The Mole Train

The Mole Train is the fourth boss stage in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. It takes place on a diesel train with a giant mechanised drill led by Mole Miner Max and his army of Mole Miners. It is located in the Cave area and, apart from Tiki Tong Terror, is the only boss stage in the series not completely focused on fighting the main enemy – in this case, Mole Miner Max.

The Mole Miners are seen putting bananas from Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's Banana Hoard into carts. They then spot the banjo Tiki, who is watching the moles loading the mine carts. The banjo Tiki hypnotizes Mole Miner Max, whom appeared to be asleep in the cockpit, before being possessed by the Tiki. Once he's been hypnotized, Mole Miner Max starts up the train and drives off with the banana hoard, forcing Donkey and Diddy to chase after him.

Physical description
The Mole Train is a five-cart metal diesel train. It has a drill in the chassis where Mole Miner Max operates it. The five carts have numerous Mole Miners hiding inside of the cargo.

Attacks
Most of the boss battles takes place on a small minecart. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong will have to avoid the pickaxes thrown by the Mole Miners. Depending on how high or low they are thrown, Donkey and Diddy can just duck or jump. Also, during the second and third set of moles, the mole miners can throw bombs, and the duo must throw them off of their cart. While on the cargo, the moles will attack by hiding in the bananas and then popping up in a random area. However, the moles can easily be detected by the pile of bananas shaking right before the mole pops out. Attempting to jump on the moles as they are coming out of the bananas results in damage. If Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong take too long attacking the moles, three Mole Miners on a train can run over the carts with its drill, easily taking out the duo. Mole Miner Max uses the same tactic, except his attacks are more unpredictable, and his pickaxes are much larger and harder to dodge. There is one tell-tale sign that will help the player more easily defeat him: He never pops out of the first cart that shakes. This information is especially useful for a Mirror Mode attempt.

Combat
To defeat the Mole Train, Donkey and Diddy will need to defeat the three sets of Mole Miners by just simply jumping on them. However, the two primates need to wait a second after the moles come up, or else when they don't wait and jump on one, they will get hurt by their claws and lose a heart. Once all three sets of Mole Miners are defeated, one of the mine carts catches up to the Mole Train, where Mole Miner Max will leap out of the cockpit, and into the banana-filled carts. This is when players must then face Max. After he has been hit four times, Donkey Kong pummels Max, sending him smashing back into the cockpit and will be defeated. The Mole Train comes to a slow stop at the edge of a cliff, however the drill falls off the train and into the bottomless pit.