Hideout Helm

"You must locate and deactivate the machine in the main cavern. Hurry, or you won't have an island to go back to!"

- Snide

Hideout Helm is the eighth and final world in Donkey Kong 64. The hideout is unlocked after players have returned the Boss Keys from Crystal Caves and Creepy Castle to K. Lumsy's prison, but at least 100 Golden Bananas are required to actually enter.

The goal is to shut down K. Rool's Blast-o-Matic before it destroys Donkey Kong Island. The amount of time players have to complete the stage depends on how many blueprints Snide receives from the Kongs; the player is given ten minutes automatically, plus one minute for each blueprint retrieved, for a total of up to 50 minutes.

If the player fails to complete the stage before time is up, Donkey Kong Island is blown up by the Blast-o-Matic, causing a Game Over. After completing the several Kong-based challenges, the timer ends with the Blast-o-Matic turned off. The player then needs to have collected four Battle Arena Crowns and have finished Cranky's Jetpac, and Frantic Factory's Donkey Kong arcade minigames in order to reach the room with the final K. Lumsy key.

Hideout Helm is unique from the first seven worlds in that it does not have any of the collectibles found in the game's other worlds (such as Golden Bananas) except for five Banana Medals (which are obtained by completing each Kong-specific Bonus level) and a Battle Arena Crown. The Kong Family shops and Snide's H.Q. are also absent.

Donkey Kong's

 * Left Barrel: Jump into the Barrel Cannon and shoot Donkey Kong into three of the four targets.
 * Right Barrel: As Rambi, defeat 18 Kritters while avoiding the electrical pylons.

Chunky Kong's

 * Left Barrel: As Hunky Chunky, break open the large crates with the Primape Punch until finding a lone Kritter, then defeat him.
 * Right Barrel: From the podium, use the sniper scope and shoot the five Kritters at the far end of the room. This challenge is easier with homing ammo since the Kritters are somewhat fast and tend to change direction suddenly.

Tiny Kong's

 * Left Barrel: Fly through all three DK stars using the Ponytail Twirl without touching the floor and step on the grey switch at the end.
 * Right Barrel: Bounce off the mushrooms and Ponytail Twirl through all three DK stars.

Lanky Kong's

 * Left Barrel: Using the OrangSprint, step on the switch hidden in the maze, then cross the finish line. Avoid the enemies as they'll slow Lanky down.
 * Right Barrel: Shoot down three Mechanical Zingers; each one requires three hits to defeat. This challenge is easier with homing ammo since the Zingers move fast.

Diddy Kong's

 * Left Barrel: Defeat the Kritters until defeating the one that actives the switch in the center of the room (a chime can be heard when doing so), then press the switch.
 * Right Barrel: Using the Rocketbarrel Boost, shoot each of the four switches along the walls to lift the cage blocking the switch, then press the swtich. There are also four Koshas in the room, but they have nothing to do with the objective.

Battle Arena Pad
Name: Shockwave Showdown Time: 90 Seconds Enemies: Kritter, Kasplat x2 (a third Kasplat appears towards the end) Location: In the Blast-o-Matic room, use Diddy's Rocketbarrel Boost to fly to the top of the machine where the Battle Arena Pad is.

Note that if the Blast-o-Matic hasn't been shut down, the timer will still be counting down while Diddy's in the Battle Arena.

Enemies in Hideout Helm

 * Kritter
 * Klaptrap
 * Klump
 * Mechanical Zinger (Bonus Level only)
 * Kosha (Bonus Level only)
 * Kasplat (Battle Arena only)

Trivia

 * For some reason, in the bridge, there is a monitor with an image of the moon displayed on its screen. What the Kremlings planned on doing to it is unknown.
 * This is the only level in Donkey Kong 64 in which a Kasplat doesn't appear (excluding its appearance in the Battle Arena as well as the Kasplat that K. Rool sicced one of his giant Klaptraps on in a prior cutscene).
 * There is a major glitch in Hideout Helm. If the player deactivates the Blast-o-Matic and leaves the world without collecting the Banana Medals, they will not appear again upon re-entering, thus making it impossible to get 101% completion.
 * This is the only level where the Wrinkly Kong doors in the lobby do not appear.
 * The main theme for the level was originally composed as part of Mayahem Temple while it was going to be a level in Banjo-Kazooie, also while it was known as Project Dream.