Dixie stays true to form, at least, retaining her ability to descend slowly after jumps by spinning her ponytail in circles like a helicopter blade. All of those Nintendo fans who bemoan the Big N's image of being a 'kiddy' company got pretty much slapped in the face by this pajama-clad, pacifier-sucking little Kong. And it's worth noting because Kiddy isn't as accessible or compelling a character. So it's possible he was planned to come back, and only later was replaced by the baby gorilla. It seems like the developers at Rareware might have intended for him to return, because Kiddy Kong handles in a very similar way – he's large, a heavyweight, and boasts the same style of forward roll attack that Donkey wielded in the first DKC. Donkey and Diddy are just absent, off on a fishing trip or somesuch thing. But this time around it's not even justified. It never made sense why he was removed – DKC2's plotline held that he was captured and needed to be rescued, so that's forgivable.

It's still disappointing, though, that Donkey Kong isn't playable here. Pawning your babysitting off on me? Yeah, thanks a lot, Funky. Lots of forests and log cabins, snowy areas, caves and run-down old lumber mills. The setting takes a shift northward, away from the jungle and pirate ship environments of the first two titles and into the Northern Kremisphere, a region of DK's world that seems a lot like certain regions of Canada or Alaska. Donkey Kong himself is once again absent, and this time Diddy's also nowhere to be found – the quest for Dixie and Kiddy is to track down the wayward apes and bring them home, all the while continuing the battle against King K. A direct follow-up to the two pre-rendered platformers that came before it, DKC3 is a hop-and-bop side-scroller that offers up a new playable character in the form of the overgrown gorilla baby Kiddy Kong, while also pushing ponytailed sidekick Dixie into the titular starring role. DKC3 arrived in the Wii Shop on Christmas Eve, just in time to be available during the holiday break for anyone who might have passed it by in the same end-of-year stretch back in '96. If that was you, then here's your second chance.

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