The Mine Cart Ride[1][2], also called a Mine Cart Run[3] or Mine Ride[4], is a minigame found in Donkey Kong 64, and is the only minigame in this game without an alliteration in its English title. There are three Minecart stages in the game. One for Diddy Kong in Jungle Japes, another one for Chunky Kong in Fungi Forest, and the last one can be found in Creepy Castle for Donkey Kong. During the ride the Kong can tilt his minecart or jump to avoid obstacles, collect scattered coins near the rails, or activate switches. And in Donkey Kong's ride, he can jump to the side rails. If the Kong finishes his ride and collects a certain amount of coins, he earns a Golden Banana.
Diddy's Mine Cart Ride
Diddy's Mine Cart Ride[5] is in Jungle Japes. Diddy can enter the mine by shooting a peanut using his Peanut Popgun at the Target Switch on the hill by the Bananaport Pad 2, which makes a spiral ramp appear, allowing him to enter an alcove. Deep inside there is a machine, which Diddy can Chimpy Charge the slow button to make the conveyor belts go slower allowing Diddy to reach his minecart and enter the ride. After entering the minecart, Squawks will tell the player to collect 50 coins to win a Golden Banana. Shortly after, Diddy will find another minecart with a Krash in it. The Kremling will try attacking Diddy with a club, which he must jump to dodge. After that, Diddy will then climb down a hill with some turns. Next, the player will find two green dragon hands, as some fire appears on and off. After dodging the fire, Diddy will go through a door; shortly after, a Krash will appear again. Later, Diddy finds a TNT Bomber on the upper mine track, who will try to fall on Diddy; he will need to slow down to dodge it. After that, Diddy will come to a crossroad; the switch on the right changes the open door. Later, the player will find the dragon's head, whose mouth opens and closes quickly. Diddy will need to go in the dragon's mouth, finding three more TNT Bombers inside. After that, there is another downhill. Following that, the player will find some more mine tracks, this time with TNT Barrel minecarts. Diddy can dodge it by jumping. Shortly after, another purple dragon can be found, it will open its mouth as soon as the player approaches it. After Diddy enters its mouth, he will find some more TNT Barrel minecarts, followed by two more crossroads. After that, Squawks will appear and reward the player with a Golden Banana if they have collected 50 coins.
This challenge is one of the few randomly selected options in the kiosk demo for Donkey Kong 64 when starting the game. There are a few notable differences, one of them being that Diddy must collect 70 coins rather than 50, which significantly increases the difficulty. Another one is how most of Squawks's dialogue is different.[6] One of the first publicly revealed Donkey Kong 64 screenshots appeared to be of Diddy's Mine Cart Ride as the screenshot shows him riding his Mine Cart away from an adjacent Krash.[7]
Chunky's Mine Cart Ride
Chunky's Mine Cart Ride[8] is in Fungi Forest. After Chunky enters the well in the Clock Tree area, he will come into a cavern. Some pillars will fall on Chunky. There is a Green Bell[9] that, once touched, will open the portculis, otherwise Chunky will be hit from the door. Shortly after, some rocks will fall and there is a crossroad, with a switch on the right. Later, a Krash will show up trying to attack the player, there is a switch on the left that makes rocks fall on Krash making it unable to continue chasing the Kong. Shortly after, Chunky will get out of the cavern into a place containing some mushrooms and a river below. Next, Chunky will enter another cavern, with two more Green Bells followed by a red bell. Touching the red bell will result in the portcullis closing, hurting Chunky. Another Green Bell will appear, and then Chunky will come out of the cavern. Some trees will fall on Chunky. Shortly after Chunky will jump into another cave. The cave entrance is shaped identical to the statue in the catacomb of Jungle Japes. Inside are two tracks that overlap with each other, some TNT Barrels roam inside. Chunky must jump to dodge them. Later on, Chunky will climb a downhill, while he is climbing some Krashes will come from the front on the other track trying to attack with a club. Shortly after, some portcullises will open and close repeatedly, Chunky must slow down or speed up, so he can cross safely. Another Green Bell can be found. Outside there is a falling tree and a monster statue with teeth like door that repeatedly shut down and open up. Inside is a downhill that Chunky descends at full speed. Followed by some turns and a door and some more falling pillars. Another Krash will appear. Later, there is a crossroad with three paths; by default, the only one open is the one in the middle, though there are two switches that can switch the open door. If Chunky enters the middle he will face a door like a dragon's mouth. Shortly after all three rails merge and Squawks will appear rewarding Chunky with a Golden Banana if he managed to survive with 50 coins.
Haunted Mine Cart Run
The Haunted Mine Cart Run[10] is Donkey Kong's in Creepy Castle. Inside the catacombs, there is a closed door with a Coconut Switch. After shooting the switch with the Coconut Shooter and pulling some levers in a specified order (top-right, top-left, bottom-left), the door will open and Donkey Kong can enter the Mine Cart Ride. After Donkey rides the cart through multiple doors, the path will split into two tracks, and the resident demon will appear to attack Donkey Kong; if he is hit, he will lose three coins. As the resident demon departs, Donkey will enter another door and find three gravestones that raise suddenly from the ground; he must jump from one track to the other track to dodge each obstacle. After passing through the next set of doors, the resident demon will reappear. The track will split into three rails, and the resident demon will then fire several flaming skulls, which explode similarly to TNT Barrels; they can be avoided either by slowing down and jumping, or speeding up until they explode on their own. The three rails will merge into two again, and some metal gates will appear (similar to the portcullises in Chunky Kong's version), which can only be avoided by jumping right or left. The resident demon leaves again as Donkey will enter some doors and avoids three more gravestones. Through the next set of doors, the resident demon will return to attack Donkey. Next, Donkey will enter another door and pass through a hallway with five more gravestones. After passing through one final set of doors, the rails sharply curve upwards, causing the mine cart to switch direction and go in reverse. Donkey must then navigate the entire course again in the reverse direction, allowing him to collect any coins that he missed the first time. After Donkey reaches the start again, Squawks will appear and give him a Golden Banana if he had collected 25 coins.
Names in other languages
Mine Cart Ride
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | トロッコツアー[11] Torokko Tsuā |
Trolley Tour |
Haunted Mine Cart Run
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | オバケてつどう[?] Obake Tetsudō |
Ghost Trainway | |
| French | Train Fantome[?] | - | |
| German | Geisterzug[?] | ? | |
| Spanish | Prueba del Espíritu[?] | ? |
References
- ^ Bihldorff, Nate, Jason Leung, and Drew Williams. Donkey Kong 64 Player's Guide. Page 29. "Diddy’s biggest challenge in Jungle Japes is the Mine Cart Ride."
- ^ Bogenn, Tim, and Ken Schmidt. Donkey Kong 64 Official Strategy Guide. Page 91.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20000229193254/http://www.nintendo.com/n64/donkeykong64/jj.html
- ^ Barton, Jeff, Mario De Govia, and Donato Tica. Donkey Kong 64 Prima's Official Strategy Guide. Page 42. "Welcome to the Mine Ride."
- ^ Tim Bogenn and Ken Schmidt. Donkey Kong 64 Official Strategy Guide. Page 18. "As you explore further into the duct, you will come upon Diddy’s Mine Cart Ride."
- ^ TCRF article on the Donkey Kong 64 prototype
- ^ Rarewhere (rareware.com): The Outpost (Wayback Machine)
- ^ Tim Bogenn and Ken Schmidt. Donkey Kong 64 Official Stategy Guide. Page 91. "Chunky’s Mine Cart Ride Golden Banana"
- ^ Lockhart, Ryan. Donkey Kong 64 Official Perfect Guide. Page 72. "Jump up and hit the Green Bells to open gates, leap over everything you see, keep it slow, and you’ll do fine."
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20000304110632/http://www.nintendo.com/n64/donkeykong64/creepy.html
- ^ 「ドンキーコング64任天堂公式ガイドブック」 (Donkey Kong 64 Nintendo Kōshiki Guidebook), pages 29 and 91.