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Donkey Kong 64

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Template:Infobox Donkey Kong 64 is a 3D action-adventure platformer game developed by Rare and released for the Nintendo 64 console in 1999. It is a follow-up to the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy for the Super Nintendo console, taking place after the events of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!. The game requires the use of the Expansion Pak in order to function and was the first Nintendo 64 game to do so. In the game, Donkey Kong and his friends set off in a quest to stop the evil King K. Rool from destroying the Kongs' homeland, Donkey Kong Island, with a powerful machine called the Blast-o-Matic, which is located in a mechanical version of Crocodile Isle. So far, the title is the first and only 3D platformer game in the Donkey Kong franchise. The game was originally nicknamed Ultra Donkey Kong by the press (although Leigh Loveday denied the game was ever named that internally[1]) and was rumored to be for the Nintendo 64DD.[2]

Story

“Left!” rasped a voice to his left.

“Right!” came back the immediate response from the other side.

It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but now the Klaptrap turning the wheel wasn’t so sure. His little legs were getting tired, and those two incompetent fools didn’t have a clue where they were going.

“Left!”

“Right!”

With a sudden sickening crunch of metal against rock, the King’s pride and joy came to a shuddering halt, knocking all three off their feet. The tough little Klaptrap was up first, dashing eagerly across to the broken bridge window to see what those goons had hit.

“You two are going to be in sooo much trouble!” he barked gleefully.

But that pair weren’t the only ones in trouble. Deep within the gloomy bowels of his latest creation, a furious King K. Rool sat on his throne, glaring down at the quaking generals of his vast Kremling army.

“Well? I’m still waiting for an answer...”

His plan couldn’t fail this time, or so he had thought. But like so many times in the past, he’d underestimated just how useless his scaly minions could be. It had taken years to build, but now his mighty island stronghold lay immobile off the coast of its very first target – Kong Isle. Perhaps all was not lost, though...

“Power up the Blast-o-Matic. Target is Kong Isle. Fire when ready!”

Instead of a deafening explosion, there came only a pathetic whimper.

“I’m so v-very sorry your m-majesty, but I’m afraid the Blast-o-Matic isn’t quite w-working yet...”

K. Rool turned to face the white-coated technician responsible for the bad news. The King began to cry.

“It’s just not fair...” he sobbed. “I really thought I was going to win this time.”

Klump waddled over and put a consoling arm around his distraught leader.

“Don’t get all upset now, your excellency. We’ll go and capture those nasty Kongs for you. Then we’ll steal their Golden Bananas as usual so that if any Kongs escape us, they’ll be too busy looking for them to come and ruin your magnificent plans.”

As King K. Rool watched his generals leave, he wiped away his crocodile tears and began to laugh. His little play acting had worked, and now those Kongs would soon be history. He glared down at his bemused technician.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Get the Blast-o-Matic working. I’ve got an island to destroy!” [3]

The story begins in the peaceful Donkey Kong Island, which is the homeland of the Kongs. The Kremling Krew is shown sailing a fortified, technological version of Crocodile Isle to the Kongs' island. King K. Rool is planning on destroying the island using the Blast-o-Matic. It was designed by a weasel engineer named Snide, who switched sides after a paranoid King K. Rool kicked him out. Due to Snide's absence, Kritters are charged with operating the Blast-o-Matic and piloting the island, but they are shown to be quite inexperienced and work lazily, which causes the island to crash into a rock in the way to Donkey Kong Island, and the Blast-o-Matic to become heavily damaged as a result. Crocodile Isle ends up directly in front of Donkey Kong Island, so K. Rool orders three of his minions, a Klump, a Kritter and a Kasplat, to steal Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard, which consists of two hundred Golden Bananas, and imprison the other Kongs, so as to buy time and distract Donkey Kong while the Kremling Krew repairs the damaged Blast-o-Matic.

File:CrankyScreen.PNG
Cranky Kong talking to DK about the incident.

Meanwhile, Donkey Kong is in his tree house, doing push ups while listening to the DK Rap on his radio. Squawks then suddenly appears in the house and tells Donkey Kong that all of his precious Golden Bananas are gone, and the other Kongs have vanished. Donkey Kong then goes to Cranky's Lab, where Cranky Kong offers homemade potions that give him and the other Kongs different abilities needed throughout the adventure, but only if Donkey Kong completes his training barrels first. Once Donkey Kong gains the new ability from Cranky's potion, he is able to start his quest to save the other Kongs and claim his Banana Hoard. At the beginning of his quest, Donkey Kong finds a mysterious island with a cave on it. Inside this cave is K. Lumsy, a giant Kremling that was kicked out from the Kremling Krew and trapped inside a cage for refusing to help K. Rool in his schemes. K. Lumsy asks Donkey Kong to release him from the cage by defeating various bosses and retrieving their keys. As Donkey Kong collects Golden Bananas, he eventually saves Diddy Kong in Jungle Japes, Lanky and Tiny Kong in Angry Aztec, and lastly Chunky Kong in Frantic Factory. The Kongs also meet the Banana Fairy Princess, who lives in the Banana Fairy Island and asks the Kongs to catch all the Banana Fairies with the Banana Fairy's Camera.

File:KrushaKrool01sm.jpg
King K. Rool preparing for the final battle.

After the Kongs dismantle the Blast-o-Matic in three sections and collect the final boss key at Hideout Helm, K. Rool tries to desperately escape using his King Kruiser II. The Kongs, however, use the boss key to finally unlock the cage and free K. Lumsy, who starts to chase K. Rool's cruiser as it flies by Donkey Kong Island. During the chase, however, K. Lumsy accidentally trips over a rock and hits the cruiser, causing it to fall in the water. The Kongs then enter the King Kruiser's remains and battle K. Rool in a five-round boxing match. After the match, Funky Kong appears and launches a boot at K. Rool while he is distracted by Candy Kong, who pretends to flirt with him. K. Rool is finally defeated by the Kongs, and peace is restored to Donkey Kong Island.

Gameplay

File:DKScreen.PNG
Donkey Kong exploring the first level.

The player controls one of the five available Kongs, and must venture into open and vast worlds similar to those found in Super Mario 64. Only Donkey Kong is available from the start, and the other Kongs are unlocked as part of the storyline. Unlocking all the Kongs is mandatory for completing the game, as the bosses can only be defeated by a certain Kong, with the exception of King Kut Out and King K. Rool himself, as they are battled by all the Kongs. Each Kong has a unique set of abilities that are learned when the player purchases potions from Cranky Kong at his lab. The player can select between available Kongs by entering the various Tag Barrels located around the worlds.

The gameplay is heavily based upon item collection, and each stage features several items for each Kong to collect. It is not mandatory to collect every single item, but it is required if the player is aiming for 101% completion. All of the collectibles are of a certain color, and they can only be collected by a Kong whose color matches the color of the item. The most important items are the Golden Bananas, obtainable by accomplishing certain tasks, but there are various other types of collectibles for each Kong to find, such as Banana Medals, Banana Bunch Coins, Blueprints, etc. Each world features a certain number of items that can only be collected by a certain Kong, often making use of their unique abilities.

Super Duper Simian Slam
The shore of Donkey Kong Island, the hub world.

Donkey Kong Island acts as the hub world of the game, from which the player can access other areas. The first world of the game, Jungle Japes, can only be accessed when Donkey Kong talks to K. Lumsy at his island. When the Kongs collect a new Boss Key from the boss of a world, K. Lumsy starts to happily jump in his cage, causing a tremor that unlocks the passage to a new world. However, the only way to access new worlds is by collecting the amount of Golden Bananas displayed on B. Locker, who blocks the entrance to the world. When the Kongs have the appropriate amount of Golden Bananas, B. Locker disappears, allowing access to the world. The amount of Golden Bananas needed to unlock each world increases as the Kongs progress through the game.

File:DK64BK.PNG
Donkey Kong obtaining a Boss Key after defeating a boss.

Found at the end of each world is a boss that can only be accessed when the Kongs feed Scoff with a certain amount of bananas. The amount of bananas required to fight the boss increases as the Kongs progress through the worlds. When the Kongs feed Scoff with the appropriate amount of bananas, he becomes heavier and allows Troff to reach the key that unlocks the door to the boss. Each boss can only be fought by a certain Kong, whose face appears in the door before the battle. If another Kong tries to head through the door, it closes immediately. The boss battles are constructed around the designated Kong's abilities. By defeating the bosses, the Kongs gain Boss Keys that are used to unlock K. Lumsy's cage.

Controls

  • A Button: Jump, swim fast underwater
  • B Button: Attack, swim slowly underwater, swim faster overwater, grab and throw objects, shoot weapon (with weapon out), hold to charge up shockwave attack and release to use it, take picture
  • Z Button: Crouch, dive underwater, activate pad move (when standing on Cranky's Kong Pad), stand still (with weapon out), use Bananaport Pad, release vine
  • R Button Center camera behind the character (hold to fixate the camera in a position), face the other direction when holding vines
  • Control Stick: Move character, move cursor in menus
  • START Button: Pause/Unpause, view status screen
  • Left C Button: Rotate camera left
  • Right C Button: Rotate camera right
  • Up C Button: Enter first-person view
  • Down C Button: Zoom out/in
  • A Button + A Button: Pony Tail Twirl (Tiny)
  • A Button + B Button: Jumping attack
  • A Button + Z Button: Simian Slam, Super Simian Slam, Super Duper Simian Slam
  • Z Button + A Button: Backflip
  • Z Button + B Button: Special Move (Diddy, Lanky, Chunky)
  • Z Button + Right C Button: Throw Orange Grenade
  • Z Button + Left C Button: Take out weapon/put away weapon, cancel Cranky's Kong Barrel ability
  • Z Button + Down C Button: Take out the Banana Fairy's Camera
  • Z Button + Up C Button: Play instrument
  • Control Stick + B Button: Running attack
  • Control Stick + Z Button + A Button: Long jump
  • Control Stick + Z Button + B Button: Roll (Donkey, Tiny)

Characters

Playable

Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong, the starting character.

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong is the main and starting character. Donkey Kong is a powerful character, with good attacking strength, but is slightly slower than Lanky. He can execute a kicking attack if the player presses the B Button button, and he can also use a double-handed punch while in the air by pressing the B Button button while jumping. Donkey Kong's weapon of choice is the Coconut Shooter, which he can use to shoot coconuts that can press certain switches. Donkey Kong is the only character who can access Baboon Blast challenges through the use of his Pad Move, and later on he gains the ability to pull rusty levers with his strength. Donkey Kong can collect yellow Bananas, Banana Bunch Coins and Blueprints, and his instrument is the bongo.

Book's Description

"He's the only ape who still cares enough to wear a tie. DK may not be the most powerful Kong - or the quickest - but he applies a strong blue-collar work ethic to the business of Kremling Crushing. That may be why he's the leader of the Kong Clan."

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong
Diddy Kong, the first unlockable character.

Diddy Kong is the first character to be unlocked, and the second Kong overall. Diddy Kong is unlocked in the first world of the game, Jungle Japes, where he is found imprisoned in a cell in a mountainside. Once he is freed, he becomes a playable character. Diddy Kong's attacks are not as strong as the other Kongs, such as Donkey, Lanky and Chunky Kong, but he is much faster and more agile. He is the second fastest Kong, losing only to Tiny Kong. Diddy's main attack is his trademark cartwheel which can be used to attack enemies, and he also has a tail attack done by pressing the B Button button while he is in the air. Diddy Kong's weapon of choice is the Peanut Popgun, which can shoot peanuts that can hit certain switches. His instrument is the guitar, and he can collect red Bananas, Banana Bunch Coins and Blueprints.

Book's Description

"You'll probably recognize his familiar furry mug from past adventures. A mere bantamweight in bulk, this courageous chimp is the heavyweight champion of hard-core attitude. Whether he's rocking out on a six-stringed, amplified guitar or rocketing through the sky, he's always giving it 100 percent - Diddy Style."

Lanky Kong

Artwork of Lanky Kong from Donkey Kong 64
Lanky Kong, the second unlockable character.

Lanky Kong is one of the unlockable characters. He is unlocked in the second world, Angry Aztec, but the player can unlock Tiny first. Lanky is the most balanced Kong, having balanced speed, strength and agility, with good range on his attacks courtesy of his long arms. Lanky can stretch his arms to attack enemies by pressing the B Button button, and he can also use his long arms to activate switches. During the game, Lanky learns how to inflate and float like a balloon when he stands on pads with his face on them, and he also learns how to walk around on his hands using the Orangstand and Orangstand Sprint, both allowing him to move climb up steep slopes and the latter making him move very fast. His weapon of choice is the Grape Shooter, a blowgun that can fire grapes to hit certain switches and attack enemies. His instrument is the trombone. Lanky Kong is able to collect blue Bananas, Banana Bunch Coins, and Blueprints.

Book's Description

"This knuckle-dragging Kong looks like a clown, and it's more than just a coincidence. Think of him as a twisted twig on a distant branch of the family tree. Kremlings and Klaptraps may snicker at his goofy gait as he ambles in their direction, but there's nothing funny about a hyper extended sucker punch."

Tiny Kong

Tiny Kong holding her Feather Bow
Tiny Kong, the only female playable character.

Tiny Kong is the fourth unlockable character, and is the only female Kong to be playable. She, along with Lanky, can be unlocked in Angry Aztec, the second world of the game, and she can be unlocked either after or before Lanky, depending on if Diddy was rescued beforehand. Tiny is the fastest and most agile out of all the playable characters, but she has the weakest physical attacks among the Kongs. Her most prominent move is the Pony Tail Twirl, which allows her to float in the air and reduce her falling speed. Tiny can also shrink herself to access certain places once she learns the Mini-Monkey ability. Her main attack is using her hair to beat up enemies, done by pressing the B Button button. She uses the Feather Bow as her weapon of choice, allowing her to shoot feathers that can hit certain switches and defeat enemies. Her instrument is the saxophone, and she can collect purple Bananas, Banana Bunch Coins and blueprints.

Book's Description

"Dixie's VERY little sister brings a big dose of flower power to the Kong's campaign. You'll find her pigtails perfect for pugilism and not too bad for a helicopter ride from the treetops. Tiny never shrinks from her responsibilities - even when she shrinks herself physically for a mouse's eye view of the action. "

Chunky Kong

File:Chunky Kong.jpg
Chunky Kong, the last unlockable character.

Chunky Kong is the one of the Kongs to be unlocked, and he is found in the third world of the game, Frantic Factory. Chunky is the strongest Kong, which allows him to easily lift boulders and other heavy objects, as well as attack enemies with powerful punches. However, he is the slowest and least agile Kong, and has the lowest maximum jump height of all the characters. His main attack is spinning rapidly, attacking enemies close to him. Throughout the game, Chunky also learns to become invisible when he stands on a pad with his face on it, and he also learns to become giant upon entering a barrel with his face on it. Chunky Kong's weapon of choice is the Pineapple Launcher, which can fire pineapples that are used to hit certain switches and defeat enemies. His instrument is the triangle, and he can collect green Bananas, Banana Bunch Coins, and Blueprints.

Book's Description

"He's big. He's bad. He plays the triangle. Chunky is something of a primate paradox: brutal when the situation demands it, yet almost meek at other times. He's also not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so he'll need all the help you can give him. If there's heavy lifting to be done, however, Chunky is the Monkey to see."

Animal Friends

Rambi the Rhino

Rambi, from Donkey Kong 64.
Rambi the Rhino

Rambi the Rhino is one of the two playable Animal Friends in this game. He can use his strong horn to smash crates, attack enemies, and break huts and wooden walls with his face on them. Rambi appears in the first world, Jungle Japes, and also makes an appearance in one of Donkey Kong's minigames in Hideout Helm. Rambi has an unlockable arena where he makes an appearance. Donkey Kong is the only character that can transform into Rambi by entering his Animal Crate.

Enguarde the Swordfish

Enguarde, from Donkey Kong 64.
Enguarde the Swordfish

Enguarde the Swordfish can use his pointy bill to smash open treasure chests and reveal hidden items. He can also leap out of water to pass through DK logos floating in the air. Enguarde appears only in the world Gloomy Galleon, and in his unlockable arena. Lanky Kong is the only character who can turn into Enguarde.

Kremlings

Krusha

Krusha, with his Gun, in Multiplayer mode.
Krusha with his gun in Multiplayer Mode.

Krusha is a Kremling originating from Donkey Kong Country, and is a character playable only in the game's Multiplayer mode. He is unlocked once the player collects fifteen Banana Fairies. He has similar attributes to Chunky Kong, as he is one of the strongest characters physically but lacks in speed and agility, although he has a few unique attacks, such as a fast sliding punch. His weapon of choice is the Orange grenade launcher, which is used to launch Oranges.

Klaptrap

A Klaptrap, in a minigame.
Klaptrap in a minigame

Klaptrap is a regular enemy that appears in various locations throughout the game, but he is playable in a minigame, "Beaver Bother". He must bark to scare away the numerous Gnawties into the hole in the middle of the arena before the time runs out.

Supporting Characters

Banana Fairy Princess

File:Banana Fairy1.PNG
The Banana Fairy Princess

The Banana Fairy Princess is the princess of the Banana Fairies and lives in a fairy shaped structure on an island surrounding DK Isles. Only Tiny Kong can visit her, and when she does, the Banana Fairy Princess will request that the Kongs search for and return her Banana Fairies to her. The Banana Fairy Princess will then give away the Banana Camera Film and also gives the Kongs the ability to do a shockwave attack that can defeat almost any enemy in one hit.

K. Lumsy

K. Lumsy is a large Kremling who is first seen locked up in a large cage on an island beside Crocodile Isles. Unlike the other members of the Kremling Krew, K. Lumsy is a kind hearted Kremling who refuses to destroy DK Isles, which resulted in King K. Rool locking him up. The Kongs agree to collect the keys to K. Lumsy's prison and set him free, which is one of the game's main tasks.

Wrinkly Kong

Wrinkly Kong's Artwork, from Donkey Kong 64.
Wrinkly Kong

Wrinkly Kong appears in the lobbies to each world (save for Hideout Helm) where she appears as a ghost, having died prior to the start of the game. Here she gives the Kongs hints towards one of their Golden Bananas in each level. The Wrinkly Doors are color coded to match each of the Kong's main colors.

Troff and Scoff

Troff Scoff
Troff and Scoff

Troff and Scoff are a pig and hippopotamus, respectively, that appear in each boss portal. They appear standing beside each end of the boss door, with Troff trying to reach the key to unlock it and Scoff on the other end. The Kongs must feed Scoff in order for Troff to reach the key to open the boss door.

Snide

Snide
Snide

Snide is a weasel character who was once the chief technician for King K. Rool. However King K. Rool threw him out because he found him untrusting. Snide set out for revenge against him by asking the Kongs to locate the blueprints to the Blast-O-Matic and helping them with destroying it. Snide's HQ can be found in every level (excluding Hideout Helm) as well as DK Isles where the Kongs can exchange blueprints for Golden Bananas, as well as play bonus games after returning all the blueprints.

Minor Characters

Throughout the game, the Kongs meet various characters within certain worlds. These characters often don't appear outside said world, with a few exceptions.

Character Image Description
B. Locker B. Locker B. Locker is a character who appears at the entrance to each world in the world's lobby. He appears to block the world's entrance and will only let the Kongs enter if they have a certain number of Golden Bananas. If they do, he will disappear and allow access to the world.
Beanstalk Beanstalk A character appearing in Fungi Forest. The Beanstalk sprouted from a small pink seed found by Tiny Kong and holds a Golden Banana at its top.
Beetle Beetle The Beetle is a character appearing in the worlds Angry Aztec and Crystal Caves. She is a racing beetle who challenges Tiny Kong in Angry Aztec and Lanky Kong in Crystal Caves, both with the same conditions of collecting 50 DK Coins and beating her in the race.
Buzzard The Necky character, from Donkey Kong 64. A buzzard character sporting a pilot helmet and goggles appears in the Angry Aztec area. It can only be met as Diddy Kong after freeing him from his caged prison. Upon doing so, he will challenge Diddy Kong to race through the rings he leaves behind; if beaten, he will reward Diddy with a Golden Banana.
Ice Creature Ice Creature The Ice Creature is a frozen tomato looking character appearing only in Crystal Caves. It appears in the igloo where only Lanky can visit it. He will challenge Lanky to a game and reward him with a Golden Banana should he win.
Llama The Llama, from Donkey Kong 64 (to replace the previous Llama picture) The Llama is a character who appears in Angry Aztec. He is first seen locked in a cage before being freed by Donkey Kong. After being freed, he rewards Donkey Kong with a Golden Banana and can later be found in his temple.
Mermaid The Mermaid from Donkey Kong 64 The Mermaid is a character only appearing in Gloomy Galleon. She lives in a shell like structure deep underwater and can only be visited by Tiny Kong with her Mini-Monkey ability. When Tiny visits the Mermaid, she will ask her to retrieve her lost pearls. Once Tiny retrieves the pearls, she will be given a Golden Banana.
Microbuffer File:Microbuffer.png Microbuffer is a character only appearing for the final fight against King K. Rool. He is a living microphone with a handle resembling a tuxedo. During the final fight, he appears as the announcer of the battle, giving off dramatic introductions to the Kongs.
Mini Car DK64 Racecar.png The Mini Car is a character appearing in Frantic Factory and Creepy Castle. Both times he can only be encountered by Tiny Kong and both times he will challenge her to a race. The first time appears on a set track while the second time in the block tower area of Frantic Factory. If Tiny beats him in both races, she will receive a Golden Banana for each time.
Owl Owl The Owl is a character appearing in Fungi Forest. Similarly to the Buzzard from Angry Aztec, the Owl will only talk to Diddy Kong at night, though Diddy must be using his Rocketbarrel Pack in order to do so. After talking with him, the Owl will start a similar, ring based challenge the Buzzard gave Diddy, with the difference being a Bonus Barrel reward rather than a direct Golden Banana.
Rabbit Racing Rabbit The Rabbit is a character that appears in Fungi Forest and Crystal Caves. He can only be talked to by Lanky in Fungi Forest and encountered only by Chunky in Crystal Caves. In Fungi Forest, he will challenge Lanky to a race for a Golden Banana. While Lanky beats him a first time, he refuses to give him the banana and declares for a rematch, to which he also loses and gives Lanky a Golden Banana. In Crystal Caves, he is found tied to a TNT Barrel surrounded by Flames. Chunky must defeat the Flames for a set time to free the Rabbit and obtain a Golden Banana.
Seal The Seal from Donkey Kong 64 The Seal (who appears almost identical to the character Clapper the Seal) appears in Gloomy Galleon and can only be spoken to by Donkey Kong. After Donkey Kong frees him from his cage prison, the Seal will thank him with a Golden Banana as well as a racing minigame for a second Golden Banana.
Worm File:Bookworm.PNG The Worm is a character appearing only in Fungi Forest and can only truly be interacted with by Chunky Kong. The Worm resides in an apple surrounded by monstrous tomatoes and requests Chunky to help him by defeating the tomatoes and moving his apple home. By doing so, he rewards Chunky with a Golden Banana.

Buildings and Abilities

Cranky's Lab

Cranky's Lab is a location that Cranky Kong resides in, and it appears in every area of the game, with the exception of Hideout Helm. Cranky has seemingly taken up science as a hobby, and in his lab, the player can buy different potions in exchange for Banana Bunch Coins to learn new techniques and abilities needed to progress throughout the game. Also, if the Kongs visit Cranky at his lab with at least fifteen Banana Medals, Cranky allows them to play a game called Jetpac (an early Rare game). The Kongs must get 5000 points in the game in order to obtain the Rareware Coin.

There are three kinds of potions that are available for the Kongs and each type of potion gives them a different ability. The types of abilities are as follows:

  • Pad Move - These abilities are activated when any of the Kongs stand on a circular pad with their face on it.
  • Barrel Move - To activate a Barrel Move, the playable Kong has to enter a wooden barrel with their face on it.
  • Special Move - Most of the Kongs' Special Moves can be used anytime, with the exception of Donkey Kong's, which can only be used near rusty levers.

There are also shared potions which give all the Kongs the same ability - to press Kong Switches with their face on them.

Potions and prices

Potions
Kong Pad Move Barrel Move Special Move
Donkey Kong Baboon Blast, 3 coins
A Donkey Pad will blast him up into the sky into a Barrel Cannon course
Strong Kong, 5 coins
A Donkey Barrel will allow him to become invincible
Gorilla Grab, 7 coins
Allows him to pull levers
Diddy Kong Simian Spring, 7 coins
Diddy Pad allows him to jump great heights off his tail
Rocketbarrel Boost, 5 coins
A Diddy Barrel allows him to fly
Chimpy Charge, 3 coins
Allows him to charge head first into gongs or certain switches
Lanky Kong Baboon Balloon, 5 coins
A Lanky Pad allows him to fill up with hot air and float to unreachable places
OrangStand Sprint, 7 coins
A Lanky Barrel allows him to run on his hands very fast
OrangStand, 3 coins
Allows him to walk up steep hills or platforms on his hands
Tiny Kong Monkeyport, 7 coins
A Tiny Pad allows her to transport to another Tiny pad
Mini-Monkey, 3 coins
A Tiny Barrel allows her to shrink to get into small places or passageways
Pony Tail Twirl, 5 coins
Allows her to fly through the air with her ponytails
Chunky Kong Gorilla Gone, 7 coins
A Chunky Pad allows him to become invisible
Hunky Chunky, 3 coins
A Chunky Barrel allows him to increase in size
Primate Punch, 5 coins
Allows him to use a roundhouse punch that would KO most enemies or break certain obstacles


Shared Potions
Potion Price World
Simian Slam
Allow Kongs to active Green Switches
Free Donkey Kong Island
Super Simian Slam
Allow Kongs to active Blue Switches
5 coins Fungi Forest
Super Duper Simian Slam
Allow Kongs to active Red Switches
7 coins Creepy Castle


Funky's Store

Funky's Armory in the game Donkey Kong 64.
Funky's Store

Funky's Store is a shop owned by Funky Kong where the Kongs can buy and reload their weapons. Each Kong has his or her own personalized weapon. They can use these weapons to shoot a variety of fruit-based projectiles to attack enemies, hit certain switches that have a certain fruit emblem on them, and hit Banana Balloons. Initially, the Kongs can have 50 rounds of ammunition, but this amount increases when the Kongs buy Funky's upgrades. The prices of his upgrades are as follows:

  • Shooter Installment - 3 coins
  • Ammo Belt 1 - 3 Coins
  • Homing Ammo - 5 Coins
  • Ammo Belt 2 - 5 Coins
  • Sniper Scope - 7 Coins


Shooters
Kong Weapon
Donkey Kong Coconut Shooter
Diddy Kong Peanut Popguns
Lanky Kong Grape Shooter
Tiny Kong Feather Bow
Chunky Kong Pineapple Launcher

Candy's Music Shop

Candy's Music Shop in the game Donkey Kong 64.
Candy's Music Shop.

Candy Kong owns a music shop where she provides the Kongs with powerful instruments that they can use to make a variety of things happen. At certain points of the game, Candy also gives the Kongs an extra melon, increasing their health. Usually, when the Kongs play their instruments on certain locations, doors open or areas that were previously impossible to reach become accessible. The power of the instrument can also defeat all the enemies on the screen, but playing it reduces its energy. The Kongs can touch Candy's Headphones to replenish their instruments' energy, or visit Candy to reload the energy. The instrument, however, does not lose any energy if the Kongs play it when they are standing on a Music Pad.

  • Music Installment - 3 Coins
  • Upgrade 1 - 5 Coins
  • 3rd Melon and Music Energy - 7 Coins
  • Upgrade 2 - 9 Coins


Instruments
Kong Instrument
Donkey Kong Bongo Blast
Diddy Kong Guitar Gazump
Lanky Kong Trombone Tremor
Tiny Kong Saxophone Slam
Chunky Kong Triangle Trample

Snide's H.Q.

Snide's H.Q. in the game Donkey Kong 64.
Snide's H.Q.

Over the course of the game, the player may find Kasplats holding pieces of blueprint. If the player takes them to Snide's H.Q., Snide will trade the blueprints for Golden Bananas. There are a total of 40 blueprints in the game, 5 per world along with 5 in DK Isles. If the player delivers all of Snide's Blueprints, he will then allow the Kongs to play the various Bonus Stage games.

Wrinkly Doors

File:Wrinkly Door.PNG
Diddy Kong's Wrinkly Door

Wrinkly Doors are found in the lobby of each level (excluding Hideout Helm). As the name suggests, Wrinkly Kong will come out of each door if a Kong approaches it and give the Kong advice on one of their Golden Bananas hidden in each level. The doors are color coded for each Kong; yellow for Donkey Kong, red for Diddy Kong, purple for Tiny Kong, blue for Lanky Kong and green for Chunky Kong.

Worlds

Image Name Description
Jungle Japes Jungle Japes Jungle Japes is the first world of the game. It takes place in a tropical jungle. Diddy Kong is imprisoned in this world, and is held in a cage in the cliffs. The jungle is home to many kinds of enemies, including Gnawties, Zingers, and Kritters. This is a basic level where the player can learn basic gameplay elements. The jungle has several trees and vines that can be climbed, allowing the Kongs to reach new heights. There is a river going through the jungle, and the area is surrounded by many rocky cliffs, most of which can be climbed. One of these cliffs has a mine located inside the mountain itself, where several crates and conveyor belts are found. There are also several dark tunnels in the jungle, connecting the various areas. There is a stormy area of the jungle that can only be accessed by one of the tunnels, and it contains Cranky's Lab. Rambi the Rhino is found in this area. The boss of this world is Army Dillo, and he is fought by Donkey Kong.
Angryaztec.jpg Angry Aztec Angry Aztec is the second world visited by the Kongs. It is located in a group of ancient temples in the middle of the desert. Lanky Kong and Tiny Kong are both imprisoned in this area, in different temples. In the outside area, there is a constant sandstorm, but it doesn't affect gameplay. There are several palm trees that can be climbed, and most of them give access to higher parts of the ruins. There are also several quicksand swamps, both inside and outside the temples, located throughout the level that damage the Kongs should they touch the quicksand. Notable points in this area include the Llama's Temple, home to a Llama that is originally found imprisoned in a cage, and the five-door temple, which has areas accessible by each Kong. Once Donkey Kong saves the llama, he later helps him by cooling a pool of lava, allowing Donkey Kong to swim in the pool and free Lanky Kong from his jail cell. In this world, Diddy also gets to free a vulture once he flies with his Rocketbarrel Boost through a golden gate on top of a spinning statue three times. The boss of this world is Dogadon, and he is fought by Diddy Kong.
Frantic Factory Frantic Factory Frantic Factory is the third world in the game, and where the last imprisoned Kong can be found, Chunky Kong. This is a toy factory owned by the Kremlings. Several animate Kremling toys are found here, such as the Robokremlings and the Mechanical Zingers. The factory consists of several areas and rooms, mainly The Lobby, Storage Room, Block Room, Factory Machine and the R&D. Most of these rooms contain weird machines and boxes, along with challenges for each Kong to face. There are several dark tunnels resembling huge pipes that are used to access the different rooms of the factory. A Donkey Kong arcade game is found in the factory, and the player must win the game once to obtain a Golden Banana, and a second time to obtain the Nintendo Coin. Tiny Kong gets to race a Mini Car once she shrinks herself, and she must complete two laps on a toy racetrack, while collecting at least ten DK Coins. One of the game's three mini-bosses, the Toy Monster, is also found in this level. The boss of this world is Mad Jack, and he must be defeated by Tiny Kong.
Gloomy Galleon Gloomy Galleon Gloomy Galleon is the fourth world, and it seems to be based off of the Gangplank Galleon world in the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. This world takes place in a water area surrounded by huge cliffs, where several sunken ships from earlier Donkey Kong Country games are found. There are several dark and humid caves that connect the various lakes found in the level. Many of the sunken ships are locations to treasures and Golden Bananas. However, the inside of these shipwrecks are extremely dark, and as such, the Kongs receive help from the Lightfish, who illuminates the area for them. This is also the only world where Enguarde the Swordfish makes an appearance, although only Lanky Kong can transform into him. Tiny Kong also discovers a secret underwater palace where she meets the Mermaid, who has lost all of her pearls and asks Tiny to find them. Another race takes place in this area, this time against the Seal. The boss of this world is Puftoss, and he is battled by Lanky Kong.
Fungiforest.jpg Fungi Forest Fungi Forest is the fifth world, and it is set in a vast forest area with many mushrooms and several wooden barns. The main gimmick in this world is the giant Cuckoo Clock located in the center of the forest. The Kongs can hit certain switches located on the Cuckoo Clock to make it change the day into night, and vice versa. Certain areas, such as Snide's HQ can only be accessed during the day, while other areas like some of the wooden barns can only be accessed during the night. The enemies present in this world are also affected by the time of the day. Enemies like Zingers only appear in the day, while Bones and Koshas only appear during the night. The giant mushrooms found throughout the forest appear to glow during the night, providing the only source of light when the sun goes down in this world. A mini-boss, the Giant Spider, is fought in one of the barns by a shrunken Tiny Kong. The main boss of this world is a rematch with Dogadon, and he is fought by Chunky Kong.
File:CrystalCaves.JPG Crystal Caves Crystal Caves is the sixth world of the game. It is located exclusively inside a huge, humid cavern with several icy crystals. There are several water rivers and ponds throughout the cavern, as well as a few cabins that contain collectibles inside them. There is an icy igloo near the beginning of the stage with five doors. Each door can only be opened by playing the instruments of certain Kongs on pads near them, and these doors lead to different rooms of the igloo with challenges for each Kong. There is also a Giant Viking Kremling at the highest part of the cavern that constantly smashes the floor, raining down stalactites on the Kongs. Once this Kosha is defeated, the stalactites stop falling down from the ceiling. Additionally, there are some see-through icy walls that can only be broken by Chunky Kong's Primate Punch ability. These walls often block passages to hidden areas of the cavern. The boss fight of this world is a rematch against Army Dillo, and he is fought by Donkey Kong.
Creepy Castle Creepy Castle Creepy Castle is the seventh and penultimate world 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 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 books 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 world is King Kut Out, and he can be fought by all the Kongs, although only Lanky is mandatory for the battle.
Hideout Helm Hideout Helm Hideout Helm is the eighth and final world 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 minigames 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 Arena Crowns and have completed Jetpac and Donkey Kong. There are no collectibles in this world aside from five Banana Bunch Coins found in the minigames and a Battle Arena Crown. When the Kongs reach the highest area in the fortress, K. Rool flees in his King Kruiser II, only to crash when K. Lumsy is freed, allowing the Kongs to battle him in the final showdown.

Enemies

Enemy Image Description
Beaver File:DK64 Gnawty.JPG Beavers, known as Gnawties in previous Donkey Kong games, are blue rodent enemies mostly found in Jungle Japes. Their only attack pattern is running into the Kongs.
Kritter File:Kritter2.jpg Kritters are King K. Rool's main henchmen. They are common throughout the game in levels and mini games. They spawn off some unique sub species as well such as Robokremlings or Ghosts.
Zinger Zinger, from Donkey Kong 64. Zingers are wasp enemies that are commonly seen throughout each level. They mainly attack by dropping green Orange Grenades or by swooping down on the Kongs.
Kasplat Kasplat from Donkey Kong 64. Kasplats are enemies that hold Snide's blueprints. Five appear in each world (excluding Hideout Helm) and Kong Isle, each one holding a blueprint colored after a Kong's main color. The color of their hair tells which Kong's blueprint they hold. Their main attacks are creating shockwaves and using various punches. While they are resilient to most attacks, Kasplats are easily defeated by the shock wave attack or a musical instrument.
Klump Klump in Donkey Kong 64. Klumps are large Kremlings who mainly attack by throwing green orange grenades. At close range, they can also push back the Kongs with their bellies. Although the Kongs can attack them directly, Klumps can only truly be defeated by Orange Grenades, the shock wave attack, and a musical instrument. Likewise, Chunky Kong can defeat Klumps by touching them while in his Hunky Chunky state. Klumps drop three Orange Grenades when defeated.
Klobber Klobber, from Donkey Kong 64. Klobbers are green Kritters hiding in barrels. If a Kong gets close enough, they will pop their heads and feet out and follow the Kong in an attempt to hit them. Klobbers can't be harmed with direct attacks at all; the Kongs will hurt themselves if they even touch a Klobber directly. Klobbers can only be defeated with Orange Grenades, the shock wave attack, or a Kong's musical instrument.
Kaboom TNT Bomber, from Donkey Kong 64. Kabooms are red Kritters hiding in TNT barrels. Like Klobbers, they follow the Kongs when they get too close, but if they don't catch them, they will explode shortly after. They can't be attacked with normal direct attacks, but they are easily defeated by Orange Grenades, a musical instrument, and even shots that's fired from the Kongs' shooters. The shock wave attack also defeats them, but it'll hurt the Kongs in the process.
Krash Diddy Kong in a Mine Mine Cart in a Minecart Race in the game Donkey Kong 64 Krashes are Kremlings riding minecarts that mainly appear in minecart minigames. Here, they will swing clubs as they pass by the Kong. Sometimes their minecarts will be positioned beside the Kong for a short period of time. They can't be defeated and can be avoided by jumping or leaning away from them when they swing their clubs.
Klaptrap Klaptrap as they appear in Donkey Kong 64. Klaptraps are small, alligator like enemies that appear in various levels in the game. They will chase the Kongs around attempting to bite them. They can be defeated by any attack method, though once they are defeated, their jaws will remain and continue chasing the Kong. The jaw can also be defeated in any way. Of course, defeating a Klaptrap with an Orange Grenade or a musical instrument will prevent the jaws from appearing.
Purple Klaptrap File:DK64 Big Klaptrap.JPG Purple Klaptraps are much like normal Klaptraps in terms of attack patterns, but they are immune to all direct attacks, along with the shock wave attack; the Kongs will only hurt themselves if they use that attack, or touch the Purple Klaptrap in any way. As such, they can only be defeated by the use of an Orange Grenade, or a musical instrument. Instead of dropping a watermelon slice, they drop three Orange Grenades when defeated.
Kosha Kosha as seen in Donkey Kong 64 Koshas are small Kremlings who wield large, spiked clubs. They use the club as their main source of attack, swinging or slamming it to harm the Kongs. Koshas can take away two watermelon slices from a Kong, making them dangerous enemies to face. Koshas can also shake off any direct attacks that they take, making it so that only the shock wave attack, a musical instrument or Chunky touching them while using his Hunky Chunky ability can defeat them. Orange Grenades can also defeat a Kosha, but only while it's club is stuck in the ground.
Ghost File:Kritter in a Sheet.png Ghosts are Kritters wearing bedsheet ghost costumes. They only appear in Creepy Castle and also aid in the battle against King Kut Out. They only attack by running into the player.
Shroom Shroom Shrooms are blue Kremlings wearing mushroom costumes. They appear in Fungi Forest where they disguise themselves as normal mushrooms until the Kongs get too close. Once they do, a Shroom will pop out and chase the Kong.
Bones Bones Bones are skeletal Kritters who appear mainly in night time areas (such as Fungi Forest). They attack with clubs, and can be defeated by any attack, though weaker attacks will only break the skull and left arm. Stronger attacks will defeat it instantly. On an additional note, Orange Grenades can easily take out a Bones, and remove the skull and left arm at the same time.
Ruler The Block in Donkey Kong 64. Rulers are enemies only found in Frantic Factory. They resemble rulers with colorful shape holes in them. They appear in the toy fight area in Frantic Factory and are only fought by Chunky. Their only attack is running into him.
Mr. Dice Mr. Dice in the game Donkey Kong 64. Mr. Dice is an enemy found only in Frantic Factory. They are dice with arms and legs. The 2 side is facing forward, making the dots look like eyes. They are found in the toy block tower area as well as the Toy Monster fight. They only attack by running into the Kong.
Sir Domino Sir Domino in the game Donkey Kong 64. Sir Domino is an enemy only found in Frantic Factory. They are domino enemies with arms and legs. Two appear in the Toy Monster battle while a few can be found in the toy block tower area. They can be defeated by any attack.
Super Block File:DK64 Super Block.PNG A Super Block is an enemy found only in Frantic Factory. Only three appears during the Toy Monster fight where they act as the body of the monster. Due to the nature of the fight, they can only be fought as Chunky using his Hunky Chunky move.
Mechanical Zinger Mechanical Zinger Mechanical Zingers are robotic versions of Zingers only appearing in Frantic Factory. They act like normal Zingers, only with robot designs, such as wheels for legs and a propeller instead of wings. They attack in the same way by dropping green Orange Grenades, but they never swoop down at the Kongs.
Puftup a Puftup Puftups are puffer fish enemies found mostly in water areas, such as Gloomy Galleon. They are mostly stationary until a Kong approaches them, to which they will explode. Puftups aid Puftoss in his battle.
Shuri ShuriBQ.jpg Shuries are starfish enemies that only appear underwater. They attack by charging into the Kongs as they swim. They cannot be defeated due to the Kongs not having proper attacks underwater and being immune to Enguarde's stab attack.
Scubi Whip Shuri.png Scubis are scuba diving starfish enemies only appearing in underwater areas. They are similar to Shuries though they attack with whips rather than charging. Like Shuries, they cannot be defeated.
Book In-game render of a Book from Donkey Kong 64 Books are haunted, flying books that only appear in Creepy Castle library areas. They are invincible enemies that only Donkey Kong encounters. He must use his Strong Kong ability to pass through them.
Flame File:DK64 Fireball.PNG Flames are fireball enemies appearing only in one of Chunky Kong's missions in Crystal Caves. The try to light a TNT barrel with the rabbit Lanky raced tied to it. Flames can be defeated with any attack.
Flipflap A Bat as it appears in Donkey Kong 64 Flipflaps are enemies commonly found in dark areas, mainly Fungi Forest during the night and Creepy Castle. They often replace Zingers during these times, though they do not drop green Orange Grenades. They do however swoop down at the Kongs.
Tomato Tomato Tomatoes are enemies found only in Fungi Forest where they surround the Worm's apple in one of the forest's areas. Chunky Kong must use his Hunky Chunky ability to defeat them. The only attack Tomatoes have is ramming into the Kongs.
Robokremling Mechakritter.jpg Robokremlings are robotic, wind up Kremlings, appearing only in Frantic Factory. They attack mainly by trying to run into the Kongs. Although the Kongs can stun them with their direct attacks, Robokremlings can only truly be defeated by Orange Grenades, the shock wave attack, a musical instrument, and Chunky Kong's Primate Punch.
Oyster Klam.png Oysters are clam like enemies that appear in Gloomy Galleon. They are present in the treasure chest area within treasure cove where they hold the pearls from the Mermaid. Tiny is the only one who encounters them, though they can't be defeated. They open and close their mouths at regular intervals, which causes damage if touched.
Kroc File:DK64Crosshair.png Kroc is an unseen enemy that only take the form of a green crosshair on the screen. They appear in Angry Aztec, Crystal Caves, and Creepy Castle, and usually appear after the Kong retrieves a Golden Banana or fails a challenge in a specific area. Their only attack is taking aim at the Kong present and firing a blast that either instantly knocks out the Kong or removes a single melon slice after a set amount of time.
Resident Demon Resident demon The Resident Demon is a large, skeletal Kremling only appearing in the Minecart Ride game in Creepy Castle. It attacks by swiping its disembodied claws at Donkey Kong or by sending Skull Carts holding TNT down the tracks.

Bosses

File:TroffScreen.PNG
Troff 'N' Scoff declaring access to the boss battle as Lanky rejoices

Troff the Pig and Scoff the Hippo guard the doors that lead to the bosses who hold seven of the eight keys to K. Lumsy's cage. By feeding Scoff a certain number of bananas, it allows Troff to reach the key to open the door. The players need to feed Scoff more bananas each progressed level and the combined total of all the Kongs' bananas can be pertained. Once all the bananas reach to 0, the key opens the door and a roulette spins, determining which Kong is going to battle against the Boss. Only the designated Kong can enter the door. The door will close if a different Kong tries to go inside the door at any time. Once the correct Kong enters the door, the door slams shut, and evil laughter can be heard before the screen fades to the Boss Battle.

Boss Requirements

Boss Image World Bananas Required Kong Used Description
Army Dillo Army Dillo, from Donkey Kong 64 (in-game) Jungle Japes 60 Donkey Kong Army Dillo is the boss of Jungle Japes and first major boss in the game. His general attack pattern is firing fireballs from the cannons attached to his shell and rolling along the ground to try and flatten Donkey Kong.
Dogadon Dogadon in Donkey Kong 64. Angry Aztec 120 Diddy Kong Dogadon will fly around the stage spitting fireballs at Diddy Kong. Each time he is struck, he spits more fireballs, moving to a new corner each time.
Mad Jack File:New Mad Jack Picture.png Frantic Factory 200 Tiny Kong Mad Jack's arena takes place on a 4 by 4 grid of tall platforms. Mad Jack will hide in his box and jump from platform to platform, attempting to flatten Tiny. When standing still, he will throw fireballs at Tiny. After being hit 3 times, he will start firing lasers that shock a platform when hit. He will be invisible after taking four hits.
Puftoss Puftoss in Donkey Kong 64. Gloomy Galleon 250 Lanky Kong Puftoss sits in the middle of the small pond, spitting fireballs at Lanky. After a few hits, he will jump up and cause shock waves to travel to the outer walls of the arena. He may also summon Puftups to home in on, and damage Lanky.
Dogadon Dogadon in Donkey Kong 64. Fungi Forest 300 Chunky Kong Dogadon's rematch in Fungi Forest. The battle plays out similarly to the first, however Dogadon has a few different attacks. After being hit two times, he will breathe a wave of fire along the arena, and after the third hit, will stomp the arena, causing it to slowly sink into the lava. Chunky must use his Hunky Chunky ability to fully defeat Dogadon.
Army Dillo Army Dillo, from Donkey Kong 64 (in-game) Crystal Caves 350 Donkey Kong Army Dillo's rematch in Crystal Caves. Much like Dogadon's rematch, Army Dillo's rematch plays much like the first one, albeit with a few new moves. Army Dillo now has rockets attached to his shell, which he uses to create shockwaves upon landing. After taking enough hits, he will also fire homing missiles at Donkey Kong.
King Kut Out King Kut Out in Donkey Kong 64. Creepy Castle 400 All (Lanky Kong goes first) A cardboard cut out of King K. Rool that acts as the boss of Creepy Castle. The cut out is capable of firing lasers from its head and creating duplicate cut outs to fool the Kongs. The Kongs must use a cannon to strike the cut out.
King Krusha K. Rool King K. Rool during the final battle in Donkey Kong 64 Kong Isle N/A All (Donkey Kong goes first) The final battle against King K. Rool (under the name King Krusha K. Rool) which plays out in a boxing style. King Krusha K. Rool uses a variety of attacks to harm the Kongs, from creating shockwaves, to throwing his gloves like boomerangs, to faking being knocked out.

Note: The final boss, King K. Rool, does not involve help from Troff & Scoff.

Mini-Bosses

There are only three mini-bosses in the game:

Mini-Boss Image World Description
Toy Monster Toy Monster Frantic Factory A giant monster made up of various toys. It can only be fought by Chunky while using the Hunky Chunky ability. It appears after Chunky defeats all the other toy enemies in the area. It attacks mostly through punches. Although the shock wave attack does hurt this enemy, it also hurts Chunky Kong in the process.
Giant Spider Giant Spider Fungi Forest The Giant Spider is a mini boss found in one of the barns in Fungi Forest. It can only be fought by Tiny, as she is the only one able to enter the barn at night (through a tiny hole in the side). The Giant Spider attacks by sending waves of little spiders at Tiny and spitting web balls from its mouth, some of which can even reverse the player's controls. To combat this foe, Tiny Kong has to attack its eye by using her Feather Bow.
Giant Viking Kremling File:DK64 Giant Kosha.JPG Crystal Caves The Giant Viking Kremling is a mini boss found in Crystal Caves, and it is fought by Tiny. It is generally responsible for the constant raining stalactites in the area. It attacks much like its smaller counterparts, and can be defeated by using the Kongs' shock wave attack, musical instruments, or an Orange Grenade if it's club is stuck in the ground.

Items

Image Name Description
Bananastub.jpg Golden Banana Golden Bananas are the most important item in the game. They play a pivotal role in the storyline. The players must collect them to earn access to new worlds because B. Locker doesn't allow the players to the specified world unless they have the specified amount of golden bananas. Each world in the game contains five Golden Bananas for each Kong to find, and they must complete certain challenges, often designed around each Kong's abilities, to earn the Golden Banana. There is a total of 201 Golden Bananas in the entire game, and the last one is received by the Banana Fairy Princess once the player collects all of the Banana Fairies. This particular Golden Banana has the Rareware logo on it instead of the usual Nintendo logo.
Banana2.png Banana Bananas are the most common items in the game. The Kongs must collect the bananas and feed them to Scoff so that he becomes heavy enough to allow Troff to reach the key that unlocks the door to the boss through their mecanism. All of the bananas are of a certain color, and only the Kong that corresponds to that color can collect them (i.e. only Donkey Kong can collect yellow bananas, as his color is yellow). There are a total of five hundred bananas in each world, one hundred of them in each of the Kongs' colors. The Kongs also acquire a Banana Medal once they collect seventy-five bananas on each stage. Bananas are found in every world with the exception of Hideout Helm, and they are found in singles, bunched in five, or packed into a Banana Balloon of a specific color that contains ten of them.
DK64BananaCoins.png Banana Bunch Coin Banana Bunch Coins are the main currency of the game. As is the case for many of the game's collectibles, Banana Bunch Coins come in different colors that must be collected by Kongs that match their color. Banana Bunch Coins are used to buy special potions from Cranky Kong that grant the Kongs special abilities, and they can also be used to buy the weapons and upgrades from Funky Kong, as well as instruments from Candy Kong. During the game, each Kong spends twenty-one coins on personal upgrades, Donkey spends an extra two on the Donkey Kong Arcade game, and a total of fifty-three coins are spent on shared upgrades. There is a total of 949 Banana Bunch Coins in the game. Ironically, when the Cheat for Banana Bunch Coins is activated in Mystery (after collecting all twenty Banana Fairies in any file), the coins are shown as 999 while the game is paused, despite that there are 949 total Banana Bunch Coins in the game.
DK64FiveBananaCoin.png 5-Banana Coin 5-Banana Coins are a special kind of Banana Bunch Coin. They are among the rarest items to find in the game, and there are usually only one 5-Banana Coin in each world (Angry Aztec and Fungi Forest have two), and seven of them are found in the hub world, Donkey Kong Island. They are big, special and multi-colored Banana Bunch Coins that have all of the Kongs' colors on them. 5-Banana Coins are only found buried under dirt piles in certain locations. To release a 5-Banana Coin, the player must step on a dirt pile and press and hold the B Button button to do a shockwave attack, destroying the pile and revealing the coin. When collected, all the Kongs receive five extra Banana Bunch Coins, even if a Kong has not been rescued yet.
DK64BananaMedal.png Banana Medal Banana Medals are items that the Kongs receive when they collect seventy-five bananas in a level. There is a total of five Banana Medals per level, and each Kong must collect seventy-five of their color bananas to earn each of them. Once the Banana Medal is collected in a stage, it can't be obtained again. Banana Medals have the appearance of a red medal with a golden banana emblem. Banana Medals are obtained differently in the last stage, Hideout Helm, where the Kongs have to complete several special minigames to earn them. After the Kongs collect at least fifteen Banana Medals, Cranky allows them to play the game Jetpac, an old ZX Spectrum game from Rare, in order to try and earn the Rareware Coin. There are a total of forty Banana Medals in the game; fifteen must be collected because the Rareware Coin is needed to complete the game, and it is mathematically impossible to complete Creepy Castle without collecting two in that stage.
File:Dk key.png Boss Key Boss Keys are items needed to unlock K. Lumsy's cage. They are golden keys that, despite being designed by the Kremlings, have the DK insignia on them. Seven of the eight Boss Keys in the game are acquired by beating the bosses at the end of each world, but the last key is acquired at the end of Hideout Helm - the Kongs must have at least four Battle Arena Crowns, and they must have both the Rareware Coin and Nintendo Coin obtainable by completing the Donkey Kong arcade game at Frantic Factory and the Jetpac game at Cranky's Lab, so that a door leading to the key opens. Everytime a Kong brings one of the Boss Keys to K. Lumsy's cage, he jumps happily, causing a tremor that slightly alters the layout in the hub world, giving access to the different worlds of the game.
File:Watermelons.gif Watermelon Watermelons are used as the Kongs' health meter. Each melon contains four slices, and the Kongs can have up to four melons. When a Kong is attacked by an enemy, or touches any stage hazards such as quicksand or lava, they lose one slice. They can collect additional melon slices by finding them in Melon Crates, or by defeating certain enemies like Kritters and Gnawties since most of them drop melon slices when defeated. When the Kong has no watermelons left, he or she will be sent back to the beginning of the area currently in. The Kongs start with only one melon, but one additional melon is added when the Kongs visit Candy Kong in her music shop at Angry Aztec, and another melon is added when the Kongs visit her music shop at Crystal Caves.
A Melon Crate, from Donkey Kong 64. Melon Crate Melon Crates are very common, being found spread throughout the game's various worlds, and they are fairly important. They are big, wooden crates with melon images imprinted on them that slightly resemble Supply Crates, and they can contain up to four slices of watermelon, allowing the Kongs to collect the melon slices and replenish their health meter. Melon Crates that contain four melon slices appear in the later worlds of the game, when the Kongs have received the extra two watermelons from Candy Kong. Melon Crates often appear at the beginning of the levels. A Kong can use any kind of attack to destroy the crates, revealing the melon slices.
File:Orange Grenade.gif Orange Oranges are oddly explosive materials that can be used by all the Kongs. Certain enemies, such as Klumps and Zingers, also have a green version of Oranges that they use to damage the Kongs. These bombs can be thrown by using the Z Button button, and they have a multitude of uses. The explosions caused by the Oranges can easily defeat most enemies in the game, and some of them can only be defeated by Oranges, such as Klumps. Oranges are also useful for destroying barriers and other obstacles, such as certain fragile walls and fences. Initially, the Kongs can have up to twenty grenades, but as they collect Banana Fairies, the amount increases to twenty-five, and then thirty. Oranges also appear in the Multiplayer Mode, where they also have an additional fuction - they can cause a shockwave attack.
File:Headphone.jpg Candy's Headphones Candy's Headphones are items that replenish the energy of the Kongs' instruments. These blue headphones are less common than other collectibles, and they fully restore the instruments' energy, without needing to visit Candy's Music Shop. Headphones start appearing once the Kongs learn how to play their instruments. They often appear in areas with Music Pads, and sometimes they respawn once they are collected. Candy's Headphones appear in every level of the game, with the exception of Jungle Japes and Hideout Helm, since Candy's Music Shop does not appear in these two levels; but in Fungi Forest, Candy's Headphones appear in that level despite that Candy's Music Shop doesn't appear.
DK64SupplyCrate.png Supply Crate Supply Crates are common items found in various areas throughout the game. They are big, wooden crates that contain ammo for the Kongs. They can simply touch the box to receive the ammo inside it. They often appear in areas that require heavy use of the Kongs' weapons. Supply Crates replenish the Kongs' ammo by five. There is also a special kind of red Supply Crate that gives the Kongs red homing ammo. The red Supply Crates are much rarer than normal Supply Crates, being found in only a few selected areas.
DK64CrystalCoconut.png Crystal Coconut Crystal Coconuts are magical crystal stones shaped like coconuts. They are important items that the Kongs must collect in their adventure, since the coconuts enable them to use their special abilities. Initially, the Kongs can have up to twenty Crystal Coconuts, but as they collect Banana Fairies, the amount increases; each collected Banana Fairy adds one Crystal Coconut to the max, for up to forty Crystal Coconuts. When the Kongs use their special abilities, they start to quickly use the coconuts up, although more Crystal Coconuts tend to appear in areas where the abilities must be used. On certain occasions, like in the final battle, the Kongs receive infinite Crystal Coconuts.
Artwork of a Banana Camera Film from Donkey Kong 64. Banana Camera Film Banana Camera Films are found in several locations. They appear as yellow camera films with the letters 'DK' written on them. They must be collected in order to use the Banana Fairy's Camera. Each time the Kongs take a picture using the Banana Fairy's Camera, one of the films is used up, even if they didn't catch the Banana Fairy. The Kongs can only have a small amount of Banana Camera Film when they get the Banana Fairy's Camera, but this amount increases as they catch more Banana Fairies using the camera. Banana Camera Films are one of the rarest collectibles in the game, appearing only in a few areas in each world.
File:Rareware Coin.jpg Rareware Coin The Rareware Coin is required, along with the Nintendo Coin, to get the final key to K. Lumsy's cage, as there is a door in Hideout Helm leading to the key that only opens if the Kongs have both coins and four Battle Arena Crowns. In order to get the Rareware Coin, players must first collect a minimum of fifteen Banana Medals, and then visit Cranky at his lab. He will then let the players play Jetpac, an old arcade game by Rare, in which the players must earn 5000 points. Doing so will cause the coin to drop from the top of the screen, allowing the players to collect it. However, it quickly disappears once it drops, and reappears somewhere else on the screen.
File:Nintendo Coin.jpg Nintendo Coin The Nintendo Coin is required to get the final key to K. Lumsy's cage, along with the Rareware Coin, as there is a door in Hideout Helm leading to the key that only opens if the Kongs have both coins and four Battle Arena Crowns. When the Kongs complete the game once, Squawks appears and tells them to play the game again to get a special prize. Players can then get the Nintendo Coin by playing the Donkey Kong Arcade in Frantic Factory and completing it again, this time with the Nintendo Coin replacing the sprite of Pauline. The game is also more difficult the second time through.
File:Blueprints.gif Blueprint Snide is willing to help the Kong Clan if they acquire blueprints to the Blast-o-Matic. Each Kong is assigned their color Blueprint. The blueprints are always gathered after the players defeat a Kasplat. Kasplats have hair that come in the colors that the blueprints they hold come in. Once the players retrieve the blueprint from the Kasplat, its hair turns white to signify it's already been beaten. When a Kong hands over a single piece of blueprint to Snide, they receive a Golden Banana in return. They are also used toward the end of the game to delay the Blast-o-Matics firing. To give the blueprints to Snide, the players must find Snide's H.Q. in each level.
A Battle Crown in Donkey Kong 64. Battle Arena Crown In each world, there is one battle arena platform, and it leads to the battle arena itself, where the Kongs must survive a given time limit while several enemies attack them. These enemies respawn if the previous ones were defeated. Battle Arena Crowns are awarded for completing the Battle Arenas. They're required for the 100% completion total, and the players needs at least four of them, along with the Rareware Coin and Nintendo Coin, in order to reach the final Boss Key. There are a total of ten in the entire game; one for each Battle Pad. These crowns closely resemble King K. Rool's own crown.

Barrels

There are several types of barrels that the Kongs encounter during their adventure. They have varing effects, although most of them are helpful. The standard, wooden barrels from previous Donkey Kong Country games also appear in this game, and have the same purpose - the Kongs can grab them and throw them at other enemies to defeat them. Once thrown, the barrel rolls in the direction it was thrown and breaks when it hits something. There are also various types of different barrels:

Image Name Description
Artwork of Cranky's Kong Barrel. Cranky's Kong Barrel Cranky's Kong Barrels are wooden barrels with the Kongs' emblems on them. These barrels are used to activate the Kongs' special abilities, learned when they consume Cranky's magic potions. For example, once Donkey Kong enters one of Cranky's Kong Barrel with his face on it, he becomes able to use his special ability, Strong Kong, for a limited amount of time. The special abilities, however, use up the Kongs' Crystal Coconuts.
Artwork of a Tag Barrel from Donkey Kong 64. Tag Barrel Tag Barrels are used to switch to a different Kong when exploring a world. They have the appearance of a spinning wooden barrel with each of the Kongs' faces on them. Once a Kong enters the Tag Barrel, the player can select their Kong in a circular character select screen. There are only a few Tag Barrels in each world, although the Donkey Kong Island has ten (eight in each level lobby, one in the main area, and one near Snide's H.Q.).
File:DK64 Bonus Barrel.jpg Bonus Barrel Bonus Barrels are wooden barrels with a picture of a Golden Banana on them. These barrels appear in every world of the game, and they are quite common. When a Kong enters a Bonus Barrel, they are taken to a special minigame where they must complete a certain task. Once this challenge is completed, the Kong receives a special Golden Banana. In Hideout Helm, they have a metallic appearance, and take the Kongs to special minigames that must be completed to disable the Blast-o-Matic. For a list of Bonus Minigames, see here.
Artwork of a TNT Barrel for Donkey Kong 64. TNT Barrel TNT Barrels are highly explosive barrels that can potentially be used as powerful weapons throughout the game. They often appear in boss battles, usually in the center of the arena, where they must be used to attack the boss. TNT Barrels act like standard barrels when thrown - they roll in a direction until they hit something, with the difference that they cause a fiery explosion when they touch anything. Some enemies known as Kabooms reside inside TNT Barrels.
A steel keg Steel Keg Steel Kegs are heavy, metallic barrels that are rather uncommon, only appearing inside one of the wooden barns in Fungi Forest. These barrels are so heavy that only Chunky Kong can lift them. Chunky must destroy three Steel Kegs in this barn by putting them on a conveyor belt at a nearby grinder, in order to obtain a Golden Banana. For some reason, Steel Kegs explode when they hit the grinder.

Switches

Another aspect of the gameplay Donkey Kong 64 are the various switches found in the game's worlds. There are several types of switches, and they usually affect the landscape of the location they are found in, allowing access to new areas or collectibles. The switches are either found on the ground, or in the walls, requiring a special ability to hit them. There are three types of switches:

Image Name Description
A Kong Switch, from Donkey Kong 64. Kong Switch Kong Switches are the most common type of switch found in the game. They are found in nearly every world of the game. They can be activated by hitting them with the Simian Slam if they are green, the Super Simian Slam if they are blue, and the Super Duper Simian Slam if they are red. The switches activate a host of things including passageways and secret areas. The first in Jungle Japes is automatically activated via jumping off of a vine.
A Target Switch, from Donkey Kong 64. Target Switch Target Switches are almost as common as the Kong Switches, and unlike them, appear exclusively on the walls. Each switch has a picture of a fruit on it to indicate which shooter is needed to hit it. It may have a coconut (Donkey Kong), peanut (Diddy Kong), grape (Lanky Kong), feather (Tiny Kong), or a pineapple (Chunky Kong).
A wall switch Wall Switch Wall Switches are a variation of the common Target Switches. They usually have the same effects as the Kong Switches, but they can only be hit with Diddy's Chimpy Charge or Chunky's Primate Punch ability. Wall Switches are a bit less common than the other switches.

Pads

Image Name Description
A Kong Pad, from Donkey Kong 64. Cranky's Kong Pad Cranky's Kong Pads are special pads with images of the Kongs' faces on them. After the Kongs learn their special pad abilities, the pads become available for use. When a Kong stands on a pad with their face on it, they can activate their special pad ability. Usually, when a Kong sees a pad it means they must accomplish something in that area.
File:Music Pad.jpg Music Pad Music Pads has pictures of each Kong instrument on it. If the corresponding Kong steps on the pad and plays their instrument a variety of things can happen, including entrances to passageways opening to a Golden Banana appearing out of nowhere. Playing an instrument on a Music Pad will not drain its energy.
File:Battlearenapad.png Battle Arena Pad Battle Arena Pads are steel pads with a headshot of King K. Rool on them. When a Kong steps on any of these pads, they are transported to a Battle Arena, where they must fight with several enemies and survive in the given time limit. These enemies often respawn when the previous ones were defeated, adding to the challenge. When the Kongs successfully survive the Battle Arena challenge, they obtain a special Battle Arena Crown.
Bananaporters screenshot.png Bananaport Pad Bananaport Pad are numbered pads that come in a variety of colors, depending on their number. They are used to transport the Kongs to another similarly-numbered pad, usually in a different location. Both numbered Bananaport Pads need to be used once in order to work (i.e., both Bananaport Pads numbered '1' need to be activated before they can work). Bananaport Pads with the number one are blue, the ones with the number two are green, the ones with the number three are purple, the ones with the number four are red, and the ones with the number five are yellow. When the Kongs use a Bananaport Pad, they seem to be transported by a giant Banana Peel.

Mystery

When the players manage to collect a certain amount of Banana Fairies in any file, the Mystery option will be unlocked in the main menu. Depending on the number of Banana Fairies collected, the players will unlock the following things:

Unlockables Banana Fairies Details
Cinemas 2 The players can replay any of the cutscenes that they saw during game play. The ending cinema and bonus cinema are not included, however.
Bonuses 6 The players can play special bonuses involving Rambi and Enguarde. The Donkey Kong arcade game and the Jetpac game can also be played.
Bosses 10 The players can rematch any of the bosses they fought, except King K. Rool.
Krusha 15 The players can enable the use of Krusha for multiplayer mode.
Infinite Items 20 The players can set equipment supplies for all items to infinite. However, infinite ammunition only applies to Homing Ammo; normal ammunition is not infinite, thus the player cannot use this option until the Homing upgrade is bought. Health also is not included in the bonus.

Similarities between Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Kazooie

As both Donkey Kong 64 and Banjo-Kazooie were games made by Rare, huge similarities were inevitable, to name a few:

  • In an early version, Banjo and Kazooie's faces could be seen on a shower stall in DK's Tree House. Similarly, pre-release material of Banjo-Kazooie shows a picture of DK as he appeared in the original Donkey Kong Country above Banjo's bed, but was eventually replaced with a picture of Tooty, Banjo's sister.
  • The gameplay of Donkey Kong 64 shares many things with Banjo-Kazooie, like the different pads (and their appearance), the Golden Bananas (collected and used in the same way as Banjo-Kazooie's Jiggies), somes moves (The OrangStand, for example, being extremely similar to the Talon Trot) and the Blast-o-Matic (which is more or less the Donkey Kong 64 equivalent of the B.O.B., the Big-O-Blaster, used by Gruntilda in Banjo-Tooie).
  • Fungi Forest was originally intended for Banjo-Kazooie, but got canned due to time constraints, before being moved to Donkey Kong 64 with minor changes.
  • Donkey Kong 64 was part of the incomplete feature called Stop 'n' Swop. It involved six different colored eggs and a key of ice, found in Banjo-Kazooie, and only two eggs and the key were shown in the ending cinematic (after collecting all 100 Jiggies). Their locations were sealed off, and it was told that they would be unlocked in Banjo-Tooie. After hackers found the codes to access their hiding places, the eggs proved useless. Rare intended to use them as a connection between Banjo-Kazooie, Banjo-Tooie, and Donkey Kong 64, unlocking secret features in all of them. After accessing a special pause menu, gamers were supposed to stop their current game and swap the Game Paks for another. Stop 'n' Swop got canned by Nintendo, due to concerns about players damaging their systems and the possibility that it would not be possible in some revisions of the Nintendo 64 hardware.[4] Due to fact that the necessary chunk of the code for Banjo-Kazooie was already complete and compiled in the game after its release when Nintendo changed the N64's hardware, Stop 'n' Swop remained a mystery until the Xbox Live Arcade re-release of Banjo-Kazooie and Banjo-Tooie where Rare completed the contraption they started, replacing Donkey Kong 64 with Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts. However, the use of the Eggs and Key for Donkey Kong is still unknown.
  • Donkey Kong 64 holds many cameos to the Banjo-Kazooie series, including the enemies resembling Swellbellies, and the relation between the enemy Gnawty and the character Gnawty, who is a minor character in Banjo-Kazooie.
  • Inside of Candy's Shop are three of the instruments that appeared in the intro to Banjo-Kazooie, which are Banjo's banjo, Kazooie's kazoo, and Mumbo's xylophone.
  • The tune that plays when Troff and Scoff unlock a boss door is almost identical to the tune that plays whenever Banjo enters a room containing a Stop 'N' Swop item in Banjo-Kazooie.
  • In both games, the first three worlds share the same themes; the first being a mountain like valley, the second being set in a sandy like environment, and the third is set in an industrial facility.
  • In both games, world 5 features two races, the first one not requiring a new move, but the second one requires a move that allows the player to run at a very fast speed. In both games, the move must be learned in the next world.
  • In both games, world 7 takes place in a haunted like environment and even share similar music.

References to other games

References in later games

  • Donkey Kong Country: The Game Boy Color remake features several minigames that were included in Donkey Kong 64, while the Game Boy Advance version features voices of DK, Diddy, and King K. Rool that were used in Donkey Kong 64. In addition, the menu selection for the former was taken directly from Donkey Kong 64.
  • Super Smash Bros. Melee: The DK Rap was rearranged for background music on the Kongo Jungle stage. Jungle Japes appears as a stage, with many elements from its original appearance.
  • Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong's voices from this game are recycled from Donkey Kong 64.
  • Donkey Kong Country 2: After the Kongs complete Funky's "Cool Sounds" mission in the Game Boy Advance remake, he mentions the Monkey Rap. Some of Dixie's voices are Tiny's recycled. Tiny Kong appears in Funky's minigames during Kongnapped and Kongnapped 2 where the player must rescue a certain amount of her.
  • DK: King of Swing: Crystal Coconuts made a return, although they served an entirely different purpose. Also, Wrinkly Kong was a ghost in this game, just as she was in Donkey Kong 64. DK and Diddy's 64 voices are recycled yet again, although they are the edited versions heard in Donkey Kong Country for Game Boy Advance. Flipflaps returned as enemies.
  • Donkey Kong Country 3: Lanky, Tiny and Chunky make cameos in one of Funky's minigames, in the Game Boy Advance remake.
  • Mario Hoops 3-on-3: Diddy's Special Shot involves the use of his Rocketbarrel Jetpack.
  • Donkey Kong Barrel Blast: Chunky's Pineapple Launcher, Crystal Coconuts, Golden Bananas and Banana Fairies were usable items. Also, the entire concept of barrel-rocket belts originated from DK64. Lanky was also reintroduced in that game as well.
  • Diddy Kong Racing DS: The game's title logo was similar to DK64's and Tiny Kong was a playable racer.
  • Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Diddy Kong was included as a playable character, and his move-set (specifically his Rocketbarrel Boost and Peanut Popguns) came straight from Donkey Kong 64. Also, Diddy Kong, Lanky Kong, Tiny Kong and Chunky Kong appear as stickers straight from Donkey Kong 64.
  • Donkey Kong Country Returns: Diddy Kong can use a Rocketbarrel Jetpack to slow Donkey Kong's fall and in multiplayer when facing either Mugly or Thugly the player can have Diddy Kong shoot peanuts at them and Mugly or Thugly will eat them being distracted.
  • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U: Trophies of the Peanut Popgun and Rocketbarrel Pack appear in these games. Trophies of Lanky Kong and Tiny Kong appear in the Wii U version.
  • Mario Party 10: DK's description says He's finally back to kick some tail!.
  • Skylanders: SuperChargers: Chunky Kong's special ability, Primate Punch, is used as Turbo Charge Donkey Kong's primary ability in this game.
  • Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle: A rearrangement of the Jungle Japes theme is used as Rabbid Kong's battle theme in this game.

Development

Donkey Kong 64 started development immediately after the conclusion of Donkey Kong Country 3's[5]. 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 Crash Bandicoot[5]. After around 18 months, development as rebooted after Rare took notice of the trend of open 3D games started by Super Mario 64 [5].

Donkey Kong 64 was not initially meant to require the Expansion Pak. Near its release date, Rare was unable to fix a memory leak bug that would cause the game to crash after 30 minutes of gameplay, but found that the issue did not occur when the Expansion Pak inserted. As a result, the game was bundled with the Expansion Pak, a move that took a large toll on the game's profits.[6]

Staff

Main article: List of Donkey Kong 64 staff

Donkey Kong 64 was developed by Rare Ltd. and published by Nintendo. The game's core development team was largely formed of people who had no involvement with Rare's previous Donkey Kong games, although several Donkey Kong Country veterans such as Gregg Mayles and Chris Sutherland are credited as support staff.

The game's soundtrack was composed by Grant Kirkhope. Initially meant to assist Eveline Fischer, Kirkhope ended up composing the entire soundtrack (including the DK Rap) and also provided the voice of Donkey Kong.

Reception

Donkey Kong 64 was the subject of universal acclaim at release. Critics praised the game's length and large amount of content, the variety brought about by the game's tasks and different player characters, and the graphics, although multiple outlets expressed disappointment that Donkey Kong 64 did not feel like a massive technological leap over the developer's previous work on Banjo-Kazooie despite requiring the Expansion Pak accessory. A reoccurring criticism of the game was that Donkey Kong 64 was derivative of Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, and not a revolutionary step like the critics judged Donkey Kong Country to be.

In a 1999 interview, Shigeru Miyamoto said of Donkey Kong 64 that Rare "really perfected the art" of making 3D action games and that "I bet you that it turns out to be the absolute best 3D action game available on any hardware - even including Dreamcast.", although he ultimately judged that Donkey Kong 64 would not be a game that would attract new players to the Nintendo 64.[7]

In later years, critical reception to Donkey Kong 64 has been more mixed. Modern retrospectives of the Donkey Kong series and reviews of the game's Wii U rerelease have criticized various aspects of Donkey Kong 64's design such as the excessive gating of collectables and switches by characters, the tedium of having to backtrack to switch characters through the Tag Barrel, and the low quality and frustrating nature of many of the Bonus Stages[8][9]. Publications such as Electronic Gaming Monthly blamed Donkey Kong 64 as one of the factors in the decreasing fortunes of the 3D platformer genre.[10] Former Rare employee and Donkey Kong 64 composer Grant Kirkhope was quoted as saying the game and fellow Rare platformer Banjo-Tooie were "too much"[11], and the game's lead tester Gavin Price mocked its high amount of collectibles in an interview[12].

In a 2016 Famitsu poll to determine the "most memorable" games for each console, Donkey Kong 64 ranked 7th for the Nintendo 64 with 129 votes[13], being the only Donkey Kong game to make the list.

Reviews
Reviewer, Publication Score Comment
Matt Casamassina, IGN 9/10 "Well, Donkey Kong 64 has finally hit home and I think the wait has definitely been worth it. The game, while not the leap and bound that Donkey Kong Country was for Super NES, is still an excellent platformer all the same. It's an epic, gargantuan, huge, giant-sized platformer. It's a game that is packed full of things to do. There is so much that it's often overwhelming. The game is every great platformer combined into one package. And that, more than anything else, is what separates it from the competition."
Nelson Taruc GameSpot 9/10 "That said, this reviewer feels Donkey Kong 64 offers too much solid gameplay to warrant such criticism, even though it's not the technological marvel that Donkey Kong Country had been in its heyday. Those of you who remotely liked Mario 64 or Banjo-Kazooie will be excited to the point of numbness by this game. However, for those of you averse to the "collect everything" gameplay mentality, this game might come off as a chore to complete. In any case, Donkey Kong 64 has high-quality adventure written all over it - despite its camera flaws - and it gives you many reasons to see the good-guy Kongs thrive in 3D."
Aggregators
Compiler Platform / Score
Gameranking 90 of 100

Media

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Donkey Kong 64 media.
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Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Donkey Kong 64.

Quotes

Main article: List of Donkey Kong 64 quotes
  • "I've been waiting a long time for this moment. Soon, Donkey Kong and his pretty little island will be no more!" - King K. Rool
  • "Well, if it isn't my good-for-nothin' son..." - Cranky Kong
  • "Snide's my name, revenge is my game!" - Snide

Pre-release and unused content

Main article: List of Donkey Kong 64 pre-release and unused content

Early screenshots show that DK's Tree House was meant to have a shower stall with Banjo and Kazooie on it. The Kong's weapons originally resembled actual weapons, such as Donkey Kong's Coconut Shooter resembling a double barreled shotgun.

Glitches

Main article: List of Donkey Kong 64 glitches

Donkey Kong 64 contains a variety of glitches, to a degree that the game is often considered to be one of the most broken games on the Nintendo 64, lag issues were very common, most noticeably in Frantic Factory and few other places, the developers noticed that, and implemented a movement speed-to-lag system, where the more lag there is, the faster characters move. This led to there being a lot of wall clips in this game. Oranges explosion causes massive lag, and the fact that the player can enter first person mode and throw oranges faster allowed the use of many more sequence breaks and wall clips. Most of the lag issues were fixed in the Virtual Console release of the game, but due to this, timed challenges in the game were considerably harder, because there was less lag. The first person mode allows even more glitches, like swimming through most walls, and clipping through stairs.

Name in other languages

Language Name Meaning
Japanese ドンキーコング64
Donkī Kongu Rokujūyon
Donkey Kong 64

Trivia

  • Wrinkly Kong is the only Kong not seen during the credits.
    • Wrinkly Kong is also the only supporting Kong to offer her service for free.
  • In Template:Wikia, another Rare game, one of the questions Gruntilda asks during the final battle is "What is the name of the first game I appeared in?". One of the three answers to this question is Grunty Kong 64, referencing this game.

References

  1. ^ June 23 1998 Scribe column (accessed July 20 2014)
  2. ^ http://www.unseen64.net/2008/04/04/donkey-kong-64-n64-beta/
  3. ^ Backstory, as it is presented in the Donkey Kong 64 Instruction Booklet, page 5 and 6.
  4. ^ Rare Ltd, Rare Revealed: The Making of Banjo-Kazooie. YouTube. Retrieved December 13, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c Digital Foundry (December 16, 2017). DF Retro: Donkey Kong Country + Killer Instinct - A 16-Bit CG Revolution!. 'Youtube. Retrieved December 16, 2017
  6. ^ Watts, Martin (May 28, 2013). Donkey Kong 64 Required Expansion Pak to Prevent Game-Breaking Bug. Nintendo Life. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
  7. ^ Danny Bivens (January 25, 2014). "Shigeru Miyamoto Speaks: An Interview Between Itoi and Miyamoto from 1999 Part 6: Shigeru Miyamoto speaks about Donkey Kong 64 and Mother 3". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved June 24, 2017
  8. ^ Conor McHamon (April 12, 2015). Review: Donkey Kong 64. Nintendo Life. Retrieved July 20, 2017
  9. ^ Jeremy Parish (May 13, 2015). What are the Best Virtual Console Games for Nintendo Wii U?. USGamer. Retrieved July 20, 2017
  10. ^ EGM, "Top 10 Overrated Games". April 2005 issue.
  11. ^ Stephen Totilo (June 23, 2015). Thanks To 73,000 Supporters, They're Making A Successor To Banjo-Kazooie. Kotaku. Retrieved July 27, 2017
  12. ^ Alex Wilthshire (March 22, 2017). The Hit-Making DNA That Links 'Yooka-Laylee', 'Banjo-Kazooie' and 'Donkey Kong 64'. Glixel. Retrieved July 20, 2017
  13. ^ Brian Ashcraft (June 02, 2016). Poll: Japan's Most Memorable Games on Each Console. Kotaku. Retrieved July 20, 2017

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