Blast Barrel

A Blast Barrel , also known as an Auto-Fire Barrel , is a common type of Barrel Cannon that has appeared in the Donkey Kong Country series, first appearing in Donkey Kong Country. When a member of the Kong Family jumps into this barrel, the barrel automatically launches the ape in a predetermined direction. The Blast Barrel can launch the Kongs great distances and often allows the family members to reach a location that cannot be reached by other means. The Kongs cannot control when or in what direction they are fired – the launch is purely automatic. In Donkey Kong Country, Blast Barrels are also used to send the Kongs to Bonus Areas; the Game Boy Advance remake and sequels use Bonus Barrels instead.

In most games, the symbol on the side of the barrel is a white outline of an explosion, signifying the ability of the barrel to blast the Kongs in many different directions and distances. However, Blast Barrels lack this symbol in Donkey Kong Land 2 and Donkey Kong Land III. The steel rims on their entrances are also colored white in those games as well as Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. In Donkey Kong 64, all Barrel Cannons look like Blast Barrels, even though only a few actually act like them.

In Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Blast Barrels return, looking and acting the same as in the original version of Donkey Kong Country. These games also contain Blast Barrels with skull heads printed on them - this indicates that the barrels will instantly self-destruct after they launch the players.

Blast Barrels also show up in Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge. Specifically, they are present in Mini Donkey Kong's levels, where they function just like in the past games, as they automatically fire the character to other areas.

Trivia

 * In Tanked Up Trouble of Donkey Kong Country, one Blast Barrel self-destructs as it fires the Kongs (predating those of Donkey Kong Country Returns), but only in the original version.
 * In the Donkey Kong Country television series, there are Exploding Barrels that bear a resemblance to Blast Barrels.