Rickety Rafters

Level
Rickety Rafters
Level code	3-A
World	Bright Savannah
Game	Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Music track	Savannah Pop
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Rickety Rafters is the first secret level of Bright Savannah in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and its Nintendo Switch port of the same name. It contains many mechanical wooden platforms that activate when the Kongs perform certain actions, such as pulling onto vines, and hitting targets. The level is unlocked after finding the first secret exit in Twilight Terror.

Overview

At the start, there will be a DD Barrel on a wooden platform. The Kongs will then find a golden head statue shaped like that of a Fish Poker Pops with a vine hanging out, a mechanism first found in Donkey Kong Country Returns. When pulled on, the nearby platform will temporarily lower, allowing the Kongs to pass over the wall. Another vine on the other side moves a pair of platforms on a Ferris wheel-like structure, and there is also a platform that, when stood on, will move another platform towards the Kongs, then back to its original position. The Kongs must ride on it as it moves back, but duck along the way to avoid the spikes. More of these platforms are encountered en route to the first checkpoint.

Soon after making their way outside of the cave, the Kongs will find piles of Water Sacks, which are used to throw at the targets to activate more moving platforms. After crossing them all, they will find a Barrel Cannon which launches them over an abyss. On the other side, Donkey Kong must grab onto a vine and hold on, as it moves to the right and over a Ferris wheel-like set of platforms. After riding them back to their original position, there is another Barrel Cannon that transports the Kongs to the next checkpoint.

During the final portion of the stage, the Kongs will have to utilise a combination of mechanisms found previously in the level to activate more platforms. Some targets turn into stationary platforms when hit, while some platforms move as soon as the Kongs make contact with one directly (but do not move back to their original position afterwards). Eventually, the Kongs will reach a Barrel Cannon. After launching from it, they must grab the vine mid-flight to open the gate blocking the Slot Machine Barrel. The Kongs have to re-enter the cannon to reach the goal.

Collectibles

KONG Letters

• K: Above a Swooper Dooper past the first bottomless pit.
• O: To the right of the pair of platforms on a large semicircular structure, reachable by jumping on the nearby Hootz.
• N: When the Kongs enter the first Barrel Cannon, they should launch when the Swooper Dooper is on the right, thereby allowing them to bounce on top of it and reach the letter.
• G: When the Kongs encounter multiple Blue Hootzes, the topmost platform must be stood on as they make their way across. The Kongs can then climb the vine to reach said platform and the letter.

Puzzle Pieces

1. After the platform where the Kongs have to duck to avoid spikes, there is a lone wooden platform just above the bottomless pit. By pounding on the panel in the middle, the Kongs will access a Bonus Area containing the Puzzle Piece.
2. When the Kongs run into a pair of vines next to each other, activating the second one will retract a bed of spikes underneath the first one into the background, revealing a gap. Here, a Blast Barrel is obscured by a bush in the foreground; entering it will launch the Kongs into the Puzzle Piece.
3. When the Kongs find some grass they can grab onto, they should climb up to find a vine hidden behind some leaves. Pulling onto it will lower a large wooden crate on the left, which contains the Puzzle Piece.
4. After blasting out of the second Barrel Cannon, Donkey Kong should grab the vine halfway through, which will cause a wooden pillar to revolve underneath them, revealing the Puzzle Piece.
5. Revealed by rolling through the grass in front of the final gate.

Enemies

• Swooper Doopers
• Tucks
• Tuff Tucks
• Pointy Tucks
• Trench Tucks
• Painguin Tucks
• Archies
• Hootzes
• Blue Hootzes
• Pufftons
• Waldoughs
• Porcupals
• Buffaloafers

Additional names

Internal names

Game	File	Name	Meaning
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze	content/Worlds/w02_savannah/l0a_savannah_switches.pak	l0a_savannah_switches.pak	Savannah Level A: Switches

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	カチッとスイッチ！しかけの谷 Kachitto suicchi! Shikake no kani	Click and Switch! Valley of Mechanisms
French	Rouages rageurs	Furious Gearwheels
German	Swing dich durch	Swing Your Way Through
Italian	Ingranaggi Imprevedibili	Unpredictable Gears
Spanish	Garganta mecánica	Mechanical Gorge