DK: Jungle Climber

DK: Jungle Climber
For alternate box art, see the related gallery.
Developers	Paon Nintendo SPD Group No.4
Publisher	Nintendo
Platforms	Nintendo DS, Virtual Console (Wii U)
Release dates	Nintendo DS: August 9, 2007 August 9, 2007[?] September 10, 2007 October 12, 2007[?] November 1, 2007[?] Virtual Console (Wii U): July 8, 2015[?] July 23, 2015[?] August 6, 2015 August 7, 2015[?]
Languages	English Japanese French (France) German Italian Spanish (Spain)
Genre	Platformer
Ratings	ESRB: - Everyone[?] CERO: - All ages[?] PEGI: - Three years and older[?] USK: - All ages[?] ACB: - General[?]
Modes	Single-player, Multiplayer, Local Wireless
Format	Nintendo DS: Game Card
Input	Nintendo DS: Gamepad
Serial codes	NTR-ABUJ-JPN NTR-ABUE-USA NTR-ABUP-EUR NTR-ABUE-AUS

DK: Jungle Climber, known as Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber in Japan and Europe, is a platformer of the DK series, released for the Nintendo DS in 2007. It is a sequel to the 2005 Game Boy Advance game DK: King of Swing, and was developed by Paon and published by Nintendo. It was later re-released for the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan and North America in July 2015 and in Europe and Australia in August 2015.

The game would end up being the last Donkey Kong game to feature King K. Rool until Donkey Kong Bananza, released eighteen years later.

Plot

The Kong family are on a vacation at Sun Sun Island. While they are there, Diddy notices a giant banana on a mountain. Cranky requests Donkey Kong to acquire it. Donkey Kong accepts his request, with Diddy deciding to join him.

On top of the mountain, the Kongs see that King K. Rool and the Kremlings are stealing a Crystal Banana from an "alien" and plan to conquer the universe with it. They leave through a mysterious wormhole using an unusual device. The Kongs decide to pursue him when a Banana Ship suddenly appears and starts attacking them. After the Kongs destroy the spaceship, a banana alien named Xananab exits from it. He apologizes for attacking the Kongs, whom he mistook for Kremlings. Xananab explains how K. Rool stole the Crystal Banana for his evil schemes and that he wanted to pursue the Kremlings with his spaceship before it was destroyed. The Kongs, taking responsibility for the destruction, decide to help Xananab and go on a journey to retrieve the stolen Crystal Bananas.

On Lost Island, the crew finds and recovers a device called a Spirowarp, which allows them to traverse through a wormhole. They end up at a place called the Glass Labyrinth. After traversing the labyrinth, they find another Spirowarp and return back to the island. A while later, at the top of the Forest Ruins, Xananab opens another wormhole to the Toybox. There, the crew finally manages to catch up with the Kremlings. K. Rool sends a Kritter powered by a Crystal Banana on DK to stall his escape. The Kritter absorbs toys and becomes Junklomp, but Donkey Kong manages to defeat the Kremling and recover their first Crystal Banana.

Going back through the wormhole, the crew follows after K. Rool and tracks him down at Ghost Island, where they have to traverse through a thick fog and a spooky forest to catch up. After a while, they arrive at the Panic Factory, and confront K. Rool once again. K. Rool explains that he will use the Crystal Banana to take over the world. Before leaving, he reveals the Mega Amp, remarking that it is very powerful, but that he did not have enough time to finish it. After defeating the Mega Amp and the Crystal Banana-powered Kremling pilot, the Kongs recover their second Crystal Banana.

The crew follows the Kremling Krew to Chill 'n' Char Island. As they traverse up a waterfall and through a blizzard, the crew heads inside the volcano on top of the mountain. After escaping the rising lava, they find out that K. Rool had built a lair at the top of the volcano called the Kremling Dock. After traversing the dock, the crew confront K. Rool once again. K. Rool, now enraged that DK keeps following him, announces that he had set another trap for them. The crew falls into a cave where they fight another Crystal Banana-powered Kritter, who merged with a giant stone with seemingly magical properties to create a fearsome dragon called the Draglinger. After defeating the Crystal Banana-powered Kritter, the Kongs recover their third Crystal Banana.

Just as the crew escapes the cave, K. Rool unveils the King Kruizer IV, his newest spaceship. He reveals how he intends to use the spaceship and the Crystal Bananas to conquer the universe, starting with Xananab's home planet, Planet Plantaen, before flying away. Diddy Kong suggests they quickly head at the top of High High Island to reach the ship before it flees into space. Even after climbing to the peak of the mountain, the crew is too late to board the spaceship. However, Cranky Kong had brought a spare Booster Barrel with him, and they manage to fly into space and board the ship. K. Rool is surprised that the crew managed to follow him, but refuses to give up the Crystal Banana. He reveals the Mega Amp, now fully complete, and sends his last Crystal Banana-powered Kremling to fight them. Eventually, DK manages to destroy the Mega Amp and defeat the Crystal Banana-powered Kremling pilot. The crew then recovers their fourth Crystal Banana.

When the crew corners K. Rool again, he is enraged at how quickly they destroyed his Mega Amp. Realizing that he has nothing to lose anymore, K. Rool uses a Spinowarp to open up a wormhole to travel to Planet Plantaen. After travelimg through the Glass Labyrinth and the Toybox dimension, K. Rool arrives at Planet Plantaen, with the crew following him. After they locate and defeat K. Rool, he refuses to give up his Crystal Banana and decides to power himself up, turning himself giant and forcing the crew to fight him again. They defeat him again and recover the last Crystal Banana.

After the fight, Xananab thanks the Kongs for retrieving all of the Crystal Bananas and saving Planet Plantaen from K. Rool. They offer the Kongs to eat as many bananas as they desire. Accepting their generosity, the Kongs celebrate the feast with Xananab's compatriots and return the Crystal Bananas to their resting place. After the celebration, the Kongs bid farewell to the planet's inhabitants and board a Banana Ship to return home. As they travel back to their home planet, K. Rool is dragged through space by a rope attached to the back of the ship.

Controls

The game's title screen

DK: Jungle Climber uses the same controls as its predecessor; the player using to swing left and to swing right. Pressing both and causes Donkey Kong to jump, and pressing does a charge jump. Also, pressing allows the player to talk to NPCs. More than one Kong will be playable at once in a style similar to the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land series, with one Kong following the other. However, the player can split the Kongs up to solve certain puzzles.

Characters

Several familiar characters appear in DK: Jungle Climber. Donkey Kong and Diddy are the only playable characters in Story Mode, while Dixie and Funky are playable in Wireless Multiplayer, just like in DK: King of Swing.

Playable

Image	Name	Description
	Donkey Kong	The main protagonist is a Kong who sets off to get the Crystal Banana back from King K. Rool.
	Diddy Kong	Donkey Kong's companion, who also sets off to get the Crystal Banana back from King K. Rool.
	Dixie Kong	A young Kong with yellow hair who is playable exclusively in Wireless Multiplayer. She also hosts the Extra Stages.
	Funky Kong	A Kong wearing a funky uniform who is also playable exclusively in Wireless Multiplayer. He allows the Kongs to use his airplane to access new levels in return for a specified number of oil barrels as well.

Non-playable

Image	Name	Description
	Candy Kong	A Kong who hosts the Challenge Mode.
	Cranky Kong	An elderly Kong who provides tutorials and hints to DK and Diddy.
	King K. Rool	The main antagonist is a green Kremling who wears a crown and a red cape. He is responsible for stealing the Crystal Banana.
	Wrinkly Kong	An elderly Kong who died and had since become a ghost. She makes a cameo in the intro.
	Xananab	A banana alien who lives in Planet Plantaen. His Crystal Banana was stolen by K. Rool.

Enemies

• 

  Click-Clack

• 

  Flip-Flap

• 

  Flitter

• 

  Ghost

• 

  Klobber

• 

  Kritter

• 

  Lockjaw

• 

  Mini-Necky

• 

  Neek

• 

  Puftup

• 

  Shuri

• 

  Zinger

Bosses

• 

  Banana Ship

• 

  Junklomp

• 

  Mega Amp (incomplete)

• 

  Draglinger

• 

  Mega Amp (complete)

• 

  King K. Rool (regular form)

• 

  King K. Rool (Crystal Banana form)

Items

DK: Jungle Climber has a variety of items. Some are from the first three Donkey Kong Country titles, while others are entirely new items.

Collectibles

Image	Name	Description
	Banana	Collecting 100 bananas rewards an extra life.
	Banana Bunch	A single one is worth five bananas, while the double variety is worth ten.
	Banana Coin	Used for unlocking extra levels
	Crystal Star	Grants temporary invincibility, like Going Bananas
	DK Coin	They can be spent to unlock cheats.
	Gem	Collecting 100 results in the Crystal Star, regardless of color.
	KONG Panels	By finding and collecting all four in a level, the player earns an extra life.

Tools

Image	Name	Description
	Hammer	Grants the ability to smash barrels and rocks temporarily
	Torch	Necessary for melting ice throughout Chill 'n' Char Island.
	Wings	Grants the ability to fly temporarily

Barrels

Image	Name	Description
	Bonus Barrel	Entering a Bonus Barrel will send the Kongs to a minigame.
	Booster Barrel	Booster Barrels fly upwards. The Kongs can steer on these barrels.
	Cannon Barrel	Cannon Barrels fire the Kongs in a direction specified with a dotted line.
	DK Barrel	DK Barrels contain either DK or Diddy if they are missing.
	Iron Barrel	Barrels out of steel. Only Diddy's hammer or a TNT Barrel can break them.
	Oil barrel	Oil barrels contain fuel for Funky's airplane.
	Spinner Barrel	Spinner Barrels behave similarly to Barrel Cannons.
	TNT Barrel	TNT Barrels explode when a rock is thrown at them. They destroy all obstacles in the blast radius.

Minigames

Several minigames appear in this game. There are several single-player, all of which must be unlocked, as well as multi-player games. The single-player games consist of a log jumping game, a banana eating game, a barrel destroying game, and many more. The multi-player games include a barrel racing game and a "race to complete the level first" game.

Bonus Barrels will also send the player to a minigame named Banana Bonanza, which consists of a banana-catching game, in which Donkey Kong is given a random-sized barrel and must catch as many bananas as the player can.

List of minigames

• Banana Bonanza
• Banana Grab
• Booster Battle
• Orange Picker
• Rolling Panic
• Speed Climb
• Throw 'n' Crush

Worlds

• Sun Sun Island
  • Cranky's Teachin's
  • Sun Sun Beach
  • Jungle Beach
  • Cool Cool Cave
  • Cliffy Peak
  • Little Sun Sun Island
• Lost Island
  • Tropical Treetops
  • Glass Labyrinth
  • Road to Ruins
  • Forest Ruins
  • Toybox
  • Little Lost Island
• Ghost Island
  • Spooky Woods
  • Veggie Patch
  • Boogity Bog
  • Toybox 2
  • Panic Factory
  • Little Ghost Island
• Chill 'n' Char Island
  • Falling Falls
  • Snowful Slope
  • Glass Labyrinth 2
  • Fiery Volcano
  • Kremling Dock
  • Little Chill 'n' Char Island
• High-High Island
  • Space A Go-Go
  • King Kruizer IV
  • Little High-High Island
• Wormhole
  • Glass Labyrinth 3
  • Toybox 3
  • Planet Plantaen
• Extra stages
  • Stage 1
  • Stage 2
  • Stage 3
  • Stage 4
  • Stage 5
  • Stage 6
  • Stage 7
  • Stage 8
  • Stage 9
  • Stage 10
  • Stage 11

Staff

Main article: List of DK: Jungle Climber staff

Quotes

Main article: List of DK: Jungle Climber quotes

• "Oh, wow! You're never gonna believe this! There's a HUGE banana on top of the mountain!" – Diddy Kong
• "What in tarnation is going on?! That monstruous banana is attacking us! This is no good! In fact, it's very bad! Augh! I don't care what you do! Just shoot that crazy thing down!" – Cranky Kong
• "They stole the Crystal Banana! It's a gem gem bo bem with super powers! It'd be a disaster if they used the power for evil evil bo bevil!" – Xananab
• "I can't believe it! Don't you have ANYTHING better to do than follow me?!" – King K. Rool

Pre-release and unused content

In several screenshots, there are some early levels such as a foggy area that was possibly the original Panic Factory. Another screenshot shows an underwater level in the sea with a Lockjaw. There were originally swing-like objects that were in the game. Also, some objects and backgrounds had different palettes. Lastly, the working title for this game was DK: King of Swing DS.

• 

  The strange unused swings.

• 

  An early Jungle Beach

• 

  A foggy Panic Factory

• 

  A group of different paletted pegs

• 

  An unused background

• 

  Early logo

Reception

The game received positive reviews and was considered an improvement over DK: King of Swing. The game was also praised for its fun, practical controls and its vibrant visuals.

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Verdict
Nintendo DS	Ryan Davis, GameSpot	7.5/10	"DK Jungle Climber refines the bright and busy visuals of DK King of Swing, which itself borrowed its charm from the Donkey Kong Country games. Improved resolution means that both screens are packed with detail, though it also ends up making Donkey Kong appear fairly small onscreen. Ultimately, though, being able to see more of the environment is more significant to the gameplay than a bigger DK sprite, despite how much we enjoy watching his dangling legs swing about. Despite being a sequel to a game based on a well-established franchise, DK Jungle Climber still feels surprisingly fresh. While it could've relied on the sheer novelty of its control scheme, it does a smart job of fleshing out the gameplay and offering a well-balanced challenge once the novelty has worn off."
Nintendo DS	Tom Bramwell, Eurogamer	8/10	"As it is, it's a game that veers between excellence and anguish a little bit too often. When it falls into bad old habits, it undermines its strengths, plunging the largely capable controls into context they suffer from. This is doubly annoying because the controls are ideal for most of what the game does, and have even greater potential: the mistake here is something akin to pitching aerial enemies against a limited aiming ability in a shooter; an unforced error that repeals confidence. We certainly hope Paon and Nintendo are smart enough to see this for themselves, because when Jungle Climber peaks, it's among the DS' best, and a bigger and better instalment - perhaps on the Wii - would again be welcome."
Nintendo DS	Craig Harris, IGN	8/10	"What was a very good Game Boy Advance title turns out to be an even better Nintendo DS game. The development team stuck to its guns with the original concept and fleshed it out with new levels, new elements, and more stuff to beef up the variety and to toughen things up. The lack of variety is what hurt King of Swing in the long run, and while Jungle Climber shares the same core mechanic that makes the game just a tad repetitive, the designers injected some great ideas into the original to bulk up the fun."
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		77
GameRankings		76.75%

Profiles

Nintendo eShop

King K. Rool™ is up to no good again, and it’s up to Donkey Kong™ to swing into action. Using a simple control scheme that makes the game fun and easy to play, players of all skill levels can swing and climb to new heights.

Donkey Kong and his friends decide to take a well-earned vacation at the beautiful Sun Sun Island. After enjoying a splash in the ocean, a hungry Donkey Kong and his friends see a massive banana floating atop a mountain. Without hesitation, they race off for the mountaintop, wondering what kind of adventure they'll find!

Play as Donkey Kong, or choose to play as Diddy Kong™ in Adventure mode. Players can look forward to new moves, new items, and a bunch of mini-games that are sure to make them go bananas!

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:DK: Jungle Climber.

• 

  Donkey Kong

• 

  Diddy Kong

• 

  Dixie Kong

• 

  Funky Kong

• 

  Cranky Kong

• 

  Xananab

• 

  King K. Rool

References to other games

Donkey Kong Country

• "Cranky's Theme" and "DK Island Swing" are arranged in the soundtrack.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

• A cover of "Funky the Main Monkey" can be heard.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

• The pose that Donkey Kong strikes after completing the bonus stage (where the player has to catch bananas with a barrel) is identical to the pose that he strikes in Jungle Beat after completing the banana-eating bonus at the end of each stage.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ドンキーコング ジャングルクライマー Donkī Kongu Janguru Kuraimā	Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber
Chinese (traditional)	大金剛 叢林攀爬高手 Dàjīn'gāng Cónglín Pān Pá Gāoshǒu	Donkey Kong Jungle Climber
Portuguese	Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber	-

Notes

• In the English translation of the game, King K. Rool states he hates bananas while on Planet Plantaen, but in the original Japanese text, K. Rool simply states that he will cause havoc on Plantaen.

External links

• Official website
• Official American English website
• American English instruction booklet
• European English instruction booklet
• Japanese instruction booklet