Donkey Kong Jungle Beat

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat is a platformer for the Nintendo GameCube and Wii starring Donkey Kong. It is controlled with the DK Bongos. During the game's boss battles, the bongos control Donkey Kong's fists.

This was one of the first of the non-arcade Donkey Kong games not to be made by Rareware. After they left Nintendo and joined Microsoft, Rare lost control of the Donkey Kong series due to the fact that it was trademarked by Nintendo.

Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was different from the Donkey Kong Country series in that none of the old characters or drones made an appearance. Also, the personality of Donkey Kong was altered, as he was made from a generally peaceful ape into a much more aggressive anthropomorphic animal.

Story
Story From Instruction Booklet:

One day, the peace of the jungle was disrupted by a rampaging pack of wild baddies who wreaked havoc on the residents of the jungle.

Not only that, but they laid claim to every kingdom and stole each one's precious bananas!

"This calls for the one and only Donkey Kong!"

Join forces with your jungle buddies to face an array of powerful enemies and restore peace to the jungle!

Main

 * Donkey Kong
 * Helper Monkeys
 * The Kings

Animal Buddies

 * Hoofer
 * Flurl
 * Orco
 * Helibird

Controls
The controls of this game are different from most 2-D platformers. Hitting the left bongo repeatedly will send send Donkey Kong running to the left, and hitting the right will send him right. To jump straight into the air, the player must hit both bongos at once. To jump diagonally, the player must hit the bongo in the direction he or she wants to jump, while using the other bongo to run. When swimming, swinging, and riding Animal Buddies, the controls are made much more simple.

Levels
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat contains a total of 16 'Kingdoms', all of which are named after fruit. Each Kingdom is selected by choosing one of four "barrels". Every Kingdom contains two standard levels followed up by a boss battle. The only areas that stray from this pattern are the VS. areas, which each only have one level and then a boss battle.
 * Opening Ceremony
 * D Barrel
 * Banana Kingdom
 * Orange Kingdom
 * Watermelon Kingdom
 * Apple Kingdom
 * K Barrel
 * Strawberry Kingdom
 * Pineapple Kingdom
 * Lemon Kingdom
 * Grape Kingdom
 * J Barrel
 * Cherry Kingdom
 * Peach Kingdom
 * Melon Kingdom
 * Durian Kingdom
 * VS. Cactus King
 * B Barrel
 * Pear Kingdom
 * Lychee Kingdom
 * Chili Pepper Kingdom
 * Star Fruit Kingdom
 * VS. Ghastly King

Wii version only
The following stages only appear in the Wii version.
 * Kong of the Mountain
 * Banana Banquet

Bosses
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat's bosses come in four species, and each species has a different fighting style. The species are Kongs, Rocs, Hogs, and Tusks.

Kongs

 * Dread Kong
 * Karate Kong
 * Ninja Kong
 * Sumo Kong

Rocs

 * Scruff Roc
 * Fleet Roc
 * Hard Roc
 * Thunder Roc

Hogs

 * Rogue-Hog
 * Mo-Hog
 * Bloat-Hog
 * Gloat-Hog

Tusks

 * Turret Tusk
 * Grave Tusk
 * Torch Tusk
 * Double Tusk

References to Other Games

 * Donkey Kong: At the very beginning of the Cactus/Ghastly King battles, part of his theme song is a remix of the tune that plays when Donkey Kong climbs atop the construction site with Pauline.
 * Donkey Kong Country: The entire concept of collecting bananas and riding Animal Buddies originated from this game. Also, Karate Kong bears a slight resemblance to Cranky Kong. Additionally, Barrels appear in the stage select menu, and the background music that's played in Dawn Savanna, after clearing clearing any boss stage, and the ending are remixes of the Jungle Hijinxs theme song.

References in Later Games

 * Donkey Kong: Jungle Fever: This spin-off featured several characters from Jungle Beat.
 * Mario Kart DS: Many voice clips from Jungle Beat were reused in this game.
 * DK: Jungle Climber: Many voice clips were reused in this game as well. Also, the pose that Donkey Kong strikes after completing the bonus stage (where the player has to catch bananas with a barrel) is identical to the pose that he strikes in Jungle Beat after completing the banana-eating bonus at the end of each stage.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: There were a few gameplay mechanics from Donkey Kong Jungle Beat that were reused in this game. Also, Party Monkeys were originally going to appear as enemies in this game.
 * Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Rumble Falls was a default stage that could be selected in the game, and the background would also change rapidly, with one of them being the background that was used in the Sky Garden stage. Also, the theme song, Battle For Storm Hill, could be selected as background music for that stage. Lastly, Party Monkeys appeared as Stickers, and Helibird and Turrent Tusk appeared as Trophies.

New Play Control
The game has been remade for the Wii in the "New Play Control" selection. It was released in Japan on December 11, 2008, North America on May 4, 2009, and in Europe on June 5, 2009. The game is played with the Wii Remote and Nunchuck, offers a wide-screen mode and there were several changes to the levels as well. Gimmicks and enemies may be found at different places. There are no completely new levels, but there are two new locations in the Kingdom selection screen, including a Boss Battle Run-Trough and the Ceremony stage from the GameCube version.

Donkey Kong is controlled with the Analog Stick of the Nunchuck, and to clap the player has to flick the Wii Remote. Unlike the original game, Donkey Kong's claps can face into different directions. There are new obstacles like a cactus. The medal system has been revised - there are no longer different medals, but a number of medals (up to three for each kingdom) the player can win by getting a certain number of bananas.

Other differences include:
 * An actual storyline, which wasn't present anywhere in the original game, not even the manual.
 * Six different save files, unlike the original, which had only one per memory card.
 * Bananas, or "Beats" as they were called in the original, are no longer used as an energy meter (except during boss battles). Instead, there is a three-heart life meter. A life counter has also been added.
 * The dancing panda bear was changed into a blue bear.
 * Checkpoints have been added.
 * The spiked, furry creatures were removed from Silver Snow Peak for unknown reasons.
 * Blasting Barrel Cannons have been added and are now used in the place of the launching flowers from the original.
 * Donkey Kong now wears a crown after defeating a boss. The crown could also be worn in the stages after the player completes the game with all crests and crowns.
 * There are now 60 crests instead of 72.
 * Some boss and level locations were moved to different kingdoms.
 * Donkey Kong can no longer use Clap Grabs underwater and/or in the air (while using Animal Buddies such as Helibird or Flurl).
 * The Karate Kong battle is shown from a different camera angle while Donkey Kong is punching.
 * Due to closer camera angles, Donkey Kong is no longer shown at the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.
 * The intro stage can no longer be selected once the player has completed it.

Trivia

 * This was the first video game to be rated E10+ by the ESRB.
 * This is the first Donkey Kong game to feature a space-themed stage, followed by DK: Jungle Climber and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast.
 * Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, so far, is the only New Play Control! series game to have new content.