Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color)

Donkey Kong Country is a 2000 Game Boy Color remake of the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game of the same name. While its graphics and sounds are downgraded to fit the handheld system's more limited capabilities, several new elements are also added.

Story
"I'll hunt them down through every part of my island, until I have every banana from my hoard back!!"

- Donkey Kong

During a stormy night on Donkey Kong Island, Donkey Kong orders Diddy to guard his banana hoard for his "hero training" until midnight. While watching for predators beneath the darkness, Diddy hears noises outside. He nervously asks, "W-w-who goes there?!". An ominous voice tells the other to seal Diddy in a barrel, kick it into the bushes, and steal the bananas. Diddy gets ambushed by Kremlings, some of which he manages to defeat with his Cartwheel Attack until being overpowered by Klump. He seals Diddy in a DK Barrel and kicks it across the jungle. The Kremlings load the entire banana hoard onto their vehicles and carry them through the jungle, dropping behind trails of bananas.

The next morning, Donkey Kong wakes up by a loud calling of his name. Realizing that he slept through his watch, Donkey Kong quickly exits his tree house, only to find Cranky Kong outside. Cranky prompts Donkey Kong to check the banana cave for a "big surprise". Inside the cave, Donkey Kong finds out that all of his bananas were stolen, with only a few discarded peels lying around. Cranky mocks Donkey Kong for shirking his responsibility, noting that Diddy is also gone. Meanwhile, Donkey Kong is in disbelief over his stolen bananas and rages that the Kremlings stole all of them. Donkey Kong vows to bring payback upon the Kremlings and recover his banana hoard. Cranky breaks the fourth wall by questioning why the "game idea" involves finding Diddy and rescuing bananas instead of a damsel in distress. Donkey Kong tells how Diddy wishes to be a video game hero like Donkey Kong. Cranky believes neither of them are suitable for being video game heroes, and he goes on to brag about his popularity during the arcade era. Deeming the adventure "ridiculous", Cranky believes Donkey Kong would be lucky to even sell ten copies of the game. Donkey Kong gets mad at Cranky and insists on going on an adventure to save Diddy and recover the stolen bananas. Donkey Kong leaves and follows a trail of bananas along his way. Cranky briefly hesitates, but then follows after Donkey Kong. Cranky mumbles that Donkey Kong may need his help and further mentions that kids do not have respect for their elders anymore.

In the first level, Donkey Kong releases Diddy Kong, who tags along during the adventure. Together, the Kongs travel through various areas, including jungles, mines, forests, temples, snowy mountains, caves, and factories. With assistance from Cranky, Funky, and Candy Kong, the two Kongs eventually reach a large pirate ship, the Gangplank Galleon, where they are confronted by the Kremling Krew's leader, King K. Rool. After Donkey Kong and Diddy defeat King K. Rool, Cranky congratulates them and tells them to check the banana hoard. They do so, finding that the bananas have been returned.

In the Game Boy Advance remake, the introduction cutscene for starting a new save file is an abridged version of the instruction booklet story. The ending to the remake was altered; after King K. Rool's defeat, Cranky, Funky, and Candy congratulate Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong on their victory. King K. Rool soon recovers, forces them off the ship and sails away, vowing to return.

Gameplay
The game introduces the "tag-team" system, where Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong follow each other throughout the levels. The Kong in front is the one currently in play, while the other Kong follows behind. If the Kong in play is injured, he quickly runs off the screen (or falls off the screen in the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance remakes), and the other takes its place. If this happens, only one Kong is on the screen at a time. If the lone Kong is injured by an enemy, the player loses an extra life and must restart the level either from the start or from the activated Continue Barrel. Any Kong that is missing can be recovered from a DK Barrel. When either the Kongs are freed from a DK Barrel, he goes behind the Kong in play. The player can press to switch characters, in which case Donkey Kong high-fives Diddy to switch places with him, or vice versa.

In the Game Boy Color remake, only one Kong appears on screen at a time, like the Donkey Kong Land games. If both Kongs are in the group, the one not in play is represented by a DK Barrel icon at the bottom-left corner. By pressing, the player can switch characters, which shows the Kong in play being moved to the DK Barrel icon while the other Kong moves out to appear on-screen.

Abilities
The basic moves that Donkey Kong and Diddy can perform include jumping, rolling/cartwheeling, climbing, and swimming. The most commonly used basic abilities are the jump and roll moves, both of which allow the Kongs to cross gaps and defeat enemies. The roll and cartwheel act as the same move, but can only be used by Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong respectively. The respective Kong can perform their roll or cartwheel from a ledge to do a longer jump in midair, effective for moving across abysses. Ropes are the only object that the Kongs can climb up or down on, allowing them to reach items or higher areas. Some ropes start moving across a gap when the Kongs cling on it while some others remain stationary. The Kongs can only swim during underwater levels.

Aside from the rolling attack, the Kongs also have some different abilities. Diddy is faster and more agile than Donkey Kong, but he is not as strong, which makes it harder for him to defeat Armys, Krushas, and Klumps. Donkey Kong is stronger and slower than Diddy and can perform a unique move, the Hand Slap. The move allows Donkey Kong find hidden items or objects in the ground or on treetops, but it can also be used to defeat enemies.

Another difference between the two Kongs is how they pick up and throw barrels. When Diddy picks up a barrel, he holds in front of him, protecting himself from enemies in the way. Donkey Kong holds a barrel over his head, which leaves him vulnerable to enemies in the front. Donkey Kong can throw barrels slightly farther than Diddy, allowing him to hit an enemy from a distance. When the barrel hits into an enemy, it breaks. If the Kongs throw a steel keg against a wall, they can jump on the barrel and balance on it as it rolls along.

Modes
When selecting a new file, the player can choose either single player or multiplayer; once the player selects a mode, they cannot change it unless they delete it and start a new one. In multiplayer, the first player controls Donkey Kong while the second player controls Diddy Kong. In multiplayer, if either Kong is hit, the other player must press a button to take over with their Kong (in the Game Boy Advance version, the other player must press, as instructed on the screen). The game keeps a score for both players, to keep track of how many levels they have completed.

The Kongs
There are a few Kongs who help Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong along their journey, and they each appear in one of the supporting locations.

The Good Guys
Aside from the supporting Kongs, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are also assisted by Animal Friends during the game. Each Animal Friend is imprisoned within an animal crate depicting a silhouette of their face. The Animal Friends only appear in certain levels, and the Kongs cannot take them to other levels. Every Animal Friend has their own unique abilities.

Enemies
Various types of enemies appear throughout the levels, attempting to get into Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's way. The Kremlings are the main enemies of the game.

The Bosses
At the end of every world, the Kongs must fight a boss, each guarding a portion of the stolen bananas. Most of the bosses are a larger version of an enemy.

Barrels
Barrels are the most common object in the game. There are many different types of barrels in the game, each with its own purpose and use.

Supporting locations
During their adventure, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are assisted by three other members of the Kong Family who operate their own location in every world.

Levels
Like Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country's levels and worlds are accessed from a world map. The main overworld is Donkey Kong Island, where the Kongs can travel between the worlds they have visited. Every world has a progression system where the Kongs must complete a level to unlock the next and so forth until reaching the boss level at the end. Every world has five to six levels. After the Kongs complete the boss level, they unlock the next world. The Kongs can return to the main Donkey Kong Island map by either defeating the world boss or by renting Funky's Jumbo Barrel.

A head of either Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong appear on the location of every world and level that either Kong has completed. A Kritter head appears only on the next level or world that the Kongs have not yet completed. In the Super Nintendo version, there is a glitch in single player mode where if Diddy completes a level and then Donkey Kong completes it afterward, his head does not appear on that level.

Most levels have Bonus Levels in them, two or three on average. They allow the Kongs to collect items and prizes. While it is optional for the Kongs to enter the Bonus Levels, entering every Bonus Level is required for 101% completion. Unlike the Super Mario series, the Kongs are not required to traverse a whole level to reach the end boss.

Differences from original
Donkey Kong Country was remade for the Game Boy Color in 2000. It was released in Japan under the title Donkey Kong 2001 (ドンキーコング2001) and, as the name implies, it was released there in 2001. There are several differences, some of which are because of the Game Boy Color's limited hardware capabilities. Differences include:
 * The GBC version prompts the player to select a language before going to the title screen, in the SNES version the language select menu is found in the file select. Also unlike the SNES version, all of the text will be in the selected language instead of having menus still in English.
 * There are three different title screens.
 * There is no two-player option for adventure mode.
 * The mode selection menu is reminiscent of Donkey Kong 64's.
 * Much like the Donkey Kong Land games, only one Kong appears at time. A DK Barrel icon is shown if both Kongs are in a group.
 * In the German version, many levels' names were changed to ones that more closely resemble their English names.
 * DK Sticker Packs are newly collectible photographs hidden in a level of each world. They are viewable from the Sticker Book, and can even be printed from the Game Boy Printer.
 * Due to the graphical limitations, the stormy weather effects in the levels Ropey Rampage and Snow Barrel Blast are not present in this version. Also, perhaps ironically, the misty effect in Misty Mine is not present here.
 * The light in Torchlight Trouble does not have a beam of light, but rather lights up the whole screen.
 * The level Winky's Walkway has been extended with some more enemies and a different layout.
 * In Millstone Mayhem, the Gnawties sit on top of the millstones rather than in the middle.
 * A new level called Necky Nutmare has been added in Chimp Caverns.
 * The Kongs do not ride the Animal Friends; rather, they transform into them when jumping on the animal crate. If an Animal Friend comes in contact with an enemy, it reverts to Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong, who cannot transform back into the Animal Friend unless they find another animal crate.
 * The Kongs do not travel between levels on the world map along dots in a straight line, but rather following paths, similar to Donkey Kong Land.
 * Two mini-games have been added: Funky hosts a fishing game known as Funky's Fishing (which would be later reprised in the GBA remake) and Cranky hosts a shooting game called Crosshair Cranky.
 * Two additional difficulties have been added: the first one removes DK Barrels and the other removes Star Barrels. After beating the game in the normal difficulty, the player has to replay the game with each new difficulty in the same file to achieve 101% completion.
 * Most of the music and sound effects were taken from Donkey Kong Land or downgraded for Game Boy Color. Its Forest Frenzy track was even entirely newly composed.
 * The warping Blast Barrel in Mine Cart Carnage was removed.
 * The game saves automatically after completing a level. As a result, Candy's Save Point was replaced by Candy's Challenge where Donkey Kong or Diddy must complete a challenge in each world.
 * The staff credits shows various screenshots instead of taking place in DK's Tree House. The cast of characters no longer appears in the game.

Reception
The Game Boy Color remake was praised for taking a graphically-impressive title and putting it to the platform in a complete and technically competent form, in contrast to other unsuccessful attempts at directly porting or remaking home console games for handhelds.

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong 64: The Select Screen resembles the Donkey Kong 64 one.