Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Advance)

Donkey Kong Country is a 2003 Game Boy Advance remake of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game of the same name. It is less downsized than the game's previous remake, though it still loses some graphical and sound clarity due to the smaller screen and differing hardware capabilities. Nevertheless, it trades them for new content, such as greater boss diversity and in-game cutscenes.

Story
"What? This old chestnut again? Even I'm fed up of hearing it by now!"

- Cranky Kong

The manual features the same abridged version of the original story that the Game Boy Color remake uses (to Cranky Kong's chagrin). In game, another version is shown as an opening cutscene. An in-training Diddy Kong is overpowered by a group of Kremlings led by Krusha (rather than Klump like in the original manual), who proceed to dispose of him and steal Donkey Kong's banana hoard. Cranky Kong alerts him of this the next morning, and he vows to find Diddy and his bananas.

An ending cutscene is also added: after King K. Rool's defeat, Cranky, Funky, and Candy congratulate Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong on their victory. King K. Rool soon recovers, forces them off the ship and sails away, vowing to return.

Modes
When selecting a new file, the player can choose either single player or multiplayer; once the player selects a mode, they cannot change it unless they delete it and start a new one. In multiplayer, the first player controls Donkey Kong while the second player controls Diddy Kong. In multiplayer, if either Kong is hit, the other player must press, as instructed on the screen, to take over with their Kong. The game keeps a score for both players, to keep track of how many levels they have completed.

The Kong Krew
There are a few Kongs who help Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong along their journey, and they each appear in one of the supporting locations.

Amiable Animals
Aside from the supporting Kongs, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are also assisted by Animal Friends during the game. Each Animal Friend is imprisoned within an animal crate depicting a silhouette of their face. The Animal Friends only appear in certain levels, and the Kongs cannot take them to other levels. Every Animal Friend has their own unique abilities.

The Bad Guys
"Look at the state of this lot-and I bet they'll still bash you to a pulp!"

- King K. Rool

Various types of enemies appear throughout the levels, attempting to get into Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's way. The Kremlings are the main enemies of the game.

The Bosses
At the end of every world, the Kongs must fight a boss, each guarding a portion of the stolen bananas. Most of the bosses are a larger version of an enemy.

Barrels
Barrels are the most common object in the game. There are many different types of barrels in the game, each with its own purpose and use.

Supporting locations
During their adventure, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are assisted by three other members of the Kong Family who operate their own location in every world.

Levels
Compared to the original, a few levels have swapped positions with nearby levels.

Differences from original

 * An intro cutscene is played when the player starts a new file, which is an abridged version of the story from the manual.
 * Regarding the cutscene, a difference between the cutscene and the manual was who ended up being responsible for subduing Diddy. In the cutscene, it was Krusha. In the manual, it was Klump.
 * A "Time Attack" mode has been added, called DK Attack, where Donkey and Diddy Kong must collect objects and complete the level in a certain amount of time.
 * Rock Krocs can now be defeated by Donkey Kong's Hand Slap when they are stopped by Stop & Go Barrels.
 * Some enemies come in different colors (normal Gnawties are blue, normal Kritters are purple, etc.) The original colors of some of said enemies are briefly featured in the credits.
 * The millstones now spin through in-engine sprite rotation to make the animation more fluid than the separate sprite frames of the original. The same effect is applied to K. Rool's cannonballs.
 * The Blast Barrels that send the Kongs to bonus rooms are replaced by the Bonus Barrels used in Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Country 3.
 * Bonus rooms now have title cards ("Find the Exit", "Stop the Barrel", etc); this is another carryover from the sequels.
 * Also, as in the sequels, bonus rooms can now be reentered.
 * The Blast Barrels that send the Kongs near the end of the level are replaced by Warp Barrels.
 * The Warp Barrel in Millstone Mayhem has a different location, while the Warp Barrels in Vulture Culture, Tree Top Town, and Slipslide Ride were removed. In contrast, more Warp Barrels where added in the early levels, so all the levels in Kongo Jungle and Monkey Mines have one. This is a carryover from the sequels, which only have Warp Barrels in all the levels from their first two worlds. Despite this, the one in Trick Track Trek remains.
 * When the heroes enter a Warp Barrel, they are sent into a short area that contains a group of bananas that spell out the word "WARP". In the original version of the game, as well as in the Game Boy Color version, the original barrel simply sends them to the end of the level and not into this short area.
 * Squawks is automatically active in Torchlight Trouble instead of needing released from a crate.
 * From Vine Valley onwards, there are some changes from the original:
 * The bosses are fought a little differently:
 * Queen B. now has several Zingers surrounding her when she gets hit and turns red, which all must be taken out with barrels before she can be damaged again. The Zingers' placement changes after each hit. Her red color is now a tinting of the base sprite rather than a palette change.
 * Really Gnawty, rather than making high leaps after being hit, leaps over to the side of the stage, and causes stalactites to fall from the ceiling, before leaping around again.
 * After defeating the enemies that Dumb Drum drops, as it attempts to crush the player, the player must throw TNT Drums at it to damage it.
 * The player battles both Master Necky Snr. and Master Necky simultaneously. Rather than tossing an increasing number of nuts, Master Necky Snr. and Master Necky each toss a single nut at the same time, before either can be hit. After one is defeated, the other will toss four nuts before being vulnerable.
 * Some of the levels in the third through fifth worlds are reordered:
 * Temple Tempest is the sixth level in Vine Valley, rather than the fourth. This makes Orang-utan Gang and Clam City the fourth and fifth levels, respectively.
 * In Gorilla Glacier, Ice Age Alley and Croctopus Chase swapped placements, and so too have Rope Bridge Rumble and Torchlight Trouble.
 * In Kremkroc Industries Inc., Poison Pond and Elevator Antics are swapped. Blackout Basement and Mine Cart Madness are also swapped.
 * Very Gnawty and Really Gnawty swapped colors, but in accordance to the normal Gnawties' color change, Really Gnawty is now blue instead of grayish-green.
 * Some unused elements from the original that were still kept in its data were used in this remake. Examples include Necky's falling feathers when defeated, Cranky Kong's walking sprites and most of his unused dialogues.
 * After each boss, Cranky Kong comes out and compliments the Kongs on beating the boss while criticizing the bosses.
 * The game can be saved at any time or place, including halfway points in levels. With this, Candy's save areas are replaced with a dance studio, with different theme music. Here, a dancing minigame can be played.
 * After meeting Funky (who also has different music) once, he can be summoned anytime on the world map.
 * From Monkey Mines onward, the maps have been redesigned. The world maps are also zoomed in more.
 * On the world map, rather than in straight lines, the Kongs follow curved pathways between each level, similar to the sequels. The flashing ovals that mark the path are replaced with banana peels.
 * Some of the level backgrounds are edited:
 * At the end of Jungle Hijinxs, the time of day does not change to night, unlike in the original.
 * Likewise, Ropey Rampage remains overcast and stormy throughout. These changes were likely made to make the levels easier to see on the original, unlit Game Boy Advance screen.
 * The walls behind the mine levels' ground areas are hollowed out slightly, as the background can be seen through them.
 * Loopy Lights's background is changed to that of Mine Cart Carnage and Misty Mine.
 * Slipslide Ride's farthest background is now gem-filled, rather than plain purple.
 * Various foreground objects were added to some level environments that lacked them (ex: temple levels with trees in front, beams in mine levels).
 * Several small animals not present in the original also appear for aesthetic purposes, like birds, lizard, frogs, bats, spiders, and rats.
 * To get 101% Completion, the player now also has to collect all of the K-O-N-G Letters and fill up the scrapbook.
 * The game exclusively features the "Hero Mode", unlocked for getting at least 90% completion on a save file. In this mode, the player controls a yellow-clothed Diddy, who must complete every level without the help of Continue Barrels or DK. However, the player can get the 101% the same way as in the original.
 * When the player saves the game, it also saves the number of lives and bananas the Kongs have, unlike in the original, which resets the count to five extra lives and no bananas every time that the game is reset.
 * The game has more sound effects and character voices, particularly from Donkey Kong 64, and enemies have different sound effects when beaten.
 * Donkey, Diddy, and King K. Rool now reuse their voice clips from Donkey Kong 64.
 * K-O-N-G Letters spin around as in the sequels, instead of always facing the screen; they also no longer sparkle or shimmer. This makes their animations more consistent in the series.
 * A scrapbook, similar to the one in the Game Boy Color version, was added; the Kongs have to collect photographs throughout the game in order to add pictures to it.
 * The Two Player Contest option (while starting a new file) was removed. This option was removed in the remakes of its two sequels as well.
 * Very Gnawty appears in DK's Tree House after defeating Really Gnawty. When it realizes that the Kongs have arrived, Very Gnawty hops past them and out of the front door. This can be performed only once per file, however.
 * Queen B is now dizzy upon defeat in addition to moving constantly. In the original, she just occasionally moved.
 * The cast of characters take place on Gangplank Galleon instead of DK's Tree House.
 * Only the enemies, world bosses, and animal buddies are shown with their names during the cast scene; the Kongs and King K. Rool are not listed.
 * After the cast of characters finishes, the Kongs are all shown on the Gangplank Galleon contemplating their adventure, when King K. Rool forces them off with the threat of using the ship's onboard cannons to blow up Donkey Kong Island. As the Kongs swim back to shore, K. Rool promises to return as his ship sails away. Cranky then criticizes the ending as a cheap attempt at setting up for a sequel.

Bonus Level Early Exit
This glitch can only be done in the Game Boy Advance version. The Kongs must go to the first Bonus Level found in Platform Perils and stand underneath the fourth barrel and a little to the right of it. Now, the Kongs have to hit this barrel when the G is not showing up. If they do it right, they will lose the bonus level as usual, but they will end up walking out early, not showing their Mini-Game defeat animation. This can be done with either Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong.

Candy Kong

 * "I don't think he is, sugar. Let's get off this manky ship."

Development
The Game Boy Advance remake was coded from scratch. The developers extensively playtested the port to make sure the physics and controls were true to the original version, though some deviations were made to improve some mechanics and the level design.

Some of the floppies containing the original graphic assets were lost, while the surviving ones were disorganized and mostly unusable. To remedy this problem, team members ripped the sprites using an emulator. Most of the backgrounds were redone from the ground up to fit the Game Boy Advance's screen resolution, scale, and color palette.

Reception
Following Rare's acquisition by Microsoft, Donkey Kong Country experienced a period of backlash. Electronic Gaming Monthly stated that the game did not hold up compared to when the original was released. Regardless, the Game Boy Advance version was still positively received.

References to other games

 *  - In Cranky's cabin, the head of the game's titular wulf is seen mounted on the wall, with the game's official character art hung beside it. Also, the hat belonging to the game's protagonist, Sabreman, can be seen on a barrel in the cabin.
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: At the end of the game, Cranky complains that the new detail of K. Rool escaping and vowing to return is a cheap way to promise a sequel.
 *  - In Cranky's cabin, in the foreground can be seen a skull-shaped object with three red feathers, resembling the head of the game's supporting character, Mumbo Jumbo.
 * Donkey Kong 64: During the ending scene, K. Rool promises to destroy the island, which is his plan in this game.

Trivia

 * This is the only one of the three GBA remakes of the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy that does not feature any new bosses. However, it is also the only one to make significant changes to the existing bosses.