Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!

Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! closed out the Game Boy Advance's port of Rare's entire Super Nintendo trilogy in 2005. This time the lead roles go to Dixie Kong and her small cousin Kiddy Kong, who set out to find the kidnapped Donkey Kong in colder, more industrial, and swampy lands than the previous two installments offered. Kiddy's stocky build lets him smash through tougher obstacles, and cooperation between the two apes leads to additional combined moves; on top of that, there's a freely traversable world map with a boat the player uses to travel between islands and unlock side quests. The game also features upgrades and items purchasable from the trader Funky Kong, as well as a system of bonus photographs and coins that encourage revisiting already discovered areas.

The third installment is traditionally seen as the most experimental and the calmest in pace compared to the previous two games, placing greater emphasis on exploration and collecting bonus items than on pure action-platforming sections. The GBA port remained faithful to the graphics and music, adapted the controls and menu layout for the handheld, and added bonus levels tied to collectible cards, similar to the series' previous ports. Reviews particularly praised the fact that the entire trilogy was available in pocket form for the first time, allowing new players who had only recently discovered the previous two games to rediscover the series.

Today the game stands as proof that its elaborate level design and inventive use of animal companions still hold up after all these years, even though it offers a calmer, more exploratory experience than the fast action of the first two installments. For fans of the series it represents an interesting close to the trilogy and a chance to compare how Rare's game design philosophy gradually evolved within a single series – from the raw action of the first game, through the heightened difficulty of the second, to the calmer, more expansive structure of this final chapter.