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Mole Miner Max
Max Da Mole
Mole Miner Max driving a steam train as seen in the game Donkey Kong Country Returns for Wii.
Alias(es) Boss of the Mole Miners
Homeland Donkey Kong Island
World(s) Cave
Residence(s) The Mole Train
Family Mole Guard,
Mole Miner
Species Mole
Gender Male
Affiliation(s) Tiki Tak Tribe
Powers/Abilities Driving the Mole Train,
Hiding inside and emerging from random mine carts filled by bananas,
Throwing pickaxes at low and high heights,
Hitting enemies nearby with pickaxes
Enemies Kong Family,
Donkey Kong,
Diddy Kong
Music Theme(s) Regal Railway, The Mole Train
Game(s) Donkey Kong Country Returns,
Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
First Appearance Donkey Kong Country Returns (2010)
Latest Appearance Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (2013)

Mole Miner Max is the fourth boss in the games Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, as well as the boss of the Cave world in Donkey Kong Island. He is possessed by Banjo Bottom and fights Donkey and Diddy Kong on his own steam train

Physical Appearance

Max's train is small and red, with a big drill in front, and five carriages used for storing the stolen bananas. It also has a small window with no glass, and has a light in front of the cabin. It, for some reason has two chimneys (one on top the drill, for some unknown purpose), and one on top of the cabin itself. It also has a ladder leading to the cabin. Max, himself, is a mole of giant size (twice as big as the other Mole Miners and Mole Guards), clearly making him the leader of the moles. He wears a hardhat like all the other moles, and wears a heavy duty vest. Like the other moles, he throws pickaxes at Donkey and Diddy Kong in order to hurt them.

Level The Mole Train

Walkthrough

At the beginning of the level, the player must go right and, if necessary, throw the DK Barrel to summon a second Kong. Afterwards, a cutscene will show the Mole Miners filling mine carts with bananas. Banjo Bottom will notice the Kongs and pull the train whistle. The Mole Miners will board the mine carts full of bananas. Soon, Banjo Bottom will hypnotize and possess Mole Miner Max. Max will start the train and the primates will follow boarding the last mine cart of the train.

This boss battle consists of four phases. The primates will find themselves on a mine cart at the left side of the screen, away from a group of four mine carts attached to the steam train. A Mole Miner will appear on the last mine cart attached to the group of four and throw pickaxes towards the Kongs at low and high heights. After throwing some pickaxes, the mine carts will go down a hill and the Mole Miner will continue to throw more pickaxes at the primates. There are passing nets holding hearts for the heroes to get in case of damage. Back on leveled terrain, the steam train will detach the four mine carts and the Kongs' mine cart will attach itself to the others (the previous section can be entirely skipped by using a well-timed roll-jump and/or Diddy's rocket pack to reach the group of four mine carts earlier, it being easier to pull out during the down hill section). In this section, the primates need to avoid the Mole Miners emerging from random mine carts and knock them down by jump attacks when it is safe. It is also possible to stun the Mole Miners by ground-pounding nearby them. The Kongs need to hit ten Mole Miners. If the heroes take too long to defeat all Mole Miners, another steam train will appear behind the mine carts, destroy them one by one and defeat the Kongs. After beating all Mole Miners, random mine carts will start to miscarriage and the primates must stay on the mine cart without blue flashing wheels for safety. The second phase of the boss fight will start.

This phase is very similar to the first one, but the Mole Miner throwing pickaxes will be more aggressive and throw bombs. The Mole Miners emerging from mine carts will also become faster. The Kongs must repeat the previous strategy and beat ten Mole Miners. After this, the third phase will be next.

The third phase is also very similar to the previous ones, but the section with Mole Miners emerging from mine carts will be through a darker tunnel. After defeating ten more Mole Miners, the primates' mine cart will attach itself to another group of mine carts pulled by the driver's cabin of the steam train. After this, the fourth and final phase will start.

In this phase, the primates must face Mole Miner Max alone. He will leave the driver's cabin and resort to hiding inside random mine carts. He is faster and bigger than the Mole Miners. The flattering of the carts will be more unstable as well. When appearing far away, Max will throw pickaxes towards the Kongs at low and high heights. When appearing beside the primates, he will try hit them with a pickaxe. The primates must avoid his pickaxes and jump on his head. After four hits, Max will be defeated and the banjo well give up

A cutscene will show the Kongs beating Max off screen and throwing him into the driver's cabin. The steam train will break down and stop at the end of tracks, just about to fall down in the abyss. Banjo Bottom will come out dizzy and disgruntled. After the cutscene, the player has the option of beating down the Tiki Tak Tribe leader multiple times (of up to twenty-four) or to let it run away. Either way, the Forest world will become accessible now. 

Extras

Defeating Mole Miner Max adds Mine Cart Cruise, Mine Menace and Rickety Rails music themes to Cave Music of the Music Gallery in the Extras menu. Collecting also all five Puzzle Pieces in the Key Temple level Jagged Jewels adds the Cave diorama to the Diorama Gallery in the Extras menu.

Time Attack Medals

  • Shiny Gold: 01:37.00
  • Gold: 01:47.00
  • Silver: 02:15.00
  • Bronze: 02:44.00 (03:06.00 in the Japanese version)

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Mole Miner Max appears as a trophy in the game Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

  • Trophy descriptions:
    • North American version: "The Mole Train travels through the Cave area. It's generally a hardworking train, but Banjo Tiki sends it speeding down the track. Chase after it using the separated carts, all while dodging the pickaxes thrown by the hypnotized Mole Miners. Defeat those critters when you get a chance!"
    • European version: "Hypnotised by Banjo Bottom, Mole Miner Max and his workers use the Mole Train and its carts to move massive amounts of bananas around. When a tie-wearing gorilla shows up to put a stop to the Tiki Tak Tribe's plans, though, Banjo Bottom uses the train to try and escape. Whack those moles and take out Banjo Bottom!"

Gallery

Videos

Trivia

  • When Max is hypnotized by Banjo Bottom in the initial cutscene, the way his head turns to face the Kongs as the camera zooms toward him could be a reference to the internet meme Dramatic Chipmunk[1].
  • The way the Kongs attack the Mole Miners and Max as they pop their heads out of the mine carts filled by bananas could be a reference to Whack-A-Mole[2], an old arcade game.
  • This boss is similar to Hard Hat, another mole boss from the game Donkey Kong Land for Game Boy.
  • When Max loses the battle, his fate is unknown, though it could be possible that he fell off the abyss to his death.
  • Mole Miner Max's boss level is the longest level known in the Donkey Kong Country series, being a level that moves constantly, having no end in sight, until Max is defeated. It is also possible the train is only travelling on the same track course multiple times, looping around the tunnels in the level.

References

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