Donkey Kong 64

Donkey Kong 64 is a 3D platformer game developed by Rare and released for the Nintendo 64 console in November 6, 1999. It is a follow-up to the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy for the Super Nintendo console, taking place after the events of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. The game requires the use of the Expansion Pak in order to function and was the first Nintendo 64 game to do so. In the game, Donkey Kong and his friends set off in a quest to stop the evil King K. Rool from destroying the Kongs' homeland, the Donkey Kong Island, with a powerful machine called Blast-O-Matic, which is located in a metal version of Crocodile Isle. However, due to the incompetence of the crew aboard, the island crashes, and the Blast-O-Matic malfunctions. K. Rool has his Kremling crew capture Diddy Kong, Tiny Kong, Lanky Kong, and Chunky Kong and seize DK's hoard of Golden Bananas. It was originally named Ultra Donkey Kong and was rumored to be for the Nintendo 64DD, but it got reworked into Donkey Kong 64.

Story
The story begins in the peaceful Donkey Kong Island, which is the homeland of the Kongs. The Kremling Krew is shown sailing a fortified, technological version of Crocodile Isle to the Kongs' island. King K. Rool is planning on destroying Donkey Kong Island completely using the Blast-O-Matic, a powerful machine capable of causing severe damage created by Snide, the Blast-O-Matic engineer, who switched sides after a paranoid King K. Rool kicked him out. Due to Snide's absence, Kritters are charged with operating the Blast-O-Matic and piloting the island, but they are shown to be quite inexperient and work lazily, which causes the island to crash in a rock in the way to Donkey Kong Island, and the Blast-O-Matic to become heavily damaged because of the crash. When the Crocodile Isle is placed in front of Donkey Kong Island, K. Rool orders three of his minions, a Klump, a Kritter and a Kasplat, to steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard, which consists of several Golden Bananas, and imprisione the other Kongs, so as to buy time and distract Donkey Kong while the Kremling Krew repairs the damaged Blast-O-Matic.

Meanwhile, Donkey Kong is shown at his treehouse, doing push ups while listening to DK Rap in his radio. Squawks then suddenly appears in the house and tells Donkey Kong that all of his precious Golden Bananas disappeared from the cave, and the other Kongs have vanished. Donkey Kong then goes to Cranky's Lab, where Cranky Kong offers homemade potions that give him and the other Kongs different abilities needed throughout the adventure, but only if Donkey Kong completes his training barrels first. Once Donkey Kong gains the new ability from Cranky's potion, he is able to start his quest to save the other Kongs and claim his Banana Hoard. At the beginning of his quest, Donkey Kong finds a mysterious island with a cave on it. Inside this cave is K. Lumsy, a giant Kremling that was kicked out from the Kremling Krew and trapped inside a cage for refusing to help K. Rool in his schemes. K. Lumsy asks Donkey Kong to release him from the cage by defeating various bosses and retrieving their keys. As Donkey Kong collects Golden Bananas, he eventually saves Diddy Kong in Jungle Japes, Lanky and Tiny Kong in Angry Aztec, and lastly Chunky Kong in Frantic Factory. The Kongs also meet the Banana Fairy Queen, who lives in the Banana Fairy Island and asks the Kongs to catch all the Banana Fairies that ran away because of the Kremlings with a Banana Camera.

After the Kongs dismantle the Blast-O-Mantic in three sections and collect the final boss key at the Hideout Helm, K. Rool tries to desperately escape using his King Kruiser II. The Kongs, however, use the boss key to finally unlock the cage and free K. Lumsy, who starts to chase K. Rool's cruiser as it flies by Donkey Kong Island. During the chase, however, K. Lumsy accidentally trips over a rock and hits the cruiser, causing it to fall in the water. The Kongs then enter the King Kruiser's remains and battle K. Rool in a boxing match with five rounds. After the match, Funky Kong appears and launches a boot at K. Rool while he is distracted by Candy Kong, who pretends to flirt with him. K. Rool is finally defeated by the Kongs, and peace is restored to the Donkey Kong Island.

Gameplay
Donkey Kong 64 has a similar gameplay to other 3D platformer games on the Nintendo 64, such as Super Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie. The player controls one of the five available Kongs, and must venture into open and vast worlds similar to those found in Super Mario 64. Only Donkey Kong is available from the start, and the other Kongs are unlocked as part of the storyline. Unlocking all the Kongs is mandatory for completing the game, as the bosses can only be defeated by a certain Kong, with the exception of King Kut Out and K. Rool himself, as they are battled by all the Kongs. Each Kong has a unique set of abilities that are learned when the player purchases potions from Cranky Kong at his lab. The player can select between available Kongs by entering the various Tag Barrels located around the worlds.

The gameplay is heavily based upon item collection, and each stage features several items for each Kong to collect. It is not mandatory to collect every single item, but it is required if the player is aiming for 101% completion. All of the collectibles are of a certain color, and they can only be collected by a Kong whose color matches the color of the item. The most important items are the Golden Bananas, obtainable by accomplishing certain tasks, but there are various other types of collectibles for each Kong to find, such as Banana Medals, Banana Coins, Blueprints, etc. Each world features a certain amount of items that can only be collected by a certain Kong, often making use of their unique abilities.

Donkey Kong Island acts as the hub world of the game, from which the player can access other areas. The first world of the game, Jungle Japes, can only be accessed when Donkey Kong talks to K. Lumsy at his island. When the Kongs collect a new Boss Key from the boss of a world, K. Lumsy starts to happily jump in his cage, causing a tremor that unlocks the passage to a new world. However, the only way to access new worlds is by collecting the amount of Golden Bananas imposed by B. Locker, who blocks the entrance to the world. When the Kongs have the appropriate amount of Golden Bananas, B. Locker disappears, allowing access to the world. The amount of Golden Bananas needed to unlock each world increases as the Kongs progress through the game.

Found at the end of each world is a boss that can only be accessed when the Kongs feed Scoff with a certain amount of bananas. The amount of bananas required to fight the boss increases as the Kongs progress through the worlds. When the Kongs feed Scoff with the appropriate amount of bananas, he becomes heavier and allows Troff to reach the key that unlocks the door to the boss. Each boss can only be fought by a certain Kong, whose face appears in the door before the battle. If another Kong tries to head through the door, it closes immediately. The boss battles are constructed around the designated Kong's abilities. By defeating the bosses, the Kongs gain Boss Keys that are used to unlock K. Lumsy's cage. Upon seeing the key, K. Lumsy jumps in joy and causes tremors that open access to the loaction of new worlds.

Controls

 * Jump
 * Attack, grab objects, shoot weapon
 * Crouch, dive underwater, activate pad move (when standing on a Kong Pad)
 * Center camera behind the character (hold to fixate the camera in a position)
 * Move character, move cursor in menus
 * Pause, view status screen
 * Rotate camera left
 * Rotate camera right, switch positions on vines
 * Enter first-person view
 * Zoom
 * + : Ponytail Whirl (Tiny)
 * + : Simian Slam, Super Simian Slam, Super Duper Simian Slam
 * + : Backflip
 * + : Special Move (Diddy, Lanky, Chunky)
 * + : Throw Orange Grenade
 * + : Take out weapon/put away weapon
 * + : Enter aiming sight mode
 * + + : Roll (Donkey, Tiny)

Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is the main character, and as such, he is the default and starting character in the game. Donkey Kong is a balanced character, with average strenght, speed and agility. He can execute a kicking attack if the player presses the button, and he can also use a double-handed punch while in the air by pressing the  button while jumping. Donkey Kong's weapon of choice is the Coconut Shooter, which he can use to shoot coconuts that can press certain switches. Donkey Kong is the only character who can access Barrel Blast challenges through the use of his Pad Move, and later on he gains the ability to pull rusty levers with his strenght. Donkey Kong's color is yellow, meaning he can collect yellow bananas, Banana Coins and blueprints, and his instrument is the bongo.

Book's Description
"'He's the only ape who still cares enough to wear a tie. DK may not be the most powerful Kong - or the quickest - but he applies a strong blue-collar work ethic to the business of Kremling Crushing. That may be why he's the leader of the Kong Clan.'"

Diddy Kong
Diddy Kong is the first character to be unlocked, and the second Kong overall. Diddy Kong is unlocked in the first world of the game, Jungle Japes, where he is found imprisioned in a cell in a mountainside. Once he is freed, he becomes a playable character. Diddy Kong is not as strong as other Kongs, such as Donkey and Chunky Kong, but he is much faster and more agile. He is the second fastest Kong, losing only to Lanky Kong. Diddy's main attack is his trademark cartwheel which can be used to attack enemies, and he also has a tail attack done by pressing the button while he is in the air. Diddy Kong's weapon of choice is the Peanut Popgun, which can shoot peanuts that can hit certain switches. His instrument is the guitar, and his color is red, and he can collect red items such as bananas, Banana Coins and blueprints.

Book's Description
"'You'll probably recognize his familiar furry mug from past adventures. A mere bantamweight in bulk, this courageous chimp is the heavyweight champion of hard-core attitude. Whether he's rocking out on a six-stringed, amplified guitar or rocketing through the sky, he's always giving it 100 percent - Diddy Style.'"

Lanky Kong
Lanky Kong is one of the unlockable characters. He is unlocked in the second world, Angry Aztec, but the player can unlock Tiny first. Lanky is the fastest Kong, and he is balanced in all other areas. Lanky can stretch his arms to attack enemies by pressing the button, and he can also use his long arms to reach otherwise inaccessible items and collectibles. During the game, Lanky learns how to inflate like a balloon when he stands on pads with his face on them, and he also learns how to walk around on his hands, allowing him to move much faster and climb up steep slopes. His weapon of choice is the Grape Shooter, a blowgun that can fire grapes to hit certain switches and attack enemies. His instrument is the trombone. Lanky Kong's color is blue, and thus he is able to collect blue bananas, blueprints, Banana Coins, etc.

Book's Description
"'This knuckle-dragging Kong looks like a clown, and it's more than just a coincidence. Think of him as a twisted twig on a distant branch of the family tree. Kremlings and Klaptraps may snicker at his goofy gait as he ambles in their direction, but there's nothing funny about a hyper extended sucker punch.'"

Tiny Kong
Tiny Kong is the fourth unlockable character, and is the only female Kong to be playable. She, along with Lanky, can be unlocked in Angry Aztec, the second world of the game, and she can be unlocked either after or before Lanky. Tiny is the most agile out of all the playable characters, but she has the weakest physical ability among the Kongs. Her most prominent move is the Ponytail Whirl, which allows her to float in the air and reduce her falling speed. Tiny can also shrink herself to access certain places once she learns the "Mini Monkey" ability. Her main attack is using her hair to beat up enemies, done by pressing the button. She uses the Feather Bow as her weapon of choice, allowing her to shoot feathers that can hit certain switches and defeat enemies. Her instrument is the saxophone, and her color is purple, allowing her to collect purple bananas, Banana Coins and blueprints.

Book's Description
"'Dixie's VERY little sister brings a big dose of flower power to the Kong's campaign. You'll find her pigtails perfect for pugilism and not too bad for a helicopter ride from the treetops. Tiny never shrinks from her responsibilities - even when she shrinks herself physically for a mouse's eye view of the action. '"

Chunky Kong
Chunky Kong is the last Kong to be unlocked, and he is found in the third world of the game, Frantic Factory. Chunky is the strongest Kong, and his strength surpasses even that of Donkey Kong. This allows him to easily lift boulders and other heavy objects, as well as attacking enemies with punches. However, he is the slowest and least agile Kong, and cannot jump very high. His main attack is spinning rapidly, attacking enemies close to him. Throughout the game, Chunky also learns to become invisible when he stands on a pad with his face on it, and he also learns to become giant upon entering a barrel with his face on it. Chunky Kong's weapon of choice is the Pineapple Launcher, which can fire pineapples that are used to hit certain switches and defeat enemies. His instrument is the triangle, and his color is green, meaning he can collect green bananas, Banana Coins, blueprints, etc.

Book's Description
"'He's big. He's bad. He plays the triangle. Chunky is something of a primate paradox: brutal when the situation demands it, yet almost meek at other times. He's also not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so he'll need all the help you can give him. If there's heavy lifting to be done, however, Chunky is the Monkey to see.'"

Krusha
Krusha is a Kremling originating from Donkey Kong Country, and is a character playable only in the game's Multiplayer Mode. He is unlocked once the player catches fifteen Banana Fairies. He has similar abilities to Chunky Kong, as he is one of the strongest characters physically but lacks in speed and agility, although he has a few unique attacks, such as a fast sliding punch. His weapon of choice is the Orange Grenade Launcher, which is used to launch Orange Grenades.

Klaptrap
Klaptrap is a regular enemy that appears in various locations throughout the game, but he is playable in a minigame, "Beaver Bother". He must bark to scare away the numerous Gnawties into the hole in the middle of the arena before the time runs out.

Rambi the Rhinoceros
Rambi the Rhinoceros is the most powerful Animal Buddy. He can use his strong horn to smash crates, attack enemies, and break huts and wooden walls with his emblem on them. Rambi appears in the first world, Jungle Japes, and also makes an appearance in one of Donkey Kong's minigames in Hideout Helm. Rambi has an unlockable arena where he makes an appearance. Donkey Kong is the only character that can transform into Rambi by entering his Animal Crate.

Enguarde the Swordfish
Enguarde the Swordfish can use his pointy bill to defeat aquatic enemies, smash open treasure chests and reveal hidden items. He can also leap out of water. Enguarde appears only in the world Gloomy Galleon, and in his unlockable arena. Lanky Kong is the only character who can turn into Enguarde.

Cranky's Lab
Cranky's Lab is a location that Cranky Kong resides in, and it appears in every area of the game, with the exception of Hideout Helm. Cranky has seemingly taken up science as a hobby, and in his lab, the player can buy different potions in exchange of Banana Coins to learn new techniques and abilities needed to progress throughout the game. Also, if the Kongs visit Cranky at his lab with at least fifteen Banana Medals, Cranky allows them to play a game called Jetpac (an early Rare game). The Kongs must beat the game Jetpac in order to obtain the Rareware Coin.

There are three kinds of potions that are available for the Kongs and each type of potion gives them a different ability. The types of abilities are as follows:


 * Pad Move - These abilities are activated when any of the Kongs stand on a circular pad with their emblem on it.
 * Barrel Move - To activate a Barrel Move, the playable Kong has to enter a wooden barrel with their face on it.
 * Special Move - Most of the Kongs' Special Moves can be used anytime, with the exception of Donkey Kong's, which can only be used near rusty levers.

There are also shared potions which give all the Kongs the same ability - to press Kong Switches with their face on them.

Funky's Store
Funky's Store is a shop owned by Funky Kong where the Kongs can buy and reload their weapons. Each Kong has his or her own personalized weapon. They can use these weapons to shoot a variety of fruit-based projectiles to attack enemies, hit certain switches that have a certain fruit emblem on them, and hit Banana Balloons. Initially, the Kongs can have up to 30 doses of ammo, but this amount increases when the Kongs buy Funky's upgrades. The prices of his upgrades are as follows:


 * Shooter Installment - 3 coins
 * Ammo Belt 1 - 3 Coins
 * Homing Ammo - 5 Coins
 * Ammo Belt 2 - 5 Coins
 * Sniper Scope - 7 Coins

Candy's Music Shop
Candy Kong owns a music shop where she provides the Kongs with powerful instruments that they can use to make a variety of things happen. At certain points of the game, Candy also gives the Kongs an extra melon, increasing their health. Usually, when the Kongs play their instruments on certain locations, doors open or areas that were previously impossible to reach become acessible, etc. The power of the instrument can also defeat all the enemies in the screen, but playing it reduces its energy. The Kongs can collect Headphones to replenish their instruments' energy, or visit Candy to reload the energy. The instrument, however, does not lose any energy if the Kongs play it when they are standing on a Music Pad.


 * Music Installment - 3 Coins
 * Upgrade 1 - 5 Coins
 * 3rd Melon and Music Energy - 7 Coins
 * Upgrade 2 - 9 Coins

Bosses
Troff the Pig and Scoff the Hippo guard the doors that lead to the bosses who hold seven of the eight keys to K. Lumsy's cage. By feeding Scoff a certain number of bananas, it allows Troff to reach the key to open the door. The players need to feed Scoff more bananas each progressed level and the combined total of all the Kong's bananas can be pertained. Once all the bananas reach to 0, the key opens the door and a roulette spins, determining which Kong is going to battle against the Boss. Only the designated Kong can enter the door. The door will close if a different Kong tries to go inside the door at any time. Once the correct Kong enters the door, the door slams shut and evil laughter can be heard before the screen fades to the Boss Battle.

Amounts and Bosses
Note: The final boss, King K. Rool, does not involve help from Troff & Scoff.

Mini-Bosses
There are only three mini-bosses in the game:

Barrels
There are several types of barrels that the Kongs encounter during their adventure. They have varing effects, although most of them are helpful. The standard, wooden barrels from previous Donkey Kong Country games also appear in this game, and have the same purpose - the Kongs can grab them and throw them at other enemies to defeat them. Once thrown, the barrel rolls in the direction it was thrown and breaks when it hits something. There are also various types of different barrels:

Switches
Another aspect of the gameplay Donkey Kong 64 are the various switches found in the game's worlds. There are several types of switches, and they usually affect the landscape of the location they are found in, allowing access to new areas or collectibles. The switches are either found on the ground, or in the walls, requiring a special ability to hit them. There are three types of switches:

Mystery
When the players manage to collect a certain amount of Banana Fairies in any file, the Mystery option will be unlocked in the main menu. Depending on the number of Banana Fairies collected, the players will unlock the following things:

Similarities Between Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Kazooie
As both Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Kazooie were games made by Rare, huge similarities were inevitable, to name few:
 * In a beta version, Banjo and Kazooie's face (the same as next to the health bar) could be seen on a fridge.
 * The gameplay of Donkey Kong 64 shares many things with Banjo-Kazooie, like the different pads (and their appearance), the Golden Bananas (collected and used in the same way as Banjo-Kazooie ' s Jiggies), and the Blast-O-Matic (which is more or less the Donkey Kong 64 equivalent of the B.O.B., the Big-O-Blaster, used by Gruntilda in Banjo-Tooie).
 * Fungi Forest was originally intended for Banjo-Kazooie, but got canned due to time constraints, before being moved to Donkey Kong 64 with minor changes.
 * Donkey Kong 64 was part of the incomplete feature called Stop 'n' Swop. It involved six different colored eggs and a key of ice, found in Banjo-Kazooie, and only two eggs and the key were shown in the ending cinematic (after collecting all 100 Jiggies). Their locations were sealed off, and it was told that they would be unlocked in Banjo-Tooie. After hackers found the codes to access their hiding places, the eggs proved useless. Rare intended to use them as a connection between Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie and Donkey Kong 64, unlocking secret features in all of them. After accessing a special pause menu, gamers were supposed to stop their current game and swap the Game Paks for another. Stop 'n' Swop got canned by Nintendo, due to revisions in the Nintendo 64 hardware (which gave gamers only 1 second out of the original ten to swap Game Paks, making it useless and encouraging players to remove Game Paks while the console was still on). Due to fact that the necessary chunk of the code for Banjo-Kazooie was already complete and compiled in the game after its release when Nintendo got angry, Stop 'n' Swop remained a mystery until the Xbox Live Arcade re-release of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie where Rare completed the contraption they started, replacing Donkey Kong 64 with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. However, the use of the Eggs and Key for Donkey Kong is still unknown.
 * Donkey Kong 64 holds many cameos to the Banjo-Kazooie series, including the enemies resembling Swellbellies, and the relation between the enemy Gnawty and the character Gnawty, who is a minor character in Banjo-Kazooie.
 * Inside of Candy's Shop are three of the instruments that appeared in the intro to Banjo-Kazooie, which are Banjo's banjo, Kazooie's kazoo, and Mumbo's xylophone.

References to Other Games

 * Donkey Kong: A full version of this game can be played at Frantic Factory. The song that plays in the dungeons of Creepy Castle is a remix of the song that plays while Donkey Kong is climbing to the top of the construction site with Pauline.
 * Donkey Kong Country: The Jungle Japes theme is a remix of Jungle Hijinxs. Also King K.Rool has the same appearance as that game, and Squawks has shrunken back down to his original size from that game.
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: A picture of Kaptain K. Rool can be spotted in the sunken ship of Gloomy Galleon, and pictures of him appear in the museum of Creepy Castle.
 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!: When the Kongs visit Wrinkly Kong for the first time, she says that she has been deceased since Donkey Kong Country 3.

References in Later Games

 * Donkey Kong Country remakes: The Game Boy Color remake features several minigames that were included in Donkey Kong 64, while the Game Boy Advance version features voices of DK, Diddy, and King K. Rool that were used in Donkey Kong 64.
 * Donkey Kong Country 2 (Game Boy Advance remake): Funky mentions the Monkey Rap.
 * Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's voices recycling and Jungle-theme like Congo Canopy included in game.
 * Super Smash Bros. Melee: The DK Rap was featured as background music in one of the Donkey Kong-related stages.
 * DK: King of Swing: Crystal Coconuts made a return, although they served an entirely different purpose. Also, Wrinkly Kong was a ghost in this game, just as she was in Donkey Kong 64.
 * Mario Hoops 3-on-3: Diddy's Special Shot involves the use of his Rocketbarrel Jetpack.
 * Donkey Kong Barrel Blast: Chunky's Pineapple Launcher was a usable item. Also, the entire concept of barrel-rocket belts originated from DK64. Lanky was also reintroduced in that game as well.
 * Diddy Kong Racing DS: Rareware Coins were featured in the game as currency and Tiny Kong was a playable racer.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Diddy Kong was included as a playable character, and his move-set (specifically his Rocketbarrel Boost and Peanut Popguns) came straight from Donkey Kong 64. Also, Chunky Kong appears as a sticker straight from Donkey Kong 64.
 * Donkey Kong Country Returns: Diddy Kong can use a Rocketbarrel Jetpack to slow Donkey Kong's fall.

Trivia

 * Controversy surrounded the DK Rap for containing the word hell. In Britain, the word is not considered profanity, and as Rare is a British company, it was included. However, later versions of the song replaced hell with heck.
 * On the rear of the box art of the Japanese version, the three different circles where the Kongs each stand in: Donkey Kong in one circle, Tiny Kong and Lanky Kong in another circle, and Chunky Kong and Diddy Kong in another circle may refer to the apparel each sets Kongs in each circle share in common (ie. Lanky and Tiny both wear overalls, Diddy and Chunky wear tops but no pants at all, and Donkey Kong himself only wears a necktie).
 * The only reason the game requires an Expansion Pack is to fix a game-breaking bug. Since the Pack was an inexplicable solution, the game was bundled with the Expansion Pack and ended up taking a large toll on the game's profits.