Item container

Item containers, or simply containers, are objects in the Donkey Kong Country series. They generally yield an item if the Kongs perform a Ground Pound or an equivalent action in front of one. Containers can have bananas, Banana Coins, Red Balloons, or Puzzle Pieces inside them.

The appearance, nature, and even names of specific kinds of item containers differ between environments, but they all mostly function the same. Item containers, as they are presented in the games' official guides, form a different gameplay concept from barrels and DK Barrels.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat
Item containers first appear in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, where they exclusively yield beats. They commonly appear as Surprised Flowers or other plants that bloom when Donkey Kong claps near them. They can have other designs as well, such as clams underwater. In New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, a type that appears as a large seed has been added; it must be clapped at repeatedly to make it grow through the soil and sprout.

Donkey Kong Country Returns / Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D
In Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, many kinds of containers are scattered on Donkey Kong Island, usually varying from world to world. Below is a list of every type of container included in the game, each accompanied by a physical description.
 * Pods – also called yellow gourds or just gourds, these are small yellow plants. They often surround relatives of bigger size, called large gourds, which are a brighter yellow and display red spots. Once their terrain is pounded, gourds gradually wilt by splurging their fluid, along with an item. Yellow gourds are prevalent in places with a large amount of vegetation, such as the Jungle and Forest.
 * Treasure chests – objects that contain bananas, Banana Coins, and more items the Kongs can interact with. They are found only in the second world of the game, the Beach; additionally, they are also present in Gushin' Geysers, a level exclusive to the enhanced port.
 * Cacti – two distinct species of cacti, as suggested by the Prima guide, appear in the game, each being characteristic to either the Cave or the Cliff areas. Cave cacti resemble swollen spores, with their bulbed stems being olive and showing brown spots. They have orifices on their top, from which bubble clusters continuously come out until the plant is wilted by the character's shocks. Cliff cacti look more like actual cacti, each being short, green, and globular.
 *  – a very round object resembling a squash fruit, supported by a few sticks. It has a firecracker tucked within, which is launched upward if the Kongs pound the ground in front of the squash. Shortly after the Kongs let it loose, the firecracker detonates, releasing an item. Only one of its kind can be encountered in the first level of the Forest.
 * Ruins/Key Temple containers – brown amphorae that lie on spiraled supports. They form the only kind of container in hidden temple levels, as well as the main kind in the Ruins world. After their terrain gets pounded, they fall off the supports and break on the floor. They are amongst the most common types of containers in the game.
 * Factory containers – objects that resemble upside down water dispensers, supported by metal frames. Upon receiving the pounding shock, the water bottles rise up in the air and blow up, leaving out the item inside.
 * Volcano containers – metal flasks, whose contents boil on some burning material. If the ground they stand on is pounded, their lids open up and reveal items. They are found only in the Volcano.
 *  – stone sculptures, modeled after Toothberries or Acks. They are supported by plinths, and most of them can be collapsed and destroyed just like the other containers of the game, uncovering items. Some Ack statues hide actual Acks and Toothberries, which break out of the sculptures by themselves when the Kongs draw near. Ack statues are found only in Itty Bitty Biters, the fifth level of the Ruins world.

Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Containers in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and its Nintendo Switch port are even more diverse than the ones in the predecessor, with the game introducing underwater containers that can be opened with a corkscrew. Some item containers spew multiple bananas arranged in a certain shape, which players have an amount of time allotted to collect in order to earn a more valuable item such as a Banana Bunch, a Banana Coin, or even a Puzzle Piece. Containers, in general, include:
 * Plump Yellow Fruit – the previously called "large gourds" from Donkey Kong Country Returns, Plump Yellow Fruit are the most common item containers in the game, found in many of the game's worlds.
 * Wooden Canisters with Metal Lids – cylindrical vases appearing in the earlier levels of Autumn Heights.
 * Purple Fungi – spacey violet mushrooms with white spots. They consist of three differently sized lobes stacked on each other. They are found only in the caves of Autumn Heights.
 * Giant clams – pink bivalve mollusks and the first item containers to be encountered underwater. Swiping past one with a corkscrew move causes them to open their mantle, revealing items.
 * Dilapidated Barrels – barrels that open like chests. They produce items once opened.
 * Baskets of fish – containers that store fish similar the ones utilized by Archies and Chum Chucker Charlies as weapons. Shaking one with a Ground Pound causes it to collapse, revealing items.
 * Flower Bulbs – large purple flowers coiled in vines. They can be encountered only in Juicy Jungle.
 * Treasure Chests – containers that return from the past game but in rarer instances. They now appear to contain jewelry and gold instead of being completely empty. A hidden Treasure Chest, for example, guards a secret Puzzle Piece on a cliff in Shoal Atoll, a level of Sea Breeze Cove. Frozen Treasure Chests are present in Seashore War, a stage of Donkey Kong Island set in the island's Beach world.
 * Fruit Boxes – crates containing fruit. They require three Ground Pound actions to break, revealing an item.
 * Stack of logs – logs usually stacked in threes that hide items, such as bananas and Banana Bunches, or block something from view.
 * Purple Glass Vases – ornamental objects found only in hidden temple stages. They fall off their stands when their terrain is pounded, shattering on the ground and revealing items.
 * Rambi the Rhinoceros Boxes – also known as Rambi Crates, these objects contain a rideable Rambi in the stages Mountain Mania, Frantic Fields, and Meltdown Mayhem.

WarioWare: Get It Together!
In WarioWare: Get It Together!, a large gourd appears as a background object in level 2 of the Donkey Kong Country Returns microgame.

Mario Strikers: Battle League
In Mario Strikers: Battle League, one of the customization options for the goal on the Jungle Retreat field features a Plump Yellow Fruit.