Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
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Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is a platformer for the Nintendo GameCube (later ported to Wii) starring Donkey Kong. It is different from most other platformers in that the DK Bongos can be used as the controller, but the game can also be played with the normal controller. The game was developed by a division of Nintendo EAD, who would later develop games such as Super Mario Galaxy. Not counting the earlier arcade ports to the NES and other systems, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was the first console/handheld Donkey Kong game to not be made by Rare Ltd. After they left Nintendo and joined Microsoft, Rare lost control of the Donkey Kong series due to the fact that it was trademarked by Nintendo. Due to this, Jungle Beat was very different than the Donkey Kong Country games in gameplay, characters, and, perhaps most notably, the personality of Donkey Kong, who is more aggressive than in past titles.
StoryStory From Instruction Booklet: One day, the peace of the jungle was disrupted by a rampaging pack of wild baddies who wreaked havoc on the residents of the jungle. Story from Nintendo website (New Play Control!): Donkey Kong sets out to prove he's king of the jungle and beyond. He rampages through lava caves, savage seas and crazy locales like a ninja-chimp fortress. Only when Donkey Kong defeats all the kings of his world – by boxing with apes, rabid warthogs, ballistic elephants and giant birds – can he call himself king. Story from European website (New Play Control!) When an army of invaders infiltrate Donkey Kong’s jungle home and help themselves to every banana they can get their hands on, you know there’s going to be trouble. With a rumbling stomach and the support of some fellow banana-starved buddies, the agitated ape sets out to reclaim what’s rightfully his and liberate the kingdoms he passes through in the process. During the events of the game, the jungle and various fruit kingdoms are overrun by Ghastly King and Cactus King, with each kingdom being ruled by one of their minions. The jungle's bananas are also stolen and hidden in each kingdom. Now, the only one who can save the jungle and the kingdoms from the tyrannical rulers is Donkey Kong. During his journeys, in which he defeats the kings in each kingdom, Cactus and Ghastly King both claim to rule the world. However, their plans are thwarted when Donkey Kong arrives and beats Cactus King, and later Ghastly King. The Helper Monkeys and Ninjapes, as well as the four Kongs under Ghastly King and Cactus King, then celebrate the defeat of the duo. In the original GameCube version, the game had little story behind it. It was stated by game director Yoshiaki Koizumi that Donkey Kong simply wanted "[...]to be the best, and to become the king of the jungle."[2] Characters MainAnimal BuddiesOther
Bosses
Enemies
Gameplay The controls of Donkey Kong Jungle Beat are different from most 2-D platformers, in that the player can not only use the GameCube controller but also the special DK bongos. Hitting the left bongo repeatedly will send Donkey Kong running to the left, and hitting the right will send him right. To jump straight into the air, the player must hit both bongos at once. To jump diagonally, the player must hit the bongo in the direction he or she wants to jump, while using the other bongo to run. When the player is on an animal buddy, The player can control Hoofer by pounding the right drum to make him run faster, he/she can control Helibirds by pounding each of the drums to fly in that direction, and both drums, one after another, to fly in a mostly straight upward line, and the player can control Flurl by pounding each drum to descend in that direction, and both to descend in a straight line, but slowly. To use the Sound Wave Attack, the player must clap, but he/she may also hit the side of the bongos. During most boss fights or while fighting certain enemies, the player can punch the bosses by pounding the bongos.  The GameCube controller controls are more simplified; the actions performed by the bongos are mostly incorporated into the In the Wii version, the controls are completely different. To move, the player must tap the  The game also differs from most others in that the goal is to get to the end while also trying to collect as many beats as possible. These beats act as health during a level and during the boss battle. In the New Play Control! version, beats are only used as health during boss battles; hearts replace beats as health during levels. By using combos, which are obtained by preforming a special action, Donkey Kong can earn more beats than he would. The combo can continue as long as Donkey Kong is airborne and ends when he hits the ground. Combos can only be earned by preforming several consecutive and different actions. Each combo increases the amount of beats earned by simply collecting a banana by the combo number (i.e. running into one banana at a combo ten will increase the beat total by ten). By using a special technique called a clap grab, the player can collect all the beats in a general area with once move. Each banana collected will also give the player more beats than the last. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat contains a total of 19 Kingdoms (21 in the New Play Control! version), each one being named after a fruit, with the only deviators being the VS. areas, Opening Ceremony, Kong of the Mountain, and Banana Banquet (both of which are only playable in the New Play Control! version). Each Kingdom is selected by choosing one of six "barrels", with each barrel containing four kingdoms, but in the GameCube version, the moon barrel only has two kingdoms, and Opening Ceremony is in its own barrel; also, in the New Play Control! version, each barrel only has three kingdoms until the fourth is unlocked. Every kingdom contains three levels: two standard levels, followed up by a boss battle. The only levels that stray from this pattern are the VS. areas, which each only have one level and then a boss battle; in the New Play Control! version, there are two more Kingdoms exclusive to this version: Banana Banquet, which is only one level, and Kong of the Mountain, in which the player must fight the five Kong bosses and Ghastly King. At the end of each level is a fruit, which DK must bite into to complete a level. The player can then play a minigame involving attempting to eat as many bananas as possible in a few seconds; the player then receives extra beats based on the number of bananas eaten. In the New Play Control! version, each heart left also gives the player fifty additional beats.  Occasionally, the player must play an individual level riding Hoofer the Wildebeest. These levels involve running into frozen beats to collect them, as well as dodging enemies by jumping over them as Hoofer charges toward the fruit at the end of the level. Hoofer may also appear near the fruit at the end of other ice levels. After the fruit, one of two minigames is played riding Hoofer:
As stated above, at the end of each kingdom is a boss level, in which Donkey Kong faces one of four types of bosses: a Kong, a Roc, a Hog, or a Tusk. Each species has a different fighting style and requires a different method to defeat, but the goal is to defeat the boss without losing too many beats, for these beats are necessary in earning crests. These crests are used to unlock new kingdoms, as each one can only be unlocked when a certain number of crests have been obtained. However, in the New Play Control! version of the game, kingdoms are unlocked after the previous kingdom has been completed, and collecting all the crests in one barrel results in a fourth kingdom being unlocked. At the end of each kingdom, DK throws a barrel containing his beats into the Sacred Tree, allowing him to obtain up to four crests. The totals to obtain each crest are as follows:
In the New Play Control! version, this is changed to only gaining up to 3 crests, each one looking exactly the same but worth different amounts of beats.
Kingdoms and Bosses
SequelsTwo Japan-only arcade sequels for Sega's Triforce were made:
References to Other Games
References in Later Games
New Play Control! The game has been remade for the Wii in the "New Play Control!" selection. It was released in Japan on December 11, 2008[3], North America on May 4, 2009, and in Europe on June 5, 2009. The game is played with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk[3], offers a wide-screen mode,[4] and several changes to the levels as well. Gimmicks and enemies may be found at different places than the original game. There are no completely new levels, but there are two new locations in the Kingdom selection screen: a Boss Battle Run-Trough[3] and the Ceremony stage from the GameCube version[3]. Donkey Kong is controlled with the Analog Stick of the Nunchuk, and to clap the player has to flick the Wii Remote. Unlike the original game, Donkey Kong's claps can face different directions[3]. There are also new enemies, such as line-guided balls of electricity, and obstacles, like cacti[3]. The medal system has been revised - there are no longer different medals, but a number of medals (up to three for each kingdom) the player can win by getting a certain number of bananas[3]. Collecting all of the crests in one barrel results in the player unlocking the fourth kingdom in that barrel. Other Changes
New Kingdom and Barrel Locations In the New Play Control! version, there are three kingdoms per barrel, with a fourth one that has to be unlocked by obtaining all nine crests in the first three. The unlocked kingdoms are the kingdoms that were originally in the B-barrel from the original game. The order they appear in is as follows:
* - These stages only appear in the New Play Control! version. ReceptionDonkey Kong Jungle Beat received mainly positive reviews. Rated the 95th best game made on a Nintendo system in the Top 200 Games List by Nintendo Power in its February 2006 issue, the game's main criticism was its short length and departure from the classic Donkey Kong Country gameplay. Gallery
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