Donkey Kong Barrel Blast

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast is an upcoming Donkey Kong game for the Nintendo Wii; like a previous Donkey Kong game, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast will be of the racing genre, though instead of cars, players will utilize what appear to be rocket-powered bongos. A European or Australian release date has yet to be revealed for Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, though the game was released in Japan on June 28, 2007. It is scheduled for release in North America on October 8, 2007.

Gameplay
Currently, it has been revealed that, along with the Wii Remote, Donkey Kong Barrel Blast will also utilize the Wii Remote's Nunchuk Attachment. In order to accelerate the player's racing bongos, the Wii Remote and Nunchuk Attachment must be shook together, while to jump, players will need to raise the Wii Remote and Nunchuk Attachment upwards. It has also been reported that characters will be able to attack each other by punching. It has recently been revealed that character will not only use rocket powered bongos in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, they will also be able to utilize vehicles such as Tobbagans and Minecarts. From recent videos it has been confirmed that there will be a Time Trial mode.

Setting
Sixteen racing courses and seven worlds have been confirmed to be in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast; so far, a beach track, a track taking place in the sky, a snow covered mountain track, a volcano track, and a jungle track near a village have been seen.

Many of the courses have enemies from other Donkey Kong games serving as obstacles. For example, the volcano level has Flip Flaps and Neckies, and the beach level contains Chomps and a giant, pale squid.



Confirmed Characters
Characters that have been confirmed as appearing in Donkey Kong Barrel Blast include the following:

Kongs

 * Donkey Kong
 * Diddy Kong
 * Dixie Kong
 * Lanky Kong
 * Tiny Kong
 * Funky Kong (secret)
 * Wrinkly Kong (secret)
 * Cranky Kong (secret)
 * Super Donkey Kong (secret)

Kremlings

 * A Kritter
 * Kip (new character)
 * Kass (new character)
 * Kopter (secret)
 * Kalypso (new character) (secret)
 * Kludge (new character) (secret)
 * Klamp (new charcter) (secret)
 * King K. Rool (secret)

Other

 * Rambi the Rhinoceros
 * Enguarde the Swordfish
 * Although Candy Kong is in the game, she is not a playable character, and instead handles one of the game menus

Items
As well as physically attacking racing opponents, players will also be able to use a variety of weapons while racing. The items are split into two categories, with one category coming out of red balloons, and the other coming out of green. These items include: Squawks the Parrot, a giant barrel, Crystal Coconuts, three Zingers, DK's Coconut Shooter, a banana fairy, a "banana bomb", a melon resembling an Orange grenade, Mini-Neckys, Coke, a Banana bunch, a Blue Banana, a banana made of lava, a bottle with a W on it, a bottle with a Z on it, a tornado, and a Mischevious Monkey. There are also six confirmed barrel types: a Barrel Cannon, a red Barrel Cannon, a gold Barrel Cannon, a normal barrel, a Steel Keg, and a TNT Barrel.

Bananas are also found throughout the race courses. Bananas come in three different varieties, and each one fills up the Boost Meter a different amount. When the meter is filled with enough bananas, it allows the player to do a boosted charge through the level. Regular bananas fill up the meter very little, banana buches are the equivalent of 5 bananas and can be found both on the track and in balloons, and Golden Bananas fill up the meter enough for one boost. However, Golden Bananas are very rare, and often something must be performed to have access to one.

Trivia

 * Donkey Kong Barrel Blast has gone through many working titles, such as Donkey Kong Bongo Blast (when it was going to be a GameCube title), Donkey Jet, and Donkey Kong Jet.


 * King K. Rool does not use barrel jets, but presumably uses the same controls as all of the other characters.