Rare Orb

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Donkey Kong getting the magenta Rare Orb
The eight Rare Orbs
Donkey Kong getting the magenta Rare Orb
Donkey Kong getting the magenta Rare Orb

Rare Orbs, also known as Orbs and crystal balls,[1] are items in Donkey Kong Country Returns, its Nintendo 3DS port and its Nintendo Switch port. They appear at the end of each secret temple levels of the first eight worlds, and each one has a different color to represent said worlds.

Each Rare Orb is on a pedestal in the background. They float into the main plane when a Kong approaches. The Kongs can then collect the Rare Orb by touching it, which ends the level. In the ending screen of temple levels, a display featuring the door of the hidden Golden Temple replaces the display for KONG Letters. The first time a temple level is completed, the collected Rare Orb flies into the slot on the display. All Rare Orbs collected prior to it are also present. (KONG Letters do not appear in temple levels, as unlocking one requires the player have a KONG Letter icon for every level in a world.) If a level is played in Time Attack mode, the Slot Machine Barrel serves as the goal instead and the end screen is normal. At the Golden Temple, the Kongs can press a button at the entrance to use their Rare Orbs. All of them float out around the player, but without all eight Rare Orbs nothing will happen. With all eight orbs, they slot into the door and cause it to roll to the side, opening the path into the Golden Temple.

Rare Orbs appear in the following levels:

# Name Level World
1 Green Orb Platform Panic Jungle
2 Blue Orb Tumblin' Temple Beach
3 White Orb Shifty Smashers Ruins
4 Magenta Orb Jagged Jewels Cave
5 Yellow Orb Blast & Bounce Forest
6 Orange Orb Perilous Passage Cliff
7 Gray Orb Treacherous Track Factory
8 Red Orb Five Monkey Trial Volcano

In New Mode and Modern Mode of Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and Donkey Kong Country Returns HD respectively, after the game is beaten, each Rare Orb appears in Cranky Kong's Shop in their respective worlds and can be purchased for 50 Banana Coins, so the player does not have to clear the temple levels to access the Golden Temple and, therefore, the Cloud world. Buying all eight Rare Orbs costs a total of 400 Banana Coins. Rare Orbs the player already has appear in monochrome in the shop and cannot be purchased.

Rare Orbs do not appear in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, instead being replaced by mysterious relics, which serve a similar purpose.

Names in other languages

Language Name Meaning Notes
Japanese オーブ[?]
Ōbu
Orb

References

  1. ^ Knight, Michael (November 21, 2010). Donkey Kong Country Returns Prima Official Game Guide. Prima Games (American English). ISBN 978-0-307-47102-4. Page 155, 157, 159, 161, 163, 164, 167, 168.