Donkey Kong Country: Difference between revisions

'''''Donkey Kong Country''''' is a side-scrolling [[Genre#Platform|platform]] game for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]] released in November 1994. It was developed by [[Rare Ltd.|Rareware]] and published by [[Nintendo]]. The game stars [[Donkey Kong]] and his sidekick [[Diddy Kong]], as the two travel across [[Donkey Kong Island]] to recover their [[banana hoard]], stolen by the [[Kremling]]s and their leader, [[King K. Rool]].

The player controls Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong (each with their own strengths and abilities) as they travel throughout a variety of linear levels in different environments. Gameplay features include the ability to ride [[Animal Friends|a variety of other animal characters]] after freeing them, the ability to pick up and throw [[Barrel]]s to defeat enemies and uncover hidden passages, and puzzles involving moving throught gauntlet of moving suspended barrels.  ''Donkey Kong Country'' also encourages players to find all [[Bonus Area]]s hidden in the game's level to get 101% [[completion]], a feature its sequels would greatly expand upon.  

The game reintroduced the ''[[Donkey Kong (franchise)|Donkey Kong]]'' series (alongside the [[Donkey Kong (Game Boy)|1994 Game Boy game]] released a few months prior) after a nearly decade-long hiatus, and in doing also introduced Donkey Kong's modern design, his supporting cast and enemies, setting, musical motifs, and the gameplay mechanics that most of the following ''Donkey Kong'' games as well as Donkey Kong's appearances in ''[[Mario (franchise)|Mario]]'' spin-off titles would build upon. The game's success spawned multiple sequels and spin-offs, a [[Donkey Kong Country (television series)|40-episode 3D animated series]], a [[Donkey Kong Country (novel)|chapter book adaptation]], manga adaptations in ''Mario''-related publications such as [[Super Mario (Kodansha manga)|Kodansha's ''Super Mario'' manga]] and ''[[Super Mario-kun]]'', and other merchandise. ''Donkey Kong Country'' was notable because of its pre-rendered sprites that were converted from 3D CGI models on {{wp|Silicon Graphics}} workstations<ref>''Donkey Kong Country'' instruction booklet, page 32</ref>, inspiring future video games to do the same. ''Donkey Kong Country'' was followed by two sequels: ''[[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest]]'' and ''[[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!]]'' in 1995 and 1996.

During a stormy night on [[Donkey Kong Island]], Donkey Kong orders [[Diddy Kong|Diddy]] to guard his [[banana hoard]] for his "hero training" until midnight. While watching for predators beneath the darkness, Diddy hears noises outside. He nervously asks, "W-w-who goes there?!". An ominous voice tells the other to seal Diddy in a barrel, kick it into the bushes, and steal the bananas. Diddy gets ambushed by [[Kremling]]s, some of which he manages to defeat with his [[Cartwheel Attack]] until being overpowered by [[Klump]]. He seals Diddy in a [[DK Barrel]] and kicks it across the jungle. The Kremlings load the entire banana hoard onto their vehicles and carry them through the jungle, dropping behind trails of bananas.

The next morning, Donkey Kong wakes up by a loud calling of his name. Realizing that he slept through his watch, Donkey Kong quickly exits his tree house, only to find [[Cranky Kong]] outside. Cranky prompts Donkey Kong to check the [[banana hoard|banana cave]] for a "big surprise". Inside the cave, Donkey Kong finds out that all of his bananas were stolen, with only a few discarded peels lying around. Cranky mocks Donkey Kong for shirking his responsibility, noting that Diddy is also gone. Meanwhile, Donkey Kong is in disbelief over his stolen bananas and rages that the Kremlings stole all of them. Donkey Kong vows to bring payback upon the Kremlings and recover his banana hoard.  

Cranky breaks the [[fourth wall]] by questioning why the "game idea" involves finding Diddy and rescuing bananas instead of a damsel in distress. Donkey Kong tells how Diddy wishes to be a video game hero like Donkey Kong. Cranky believes neither of them are suitable for being video game heroes, and he goes on to brag about his popularity during [[Donkey Kong (game)|the arcade era]]. Deeming the adventure "ridiculous", Cranky believes Donkey Kong would be lucky to even sell ten copies of the game. Donkey Kong gets mad at Cranky and insists on going on an adventure to save Diddy and recover the stolen bananas. Donkey Kong leaves and follows a trail of bananas along his way. Cranky briefly hesitates, but then follows after Donkey Kong. Cranky mumbles that Donkey Kong may need his help and further mentions that kids do not have respect for their elders anymore.<ref>''Donkey Kong Country Instruction Booklet'', Nintendo, 1994, pages 4-7</ref>

In the first level, Donkey Kong releases Diddy Kong, who tags along during the adventure. Together, the [[Kong]]s travel through various areas, including jungles, mines, forests, temples, snowy mountains, caves, and factories. With assistance from [[Cranky Kong|Cranky]], [[Funky Kong|Funky]], and [[Candy Kong]], the two Kongs eventually reach a large pirate ship, the [[Gangplank Galleon]], where they are confronted by the Kremling Krew's leader, King K. Rool. After Donkey Kong and Diddy defeat King K. Rool, Cranky congratulates them and tells them to check the banana hoard. They do so, finding that the bananas have been returned.

The game introduces the "tag-team" system, where Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong follow each other throughout the levels. The Kong in front is the one currently in play, while the other Kong follows behind. If the Kong in play is injured, he quickly runs off the screen, and the other takes its place. If this happens, only one Kong is on the screen at a time. If the lone Kong is injured by an enemy, the player loses an [[extra life]] and must restart the level either from the start or from the activated [[Star Barrel|Continue Barrel]]. Any Kong that is missing can be recovered from a [[DK Barrel]]. When either the Kongs are freed from a DK Barrel, he goes behind the Kong in play. The player can press {{button|snes|A}} to switch characters, in which case Donkey Kong high-fives Diddy to switch places with him, or vice versa.

There are a few Kongs who help Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong along their journey, and they each appear in one of the [[#Supporting location|supporting locations]].

|Diddy is the best friend and sidekick of Donkey Kong. While he is not as strong as his partner, Diddy is faster, but his light weight prevents him from being able to defeat more powerful enemies in a single jump.

|Cranky Kong was the original Donkey Kong from the ''[[Donkey Kong (game)|Donkey Kong]]'' arcade game. He resides at [[Cranky's Cabin]], where he provides various pieces of advice to Donkey Kong and Diddy along their adventure. Cranky regards himself as the greatest video game hero, and does not believe the Kongs can complete their adventure without his assistance.

Aside from the supporting Kongs, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are also assisted by [[Animal Friends]] during the game. Each Animal Friend is imprisoned within an [[animal crate]] depicting a silhouette of their face. The Animal Friends only appear in certain levels, and the Kongs cannot take them to other levels. Every Animal Friend has their own unique abilities.

Various types of enemies appear throughout the levels, attempting to get into Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's way. The [[Kremling]]s are the main enemies of the game.

|An armadillo enemy that rolls up into a ball and charges at the Kongs to attack. Donkey Kong can defeat them from either a jump or roll attack. If Diddy either jumps or cartwheels into a curled up Army, the enemy is forced out of its curled posture. Diddy can defeat Army if it is not curled up.

|Manky Kongs are orangutans who were exiled from the Kong Family. They attack by throwing an unlimited number of barrels at Donkey Kong and Diddy. Both Kongs can defeat them by their jump and roll attack.

|A Kritter who rides in a mine cart. Krashes ride in the opposite direction of the Kongs, attempting to crash into them. Donkey Kong and Diddy must avoid Krashes by jumping over them. In Mine Cart Madness, some Krashes are in a stationary mine carts, and the Kongs can jump on them to defeat them and take over the mine cart.

|Krushas are strong, muscular Kremlings, and there are blue Krushas and the uncommon gray variant. Diddy cannot defeat Krushas without using a barrel. Donkey Kong can defeat blue Krushas by jumping on them, but performing a roll or a Hand Slap attack are ineffective. Gray Krushas are stronger than the blue ones and can only be defeated from a barrel.

|Rock Krocs dash back and forth rapidly while the Stop & Go Barrels are set to "Go", and the Kongs get injured when they come in contact with a Rock Kroc. Donkey Kong and Diddy cannot pass the Rock Krocs safely unless the Stop & Go Barrels are set to "Stop", causing the Rock Krocs to briefly curl into a ball until the Stop & Go Barrels return to "Go". Rock Krocs are invincible and cannot be defeated.

|A giant Gnawty that jumps around, trying to hit the Kongs. Donkey Kong and Diddy must jump on it five times to defeat it. For each hit, Very Gnawty bounces and moves around faster.

|A giant Necky that creeps his head out from one of four corners of the screen, spitting large nuts at the Kongs. Master Necky spit nuts faster each time he is jumped on. Donkey Kong or Diddy can defeat the boss by jumping on his head five times.

|DK Barrels are the most common barrels in the game, as a few of them appear in certain areas of every level. If either Donkey Kong or Diddy are missing from the group, the active Kong can break a DK Barrel to release the other Kong. DK Barrels can also be picked up and used like Vine Barrels.

During their adventure, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are assisted by three other members of the Kong Family who operate their own location in every world.

|This area is ran by [[Cranky Kong]], who gives random level hints while rambling about how the 8-bit era was better than the 16-bit era.

|In this special area, the Kongs can meet [[Funky Kong]] and use his [[Jumbo Barrel]] to travel to any unlocked world.

|The area is operated by [[Candy Kong]], and the Kongs can visit Candy's Save Point to have their game saved for free.

A head of either Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong appear on the location of every world and level that either Kong has completed. A Kritter head appears only on the next level or world that the Kongs have not yet completed. In the Super Nintendo version, there is a glitch in single player mode where if Diddy completes a level and then Donkey Kong completes it afterward, his head does not appear on that level.

*Rather than only [[Donkey Kong]] and [[Diddy Kong]] appearing on the title screen, the Japanese version of the screen includes both [[Kong]]s, as well as all five animal buddies, and a pair of [[Zinger]]s.

*On the World Map, the DK head next to [[DK's Tree House|Donkey Kong's Treehouse]] is not present.

*[[Manky Kong]] takes two hits from Diddy to be defeated, unlike in the American/European versions where either Kong can kill him in a single blow.

#The first of these is that Diddy will be walking, not swimming, behind Donkey Kong. The player can get off Enguarde and swim to his side. Then the player must press select. If done correctly, the camera will freeze and Diddy alone will be able to walk around as if it were a land level.  

#While still frozen, the player could jump back on Enguarde. Diddy should turn into a greenish-blue color and hover in mid-air. This allows the player to control Enguarde by himself, which results in the Kongs being left behind if the player continues on through the level.  

#While on Enguarde, the player can press {{button|snes|Y}} and then {{button|snes|A}} once quickly after. Enguarde should turn into another greenish-blue Diddy that the player will be able to control. If the player touches the other floating Diddy it will turn the player back into Enguarde.  

#While using Enguarde once again, the player needs to press the {{button|snes|A}} quickly and repeatedly; it will permanently turn him into a reddish color with either DK or Diddy following behind.

As this new red Enguarde, the player has to have Diddy follow behind him (if Donkey is behind the player, the player will have to press {{button|snes|A}} twice and the Kongs should switch). Then, the player has to press {{button|snes|Y}} and the player then has to press {{button|snes|A}}. This results in Enguarde transforming into an oddly colored Donkey Kong that hovers in the air while the player is left controlling the Kongs once again.  

A team of 12 people were assembled for the project, which was the most Rare had assigned for a single game at the time. [[Gregg Mayles]] cited ''[[Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' as his chief inspiration<ref name="Retrogamer"/>, saying that he wanted to imitate its structure while also providing smooth and flowing level designs that skilled players could navigate quickly. A team of developers were sent to the nearby Twycross Zoo to observe the movements of real gorillas, but found that it would not suited to the fast-paced platformer that they wanted to make.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> The team created around fifteen different styles of movement for Donkey Kong, including ones based on rabbits and frogs, before arriving at the current animations, based loosely on the movements of horses.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> The [[Kremling]]s originated from another project Rare was developing at the same time (which, according to Rareware employee Gregg Mayles was from a canceled adventure game named ''Jonny Blastoff and the Kremling Armada''.<ref>Ayden_ (July 5 2017) .[http://www.jeuxvideo.com/news/651885/les-coulisses-de-donkey-kong-country-des-gorilles-et-des-hommes.htm Les coulisses de ''Donkey Kong Country'' : Des gorilles et des hommes]. ''Jeuxvidéo.com''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref><ref>Gregg Mayles (@Ghoulyboy). [https://twitter.com/Ghoulyboy/status/639226685213265924 Twitter post on September 2, 2015]. ''Twitter''. Retrieved July 31, 2017)</ref>), but were transplanted into the game as Rare found that they were a good fit for ''Donkey Kong Country''{{'}}s aesthetic.<ref name="Nintendo Power"/> The developers also wanted the screen to be as "clutter-free" as possible, which lead to the creation of a "buddy" character so that the player could take more than one hit, inspired by the "big Mario returns to little Mario" system of the ''[[Super Mario (series)|Super Mario]]'' games.<ref name="Retrogamer"/> [[Donkey Kong Jr.]] was first considered for the role, but he was changed into [[Diddy Kong|a separate character]] as Nintendo felt Rare's redesign looked too different.<ref name="Retrogamer"/>

*''[[Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest]]'': The direct sequel, which contains many gameplay elements from its predecessor. Also, in the [[Game Boy Advance]] remake, Diddy makes a reference to the first game in the intro, stating that he did not want to surrender the banana hoard to Kaptain K. Rool after all that he and Donkey Kong went through to get it last time. Additionally, Winky can be seen in the background of Cranky's [[Monkey Museum]].

*''[[Super Smash Bros. (series)|Super Smash Bros.]]'' series: Barrel Cannons seen in ''Donkey Kong Country'' appear here. Also, Kongo Jungle stages appear in the three games as Congo Jungle in the first ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'' game, and Kongo Jungle in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and remade in Melee Stages in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]''. The fanfare that plays when defeating a boss or winning in a bonus room is used as an arrangement for Donkey Kong's and Diddy Kong's victory theme in all the ''Super Smash Bros.'' games. In ''Ultimate'', King K. Rool's victory theme is an arrangement of an excerpt from the Gangplank Galleon theme. Diddy Kong's up taunt is based on his victory animation from ''Donkey Kong Country''.

**Many of Donkey Kong's various animations from this game (like his crouching, jumping, running, and the way he carries barrels) as well as some of his moves like his [[Hand Slap]] were used in ''Super Smash Bros.'' as part of his moveset. This also happened with Diddy Kong when he was introduced in ''Super Smash Bros. Brawl''.

*''[[Super Mario Party]]'': When Diddy Kong gets Donkey Kong as an ally, the latter says, "Diddy! We're on another adventure together!" referencing this game.

''K. Rool and his reptilian crew of Kremlings! Armed with chest-pounding muscle, mighty barrel rolls, and awesome vine-swinging skills, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong set out to face their adversaries!''

DK Diddy Thumbs Up.png|[[Donkey Kong]] and [[Diddy Kong]]

Cranky Kong DKC.png|[[Cranky Kong]]

Candy Kong DKC.PNG|[[Candy Kong]]

Funky Kong DKC.png|[[Funky Kong]]

Rambi DKC.png|[[Rambi]]

Kritter DKC.png|[[Kritter]]

KroolDKC.png|[[King K. Rool]]

*This game has an adaptation in the ''[[Super Mario-kun]]'' manga with some changes. [[Mario]] and [[Yoshi]] land in the Donkey Kong Country by mistake, and Cranky Kong asks to them help Donkey and Diddy in their task to find the bananas and stop King K. Rool.