"In A Snow-Bound Land (Clapper's Cavern)" from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1995)
Composer: David Wise
Label: Nintendo of America
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Rare
It's not often you get a snowy level in an ice-filled cave that takes predominantly underwater, but that's where Diddy and Dixie find themselves for the majority of their time in the first of two stages in DKC2, Arctic Abyss. You can almost hear the feeling of "Aquatic Ambiance." And then there's Clapper's Cavern, where you again find yourself in another ice cave, but this time you have to jump onto the seal Clapper's back so he'll turn the underground lake frozen to help you avoid the jaws of the ever-hunting Snapjaw. The serenity of the music is a stark contrast to the anxiety of sliding across the ice hoping to make it to some semblance of land in order to jump on the next Clapper before the ice melts and you end up dead to Snapjaw's jaws.
There are still plenty of musical elements here to maintain that cold vibe, especially the glass-chime-like instrument and the whistle-like melody, which also contains an echo-y aspect consistent with the cave stage. I know it's not particularly wintry, but I do love the electronic drum machine snare-hit-clap sound that plays throughout most of the song, and that just adds to the whole ambiance of the song.
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