DKC Atlas Forum

[Qyzbud]

When I first got DKL2 and read the manual ← new link!, I noticed that there were quite a few errors in it. It seems that Rareware copied DKC2's manual and didn't put much effort into proofreading it. (And the funny thing is that I got DKL2 long before DKC2, so I remember being confused at some of these errors!) Unfortunately, I lost the manual many years ago, but I still recall some of the errors present in the manual*. Here are a few examples:

- The manual said that Cranky was in DKL2 and that he would give you advice in various levels. There's just one problem, though: Cranky isn't in DKL2! This is only true in DKC2! Rareware obviously forgot to remove this information.
- When the manual mentioned Diddy, it said you have to press the B Button to swim. Well, this is true in the SNES version of DKC2 (a lot of SNES games use B to jump/swim), but in DKL2 (and the GBA version of DKC2), you have to press A (which is typical of Game Boy games due to the button layout). Again, proof that DKL2's manual was taken from DKC2's manual and not proofread properly.
- The manual also said that when you place a cannonball in a cannon, the cannon flashes. It only flashes in DKC2, though! In DKL2, there's no visual indication that you placed a cannonball in a cannon.
- When the manual talked about barrels, it mentioned barrels that are in DKC2, but not in DKL2. One barrel that was mentioned was the Arrow Barrel, even though there are no Arrow Barrels in DKL2. It also mentioned that there were barrels that would launch you out if you waited too long (like the ones in Klobber Karnage, Barrel Bayou, and some other levels that I can't remember), but there is no such barrel in DKL2 (yes, Klobber Karnage is FAR easier in DKL2 than it is in DKC2!). There may have been other ones, but I don't remember.
- My memory is faint on this one, but I think that when the manual talked about TNT barrels, it said there are some Kremlings that hide in TNT barrels (Kabooms). Kabooms aren't in DKL2, though.

I wonder if there are any more mistakes in the manual. Like I said, I lost it years ago, so I can't just look at it and spot any more mistakes*. I'd like to mention that there once used to be a Donkey Kong website that had manuals for DK games, including DKL2, but the site vanished without a trace years ago for some reason, and the Wayback Machine never archived the manual. And I don't know of any other site that had the manual, either. If somebody had the manual, that would be great...


Edit: Thanks to Conker's Bad Fur Day, we have a link!

Donkey Kong Land 2 instruction booklet (21.3MB - high quality PDF)

[NES Boy]

I found this on World of Nintendo. The transcriber does make a few notes on the errors himself:

[This should be the A Button that makes you swim.]
...
[You can tell this is just a cut-n-paste of the DKC2 Manual. Cranky isn't in DKL2.]
...
[The kannons in DKL2 don't flash when they're loaded.]

[TheUltimateKoopa]

I also remember something about the Cat O' Nine Tails and Kutlass being in the DKL2 instruction manual, and probably some other enemies that were in DKC2 but not DKL2.

[Blaziken257]

From looking at that link that NES Boy posted, I can't find any mention of Cat O' Nine Tails or Kutlass at all. The only enemy that it seems to erroneously mention is Kaboom, in the TNT Barrels section on Page 16.

Oh, and I noticed another error from looking on that page. On Page 6, it says that you have to press Y to run. But the Game Boy doesn't have a Y Button! Oops.

[Tailikku]

On Page 6, it says that you have to press Y to run. But the Game Boy doesn't have a Y Button! Oops.

Perhaps it's talking about the Super Game Boy gameplay?

[Gaz]

Sorry for bumping, but I found a manual for DKL2 here;

http://freegamemanuals.com/pdf/Nintendo ... gLand2.pdf

[Qyzbud]

Bumping is fine when you're offering something this useful. Thanks!

The quality of the manual scan is excellent... big PDF file, though (21.3MB!) - especially since it's pretty much just black, white and blue...

I've added your link to Blaziken257's first post, for easy reference.

I also remember something about the Cat O' Nine Tails and Kutlass being in the DKL2 instruction manual

From looking at that link that NES Boy posted, I can't find any mention of Cat O' Nine Tails or Kutlass at all. The only enemy that it seems to erroneously mention is Kaboom, in the TNT Barrels section on Page 16.

Actually, Kutlass is in there:

kutlass-in-dkl2-manual.jpg (17.58 KiB) Viewed 60957 times

...and Kaboom is also pictured on the baddies page, but with Kaboing's name and bio:

kaboing-shown-as-kaboom.jpg (13.92 KiB) Viewed 60957 times

Really lazy copy/paste effort by whomever put this booklet together!

[Gaz]

You're very welcome, Mr. Qyzbud.

Also, the DK Coin is called Cranky's Video Game Hero Coin when it is supposed to be called DK Coin as Cranky isn't in DKL2 (it was mentioned, but not this). Cranky doesn't play a role in the game so he doesn't scatter around the "Hero Coins".

Oh, and notice how Kutlass says he has got his swords by a special TV Offer? . Besides Qyzzie, I believe Rare woke up at like 4:00 P.M. and went to work and then put the manual together like that .

[Phyreburnz]

I'm pretty sure the thing about Kutlass's mail-ordered swords was in the DKC 2 manual... I know I've seen it before.

[Super Luigi!]

It was, and I used to have the manual to prove it!

[Katastrophe Kong]

Even more proof that Donkey Kong Land II was rushed.

[Blaziken257]

Wow, there were even more errors than I remember. I guess Kaboom and Kutlass were mentioned after all! Since I had DKL2 before DKC2, I was most likely confused at these things (and the numerous other errors) -- but of course, it was so long ago that I don't really remember how I reacted. (Could there be unused enemies in DKL2? That would be awesome!)

Another error: It says A to make Rambi butt everything in his path, but it's actually B. This one makes no sense, as it isn't even A in DKC2.

It's also funny that some of the screenshots were from DKC2, but the sprites were removed and they were converted to monochrome -- I guess Rare thought nobody would notice.

I think Rareware was on some heavy time constraint with this manual or something -- clearly they copied and pasted the manual from DKC2 without careful editing or proofreading. I guess they preferred to spend their time on other projects like DKC3, Goldeneye, etc. And look what happened as a result. I remember DKL3's manual had more care put into it, though...

[Qyzbud]

Another error: It says A to make Rambi butt everything in his path, but it's actually B. This one makes no sense, as it isn't even A in DKC2.

Well, in DKC2 the supercharge attack is done by holding A, so maybe that's what they mean? I mean, Rambi's Y (or B on Game Boy) attack is pretty much completely useless anyway, since it doesn't boost his movement like Enguarde's Y attack, and he automatically does basically the same thing when you hit a baddy... is there any reason to use Rambi's Y attack at all? Well, apart from doing a few fun but essentially pointless tricks, of course.

I think Rareware was on some heavy time constraint with this manual or something [...]

Are we even sure this was the work of Rareware? Perhaps Nintendo outsourced the DKL2 manual 'project' to another team/company.

[Gaz]

If anyone wants it in higher resolution, then here it is in 300 dpi (Used PDF Converter 1.26);
http://www.mediafire.com/file/z9dbgbfrg ... al_JPG.zip

[Gaz]

While this isn't in the DKL2 manual, I noticed an error in the DKC2 GBA manual (thought I'd put it here as the manual has more care put into it, same with DKLIII);

Gangplank Galley Error in DKC2 GBA Manual.png (93.61 KiB) Viewed 60865 times

It's called Gangplank GALLEON! Not Gangplank Galley, the third level in the world's name.

Also, in the Donkey Kong Land III manual (thanks Cody!), there is a black and white DKC3 image in the End of Level Flag description (not just DKL2's manual does this as it seems...);

18.jpg (35.5 KiB) Viewed 60865 times

Qyzbud
Blaziken257

[Geno]

Hey, here's an odd thing.

The Kremkoin picture in the DKL2 depicts a Kremkoin with KING K ROOL's head on it, instead of KAPTAIN K ROOL!
Check it out!

DKC2 (With the Kap's face)

Spoiler!

And DKL2 (With the King's face)

Spoiler!

It'd be cool if someone were to hunt down a good quality, full colour version of that beta(?) Kremkoin.

(And that render on Page 4 of Diddy and Dixie playing a B&W Game Boy is cool too.)

ALSO, on the page that talks about Funky, Wrinkly, and Klubba, in Funky's description, it calls Banana Coins by their proper name (Banana Coins). But on Wrinkly's description, it calls then "Banana Bunch Koins".
EDIT: They're also called Banana Bunch Koins on the items page!

EDITEDIT: Oh, and Conker' Bad Fur Day , I can't see any SNES screens in the DKL2 manual, only renders.

EDITEDITEDIT: Oh, and I see tagging users with spaces in their name STILL doesn't work. Grrrrr... Qyzbud

[Gaz]

Nice finds, geno. Oh, and the King K. Rool one was weird. There are monochrome DKC2 photos in the booklet. Source;

Source of monochrome DKC2 photos in it.

You'll also notise that there is only Gangplank Galleon and Gloomy Gulch's world maps on there. Strange, yes? Rare and their lack of work... There are also no arrow points and Kong Family members heads...

[Geno]

There are also no arrow points and Kong Family members heads...

Because they are renders.

[Simion32]

Exactly. Renders that we... mostly don't have unobstructed full color versions of. They would be useful in making a highres DKC2.

[Phyreburnz]

Renders that we... mostly don't have unobstructed full color versions of.

Do I smell a challenge? I'm going to download the manual and see about colourizing the images to make them look legit. I also may be able to work my magic and see about editing obstructed images so they look normal.

[Blaziken257]

It looks like they were taken directly from DKC2, but with the sprite layer missing. It's easy to replicate if you play DKC2 on an emulator and turn off the sprites (in Snes9x, you can press 5), and use an image editing program (like GIMP) to change the images to grayscale:



The only difference between these images and the images from the manual is that these images here are a bit brighter, and that the K. Rool sign doesn't seem to be there. I have no idea if this is due to the scan quality, or if the manual images are actually renders and not edited SNES screenshots. If that makes any sense. But it's interesting how similar these images are.

EDIT: On a completely unrelated note, I clearly remember the "Banana Bunch Koins" thing, and in fact, I've been used to that name because of it.

[Simion32]

(...)

Actually, there are some very high resolution obstructed versions in various magazines. I could take a look but there's a ton I would have to sift through.

The only pure render I know that we have is a full-256-color GIF of the Lost World at an only slightly higher resolution than SNES.

EDIT: There's a rendered map for each world in the Nintendo Power guide, but they have numbers all over them.
EDIT2: Umm... a harder challenge. The renders BEHIND the world maps that have numbers on them in the guide(s). I'll bet that THOSE were publisher-exclusive renders!

[Qyzbud]

It looks like they were taken directly from DKC2, but with the sprite layer missing. [...]
The only difference between these images and the images from the manual is that these images here are a bit brighter, and that the K. Rool sign doesn't seem to be there. I have no idea if this is due to the scan quality, or if the manual images are actually renders and not edited SNES screenshots.

At first glance, it does look like pretty much an exact copy of the in-game render... but upon closer inspection, I noticed a series of other subtle differences in various parts of the scene.

What else is different in-game?
A. The 'sawtooth trim' above K. Rool's nameplate has shifted down slightly
B. The water can be seen 'splashing' a bit against the ship/rocks
X. Some of the hull's wood texturing, etc. has changed
Y. Krow's Nest and the top boom of the middle mast are 'trimmed' slightly (probably due to tile/palette compression efforts)

Gosh, you were right about my new buttons messing with lists, Simion32...

Here's an (imperfect) animated comparison:

dkl2-manual-dkc2-snapshot-w1-map-comparison.gif (61.34 KiB) Viewed 60783 times

Although the print/scan quality is less than perfect (no print or scan is lossless, and this is a small grayscale image printed cheaply, then scanned on home equipment...), I strongly believe that the image quality is not the reason for these differences.

[Phyreburnz]

I really like the image of the Kongs teaming up with Diddy on top. I really want to try to recolour that one. I remembered when DKC2 came out for GBA there was a render of Diddy playing a GBA, which turns out to be exactly the same render with a GBA just kinda slapped over top of the Game Boy. What I want to do is take a picture of my original Game Boy in the same position and put it in their hands. That would look much better than me recolouring the one that is in the manual render, since it's much less sharp than the later render of Diddy playing the GBA.

Just thought I'd let you know what I'm up to! I love the character renders, and that's why I want to colourize them.

[Gaz]

This probably isn't much, but I am bumping the topic for anyone who wants to dig through my PAL Donkey Kong Land 2 manual to see if they can find anything. The Table of Contents page has a different layout than that of the American manual's. I do know that. Aside the manual, I've included an advert of N64/GB games that came with the complete DKL2 PAL set.

Link to the manual: http://www.mediafire.com/download/ynmx6kek0e7y669/

Simion32
Blaziken257
Qyzbud