- “Cranky can help Tiny beat the giant springy box.”
- —Wrinkly Kong, Donkey Kong 64
Mad Jack, also known as the giant springy box, is a large seemingly insane jack-in-the-box from the game Donkey Kong 64.
After opening Frantic Factory's boss door, Tiny Kong finds herself in a pitch-black room with several glowing squares on the floor. Venturing onto one of these squares, Tiny is surprised when they rise into the air. Suddenly, Mad Jack appears from a large box that falls out of a nearby toy rejection chute.
Mad Jack first attacks by re-entering his box and hopping from square to square attempting to crush Tiny, who has to frantically jump to different squares in order to avoid the crazed toy. If Tiny manages to avoid Jack, he will then pop out of his box and begin hurling fireballs at the Kong. While Mad Jack is busy doing this, Tiny must press a switch on a nearby square. If the square the switch is on is the same color as the one Jack is on, then he will be electrocuted. However, Tiny will electrocute herself if the switch's color doesn't match Mad Jack's platform color.
Eventually, after being damaged multiple times, Jack will begin to hop around faster and also shoot laser blasts from his robotic eye, which create shockwaves when they hit the platforms. He will also turn invisible after taking four hits. In order to track where Jack is, Tiny must watch the sparkles that trail behind him when he jumps, and Jack will also still light up the squares he jumps on. Eventually, Jack will sustain too much damage, and his square (along with all the other squares) will fall, and Mad Jack will (humorously) crash into the ground below after doing a mock "wave goodbye". He is apparently destroyed.
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | マッド・ジャック[?] Maddo Jyakku |
Mad Jack |
Trivia
- Mad Jack was originally supposed to be a mini-boss called Junk-in-the-Box, had a design resembling a human clown, and was supposed to be fought in the R&D Room in Frantic Factory. Later in development, the Toy Monster became the new mini-boss for this world, while Mad Jack became the world's main boss.
- Mad Jack's Boss Key is the only one in the game that does not unlock a world on its own. As such, players do not need to collect it immediately to advance. However, despite this, Mad Jack's Boss Key is still mandatory for completing the game.
- The laugh heard during the battle is actually part of his theme's track. Said laugh along with his quacks were stock tracks originally vocalized by the late Clarence Nash for Donald Duck. [citation needed]