Buzz (enemy)
- Not to be confused with Buzzer.
| Buzz | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Artwork of a Buzz from Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! | |||
| First appearance | Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (1996) | ||
| Latest appearance | Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA) (2005) | ||
| Subject origin | Zinger | ||
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- “Multi-talented flying baddy, whose buzzsaw protects his whole body from attacks.”
- —Donkey Kong Country 3 manual, page 19
Buzzes, also named Green Zingers[1][2] and Buzzers,[3][4] are robotic wasps[5] that appear in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! and Donkey Kong Land III. They have legs made of metal and a buzzsaw in their abdomen, although their body and wings appear to be organic.
Buzzes act as the successor to Zingers, an organic wasp species from the first two installments of both the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land series. Buzzes are comparable to Zingers in numerous ways, such as being one of the most common enemies in both of their game appearances. Buzzes have the same behavior and attacks as Zingers and are among the harder enemies to defeat. Similar to Zingers, Buzzes have a standard type (which are green rather than yellow) and a less common red variant (once named a Red Zinger[6]), which are almost completely invulnerable, except to certain objects such as TNT Barrels.
Buzz's name directly references the onomatopoeia "buzz," which can represent the sound made by bees while flying or the sound of a buzzsaw. Their name might have been derived from the "buzz" prefix of buzzsaw.
History
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Buzzes are the most common enemy, especially the green variant. They cannot be defeated by Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong directly, but can be defeated by most other attacks, such as throwing a barrel at them or attacking them with an Animal Friend. Red Buzzes can usually only be defeated by a TNT Barrel or an Invincibility Barrel, although in Krack Shot Kroc, a red Buzz gets defeated if hit by one of Kroc's fireballs. In the final level Rocket Rush, the Rocket Barrel's exhaust flames can defeat Red Buzzes, which turn black when defeated, although in the Game Boy Advance version, this does not defeat them.
Donkey Kong Land III
In Donkey Kong Land III, because of the Game Boy's monochromatic screen, Buzzes do not have color variations. They have the same behavior as the green Buzzes in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. The Game Boy Color port reflects this by giving every Buzz a green sprite.
Diddy Kong Pilot (2003 version)
In the 2003 iteration of Diddy Kong Pilot, both purple and blue Buzzes appear as homing weapons that racers can use. The original red and green Buzzes do not appear in the game.
Purple Buzzes home in on the nearest opponent (similar to Red Shells in the Mario Kart series). They appear in quantities of either one, two, or three. A Blue Buzz instead homes on the racer in first place (similar to the Spiny Shells in the Mario Kart series), and it can only be obtained by racers in lower places. When either type crashes into a racer, they briefly fall down and bounce onto the ground. The player can dodge a Buzz by either using a Zinger or by performing a loop by pressing 
and Up on the 
.
Purple Buzzes were replaced with Fire Eggs, and blue Buzzes were replaced by the Saucer of Peril in the final version, Banjo-Pilot.
Gallery
Artwork
A red Buzz
Artwork of green Buzzes in Doorstop Dash
Artwork of two red Buzzes chasing Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong outside Kastle Kaos
Artwork of two red Buzzes and a Krimp chasing Dixie Kong and Kiddy Kong in Demolition Drain-Pipe
A swarm of red Buzzes on the cover of the game's Nintendo Player's Guide
Sprites
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
A Buzz defeated from the Rocket Barrel in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Donkey Kong Land III
Donkey Kong GB: Dinky Kong & Dixie Kong
Diddy Kong Pilot
Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA)
Donkey Kong Country 3 (GBA)
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | バズ Bazu |
Buzz |
| Italian | Buzz |
- |
References
- ^ Nintendo Power volume 91, pages 59-61.
- ^ Nintendo Magazine System (UK) issue 51, page 20.
- ^ Nintendo Official Magazine issue 54, pages 46-50, 52-53.
- ^ Nintendo Magazine System (UK) issue 51, pages 16 and 18-23.
- ^ Twitter confirmation by former Rare employee Mark Stevenson
- ^ Nintendo Power volume 91, page 59.
