Mountaintop Tussle

Mountaintop Tussle is the second boss level of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, located at the end of Autumn Heights. It takes place inside a rocky mountain lair shaped like a Hootz, and the Kongs fight the boss, Skowl, in three different phases of the battle.

Layout
The level starts outside on a narrow, straightforward path with a bridge extending its way across to a Barrel Cannon floating in midair. The Barrel Cannon blasts the Kongs into the dark, rocky lair. In there, a cutscene plays, where the Kongs stand on a rocky platform and witness a Hootz throw a banana onto a stone slab. Other Hootzes witness the giant Hootz, Skowl, take out his wooden hammer and smash the banana. The Kongs shriek in disgust, which gains the attention of the Hootz and Skowl. Skowl reveals himself from the shadows and hoots angrily. The two Kongs jump onto the stage and Donkey Kong smashes the stone slab as the Hootz fly away. They start their battle against Skowl.

In the first phase of the battle, Skowl flies to a steel platform located on either side of the arena. He then fires two waves of sharp feathers at the Kongs, who must avoid being hit by them. Skowl then flies to the other side of the arena and drops three eggs on the ground. Hootz partially hatch out from the eggs, with the eggshell still being on their head. As Skowl continues throwing eggs on the arena, Donkey Kong must stomp one of the Hootzes, then pick it up, and throw it at Skowl to damage him. This causes Skowl to briefly flash red and collapse, though he instantly returns on-screen to the left. Skowl slowly flies down, and Donkey Kong must throw another Hootz at Skowl before it attempts to charge into the Kongs.

Upon taking a second hit, Skowl starts using another attack among his previous, where its wings briefly turn to ice and he throws two spiked icy balls onto the arena. The spike balls move right in the direction of the Kongs. They must avoid it by either jumping onto a steel platform or by jumping over the ball itself. After throwing the last Hootz at Skowl a third time, his face turns red and he continues higher up. A Blast Barrel appears, which the Kongs must enter to follow him. The Kongs are blasted onto a steel platform with a Barrel Cannon on each side and pine trees in the background. Skowl flaps its wings to create a windstorm, which a Hootz with an eggshell on its head and other Hootzes get caught in. The Kongs must stomp the eggshell-wearing Hootz and pick it up and bounce on the other Hootzes to gain the height to throw it at Skowl. After this, the Kongs must enter into a Barrel Cannon as Skowl performs a charge attack while sticking out his talons in the air. Just before Skowl runs into the Barrel Cannon, the Kongs must blast out above him and onto the center platform. Skowl then flies above the center platform, raining sharp feathers down from left to right. The Kongs must go back into a Barrel Cannon and only blast back out on the center platform once every feather hits the ground. Skowl performs this attack another time, except in the other direction.

After avoiding both waves of feathers, Skowl throws down some more eggs, from which either a Hootz, an eggshell-wearing Hootz, or nothing hatches from the egg. If it is an eggshell-wearing Hootz, the Kongs must stomp it and pick it up. Skowl flies down another time and attempts a charge attack into the Kongs. They must throw the eggshell-wearing Hootz at Skowl to hit him a fifth time. After this, Skowl generates another windstorm, sending a an eggshell-wearing Hootz and other Hootzes at the Kongs. After the Kongs throw an eggshell-wearing Hootz at Skowl a sixth time, his face turns red again, and Skowl advances up to the third and final area of the stage. A Barrel Cannon appears for the Kongs to follow Skowl to the area.

The third area takes place above the clouds, which have a pink-purplish tint to them, and it is accompanied by a starry night sky in the background. There is a steel platform in the center of the stage, and it is kept afloat by the propellers underneath it. Skowl first attacks by shooting out three sets of feathers in the Kongs' direction. He then flies to the other side of the platform and fires out four more sets of feathers. After this, Skowl appears in the background, where it summons several Hootzes wearing viking helmets. The group of Hootzes split up: the first part of the group swerve down onto the center platform. The Kongs must stand away from where the Hootzes land. Just when the Hootz land onto the ground, they then jump off. The second part of the Hootz group then fly on the platform and then jump off. This occurs two more times, and during the third time, two eggshell-wearing Hootzes appear among the Hootz group, and each eggshell-wearing Hootz flies with either part of the group. The Kongs must stomp either eggshell-wearing Hootz and pick it up. After the third group of Hootz jump off, Skowl moves out from the background and attempts another charge attack into the Kongs, who must throw the eggshell-wearing Hootz at Skowl to damage him a seventh time.

Skowl then flies up offscreen to perform a new attack, where some large eggs individually rain down onto the platform. The player can identify which place the egg will land by looking at the feathers from the top screen, and the Kongs must evade where the egg is landing. When an egg lands onto the platform, it cracks open and a trio of Hootz fall out. The fifth large egg releases Skowl and upon breaking; he loses his helmet upon landing and becomes temporarily dizzy. The Kongs must quickly stomp Skowl's head, causing him to fall off-screen. Just after taking an eighth hit, Skowl appears back from the left side of the screen, and managed to regain his helmet. Skowl then proceeds to launch a series of attacks against the Kongs. His first attack is individually throwing four spiked ice balls onto the rightmost side of the platform. The Kongs must jump over each one. Right when the fourth and last spiked ice ball rolls off the platform, Skowl launches four more sets of feathers at the Kongs, one after the other. He then flies to the right side of the screen and launches three more sets of feathers. Skowl flies back into the background to summon more Hootzes to fly onto the stage. Like the previous time, there is eggshell-wearing Hootz in each pair of the third group. Like last time, the Kongs must stomp the eggshell-wearing Hootz and pick it up. As Skowl prepares another charge, this time with a slight delay, the Kong must throw the Hootz at Skowl a ninth and final time to defeat him. The player is led to a screen where they must press the buttons instructed to have one of the Kongs punch Skowl far away.