games. I assume DKC is Donkey Kong Country?
I have a hard time with 2D platform games in general. All those quick action button presses trip me up.
I can't finish Ori or Hollow knight games because of my suckitude at them.

 

[rodrigolfp]

No. The first one is the hardest.

 

[Pasta la Vista]

Nah, just boring.

 

[Sethbacca]

I'm new to most Nintendo games. I assume DKC is Donkey Kong Country?
I have a hard time with 2D platform games in general. All those quick action button presses trip me up.
I can't finish Ori or Hollow knight games because of my suckitude at them.

DKC isn't any harder than any Mario games at the end of the day. The only real outliers are the mine cart levels which require pretty precision timing.

 

[K' Dash]

DKC3 is by far the hardest to get 103%, I spent a good amount of time (months) as a kid getting everything.

 

[Celcius]

I beat these games as a kid lol, people think they're hard?

 

[DarkShadowXI]

I never beat DKC, but I haven't really tried to. It was difficult for me as a kid and I'd get distracted easily, so I'd play something else.

I've played it since, but never really took it seriously. I wasn't a fan of the other two, so I didn't play them.

I think it's because these games feel kinda weird to play.

 

[Skyfox]

It was designed for CRT and wired controllers.

CRT had less lag. So did wired controllers. I'm pretty sure it was slightly easier back in the day.

 

[falling into hell]

Donkey Kong Country 1 not that hard but had some hard levels
Donkey Kong Country 2 way harder than 1
Donkey Kong Country 3 too easy there was hardly any challenge

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

It's challenging, but you can finish them. Really great games; Rare managed to elevate the Donkey Kong IP for a teen and adult audience in a surprisingly good way.

 

[Lucifers Beard]

I played them a bit when my buddy let me borrow his SNES, but never finished them. I thought they were pretty difficult games. I tried to play through Tropical Freeze a couple of years ago and I found it annoyingly difficult, never ended up finishing that one.

 

[Heimdall_Xtreme]

Not necessarily super hard, but just not enjoyable. I can't even remember if I finished any of them. Loved the music and artstyle though.
There is too much of Sonic in it, which isn't my cup of tea.

In fact, it was a way that demonstrated the Super Nintendo's power to SEGA in terms of gameplay speed. RARE did a fantastic job.

 

[xanaum]

Nah, I think it's balanced, with a really well-designed learning curve. It's a trilogy that's neither too easy nor insanely hard.

I was a young kid who could barely read or write, but I still managed to beat the bosses in DKC1 back then. The real challenge was in the levels like the minecart stage or that insane snow level full of flying barrels, bees and vultures, lots of retries and timing until you figured out exactly what to do.

The Rare DKC trilogy is a masterpiece of platformers, and we've never gotten anything like it again.

 

[kpopSuperstar]

The controls are different than modern platformers, if you are fresh to them, then they will be hard for sure.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Donkey Kong Country 3 too easy there was hardly any challenge

Eh:

 

[NT80]

I played the first 2 and thought they were on the harder side of medium difficulty. Just right I thought and very good games too.
Amazing graphics, music and sound for their time. Some of the most atmospheric stages I've ever experienced.

 

[Trilobit]

The controls in DKC are as tight as Arnold Schwarzenegger's lug nuts. If you fail you can only blame yourself. DKC:TF is like trying to run on ice in comparison.

 

[stn]

The only part that ever gave me trouble was the Lost Levels in DKC2.

 

[Neff]

You have to pay attention and time things right, and knowing how the mechanics work is important, but I don't think they're particularly difficult. Challenging sure, but not difficult.

Modern games don't demand a lot of dexterity outside of indie titles, so anyone going back to the classics will inevitably notice a different design philosophy and may struggle to keep up. Expecting games to have teeth back then was the norm.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

I find nailing the spinning barrel shots past the wasps much easier on an old CRT TV vs on my new Bravia LCD. I swear there is a difference.

 

[Diddy X]

I had 1 and 3 as a kid, both easy to finish, never 100% 3 tho for those bonus games I never could find them all.

 

[kevboard]

not really. the only "hard" parts in the first game are the minecart levels, which are hard because they feel awkward and are trial and error

 

[Tarnpanzer]

Not really. They have some spicy levels, but I would not consider them "hard".

 

[deriks]

Not really

I beat as a 11yo 105%. An adult can do it fine

 

[Hookshot]

Played 1 and 2 and the only level I couldn't do as a kid was Animal Antics in DKC 2.

 

[BlueManifest]

Just hard, not very hard

 

[BlueManifest]

Compared to DK bananza they look much harder lol, bananza probably one of the easiest games I've ever played

 

[Trogdor1123]

Very. I do t know if I ever beat a single one on snes

 

[RomanceDawn]

They might be harder for todays gamers. I always found them a bit harder than Super Mario World but never as difficult as Mario 3. I 101/2/3%'d them as a kid so they never felt that bad.

Retro took that ship to a whole new level. Beating Returns and to a lesser degree Tropical Freeze on hard deserves a parade in your honor.

 

[linko9]

I never really enjoyed the platforming, because the sprites are so large that you don't really get to look that far ahead on the screen. It's often hard to react to things (especially with the minecart stages) so it's a bit too much memorization. I don't mind a good bit of memo, but only if what you end up doing looks sick and impresses all of your friends that are definitely watching. Also the nature of the sprites makes it hard to judge hitboxes. Great music though.

 

[Labadal]

To beat, none of them are very difficult. To 100%, I'd say yes, they can be hard.

 

[photogaz]

Yes, I played it again on the SNES Mini a couple years back and was getting so pissed off. I keep meaning to go back to it on my Switch.

The music is so good and I don't think it's nostaliga.

 

[cireza]

Having played all 3 games recently, I found the level-design unfair more than the games being hard for DKC 1 and 2. DKC 3 however had a much more intuitive, and maybe simpler, level-design and made it easier to navigate without frustrating deaths.

Loved all 3 games.

 

[BlueManifest]

They might be harder for todays gamers. I always found them a bit harder than Super Mario World but never as difficult as Mario 3. I 101/2/3%'d them as a kid so they never felt that bad.

Retro took that ship to a whole new level. Beating Returns and to a lesser degree Tropical Freeze on hard deserves a parade in your honor.

Why did Nintendo remove all difficulty from their games, I miss Mario 3 and DKC Nintendo

 

[peronmls]

1 and 2 last couple of locations got really hard. Other than that, it never bothered me.

 

[AJUMP23]

They are a fair difficulty curve. You should know how to get through a later level by the time you get to it.

 

[RomanceDawn]

Why did Nintendo remove all difficulty from their games, I miss Mario 3 and DKC Nintendo

I wouldn't say they've removed all difficulty from their games, not in the slightest but I understand what you mean. You've got to imagine that when you make a product you don't want extreme difficulty to alienate people to the point of not playing at all. It's the reason why we get so much post game difficulty spikes in Nintendo's games. Over the years Nintendo experimented so much in hopes that players would stay engaged even if they couldn't beat a particular level or boss.

Bananza gets a lot of crap for it's easy bosses but the last 2/3 actually do put up a really good fight. The post game challenges can be frustrating as well. It's the Emerald Rush however that launches the difficulty into the stratosphere. Nothing is harder in the main game.

Today's Nintendo gives us a hard mode usually in the form of optional tasks or optional health upgrades.