Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country
North American SNES box art
Developer(s)	Rare, Ltd.
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Release Date(s)
SNES	NA: November 25, 1994 JP: November 26, 1994 EU: November 24, 1994 AU: 1994
SNES	NA: November 25, 1994 JP: November 26, 1994 EU: November 24, 1994 AU: 1994
Game Boy Color	NA: November 20, 2000 JP: January 21, 2001 EU: November 17, 2000 AU: 2000
Game Boy Color	NA: November 20, 2000 JP: January 21, 2001 EU: November 17, 2000 AU: 2000
Game Boy Advance	NA: June 9, 2003 JP: December 12, 2003 EU: June 6, 2003 AU: June 20, 2003
Game Boy Advance	NA: June 9, 2003 JP: December 12, 2003 EU: June 6, 2003 AU: June 20, 2003
Virtual Console (Wii)	NA: February 19, 2007 JP: December 12, 2006 EU: December 8, 2006 October 30, 2014 - Relisted KO: May 26, 2008
Virtual Console (Wii)	NA: February 19, 2007 JP: December 12, 2006 EU: December 8, 2006 October 30, 2014 - Relisted KO: May 26, 2008
Virtual Console (Wii U)	EU: October 16, 2014
Virtual Console (Wii U)	EU: October 16, 2014
Platform(s)
Genre(s)	Platform
Rating(s)
ESRB	02
PEGI	01
CERO	01
ACB	01

Donkey Kong Country (or Super Donkey Kong in Japan) is a game in the Donkey Kong series, and is the first Donkey Kong game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994 that is developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. The Donkey Kong Country game managed to be a huge success to the Nintendo industry and was game of the year when it was first released. Donkey Kong Country also had a certificate of Player's Choice on the box cover a year later.

The game is considered by many Donkey Kong fans as the best game in the series, and would later spawn many sequels by Rare. Once Rare left Nintendo, Nintendo gave the rights of Donkey Kong to Paon, a second party developer who has so far currently made DK: King of Swing, DK: Jungle Climber and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.

It was the first Donkey Kong game to feature Donkey Kong as a playable character. Donkey Kong was the second-best selling SNES game (second only to Super Mario World) and the first to use 3D pre-rendered graphics on a SNES game. Some magazines even said that it could compete against the newest PSX games.

Later in 2000, there was a remake for Donkey Kong Country on the Game Boy Color and later in 2003 a remake was made for the Game Boy Advance. In 2006 and 2007, Donkey Kong Country was released on the Wii's Virtual Console. Though, was listed on an unknown time on November 2012 and was de-listed in Europe on November 25, 2012 for reasons unknown.

Storyline

Note: The first two paragraphs are based off the starting cutscene in the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country.

One rainy night, Donkey Kong had told Diddy Kong to guard his banana hoard as part of his "hero training". Shortly after, Diddy was hearing some strange noises (Kremlings) and asking whom it is in a scared manner. All of a sudden, two Kritters come up on which Diddy defeats and then send a blue Krusha, (Klump according to the original game's manual), in as backup, overpowering Diddy and then seal him inside of a DK Barrel.

The next morning, Cranky tells Donkey to wake up as he is in for a big surprise. After seeing what has happened to Diddy and his bananas, he plans to go on a journey to retrieve his bananas and save Diddy on the way.

As the two travel through Kongo Jungle, Monkey Mines, Vine Valley, Gorilla Glacier, Kremkroc Industries Inc. and Chimp Caverns with assistance from Funky, Cranky and Candy, the two finally reach the one who was responsible for this scheme, King K. Rool. They battle him on Gangplank Galleon for a fight to retrieve the bananas for the Banana Hoard back. Once the two win, they go back to Cranky's Cabin where Cranky tells them that they should go to the banana hoard as they are in for a "big surprise". Once the two head there, they can see that all of their bananas have been retrieved, ending the story.

Gameplay

The gameplay of the game is similar to typical platforming games of its day. One noticeable difference is the inclusion of two simultaneous main characters: Donkey and Diddy. When a Kong takes a hit, he runs off the screen. Once both are gone, a life is lost. The two have different abilities and strengths; Donkey can slap the ground and unveil secrets, as well as defeat Krusha, while Diddy is faster and more athletic. The player can switch between them via a "tag" feature that would be reused throughout the series.

There are six worlds: Kongo Jungle, Monkey Mines, Vine Valley, Gorilla Glacier, Kremkroc Industries Inc. and Chimp Caverns and a final boss battle on Gangplank Galleon. Because of the game's graphical abilities, the levels all look quite varied from each other, with one being a snowstorm-ridden mountain, and another being a dangerous factory. The Kongs' goal is to get to the end of the level.

Throughout the levels, bananas must be collected (with one hundred giving an extra life). The same goes for K-O-N-G Letters and Extra Life Balloons (green ones give two lives while blue ones give out three). Animal Tokens are another item which send the monkeys to an animal ally-themed bonus level. The tokens come in the shape of the four different animal allies. For them to gain access to a bonus level, they must collect three of the same type of token to be sent to the appropriate animal-themed level.

Similar to the Mario series, the Kongs can beat typical enemies simply by jumping on them. They can also throw barrels, or somersault/cartwheel to knock them out. There are normal barrels, DK Barrels which have the 'kidnapped' partner inside and act as normal barrels if the player already has both Donkey and Diddy, Steel Kegs which will bounce off walls and can be ridden on, blast barrels which launch the character like a cannon, Star Barrels that feature white stars on the side of the barrel and which allow the player to start at the location of the barrel instead of the beginning of the level when they lose a life and, and TNT Barrels which destroy enemies and certain walls with a powerful explosion. A prevalent part of the game are barrel cannon courses, where the player must navigate the Kongs through cannon-like blast barrels, also seen in the game Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Characters

Kongs

• Donkey Kong
• Diddy Kong
• Funky Kong
• Cranky Kong
• Candy Kong

Animal Buddies

• Expresso the Ostrich
• Rambi the Rhinoceros
• Squawks the Parrot
• Enguarde the Swordfish
• Winky the Frog

Enemies

• Armies
• Bitesizes
• Chomps
• Chomps Jr.s
• Clambos
• Croctopuses
• Gnawties
• Klaptraps
• Klumps
• Krashes
• Kritters
• Krushas
• Manky Kongs
• Mincers
• Mini-Neckies
• Neckys
• Oil Drums
• Rockkrocs
• Slippas
• Squidges
• Zingers

Bosses

• Very Gnawty
• Master Necky
• Queen B.
• Really Gnawty
• Dumb Drum
• Master Necky Snr.
• King K. Rool

Other Media

A CG animated show of the same name was created and ran on Fox Family from 1997-2000.

Development

The game was revolutionary as it was one of the first games to use pre-rendered 3D graphics, which was also used in Rare's Killer Instinct. Many later 3D video games would also use pre-rendered 3D together with fully 3D objects. Rare took significant financial risks in purchasing the expensive Silicon Graphics equipment used to render the graphics. Both Nintendo and Rare refer to the technique for creating the game's graphics as "ACM" (Advanced Computer Modeling).

Shigeru Miyamoto once criticized Donkey Kong Country, stating that "Donkey Kong Country proves that players will put up with mediocre gameplay as long as the art is good." Miyamoto later apologized, saying he had been too harsh due to Nintendo's pressuring him at the time to make Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island more like Donkey Kong Country.

Changes from the original

Game Boy Color

Another port was released for the Game Boy Color in 2000 (2001 in Japan). The changes are as listed:

• There are three alternate title screens; one takes place underwater, another in the jungle and another in a cavern.
• Only one Kong appears at a time on screen, much like in the Donkey Kong Land games.
• The Game Boy Printer can be used to print out certain photos from the album.
• Winky's Walkway, the first level in Monkey Mines, has been extended.
• A new level called Necky Nutmare has been added in Chimp Caverns, the last world in the game.
• The Kongs don't ride the Animal Buddies. Instead, they turn into them.
• Two new minigames have been added, Funky Fishing and Crosshair Cranky.
• Two new difficulties have been added; one removing the Star Barrels and the other removing the DK Barrels.
• Most of the music from Donkey Kong Land has been reused to replace the ones from the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. However, some of the original's music was reused but downgraded to the Game Boy Color's sound limitations.
• The Warp Barrel in Mine Cart Carnage is removed from the game.
• Candy runs a challenge area instead of a save point.
• The credits instead show various screenshots instead of taking place in the treehouse.
• The select screen from Donkey Kong 64 is reused.
• The game automatically saves after a level is completed.

Game Boy Advance

Another port was released to the Game Boy Advance in 2003. Notable differences:

• Saving is possible anywhere rather than save points.
• A prologue explaining the purpose of Donkey's is played prior to the start of the game, as well as an epilogue.
• The Nintendo label on the giant bananas has been removed, and Cranky gives commentary after a boss is defeated.
• The graphics and overall sound quality have been reduced. Some enemies have tweaked, usually higher pitched effects returning from Donkey Kong 64.
• Cranky's Cabin has been renamed to "Cranky's Hut" and has been redesigned to take place indoors.
• A multiplayer mode is possible, but on the GameCube, either player can play as Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong.
• On the overhead map, a menu was added. In it, Funky can be summoned anytime on the map screen, get access to a scrapbook, save the game and view level stats.
• Enemies come in more colors.
• The menu is redesigned with DK Attack and an Extras feature added to the menu.
• More sound effects have been added.
• The boss battles have slightly changed when they are attacked with Queen B. now having three Zingers around her, Really Gnawty makes stalagmites fall from the ceiling when making a high pounce, Dumb Drum must have a few TNT Barrels thrown at him to be defeated and Master Necky helps Master Necky Snr. fight Donkey and Diddy.
• The map has been redesigned in worlds and the map is zoomed in more.
• The barrels that send the Kongs to Bonus Levels are replaced by Bonus Barrels.
• Starting from Vine Valley, some of the levels have been swapped around.
• The credits now take place in Gangplank Galleon rather than in Donkey Kong's Treehouse.
• A Video Game Hero mode has been added where the player plays as a yellow Diddy to complete all levels without Star Barrels and DK Barrels.
• Candy hosts a dancing game at her own dancing studio.

Awards

• Chosen as Favorite Video Game at the 1995 and 1996 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards.

Trivia

• The large bananas that appear after a boss is defeated originally had the Dole logo on them, but were later replaced with Nintendo logos.
• The game was featured on the cover of Nintendo Power V66.

External links

• Donkey Kong Country at Nintendo.com
• Donkey Kong Country at Virtual Console Reviews
• Donkey Kong Country on the Donkey Kong Wiki