Expresso Racing

Expresso Racing
Appears in	Donkey Kong Country 2 (Game Boy Advance)
Prize	Video Game Hero Coin (per race) Photograph (clearing every race)

Expresso Racing, referred to as Expresso's Racing in the instruction booklet, is a racing minigame hosted by Cranky Kong in the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 2. It involves Expresso racing against three other ostriches (each being a red, blue, or green palette swap of him) on a horizontal path. It can also be played from the "Bonus Games" sub-menu.

During their adventure, Diddy and Dixie Kong must collect golden feathers to increase Expresso's stats and, in turn, boost his performance during races. At times, this is the only way to make Expresso a formidable opponent during races. At Cranky's Hut, the Kongs must have at least four golden feathers to select the first option, "Cranky's Surprise." Cranky Kong introduces the game to the Kongs, and they are led to a menu divided into four stats, each having a total of ten bars: Strength, Speed, Flight, and Boost. The Kongs can individually increase each stat with a golden feather.

Gameplay

Every race takes place in a world of Crocodile Isle, and each has its own obstacles. Some feathers and boosts also appear; they allow Expresso to temporarily glide through the air and to give a small speed boost, respectively. After completing a race, Cranky rewards the Kongs with a trophy, which is placed on a shelf in Cranky's Hut. The quality of the trophy depends on which place Expresso finishes in (e.g., first place for gold, second for silver, etc.). The Kongs are rewarded with a Video Game Hero Coin for each race that they win, and lastly a photograph of Cranky Kong if they complete every Expresso Racing challenge.

Races

• Ship Deck Dash: The race in Gangplank Galleon. Despite the name, this race takes place at a jungle, with almost no obstacles, except for the small plains.
• Magma Spurt: The race located in Crocodile Cauldron. This race takes place at a volcanic area, which features new obstacles, including taller plains and a blue liquid that slows down the ostriches.
• Swampy Swoop: A race in Krem Quay, a swamp area. This time, the main obstacle are the small swamps, that slows down the ostriches just like the blue liquid.
• Fairground Fall: This race takes place at Krazy Kremland. Here, the ostriches can easily fall in the various pitfalls of the course. They can use logs to cross them.
• Spooky Sprint: The race in Gloomy Gulch, which features a purple liquid that slows down the player even more than the blue liquid.
• Creepy Castle: Located at K. Rool's Keep, the ostriches will find a brown liquid, slowing them down, and pits, in which they can easily fall.
• Lost World Leap: The last and hardest race, located at the Lost World. Aside from the pits and the blue liquid, the ostriches will find spikes in some parts, harmful to them.

Opponents

The names of Expresso's opponents differ per race. When accessed from the main game, each race has a consistent group of names, though they are randomized when accessed from the Bonus Games menu.

Race	Red	Green	Blue
Ship Deck Dash	Smokey	Chewy	Rapido
Magma Spurt	Sneakers	Beardy	Zippy
Swampy Swoop	Loopi	Tinky	Bungle
Fairground Fall	Tremors	Monsoon	Myma
Spooky Sprint	Papa Laz	Humpty	Rippa
Creepy Castle	Flicky	Aftershock	Ozzie
Lost World Leap	M. Bassi	Misty	Minogue

Controls

• – moving Expresso in the desired direction
• (holding) – to accelerate
• – jump
• → – gliding in the air (uses a feather)
• → grants a small boost (uses a boost)

Names in other languages

Expresso Racing

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
French	Course Expresso	Expresso Race		[?]
German	Expresso-Rennen	Expresso Races		[?]
Italian	Formula Expresso	Expresso Formula		[?]
Spanish	Carreras Expresso	Expresso Racing		[?]

Ship Deck Dash

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
French	Ruée sur le Pont	Rush on the Deck		[?]
German	Schiffs-Sprint	Ship Sprint		[?]
Italian	Sprint Foresta	Forest Sprint		[?]
Spanish	A la Cubierta	To the Deck		[?]

Magma Spurt

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
French	Jet de Magma	Magma Jet		[?]
German	Magmalauf	Magma Run		[?]
Italian	Marasma Magma	Magma Chaos		[?]
Spanish	Chorros de Magma	Jets of Magma		[?]

Swampy Swoop

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
French	Descente Amphibie	Amphibious Descent		[?]
German	Moor-Marathon	Moor Marathon		[?]
Italian	Scatto Palude	Swamp Shot		[?]
Spanish	Caída de Swampy	Swampy Fall		[?]

Fairground Fall

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
French	Chute de Foire	Fair Fall		[?]
German	Savannen-Spurt	Savannah Spurt		[?]
Italian	Gara Giungla	Jungle Race		[?]
Spanish	Caída en la Feria	Fall at the Fair		[?]

Spooky Sprint

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
French	Sprint Sinistre	Sinister Sprint		[?]
German	Gruselgroße	Scary Big Ones		[?]
Italian	Fantasorpasso	Ghostwalk		[?]
Spanish	Carrera Tétrica	Grim Race		[?]

Creepy Castle

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
French	Fort Effrayant	Scary Fortress		[?]
German	Burg-Balustrade	Castle Balustrade		[?]
Italian	Corsa Castello	Castle Rush		[?]
Spanish	Castillo Mágico	Magic Castle		[?]

Lost World Leap

Language	Name	Meaning	Note(s)	Ref.
French	Monde Perdu	Lost World		[?]
German	Verlorene Welt	Lost World		[?]
Italian	Salto Perduto	Lost Jump		[?]
Spanish	El Mundo Perdido	The Lost World		[?]