Donkey Kong Taru Taru Adventure
The title of this article is official, but it comes from a Japanese source.
If an acceptable English name is found, then the article should be moved to the new title.
| Donkey Kong Taru Taru Adventure | |
|---|---|
| |
| Manufacturer | Takara[1] |
| Publisher | Takara[1] |
| Release date |  1999[1] |
| Language | Japanese |
| Age rating | Four years and older |
Donkey Kong Taru Taru Adventure is a board game released by Takara in 1999, based on the Donkey Kong franchise. The game revolves around launching a Donkey Kong figure across a course via levers to acquire items. There are three stages in the game: the Rocky Mountain Stage, the K. Rool Stage, and the Jungle Stage. The goal is to guide the Donkey Kong figure into his treehouse, located to the right of the Jungle Stage, while earning as many points as they can.
Gameplay[edit]
When they first start playing the board game, the player places the Donkey Kong figure in the barrel to the left of the Rocky Mountain Stage and launches the figure by pressing the left lever in the stage. Later, the player can press the other levers in the game to guide Donkey Kong to his treehouse to the right of the Jungle Stage. Depending on the situation, there are three ways the player can press the levers:
- Normal press: The player should either lightly or firmly press the lever to launch Donkey Kong.
- Rapid tap: The player should repeatedly tap on the lever. It is occasionally used to correct Donkey Kong's position if he becomes lopsided or if one wants to hit the Krusha panel.
- Fairly firm press: The player should press the lever somewhat firmly. It is occasionally used to collect items.
Earning points[edit]
As mentioned above, the goal is to collect as many points as the player can while trying to guide Donkey Kong to his treehouse, located to the right of the Jungle Stage. There are many ways to earn points in the game, which are detailed below:
- Bananas: Each banana in the game gives the player 50 points when they collect them. Bananas can be found in the banana barrel, where the player can press the lever somewhat firmly to launch Donkey Kong to hit the barrel, causing the bananas contained inside to pop out. Bananas can also be found in Diddy Kong's tray, where they can be found underneath the tray by turning over the tray by pressing the lever somewhat firmly to launch Donkey Kong to hit the tray. Diddy Kong also falls off of his tray, and can be guided by the player to Donkey Kong's treehouse to earn an extra 200 points. However, if Diddy goes out of the course, he does not return to his tray.
- Coins: Each coin gives the player a set number of points when they collect them, which can be collected by pressing the lever somewhat firmly to launch Donkey Kong to hit them. Once hit, the handle holding coin folds inward, showing the value of the coin the player collected. There are four coins in total, with one of each of the following values: 20 points, 30 points, 50 points, and 100 points.
- Krusha panel: The Krusha panel awards the player 100 points when they knock the panel over.
- Life points: At the start of the game, the player starts with five lives on the live counter. Whenever the Donkey Kong figure goes out of the course, they lose a life and decrease the counter by one. If the player loses all of their lives, they receive a Game Over and the game ends. If the player guides Donkey Kong to his treehouse while still having lives remaining, they earn 100 points for each remaining life they have.
- Goal points: Every character the player manages to guide to Donkey Kong's treehouse gives the player extra points when they reach the goal. Once at the goal, they receive points for the characters as follows:
- Donkey Kong: 300 points
- Diddy Kong: 200 points
- Candy Kong: 150 points
Candy Kong can guided to the treehouse by pressing the lever somewhat firmly to launch Donkey Kong to hit the barrel containing her, causing the barrel tilt towards the treehouse and her to slide out of the barrel into the treehouse.
Earning lives[edit]
In the game, there are two ways the player can earn lives:
- If the player rescues Diddy by hitting his tray to flip it over, they gain a life. Diddy also allows the player to continue playing if the player loses all of their lives if he is in Donkey Kong's treehouse.
- If the player collect all four coins in the game, they immediately receive three lives.
The player can only have a maximum of five lives at any time during the game. If at any point the player would receive more than five lives, they only earn lives up to that number. If the player already has five lives, they do not earn any lives.
End of game[edit]
The game can end in one of two ways:
- If the player guides Donkey Kong to his treehouse, the game ends and the player wins.
- If the player loses all of their lives, the player receives a Game Over and the game ends, with the player losing.
In either case, the player then adds up all points they received from bananas, coins, the Krusha panel, any characters at the goal, and any remaining lives they still have, with the total being the score they receive for this session. The highest number of points the player can receive is 1,550 points, which can be achieved by collecting all items in the game, having all of the Kongs at the goal, having a maximum of five lives when reaching the goal, and knocking over the Krusha panel.
Gallery[edit]
The gameboard and figures included in the board game
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ドンキーコング タルたるアドベンチャー[1] Donkī Kongu Taru Taru Adobenchā |
"Donkey Kong Barrel Adventure," also features a repetition of「タル」(taru, "barrel") |
Notes[edit]
- The Candy Kong figure included in the board game is based on her appearance in the Donkey Kong Country television series.
