Donkey Kong Land

Donkey Kong Land, known in Japan as Super Donkey Kong GB, is a video game that was developed by Rareware for the Game Boy. Released in 1995, it was a handheld follow-up of Donkey Kong Country, and the game's pseudo sequel. The game was also one of the few Game Boy games to feature a specially colored cartridge (yellow), which was also used on the sequels, Donkey Kong Land 2 and Donkey Kong Land III. It was one of the first games to feature Super Game Boy special features, including a rendered jungle border across the television screen.

The game is often mistaken as a Game Boy 'port' of Donkey Kong Country. Although this is true in the manner that the two games play the same using the same engine - it is false because not only is the storyline different, but Donkey Kong Land has different levels, enemies, and bosses from the ones featured in Donkey Kong Country.

Story
According to the game's instruction booklet, the story takes place after the events of Donkey Kong Country, where Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are discussing about their latest adventure to Cranky Kong. Cranky admits that the adventure was more successful than he thought, although claiming that it was only because of the "fancy graphics" and that "Kids'll buy anything nowadays". After Cranky goes on about the games of his time, the two other Kongs try to convince him that it was not only fancy graphics that made Donkey Kong Country great, but that it "was just plain fun". However, this did not convince the old monkey, so Donkey and Diddy decide to have an adventure on an 8-bit system, with King K. Rool stealing the Banana Hoard again. Once the bet is decided, Cranky Kong arranges everything, and calls King K. Rool to come and take the hoard overnight. Afterwards, the two heroes decide to rest for the adventure ahead of them.

Animal Buddies
Unlike Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Land is filled with very little Animal Buddies, a total of only two. In fact, Animal Buddies seldom appear in most levels. It should also be noted that the Animal Buddies here are unable to shoot through barrels, and they will suddenly drop to the ground once these obstacles are approached. Still, they can be a big help in the Kongs' quest with their different abilities. Below shows the capabilities and appearances of both Animal Buddies in the game, Rambi the Rhinoceros and Expresso the Ostrich.


 * Rambi the Rhinoceros, first appearing in the level, Jungle Jaunt, is played most during gameplay next to Expresso. He is able to charge into enemies to easily defeat them. Sometimes, although rarely, Rambi is able to break through certain walls to create an opening to a Bonus Level. Because of this, Rambi is quite an important buddy, and he is needed to complete the game 100%.
 * Expresso the Ostrich is the other Animal Buddy in Donkey Kong Land, alongside Rambi. First appearing in a Bonus Level located in Deck Trek, Expresso is able to help the Kongs cross wide abysses with his useful flying abilities. Strangely, this helpful capability is never used to find any Bonus Levels, but is instead used inside them. Out of his four appearances, three of them take place in a Bonus Level.

Enemies and Hazards
Donkey Kong Land is filled with only nineteen different enemies and hazards, although most first appeared in the prequel to the game, Donkey Kong Country. Enemies listed below in bold are those who have already appeared in this previous game in the Donkey Kong series. The table also lists the first and last level that these enemies and hazards have shown up in. Noticeably, many of these foes have stayed in throughout the whole game, not making a final appearance until the levels of the last world, the Big Ape City. It should be noted that Swirlwinds can also help the Kongs on their quest, other than harming them.

Throughout the Kongs' quest, they will not only find the enemies listed above, but also several bosses, who require a little more skill to beat. Each boss appears at the end of all the game's worlds, and must be defeated to allow the heroes to progress.