I'm going to have to go with
K3, where the game (in my opinion) starts to take an interesting turn for the better, architectural-wise.
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Krevice Kreepers is an interesting cliff level that more or less sets the mood for the rest of the game
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Tearaway Toboggan couldn't have come at a better time; toboggan rides were a stroke of genius, and the design of the snow terrain fits the concept perfectly. Brilliant executed on all accounts.
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Barrel Drop Bounce, of course, is ever-so-wonderful... not only does this level have the most creative gameplay among the falls, but its color palette gives off a cool, wintery vibe that unanimously fits in with the rest of the stage
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Krack-Shot Kroc is arguably one of the coolest levels in the game for several reasons. The first one is that you're SQUITTER! The second is that you're in a large factory. Interestingly, I always thought that this was a barrel factory, and the sudden lack of quality control (on the Kremlings' behalf) over the stock caused a bunch of barrels to pile up over and roll into the river, eventually flowing downstream and off of the edge into the waterfall (hence Barrel Drop Bounce). Then, you're being chased by a crosshair that
shoots fireballs at you. Combine this with cool music and you've got perhaps THE most memorable level in all of DKC
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Lemguin Lunge was well worth it, it was nice to have a final hurrah when it comes to true wintery levels in the game.
• ...and then there's
Bleak. The bulk of DKC3's bosses focus more on gimmicky gameplay elements as opposed to a more traditional fight, and this dude is no exception. First, he's an anthropomorphic snowman who throws snowballs at you... and SHOOTS SNOWBALLS OUT OF HIS HAT! That's beyond neat. Plus, the way you fight him is unique in the sense that the Kongs aren't in their standard platforming stature, but rather in a similar manner as Cranky's Showdown & the X-Y-B-A caves (can't recall the specific names... are they just crystal chasms?)... it was just a memorable fight, and it was awesome to see the snowman laugh himself to death after getting hit with one-too-many snowballs
• And of course,
Blizzard's Basecamp. I tend to come up with complex scenarios to link any two events together, so instead of seeing the Kongs just run up to Blizzard's, the concept I visualized is that they're climbing up an extremely large, snowy mountain. At the summit, they enter a lodge where they're able to sit back and relax with a nice cup of hot chocolate by the fire and just unwind at the end of the day before they resume their journey.
This is where Blizzard comes in, and his basecamp allows Dixie and Kiddy to slowly drift to sleep inside a little peaceful bubble while everything outside is harsh and cold.