Banana Juice
| Banana Juice | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
| First appearance | Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010) | ||
| Latest appearance | Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (2025) | ||
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- “This. Stuff. Is. Awesome. I have no idea what it is, dude, but it tastes radical!”
- —Funky Kong, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Banana Juice is an item in Donkey Kong Country Returns (as well as its Nintendo 3DS port and its Nintendo Switch port) and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze (as well as its Nintendo Switch port). When equipped, it causes the player to glow and negates the damage the player would take from enemies and obstacles. It can block only a limited number of hits before wearing off.
In Donkey Kong Country Returns and its ports, Banana Juice can be purchased from Cranky Kong's Shop for 20 Banana Coins. If Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong equip Banana Juice, the first ten times they are hit in that level, they do not lose a heart. This is represented by a yellow heart next to their heart with a number for the hits that can be blocked remaining. As long as one of these "hits" remains, the characters have a golden glow and emit golden sparkles. In silhouette levels, this glow does not appear. Banana Juice can also be used by Diddy in two-player mode. Whenever Donkey Kong or Diddy loses one of the extra hearts but has at least one remaining, he briefly reverts to his normal appearance before returning to gold. Donkey Kong flexes and Diddy pumps an arm instead of flinching when they take damage, but the effect preventing him from moving until the animation ends remains. If the player is in a case where damage does not put them into the full flinching animation, such as while clinging, no animation plays at all and the player's control is not interrupted.
Rambi gains no benefit from Banana Juice, so even though the Kongs do not lose a heart, Rambi still runs off when they take damage. Similarly, effects that instantly defeat the player ignore the Banana Juice. Aside from the universal case of bottomless pits, examples include crashing a Mine Cart or Rocket Barrel, having a Barrel Cannon be destroyed while the player is still inside it, and getting washed away by the tides of Tidal Terror.
The number of hits that a Banana Juice can block is temporary, being tied to the item rather than increasing Donkey Kong's or Diddy's maximum number of hearts as a Heart Boost does. Once a hit has been used, it cannot be restored. Additionally, the effects of Banana Juice are lost if Donkey Kong or Diddy loses a life or leaves the level.
In New Mode of Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and Modern Mode of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, Banana Juice costs only seven Banana Coins. It blocks damage only five times instead of ten, but this is balanced out by the player's ability to equip a maximum of three items in New Mode and nine items in Modern Mode instead of only one. Additionally, the Banana Juice's effects are not lost if the Kongs lose a life. When the player can take only one or two hits before the Banana Juice stops protecting them, the golden glow slowly flickers instead of staying constant. If the player has more than one Banana Juice equipped at once, the ones other than the first activate only when the first Banana Juice is fully depleted. Banana Juices stay in their bottle form when they have not activated yet.
In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Banana Juice can be purchased at Funky's Fly 'n' Buy for 15 Banana Coins. The Banana Juice goes into effect after the player gets hit for the first time in any level as long as the juice is equipped. In the Nintendo Switch version, the star on the container is green instead of red.
Gallery[edit]
Icon in Donkey Kong Country Returns
Model in Donkey Kong Country Returns
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | バナナジュース[?] Banana Jūsu |
Banana Juice | |
| French | Jus de banane[?] | Banana juice | |
| Italian | Pozione banana[?] | Banana potion |
