Donkey Kong 64

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

To comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines, the introduction of this article may need to be rewritten. Please discuss this issue on the talk page and read the layout guide to make sure the section will be inclusive of all essential details.

To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (April 2008)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2008)

Donkey Kong 64
Developer(s)	Rareware
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64
Release date	NANovember 24, 1999 EU December 6, 1999 JPN December 10, 1999
Genre(s)	3D Platform game
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: E OFLC: G
Media	256-Mbit (32MB) cartridge
System requirements	Expansion Pak

Donkey Kong 64 is a 3D platformer video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64. It was published by Nintendo and first released on November 24, 1999. The game requires the use of the Expansion Pak in order to function, and was the first Nintendo 64 game to do so. The initial release of Donkey Kong 64 included the Expansion Pak with the game for free. Donkey Kong 64 would later become a Nintendo 64 Player's Choice. The game is a follow up to the Donkey Kong Country trilogy on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

Contents 1 Gameplay 1.1 Single player 1.2 Multiplayer 2 Story 3 Characters 3.1 Playable characters 3.1.1 Donkey Kong 3.1.2 Diddy Kong 3.1.3 Tiny Kong 3.1.4 Lanky Kong 3.1.5 Chunky Kong 3.1.6 Rambi 3.1.7 Enguarde 3.1.8 Other playable characters 3.2 Non-playable characters 3.2.1 King K. Rool 3.2.2 Cranky Kong 3.2.3 Funky Kong 3.2.4 Candy Kong 3.2.5 K. Lumsy 3.2.6 Wrinkly Kong 3.2.7 Troff and Scoff 3.2.8 Snide 3.2.9 Squawks 4 Levels 5 DK Rap 6 Sequels 7 Reception 8 References 9 More Credits

[edit] Gameplay

A single-player adventure mode and a multiplayer mode are both available.

[edit] Single player

The game is a 3D adventure with strong platforming links, similar to that of Banjo-Kazooie. Much of the gameplay involves collecting various items, such as coins, bananas, weapons, keys, and blueprints. IGN described it as the most "collecting-ist" game ever.

The main goal of the game is to collect the "Golden Bananas". There are 200 golden bananas with a "Nintendo" tag and an extra special one with a "Rareware" tag, which makes 201 Golden Bananas altogether. They are used for gaining access to various levels, which are blocked by B. Locker, who has the number of Golden Bananas needed labeled on him for unblocking the level's entrance. There are 25 Golden Bananas in each level, but each Kong is only able to find 5. One of the 5 they find is from Snide after a Kong gives him a special blueprint found in a Kasplat (40 total).The Boss Keys are the second most important items for completing the game. These are used for unlocking each of the eight locks on K. Lumsy's cage. Seven of them are collected by defeating a level boss. These unlock the next level(s)'s entrance area. Sometimes, two levels can be unlocked together, with different amounts of Golden Bananas needed for the B.Locker to unblock the entrance. The entrances appear, because of an earthquake K. Lumsy causes with his tremendous joy.

The third most important thing to collect are the colored bananas, which come in five different colors for each Kong. These are needed to feed Scoff to reach a key to unlock the entrance of a level boss for one specified Kong to battle. There are 500 bananas in each level, 100 for each Kong. They can be found alone, in bunches of 5, or in balloons which are worth 10. The number of bananas needed to unlock the entrance to the boss is shown on the entrance door. Every time Scoff is fed, the number of bananas needed is reduced.

The fourth important objective is to free the four Kongs who are held captive in the first three levels. In the second level, there are two Kongs being held captive in two different places. They are needed to collect the Golden Bananas and their colored bananas to feed Scoff. A specific Kong can be chosen to fight the level boss. After all the Kongs are freed, the player can switch Kongs, by going into the tag barrels, in which every Kong who was freed so far wants to be selected (by showing off), apart from Chunky, who, when in the spotlight, is scared to be chosen and says to pick Tiny instead.

Unusual for its genre is the ability to buy and upgrade weapons for each character featured in this game. Players are able to fire both regular and homing ammo, and can throw orange grenades. These weapons are useful for defeating enemies and helping to solve certain puzzles. Also available is a unique musical instrument for each Kong to play, which can destroy (almost) every enemy in the area, even those that are immune to all other attacks.

[edit] Multiplayer

This can be played by up to 4 players at one time. It features 3 arenas, one special arena, and 6 gameplay modes. The 5 playable characters from the single player adventure are also used in the multi-player mode, along with one secret character, Krusha.

[edit] Story

King K. Rool is trying to destroy Donkey Kong Island with a large laser called the Blast-O-Matic, but it malfunctions after a crash that puts his ship right in front of DK Island. To buy some time, he captures a handful of Kongs and locks them up. He then steals Donkey Kong's hoard of Golden Bananas. As Donkey Kong frees his fellow apes, they set off to recover the bananas and eventually defeat K. Rool and his army of Kremlings.

[edit] Characters

[edit] Playable characters

The following are the five primate members of the so-called DK Crew. Krusha can be used in adventure mode by using a game shark code.

[edit] Donkey Kong

A large, muscular Mountain Gorilla, and the title character of the game, weighing 800lbs. He wears a red, monogrammed necktie. You start with him at the beginning of the game. His weapon is the Coconut Shooter, and his instrument is the bongos. He collects yellow bananas. After he drinks Cranky Kong's potions, he coughs, smells it, waves his hand in front of his nose while looking away, and then throws the potion bottle behind him. The potions give him Baboon Blast (blast barrel bonus level, to unlock hidden parts of the level) Strong Kong (invulnerability, and minor enemies run in fear and die instantly), and Gorilla Grab (the ability to pull levers).

[edit] Diddy Kong

Donkey Kong's first sidekick who debuted in Donkey Kong Country. A Chimp in a red baseball cap and T-shirt, the latter bearing a yellow star on the front and back. He can jump farther than Donkey Kong, and is armed with a jet pack, but he does not have as much strength. His weapons are the Peanut Popguns, and his instrument is the electric guitar. He collects red bananas. Diddy is playable once Donkey Kong frees him in Jungle Japes. He holds Cranky Kong's potion bottles with both hands, falls with the potion going into his mouth, drinking like a baby, and chokes. The potions give him Chimpy Charge (a running head-butt), Rocket-Barrel Boost (getting a jet pack), and Simian Spring (the ability to jump high into the air).

[edit] Tiny Kong

A chimpanzee who is the younger sister of Dixie Kong from the Donkey Kong Country games. Her pigtails allow her to temporarily float through the air, and she can shrink in size to fit into places the other Kongs can't reach. She can Monkey-Port to areas that the others can't get to. Her weapon is the Feather Crossbow, and her instrument is the saxophone. She collects purple bananas. Tiny can be played once Diddy Kong rescues her in Angry Aztec. Whenever she drinks the potion at Cranky's Lab, she football kicks it to her hand; her lower body shrinks, she falls, her lower body goes back to its original size, and she kicks the potion bottle. The potions give her Mini-Monkey (the ability to shrink), Pony-Tail Whirl (allows her to hover), and Monkey-Port (teleportation).

[edit] Lanky Kong

A newcomer in the Donkey Kong series. A Sumatran Orangutan whose long arms allow him to handstand. He can also inflate himself to allow himself to float. His weapon is the Grape Pipe, and his instrument is the trombone. He collects blue bananas in the first 7 levels. Lanky is accessible once Donkey Kong frees him in Angry Aztec. Whenever he drinks the potion at Cranky's Lab, he uses his feet to carry it, but when it can't reach it to his mouth, he tuts. His arms then tremble and he falls with the potion getting pushed into his mouth by the ground; after he drinks the potion, his head enlarges, and as he pulls the potion bottle from his mouth his head shrinks back to its original size. The potions give him OrangStand (handstand and the ability to walk up steep slopes), Baboon Balloon (allows him to float through the air), and OrangStand Sprint (handstand and the ability to walk up steep slopes at super speed).

[edit] Chunky Kong

A strong yet cowardly Lowland Gorilla weighing 2000lbs. He is the older brother of Kiddy Kong, and cousin to Tiny Kong. The juggernaut of the Kong family, he is the strongest out of all the Kongs and can lift heavy objects, but he is slow and can't jump high. His weapon is the Pineapple Launcher, and his instrument is the triangle. He collects green bananas in the first 7 levels. Chunky can be found in Frantic Factory and only Lanky can free him. Whenever he drinks the potion, he finds it delicious and rubs his tummy; his lower body inflates, he shakes his arms and legs for a while and at last, he deflates. The potions give him Hunky Chunky (growth to a titanic size), Primate Punch (a super-powered punch), and Gorilla Gone (ability to be and see invisible things (except for his clothes)).

[edit] Rambi

A powerful rhinoceros. Donkey Kong can transform into him with a Rambi box in Jungle Japes.

[edit] Enguarde

A swift swordfish that Lanky can turn into with an Enguarde crate in Gloomy Galleon. His name is derived from the French term "en garde" which is used for swordfighting.

[edit] Other playable characters

• A Krusha is playable in Multiplayer mode after returning 15 banana fairies.

• A Klaptrap is also playable in the mini-game "Beaver Bother".

[edit] Non-playable characters

[edit] King K. Rool

King K. Rool is DK's arch-nemesis. He plans to destroy DK Island with his new invention, the Blast-O-Matic. He is the final boss.

[edit] Cranky Kong

Cranky is DK's father and Wrinkly's husband. He aids the playable characters by allowing them to purchase potions, which give them necessary abilities. If the player collects 15 banana medals, he'll allow access to the game Jetpac on his computer. Defeating this wins the Rareware Coin.

[edit] Funky Kong

Funky is the large ape with a hat and vest. He provides the playable Kongs with firepower in the form of guns which shoot various types of jungle-related items. His ammunition boxes are also set around the levels for the Kongs to refill their weapons instead of heading over to one of his huts.

[edit] Candy Kong

Candy is DK's main love interest. She provides the playable Kongs with destructive musical instruments, and also expands their collective life meter at specified points throughout the game. Kongs can go to her headphones found in areas of a level to recover the energy of their instruments instead of re-visiting her. Her music shop is found in most levels, except for Jungle Japes and Fungi Forest. Her headphones are found in every level except for Jungle Japes. Kongs can receive the last melon of the three needed from her if the level, Crystal Caves is unlocked. Her music shop is larger in Creepy Castle than it usually was.

Her appearance in this game is noticeably different than when she appears in other DK games, such as Donkey Kong Country.

[edit] K. Lumsy

K. Lumsy was captured and imprisoned by K. Rool after disobeying his order to smash the DK isles. K. Rool has ordered K. Lumsy to stay in his large and heavily locked cage until he decides to shape up and get smashing. Along the way, DK will run into him and help set him free. They collect seven of his keys by defeating the bosses of the seven worlds they travel to, and the eighth one by clearing Hideout Helm. K. Lumsy knocks the fleeing K. Rool out of the sky, humorously tripping over a boulder. K. Lumsy is seen in the Secret Ending, with the Kongs traveling atop him as he swims around DK Isles.

[edit] Wrinkly Kong

Wrinkly is Cranky's wife and DK's mother. It is revealed Wrinkly dies in the time between Donkey Kong Country III and Donkey Kong 64, which in the game, she says she passed away after DKC3. As in previous games, she gives the Kongs hints about various level objectives. She has five doors, one for each Kong, in every lobby to a level in the game, except for Hideout Helm.

[edit] Troff and Scoff

Troff and Scoff are two animals who are always hungry. Troff is a pig, and Scoff is a hippopotamus. Troff has eaten too much, and has bulked up, and Scoff wants to be as fat as Troff currently is, so he asks the player to feed him. Feeding Scoff enough bananas will cause him to grow twice as fat as Troff, after which he uses his mighty girth to boost Troff to a key that accesses the next area in the game. Their goal is to get as fat as they can, and they grow bigger in each new world.

[edit] Snide

Snide is a weasel who once worked as an engineer for King K. Rool until he got the boot from his boss. Snide has now decided to help the Kong family in their quest. Throughout the game, the player can visit Snide's hideout and bring pieces of a blueprint of K. Rool's Blast-O-Matic that they can obtain by defeating one of 5 Kasplats in each appropriate area. With each piece, the time to play 'Hideout Helm' increases and one more Golden Banana is acquired. In the end, the player can access the Bonus Barrel minigames.

[edit] Squawks

Squawks the parrot has shrunk back to his original size of how he appeared in Donkey Kong Country. He appears when a Kong is introduced. He also carries the shrunken Tiny Kong to the needed holes when she activates her musical saxophone pad. He cannot carry Tiny Kong at her original size or any of the other Kongs.

• Additionally, in Gloomy Galleon, a fish that resembles Glimmer and a tadpole appears with the name of Glower. This fish, using the flashlight attached to its head, can light darkened areas for the Kongs. Glimmer is originally seen in Donkey Kong Country 2, in a level entitled 'Glimmer's Galleon'. Glower serves the same purpose as Glimmer, and provides light for the player through-out the level.

[edit] Levels

Donkey Kong 64 contains 8 levels in addition to an overworld and the final boss arena. The levels are as follows:

• DK Isles (the overworld): The Kongs' home island in the shape of Donkey Kong's head and K. Rool's opposing ship in the shape of a giant Kremling. A Banana Fairy Island and K. Lumsy's cage are held to the east and west of the Kremling ship. The overworld is very small.

• Jungle Japes (level 1): A classic mountainous jungle scene reminiscent of early Donkey Kong Country levels. Diddy Kong is held captive here. Jungle Japes is also a stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee, and is a secret stage in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. A hidden mine cart stage is held here as well.

• Angry Aztec (level 2): A desert based area modeled after the ancient Aztec Empire, complete with accessible temples, sandstorms, quicksand, etc. Both Lanky Kong and Tiny Kong are held captive here. Candy's Music Shop first appears in this level.

• Frantic Factory (level 3): A rogue toy robot factory, complete with production and R&D rooms. A slightly enhanced version of the original "Donkey Kong" arcade game is also available for play. Chunky Kong is held captive here.

• Gloomy Galleon (level 4): A water based cove area featuring K. Rool's sunken navy from earlier DK games with a mild pirate theme with both underwater and cave-like areas.

• Fungi Forest (level 5): A large toadstool based world where the player must use the strategy of switching between day and night to access different parts of the level. This level was originally going to be used for Banjo-Kazooie, but the game was already overbooked with levels. There are enemy tomatoes here dubbed Killer Tomatoes, which are obviously a reference to Attack of the Killer Tomatoes.

• Crystal Caves (level 6): Underground ice caves complete with waterfalls and glistening crystal formations. A giant club-totting kremling constantly shakes down stalactites which could damage a Kong if it makes contact. Only Tiny Kong can use her "Monkey Port" move to get to the top of the chamber and defeat it, with Chunky Kong's help.

• Creepy Castle (level 7): A haunted spire-like castle, complete with a museum, ballroom, crypts, and much more. The Library with evil flying books is only accessible by Donkey Kong reaching it before the clock reaches 0.

• Hideout Helm (level 8): The final arena where K. Rool's Blast-O-Matic laser is powering up. This level is slightly different from others. King K. Rool attempts to fire the Blast-O-Matic, but Snide manages to jam the firing sequence for a limited time (each blueprint the player has given Snide during the game adds 1 minute to the timer with a base time of 10 minutes.). The Kongs must shut down the Blast-O-Matic by completing certain bonus barrels to deactivate the Blast-O-Matic's power source; failure results in a game over. Interestingly, this and voluntarily quitting out of the game are the only ways to get a game over; the Kongs have unlimited lives.

• The Flying Kroc (final boss arena): After K. Rool's airship is downed by K. Lumsy, the roof opened to allow the Kongs inside for the final battle.

The overworld contains four Banana Fairies, two Battle Crowns, five Golden Bananas to collect for each of the 5 protagonists, and the secret Golden Banana with the Rareware logo (regular ones have a N64 logo on them). The secret Golden Banana is only collected by Tiny Kong when she follows the Banana Fairy to get it. Each other level contains 5 golden bananas and 100 regular bananas to collect for each Kong (excluding Hideout Helm, there's only one key which is needed after the special Rareware and Nintendo 64 coins are collected. Hideout Helm also contains one Battle Crown and two Banana Fairies).

[edit] DK Rap

Unlike most Nintendo 64 games, the intro movie to the game featured a full-length song with vocals. The song, called the "DK Rap", describes the "DK Crew", the team of the five Kong family members, with one member per verse: Donkey Kong with his coconut gun, the quicker, smaller female Tiny Kong, the handstanding Lanky Kong, the pistol-wielding Diddy Kong, and the strongman Chunky Kong.

The "DK Rap" was the first-ever incidence of the word "hell" being spoken aloud in a Nintendo game.^{[citation needed]} It ought to be pointed out that Rare is a British company, and in Britain the word "hell" is not viewed with anything like the opprobrium as it is in the US. In order to avoid future controversy, when the "DK Rap" was used in later games, most notably Super Smash Bros. Melee, a GameCube game, "hell" was replaced with "heck", even though Melee was rated T for Teen.

"DK Rap" was also used in Donkey Konga and as the background music for the Kongo Jungle stage in Super Smash Bros. Melee. The song is performed by James W. Norwood Jr., who used several different voices and effects for the remix in Super Smash Bros. Melee, but used the same voice for the original Donkey Kong 64 version.

• The line "His coconut gun can fire in spurts. If he shoots ya, it's gonna hurt!" was named the fourth worst game line ever in the January 2002 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly.
• The comedy team Mega64 used the DK Rap in an unused skit in which they made a fictional rapper who wrote the song named Hunkty Krunkty.

[edit] Sequels

Rareware was purchased by Microsoft in 2002, meaning they can no longer develop original games with the Donkey Kong franchise for the home video game consoles (they can still develop games for the handheld). Following this, the franchise branched off in multiple directions.

• Nintendo teamed up with Namco to make the musical drumming games Donkey Konga, Donkey Konga 2, and Donkey Konga 3 for the Nintendo GameCube.

• Using the DK Bongos created for Donkey Konga, Nintendo's own NCL team created the Nintendo GameCube's Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, a more Japanese take on the Donkey Kong Country series. It contains a few elements from the DKC trilogy such as collecting bananas and getting help from animal buddies, but Donkey Kong is the only returning character. Donkey Kong Jungle Beat was released in 2005.

• Japanese developer PAON created DK King of Swing for the Game Boy Advance, a more direct storyline sequel to Donkey Kong 64 and the titles that came before it. Instead of being a platformer, King of Swing involved jumping and swinging across hooks to advance through stages. King of Swing was released in 2005.

• Prior to the release of the Wii console, Nintendo announced that a Donkey Kong game was in development for the console, but no further information was released to date.

• NGamer rumored that Donkey Kong 64 will be ported to the Nintendo DS.^{[citation needed]} They also noted that a Virtual Console port won't be on the horizon soon.^{[citation needed]}

• Tiny Kong and Lanky Kong are no longer regulars in the main series since their debut, and they now only appear in spin-offs: Tiny Kong's spin-off debut was Diddy Kong Racing DS, and Lanky Kong's spin-off debut was Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. Chunky Kong, except for a cameo in the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country 3, has yet to become a spin-off character.

[edit] Reception

Reviews
Publication	Score
Electronic Gaming Monthly	8.37 of 10[1]
GamePro	5 of 5[1]
GameSpot	9.0 of 10[2]
IGN	9.0 of 10[3]
Nintendo Power	8.6 of 10[1]
Compilations of multiple reviews
Compiler	Score
Metacritic	90 of 100[4]
Game Rankings	88%[1]
MobyRank	82 of 100[5]
Awards
GameSpot: Editors' Choice Award[2]
E3 1999 Game Critics Awards: Best Platformer[6]

Donkey Kong 64 was released to generally positive reviews. Review scores range from 75% to a perfect 100% with an average of 88% on Game Rankings. The most commonly cited issue was the lackluster multiplayer mode and unwarranted tediousness and difficulty of some parts such as Beaver Bother. GameSpot claims "it lacks enough "wow factor" to exert the revolutionary influence that Donkey Kong Country had"^[2] and IGN reports that while it is "not the leap and bound that Donkey Kong Country was for Super NES, [it] is still an excellent platformer all the same".^[7] However, it is generally considered to be one of the better platform games on the N64, standing alongside Super Mario 64 and the Banjo-Kazooie series.

[edit] References

[edit] More Credits

Guest Voice Talents Pat Buttram Stephen Shea Clancy Brown Pamelyn Ferdin Mel Blanc Linda Ercoli James Earl Jones Frank Oz Jim Henson

Music Supervisor Desirée Goyette

Final Check Jane Gonzales

Layouts and Special Effects Editor Ernie Nordli

Backrounds Irv Wyner