What Keeps Donkey Kong Country 2 Fun Through It's Hardest Levels?

Why is DKC2 Still Fun Through Hard Levels ?

I am a major fan of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy for the Super Nintendo. I remember being the kid in 3rd grade who had all the knowledge on the best site to play DKC1 in browser on the school computers. But as I 've gotten older, I slowly stopped playing any more than the first one. I had memories of DKC2 as it's an all time gaming legend (Who doesn't know about DKC2?) and I never played DKC3 as a kid. Right around October I finally hacked my Wii and one of the emulators I added was a SNES one. Right around the time I hacked it I was really craving some classic DKC action! I added all three and begun playing through DKC1 first (duh). When playing I noticed something I never payed attention to as a child, the atmosphere, charm and beauty of the world I was traversing. About a month ago I beat it (Thank god for the Krusha trick in world 2!) and have just started the ever so famous sequel. Now this one I of course have a few less memories with as I remember not ever making it very far. At the time of this writing I'm about half way through world 3 ( right when the game begins to pick up difficulty) and one thing I've noticed is that unlike most games where I die alot, I have yet to yell at the game. Why? Because nothing has been cheap, trial and error or felt like it was anyone's fault but mine. There is plenty of games out there nowadays that are difficult for the sake if being difficult, there's no real pay off for beating a level you've spent a half an hour to complete. These types of games fall into what I believe is the worst mistake a game can make, letting a player think "what's the point?". DKC2 keeps the levels all unique, hard and frustrating, but unique. There isn't any "QUICK MOV- there goes another life, shoulda known this would happen" moments besides roller coaster levels, but they still give you plenty of time to prepare for jumps and enemies. Another thing that keeps you going is the phenomenal soundtrack by David Wise. Of course there's plenty of heavy rhythm and catchy tunes, but the soundtrack typically keeps slow and beautiful. The calm music in levels where much concentration is key to living, doesn't distract you, but keeps you enveloped in the world. Not only that, but the soothing melodies of stages like "Bramble Scramble" ( A level accompanied by the song "Sticker Brush Symphony") help keep you from raging, working as a sort of "Time to calm down" if you stop whilst in the level for a breather. Most games don't use their soundtrack in such a clever way, making DKC2 very unique. This is why I believe DKC2 is able to stay fun through the mind numbingly insanely tuff levels.