Donkey Kong Country 3 (Game Boy Advance)

Donkey Kong Country 3 is a 2005 remake of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! for the Game Boy Advance. It features a new world and new soundtrack composed by David Wise.

Story
The story is the same as the original's. Unlike the first two Donkey Kong Country games, the remake has no opening sequence, a distinction of which is shared with Super Mario Advance.

Months after the events of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, the Kongs were back at DK Island, still celebrating their victory over the K. Rool and the Kremlings. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong often slung up a hammock, played some music, and drank banana milkshakes while soaking up the sun. Dixie often joined alongside them.

One morning, Dixie found that Diddy was not in his room. This surprised her as it was unusual for Diddy to be up so early. She found a note on a table that read:
 * Dear Dixie, Gone exploring the islands with DK, Back tomorrow! --Diddy

Dixie recalled a few other times where Donkey Kong and Diddy had the same plan, and every time the two Kongs would never travel farther than the beach. Dixie went to look for them at the beach, soon realizing that it was too quiet for them to be nearby. As the sun set, Dixie went to bed. The next morning, Dixie checked Diddy's place and found that he had still not returned. She began worrying over what trouble that Donkey Kong and Diddy got into. The entire day passed and the Kongs still did not return. The third morning, Donkey Kong and Diddy had still not returned, so Dixie went to the southern shores of DK Island and swam to the nearest mainland at the Northern Kremisphere, looking for them.

Dixie briefly visited Wrinkly Kong, who confirmed that she saw Donkey Kong and Diddy pass, but Wrinkly did not know where they went. She suggested that Donkey Kong and Diddy visited Funky's beach shop. As Dixie left, Wrinkly asked her to search for Banana Birds along the way.

When Dixie visited Funky, he was busy working on an invention, making use of the various unusual items in the shop. Funky explained to Dixie that Kiddy was the only visitor that he had all week. He pointed across to Kiddy, who was chewing on an old spare tire. Dixie agreed to take Kiddy along with her, and they left. Funky told them to look out for any random items which he can make use of, and he also told them to visit the Brothers Bear for help.

As they traveled through the worlds, Dixie and Kiddy encounter different Kremlings than before. At the end of Mekanos, the Kongs first encounter KAOS, who was believed to be the new leader of the Kremling Krew at the time. Later during their adventure, Dixie and Kiddy encounter KAOS again at Kastle Kaos, which is at the end of Kaos Kore. During the battle, it is revealed that KAOS was a puppet of Baron K. Roolenstein all along. After defeating Baron K. Roolenstein, KAOS breaks down and releases Donkey Kong and Diddy. It is revealed that they were trapped to be used as a power source.

The Kongs eventually discover the lost world, Krematoa, where they meet the local Brother Bear, Boomer. Dixie and Kiddy must recover the five cogs found in each level of Krematoa and return them to Boomer's Bomb Shelter. Boomer inserts them on a machine, which causes the Knautilus to rise from the center lake. Dixie and Kiddy enter it and engage in a second boss fight against Baron K. Roolenstein. The Kongs defeat him again, but Baron K. Roolenstein manages to escape again.

After acquiring every DK Coin, the Kongs return to Funky's Rentals, and he builds the Gyrocopter for them. With the Gyrocopter, the Kongs can access the remaining few secret caves to the last of the Banana Birds. After freeing every Banana Bird, they carry the Kongs up in the sky to the Banana Queen. All of the Banana Birds sing to destroy the evil barrier that imprisoned the Banana Queen. Dixie and Kiddy's adventure ends with the Banana Queen chasing after Baron K. Roolenstein and dropping a large eggshell on him.

The remake's start-up sequence might show how Donkey Kong and Diddy were captured because it starts underwater from the perspective of a diving mask; the Knautilus suddenly charges into the Nintendo logo, then the Rare logo, and closes in and "swallows" the camera. The next shot shows the title screen and the Knautilus partially submerged in the waters of the Northern Kremisphere.

Animal Friends
The Animal Friends return to help the Kongs along their journey. There are a few returning Animal Friends, such as Enguarde, Squawks, and Squitter, but a few others, such as Ellie and Parry, make their debut. Every Animal Friend has their own set of abilities.

Brothers Bear
Throughout their adventure, Dixie and Kiddy come across several cabins, each having a Brother Bear. Each world has a Brother Bear, usually no more than one. Most Brothers Bear either are facing an issue, and ask the Kongs for their help, or they help them access a Banana Bird Cave. In the Game Boy Advance remake, every Brother Bear and their locations have been redesigned entirely.

Items
Donkey Kong Country 3 is filled with many different collectibles.

Trade items
The game features several items that must be traded between the Brothers Bears in order for the Kongs to collect all of the Banana Birds. They are required to trade if the Kongs want to complete their adventure completely. Note that some items are earned from defeating bosses and do not need to be traded with the bears. Below shows the items and descriptions on them, as well as what the Kongs should do with the objects.

Barrels
Various barrels appear throughout the game. They are the main objects in the Donkey Kong Country series, and they have many different purposes. Below is a list of each barrel and a brief description on them.

Funky's Rentals' vehicles
These vehicles can be loaned from Funky Kong to help explore the overworld.

Supporting locations
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! is filled with various special areas, where the Kongs can meet the other Kongs and Brothers Bears around the island to help out.

Levels
The game features many levels in which the Kongs must travel through to complete the game. The Kongs have to get to the end of each level, excluding the secret levels in Krematoa, in order to meet Baron K. Roolenstein at Kastle Kaos and rescue Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. Every level, excluding boss stages and Rocket Rush, have at least two or three Bonus Levels in them, which are hidden throughout the levels.

Codes
Players can enter codes by pressing "Enter Cheat" in the "Options" menu.
 * EXTRAS – Players can play all of the minigames included in the game from the main menu.
 * AQUA – Players get all the 98 Bonus Coins for any new game file.
 * MUSIC – The game opens the music test, where players can choose any in-game music to listen to.
 * MONKEY – Players get 50 additional lives when used.
 * HARDER – Star Barrels are removed.
 * TUFFER – DK Barrels and Star Barrels are removed if the player starts a new game.
 * KREDITS – The credits play.

Gameplay changes

 * Players are now able to save at any time.
 * The game introduces the new area, Pacifica, which is the seventh world of the game, located between Razor Ridge and Kaos Kore. The world carries six new levels, as well as all new Bonus Level locations. The boss of this area is Barbos, who was the boss of Razor Ridge in the original game and has been replaced with a new boss, Kroctopus, in this version.
 * The Brother Bear Barnacle has also been relocated to the new Pacifica world, with the replacement Lake Orangatanga bear being a new Brother Bear named Bachelor. As such, new objects, such as the box of chocolates, have been added to trade amongst the Brothers Bear. Some items must also be traded differently.
 * Wrinkly Kong is now only located in Wrinkly's Retreat, which replaces the first Wrinkly's Save Cave from the original, between Funky's Rentals and Bazaar's General Store. Banana Birds are kept in this area. All other Save Caves are replaced with Cranky's Dojo.
 * Dixie's Photo Album was entirely scrapped, despite the previous two GBA games having a comparable scrapbook. No cast roll replaces it, and as such, most enemies and the Animal Buddies are not named in-game whatsoever.
 * Like in the first two Game Boy Advance remakes for the series, the supporting Kongs have Bonus Games for the Kongs to complete, this time for Banana Birds. Funky Kong has four new Bonus Games, all of which must be cleared to get his Banana Bird (although the types of games available depends on how many vehicles the Kongs can rent), while Cranky (whose Dojo replaces all the other Wrinkly's Save Caves from the original Donkey Kong Country 3) and Swanky (whose Bonus Game and locale are replaced) both have a single Bonus Game.
 * After beating Mekanos and Cotton Top Cove, the player has the option of playing through either K3, Razor Ridge, or Pacifica to progress, although they all must be completed to beat the game.
 * There are now five extra Banana Birds to collect, increasing the total to twenty, and five more DK Coins to collect, making that total forty-six.
 * Anytime after completing Mekanos, the player can visit Bramble to earn his Banana Bird. Originally, he would only give it to the Kongs if they gave him the Flupperius Petallus Pongus.
 * Similar to Donkey Kong Land III, when a Koin is defeated, their DK Coin is automatically collected. In addition, when a DK Coin is collected, it tells the player how many out of the total amount they have.
 * In the original version, after defeating each boss (except in Kaos Kore and Krematoa, where this applies after beating Rocket Rush instead), the player can take a one-way trip from those levels back to the world's entrance or the main world map. This is only true in Cotton Top Cove in the GBA version.
 * Squirt has more attacks and has been made harder to defeat.
 * Baron K. Roolenstein's final battle only gives bear coins. As such, all the DK Coins and Banana Birds can be collected before facing him. If this is done, the scene where the Banana Birds fly the Kongs to the Banana Queen, dispel the barrier, and allow her to take revenge on K. Rool does not play until immediately after Knautilus is completed.
 * The final level, Rocket Rush, has an increased difficulty, as red Buzzes damage the Rocket Barrel when touched, and the Star Barrel is removed.
 * A previously unused enemy, Kracka, appears in this game, exclusively in the Pacifica stage Stormy Seas.

Graphical changes

 * As with Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, in the original, when Dixie does her Helicopter Spin, Kiddy would float behind her, motionless. In the remake, he somersaults behind her.
 * The last level in Lake Orangatanga, Belcha's Barn, which takes place inside of a mill, had a factory background in the original SNES version for some reason. The background was changed in the Game Boy Advance version to a mill background to match with where the battle takes place.
 * Swanky Kong wears the same attire that he wears in Donkey Kong Country 2, unlike in the original, where his outfit is different.
 * The world maps have been redrawn, and they are zoomed in more than in the original.
 * When Knautilus is unlocked in the Super Nintendo version, the background of stages in Krematoa turns red. However, this does not happen in the Game Boy Advance version.
 * The outside of Kastle Kaos is redesigned, and it no longer has a pink glow emitting from its highest tower.
 * The houses that the Brothers Bear live in, as well as the bears themselves, have been redesigned; the most notable change is Blizzard, who in this version of the game is a grizzly bear as opposed to a polar bear.
 * Squawks hurt sprite from Donkey Kong Country 2 gets used in the Game Boy Advance version. It went unused in the Super Nintendo version.

Sound changes

 * The original soundtrack of the game, which is notably darker in tone in most of the levels, has been replaced by a completely new, lighter-toned soundtrack composed by David Wise, who composed the soundtrack of the first two Donkey Kong Country games, but only had a limited involvement with the soundtrack of the third on the Super Nintendo, which was in majority composed by Eveline Novakovic.
 * Arich now has a different battle theme than the other bosses. He shares this theme with Kroctopus. Both K. Rool battles use the same battle theme as the other bosses.
 * The same track now plays for all of the Brother Bear houses, meaning that Blue no longer has a unique theme. This same track plays in Funky's Rentals, Wrinkly's Retreat, Swanky's Dash, and when meeting the Banana Queen.
 * The death and end-of-level music are removed. Music which is heard when the player loses a life only plays in the original SNES version, depending on the level.
 * As in other GBA remakes, the Kong noises are different. Notably, Kiddy Kong makes a much louder, higher-pitched sounding cry when defeated as opposed to a low-pitched cry in the original.
 * Sneeks now make the same sound as Neeks from Donkey Kong Country 2 as opposed to their own sound in the original SNES version.
 * Most enemies have reused sound effects from the two previous Game Boy Advance remakes, such as Kobbles having the same voice as Kritters from Donkey Kong Country.

Other changes

 * A completely new intro sequence and title screen have been created for this game.
 * In the original, the Bonus Barrels either shoot the Kongs upward or make a warp sound and the "B" shrinks. In the GBA version, similar to the other two game remakes, only the latter happens.

Baron K. Roolenstein

 * "NOOO! What have you done? My wife's going to kill me! I used all of her best pots and pans to make him... And then you just cast him aside as if he were a stack of empty tins!"
 * "WHAT!? How dare you! KAOS was my ticket to world domination... And I'd have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you meddling kids!"
 * "Well, you may have roasted my robot, but I'M the master chef around here, and I reckon it's about time your goose was cooked!"
 * "What the blazes!? So, YOU'RE the one who's been scuttling my super secret submarine! This is the LAST time you'll spoil my plans! I'm gonna bash you good!"
 * "Right!!! Look out, you cheeky monkeys!"

Blue

 * "H-h-hello there, Dixie/Kiddy/Kongs, how are you? My name's Blue, p-p-pleased to meet you."
 * "You wouldn't have brought... Oh, I can see you haven't. Never mind."
 * "I-I'm afraid you're a little early for the party, Dixie/Kiddy/Kongs. That's if anybody bothers to come at all."
 * "I get lots of post you know, but it's all bills - not a single card."
 * "What's that red circle on the calendar? Oh - sigh - It's nothing of importance."

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong Country: The underwater theme is an arrangement of the one from this game and the Game Over theme is an arrangement of this game's main theme.
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: The "Cavern Caprice" theme briefly riffs "Stickerbush Symphony".
 * Donkey Kong 64: Some Kongs first appearing in this game, such as Lanky Kong and Tiny Kong, are seen in Funky's Bonus Games. Kroc's laugh was recycled from K. Rool's laugh, but in a normal pitch.

Development
As with the other Donkey Kong Country remakes on the Game Boy Advance, the Donkey Kong Country 3 remake was coded from scratch. Though the developers tried to be as true to the original version as possible, some changes were made to improve some mechanics and the level design. Ellie's and the toboggan controls were specifically cited by Rare employee Paul Rahme as elements the team tried to improve.

At one point, Eveline Fischer's original soundtrack was meant to be included alongside David Wise's score. However, time and space limitations prevented it from being included.

Staff
David Wise composed the whole GBA soundtrack.

Promotion
In celebration of the Game Boy Advance release of Donkey Kong Country 3, Nintendo of America held the "Where's DK? Search Event" which began on October 31, 2005. By going to whereisdonkeykong.com and other participating websites, participants could follow clues that helped them find Donkey Kong. Each time Donkey Kong was located by a participant, Nintendo donated one dollar to the 's Primate Sanctuary. Up to ten-thousand dollars were given to the institution. The event ended on Novemember 21, 2005. In addition, an online, -powered game, Barrel-Blastapalooza, was released on the Nintendo-hosted donkeykongcountry.com website to promote the game. The website's servers were eventually shut down along with the Flash game.

Trivia

 * Despite the American version being released after the European version, it appears to have been based on an earlier build as it contains more bugs.