| Donkey Kong Country Returns | |
  | |
| Developer(s) | Retro Studios |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Main Development Staff | {{{devteam}}} |
| Platform(s) | Wii |
| Release Date(s) |  November 21, 2010  December 2, 2010  December 3, 2010  December 9, 2010 |
| Genre(s) | Platformer |
| Ratings | ESRB:  Everyone
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| Mode(s) | 1-2 players |
| Media(s) | Optical Disc |
| Input(s) | Wii Remote |
Donkey Kong Country Returns is the fourth game in the Donkey Kong Country series. It is the sequel to Donkey Kong Country 3 and it is also the first Country-line game in over a decade. Donkey Kong Country Returns is a 2D platformer developed by Retro Studios for the Wii, and was announced at E3 2010. It uses many of the familiar elements from the original games and Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are once again the main playable characters. There is a remake of Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Nintendo 3DS, called Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D.
Story
The Tiki Tak Tribe and Tiki Tong Tower emerging from the volcano.
The story begins as the camera looks at a volcano. After a few seconds of observing it, the volcano erupts; lava and molten rocks shoot out into the sky. The Tiki Tak Tribe awakes and they emerge from the molten rocks that are still airborne. The eruption continues until Tiki Tong Tower bursts out of the volcano and roars.
Kalimba trying to hypnotize Donkey Kong.
The members of the Tiki Tak Tribe then go down to Donkey Kong Island to hypnotize the animals there by playing music (namely elephants, giraffes, zebras, and squirrels). The animals start stealing every banana from Donkey Kong Island, only to come across Donkey Kong's hut. Diddy Kong jumps out the window and athletically swings down the planks of wood that are holding the hut up. He finds DK's banana hoard has been stolen once again. Diddy Kong runs away after the animals that stole the hoard, not to be seen in this cutscene again. Donkey Kong finally steps out the house just in time to see his banana hoard being taken away by the animals. A Tiki comes along a few seconds later and pushes him back into his hut. The Tiki plays its music, but Donkey Kong and the rest of the Kong family are too intelligent and strong willed to be hypnotized by their music. The Tiki tries again as Donkey Kong squints his eyes at him and then smiles.
After the cutscene, the player gets control. Donkey Kong punches the Tiki out of his hut and walks outside (in two player, Diddy and Donkey punch the Tiki out). The Kongs then begin their quest to take back their banana hoard and rid the Tikis of Donkey Kong Island.
View of Donkey Kong Island from a distance.
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong journey through eight different worlds to regain their stolen banana hoard: the Jungle, the Beach, the Ruins, the Cave, the Forest, the Cliff, the Factory and (finally) the Volcano. As they go through the eight worlds, they battle several members of the Tiki Tak Tribe and the possessed wildlife, including animals, plants, skeletons, and robots. The Kongs occasionally visit Cranky Kong in his several shops scattered around the island. He comments about the items he has in stock and sells them to the Kongs, in exchange for Banana Coins.
Tiki Tak Tribe Leaders
At the end of each world, they must a Tiki Tak Tribe leader: Kalimba, the Maraca Triplets, Gong, Banjo, Panflute, Xylophone, Accordion and Tiki Tong - the Tiki Tak Tribe's leader. The first seven bosses are not fought directly as they possess the bodies of animals to do their dirty work: Mugly (possessed by Kalimba), the Scurvy Crew (possessed by the Maraca Triplets), Stu (possessed by Gong), Mole Miner Max (possessed by Banjo), Mangoruby (possessed by Panflute), Thugly (possessed by Xylophone), and Colonel Pluck (possessed by Accordion).
Boss battles usually begin with a boss animal eating bananas. One of the tribe leaders then possesses it to fight the Kongs. After the Kongs beat the boss, the boss animal lays down in defeat as the Tiki Tak Tribe leader possessing it emerges from the body, dazed. One of the Kongs then runs up to the tribe leader and KOs it with a total of one or more punches, knocking it into the distance.
During World 7, the Kongs realize why the Tiki Tak Tribe are stealing bananas. They observe machines that mash bananas and put them into wooden barrels to form new Tikis, possibly to take over more than just Donkey Kong Island. After they pass world 7 and shut down the factory, they proceed to the volcano to finish end the Tiki Tak Tribe's rein once and for all.
At the end of the final world, they come face-to-face with the 'big banana' himself, Tiki Tong. Upon arriving inside Tiki TOng Tower, Tiki Tong takes and eats Donkey Kong's banana hoard and vomits on tribe leaders, much to the Kongs' horror, disgust and confusion. The tribe leaders then turn into giant hands for Tiki Tong to use. The Kongs break the hands by jumping on the back of each hand twice, while dodging his slap and chop attacks. Tiki Tong then proceeds to crush the Kongs with his head and breathe fireballs at them. They eventually defeat him by smashing his head three times.
Diddy and Donkey are then blasted to the moon due to Tiki Tong exploding. As all hope seemed lost, Donkey Kong uses his incredible strength to punch the moon towards Tiki Tong Tower, smashing it back into the volcano, causing it to collapse. The moon is blasted back into orbit as bananas erupt from the volcano, bringing an end to the Tiki Tak Tribe's rein. All the animals on the island are also freed from their curse. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong later celebrate their victory and reclaim their banana hoard.
During the aftermath, a gold temple mysteriously appears. After the Kongs gather all of the Rare Orbs from the eight temples, they unlock the gateway to the temple and have access to its secrets.
Overview
This game copies the basics of the SNES series.
Gameplay
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong both keep their moves from previous games. They can both use the ground pound ability and the blow ability to reveal secret items. For the first time in the DKC series, both Kongs are seen to be working together simultaneously. Diddy Kong can climb on Donkey Kong's back, a throwback to the "team-up" ability since Donkey Kong Country 2 (ironically an early official DKC artwork showed Diddy Kong riding Donkey Kong's back and has new skills like rolling up like a ball and ramming at enemies). Diddy can use his rocket pack to give him a jump boost, however you cannot switch between them like in previous Donkey Kong Country games.
The two can cling to grassy walls and ceilings to get around. Tutorial Pigs replace Star Barrels as checkpoints. Also, there is two hearts for DK, and two more separate hearts for Diddy in two-player, and one with both in one-player. Lastly, collecting Puzzle Pieces and KONG Letters give the Kongs bonuses. The puzzle pieces unlock art and dioramas. After getting all of the KONG letters in a world, the Kongs unlock one more level in that world called a Key Temple. Complete a key temple, and the Kongs get a rare orb. After all eight rare orbs are obtained, the Kongs will unlock the golden temple. Once the temple is completed, a mode called Mirror Mode will be unlocked. If all the levels in mirror mode are completed, the Kongs will unlock more images in the gallery.
Every level can also be played in time attack mode. In this mode, Donkey and Diddy have unlimited lives. Donkey Kong always starts the level without Diddy Kong, but DK can pick his friend up during most of the levels. There are four time ratings the Kongs can get for each level; bronze, silver, gold, and the elusive shiny gold. The times needed for the first three are shown after The Kongs complete the level, but the time needed for shiny gold is unknown and can vary as much as one second faster than gold up to more than 20 seconds faster.
Items
A Mine Cart's artwork from Donkey Kong Country Returns.
- Animal Crates house the Animal Buddy Rambi the Rhinoceros much like the previous DKC games. However, the crate is much larger and requires ground pounding to open.
- Bananas serve their regular purpose; commonly found, 100 must be collected for an extra life.
- Banana Bunches are worth five bananas. The bigger bunches are very rare and worth twenty bananas.
- Banana Coins reappear from DKC 2, and are used to purchase health and other items that Cranky Kong sells.
- Hearts measure Donkey and Diddy's health. Each Kong has two hearts; once both hearts are lost, a life is lost. However, if the player uses a heart boost, each Kong has three hearts.
- KONG Letters make their major reappearance, being unseen since DK Jungle Climber. However, unlike in previous games, they do not give you an extra life; they unlock additional levels.
- Extra Life Balloons are the game's main life counters. Oddly they do not have a face on them unlike previous games. There are only red extra life balloons.
- Mine Carts are key vehicles needed to get through mine-based levels. Mine carts can not be stopped and are usually found in dangerous locations. Unlike previous games, Mine carts are more fragile- they explode with one hit, which is instant death for the Kongs.
- Treasure Chests often contain useful or important items, like Extra Life Balloons, Banana Coins, or Puzzle Pieces.
A e pieces
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- Puzzle Pieces are a new type of collectible item that unlock art and dioramas.
- Map Keys are used to unlock locked paths in worlds.
- Heart Boosts gives an extra heart to each Kong for only one level.
- Banana Juice lets you take 10 extra hits.
- Rare Orbs can open the doorway to the golden temple once all eight of them are found.
Barrels
- Blast Barrels make their prominent re-imagination being used exactly as before, in a new era, being used as transportation methods.
- Barrel Cannons launch the Kong(s) in a certain direction like blast barrels, but have been revealed to be able to launch in the background environment.
- DK Barrels retain their original purpose, reviving a lost Kong, but usage is different. Once a Kong is out, a DK barrel will float down from above and the other Kong must jump on it to free the other Kong. This system is much like the New Super Mario Bros. Wii style of getting a defeated player back.
- Wooden Barrels are base weapons, throwable against most enemies. They are few and far between compared to previous games, however.
Characters
Kongs
- Donkey Kong returns as the main hero. He can let Diddy ride on his back and can even roll with Diddy on much like a bowling ball.
- Diddy Kong returns as the sidekick. He retains his flexibility as well as his rocket pack and his peanut popgun from Donkey Kong 64.
- Cranky Kong is the only other character returning in the game. He runs a shop and often makes comments about the player's choice of items. He is DK's grandfather.
Rambi
- Super Kong is a white version of Donkey Kong with a blue tie. He only appears in the Super Guide mode when the player loses eight lives.
Animal Buddies
- Rambi the Rhinoceros makes his return as the one of the only 2 animal buddies of the game. He is found in a large wooden crate that requires some ground pounding to break. Rambi is very destructive; he can smash down blocks with his new symbol on them and can charge through hordes of enemies and even break spikes. His weakness is fire.
Squawks
- Squawks the Parrot makes an appearance in Cranky's Shop. The Kongs can purchase him for 15 banana coins. While playing a level, Squawks sits at the bottom of the screen. If the Kongs get close to a puzzle piece, he will start squawking. The closer you get to a puzzle piece, the more he will squawk.
Enemies
All of the enemies and bosses are under control of the Tiki Tak Tribe. The enemies are listed below:
- Ack
- Ackstack
- Awk
- Bionic Bee
- Blue Squeekly
- Bobbin' Squeekly
- Bonehead Jed
- Bopapodamus
- Buckbot
- Buckbomb
- Buzzbite
- Buzzsaw
- Cageberry
- Char-Char
- Chomps
- Cling Cobra
- Electrasquid
- Electroid
- Firehead Ned
- Fire Snake
- Flaming Tiki Buzz
- Flaming Tiki Zing
- Frogoon
- Hopgoon
- Jellybob
- Kowallee
- Mega Squeekly
- Mimic
- Mole Miner
- Mole Guard
- Munchers
- Pinchly
- Pogobot
- Purple Squeekly
- Pyrobots
- Rawk
- Screaming Pillar
- Skellyrex
- Skittler
- Skullyrex
- Snaggles
- Snaps
- Squiddicus
- Squidly
- Stilts
- Tiki Boing
- Tiki Bomber
- Tiki Boulder
- Tiki Buzz
- Tiki Doom
- Tiki Goon
- Tiki Pop
- Tiki Seeker
- Tiki Tank
- Tiki Torch
- Tiki Tork
- Tiki Zing
- Toothberry
- Ultra Char-Char
Bosses
- Mugly (possessed by Kalimba)
- Scurvy Crew (possessed by Maraca Triplets)
- Stu (possessed by Gong)
- Mole Miner Max (possessed by Banjo)
- Mangoruby (possessed by Panflute)
- Thugly (possessed by Xylophone)
- Colonel Pluck (possessed by Accordion)
- Tiki Tong
Worlds and stages
There are nine worlds total in this game including the Lost World featuring only one level, The Golden Temple, which is unlocked after Donkey and Diddy Kong have gotten all of the eight rare orbs from the Key Temples.
Map of the Jungle.
Jungle
- Jungle Hijinxs
- King of Cling
- Tree Top Bop
- Sunset Shore
- Canopy Cannons
- Crazy Cart
- Mugly's Mound
- Platform Panic (Secret level; unlocked by collecting all "KONG" letters in World 1.)
Map of the Beach.
Beach
- Poppin' Planks
- Sloppy Sands
- Peaceful Pier
- Cannon Cluster
- Stormy Shore
- Blowhole Bound
- Tidal Terror
- Tumblin' Temple
- Pinchin' Pirates
Map of the Ruins.
Ruins
- Wonky Waterway
- Button Bash
- Mast Blast
- Damp Dungeon
- Itty Bitty Biters
- Temple Topple
- Shifty Smashers
- Ruined Roost
Map of the Cave.
Cave
Map of the Forest.
Forest
- Vine Valley
- Clingy Swingy
- Flutter Flyaway
- Tippin' Totems
- Longshot Launch
- Springy Spores
- Wigglevine Wonders
- Muncher Marathon
- Blast & Bounce
- Mangoruby Run
Map of the Cliff.
Cliff
- Sticky Situation
- Prehistoric Path
- Weighty Way
- Boulder Roller
- Precarious Plateau
- Crumble Canyon
- Tippy Shippy
- Clifftop Climb
- Perilous Passage
- Thugly's Highrise
Map of the Factory.
Factory
- Foggy Fumes
- Slammin' Steel
- Handy Hazards
- Gear Getaway
- Cog Jog
- Switcheroo
- Music Madness
- Lift-off Launch
- Treacherous Track
- Feather Fiend
Map of the Volcano.
Volcano
- Furious Fire
- Hot Rocket
- Roasting Rails
- Smokey Peak
- Bobbing Basalt
- Moving Melters
- Red Red Rising
- Five Monkey Trial
- Tiki Tong Terror
Map of the Golden Temple.
Golden Temple
Gallery
Kongs
Animal Buddies
Enemies
Items
Logos
Boxarts
Screenshots
Glitches
This is a very well made game, and any of the few known glitches are very rare. Here is a list.
- Sometimes, at the end of the level Crowded Cavern, if the player crouches very close to the frazzled Mega Squeekly and then rolls, he/she will be able to go through him, and as far as rock ground extends on extremely rare occasions. You will soon come to a large crystalline growth (the one that Mega Squeekly bonks his head on). If you do a flying roll over it, (the points won't hurt you) you will land on the wooden deck. There will probably be large gaps in it from when you were dodging Mega Squeekly, because when you flew too low, he smashed through it a little. If it is not cut off completely, you will come to a halt at large stalagmite with a wooden crane behind it. There is no way to pass beyond it, so you will have to go back, as there is nothing more to see. You cannot go through Mega Squeekly again afterwards.
- In the Ruins Temple Shifty Smashers, there is a part where you must quickly roll underneath an extended block that rises up and down. This is not particularly difficult, but if the player is in a Time Attack, it may, on extremely rare occasions glitch when you jump up on it, because it may send you underneath it when you try and jump onto the next platform, and it will then crush before you can escape.
- There is a rare glitch where Cranky Kong will be invisible.
- There is also a glitch with taking damage where you may not be hurt by enemies/obstacles.
- If you are using the Super Guide, if you pause the game, you can play with Super Kong. Note:this glitch only works in the Wii version.
Trivia
- This game pushes many differences from the other Country series in many ways:
- This is the first Donkey Kong Country-series game that is not made by Rare.
- Each character has health bars.
- This is the only Donkey Kong Country series game to not feature King K. Rool as final boss.
- Enguarde is not featured in this game unlike its predecessors, probably because of the lack of underwater levels.
- No Kremlings whatsoever.
- Funky Kong is excluded.
- The game autosaves.
- The world map can be viewed without visiting a special area.
- The Balloons no longer represent the face of the main protagonist.
- Both players can participate in a level at the same time.
- The game no longer exits a level automatically after the player/s die and lose a life (2 in multiplayer) and instead float down to the most recent checkpoint using the balloons.
- The game was developed by Retro Studios, the developers of the Metroid Prime Trilogy. This is their first non-Metroid series game.
- This is the first Donkey Kong Country series game to not feature neither underwater nor ice-based stages. Developers were considering the former enough to where underwater stages were already in development or were already developed, but were excluded due to the slow pace of the levels compared to the rest of the game.
- If the game was pre-ordered from GameStop, a banana-like case for Wii remotes would ship with the game.
- If Donkey is not controlled for a while, he starts to play his Nintendo DS.
External links
- Donkey Kong Country Returns official website
- Donkey Kong Country Returns at Nintendo E3 Network
- On IGN