Donkey Kong 64: Difference between revisions

|[[File:Worm DK64 screenshot.png|150px]]<br>[[Worm]]

|align=left|Creepy Castle is the seventh and penultimate level in the game. It consists of a huge, medieval castle floating above the clouds in the sky. The castle has a constant spooky atmosphere, and its many rooms are haunted. The Kongs must explore both the outside and the inside of the castle. The outside consists of several grassy and wooden platforms with enemies such as [[Bones (enemy)|Bones]] and Koshas. There is a constant thunderstorm outside, and a pond near the beginning of the stage. There is also a giant tree near the pond that can be entered for one of the Golden Bananas, and a small greenhouse with a labyrinth where a [[Kroc]] resides. The castle itself consists of several haunted rooms, some of them with a medieval style. The largest room in the castle is the Ballroom, a huge room with images of K. Rool and three giant candles. Next to this room is the Museum, which contains several ancient statues. The library is haunted by several [[book]]s that attack the Kongs. The castle also has several underground catacombs, where a torture room and a creepy minecart track with a [[resident demon]] that attacks the Kongs are found. The boss of this level is [[King Kut Out]], and he can be fought by all the Kongs, although only Lanky is mandatory for the battle.

|align=left|Hideout Helm is the eighth and final level of the game. It is located inside King K. Rool's fortress, and is where the Blast-o-Matic is located. As soon as the Kongs enter this stage, a timer appears on the bottom of the screen, indicating how much time the Kongs have to shut down the machine before it destroys Donkey Kong Island. Depending on how many Blueprints the Kongs collected, the amount of time increases. The default time is ten minutes, and each blueprint given to [[Snide]] adds one minute to the timer for a maximum of fifty minutes. The machine must be disabled by completing [[minigame]]s with each Kong, thus disabling the machine by sections. Once the Blast-o-Matic is disabled, the Kongs can access the final Boss Key if they have at least four [[Battle Crown]]s and have completed ''Jetpac'' and ''Donkey Kong''. There are no collectibles in this level aside from five Banana Bunch Coins found in the minigames and a Battle Crown. When the Kongs reach the highest area in the fortress, K. Rool flees in his airship, only to crash when K. Lumsy is freed, allowing the Kongs to battle him in the final showdown.

''Donkey Kong 64'' started development immediately after the conclusion of ''[[Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!|Donkey Kong Country 3]]''{{'}}s.<ref name="DF Retro">Digital Foundry (December 16, 2017). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ7qtqqgTlo DF Retro: Donkey Kong Country + Killer Instinct - A 16-Bit CG Revolution!]. 'YouTube''. Retrieved December 16, 2017</ref> The original incarnation of ''Donkey Kong 64'' was meant to be more similar in design to the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series than the final game, featuring linear levels played through a combination of forward-scrolling and side view sections, similar to ''{{wp|Crash Bandicoot (video game)|Crash Bandicoot}}''.<ref name="DF Retro"></ref> After around 18 months, development was rebooted after Rare took notice of the trend of open 3D games started by ''[[Super Mario 64]]''.<ref name="DF Retro"></ref> Transitioning the series to true 3D proved challenging: graphic artist [[Mark Stevenson]] noted that "''As an artist who was on the DKC games, I used to build and animate the characters from a fixed side-on view. Being able to see this character from any angle, you'd make an animation, put it in the game, and you'd think it looked good side-on, but awful from every other angle! It was challenging from a technical and design perspective.''<ref name="GamesRadar">Tom Power (December 6, 2019). [https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/making-of-donkey-kong-64/ As Donkey Kong 64 turns 20, the devs reflect on its design, the infamous DK Rap, and how a shocked Shigeru Miyamoto created the Coconut Shooter]. ''GamesRadar. Retrieved December 06, 2019</ref> ''Donkey Kong 64'' was among the first Nintendo 64 game to feature dynamic lightning, although its implementation was faked after the first rendering.<ref name="GamesRadar"></ref>

*''Donkey Kong 64'' is the first ''[[Super Mario (franchise)|Super Mario]]''-related title to support 16:9 widescreen display; despite this, the game's cutscenes are still locked to the standard 4:3 aspect ratio. It is also the first ''Super Mario''-related title to support {{wp|5.1 surround sound}} (via the {{wp|Dolby Pro Logic|Dolby Surround}} encoding standard, as the [[Nintendo 64]] lacks native surround sound support), though the first actual ''Super Mario'' game to support surround sound would be ''[[Super Mario Sunshine]]'' three years later. It is also the only ''Super Mario''-related title on the Nintendo 64 with these features.