Donkey Kong Country Returns: Difference between revisions

So once again, after 11 years, it's on like [[You Wanna Get Sued?|the eponymous ape.]].

* [[Added Alliterative AppealAlliteration]] / [[Alliterative Name]]: About 90% of the level names, with names like '"Muncher Marathon'", '"Temple Topple'" and '"Damp Dungeon'".

* [[Advancing Wall of Doom]]: Level 5-8, Muncher Marathon, has one made out of a rampaging horde of baby spiders.

* [[Appease the Volcano God]]: The Tikis {{spoiler|sacrificing themselves to become Tiki Tong's hands immediately before the final battle}} has shades of this.

* [[Art Evolution]]: The original ''[[Donkey Kong Country]]'' trilogy featured a realistic art style ''and'' cartoony characters with realistic fur and textures. This game goes for more of a "painted cartoon" look and adds cartoony effects and animations to top it off. The fact that the series changed hands (formerly [[Rare]], currently [[Retro Studios|Retro]]) has something to do with it. The evolution began already with the Gamecube games: first with the new characters from ''[[Donkey Kong Jungle Beat]]'', then with the original characters in the Paon games (mostly noticeable in ''Donkey Kong Barrel Blast'').

* [[Art Shift]]: Levels like "Sunset Shore" and "Foggy Fumes" feature black silhouettes against the colored backdrops;. The golden-red hues of "Sunset Shore" in particular are ''[[Scenery Porn|spectacular]]''.

* [[ArtifactAscended TitleMeme]]: "LifeIt's inOn theLike MinesDonkey Returns,Kong" whichwas istrademarked notand used inby anyNintendo mineto levelpromote in thisthe game.

* [[Aside Glance]]: DK does this in [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltOwVX0PKzk the game's opening cinematic.].

* [[Auto -Scrolling Level]]: Any Mine Cart or Rocket Barrel segment.

** DiddyDonkey appliesKong, likeas in {{spoiler|FlyPunch-Intothe-The-Moon-knocking-itmoon-into-Tiki-Tong's-Tower [[Badass]].}}.

* [[Bamboo Technology]]: In keeping with ''Donkey Kong'' tradition. Notably, Diddy Kong has his jetpack and Peanut Popgun.

* [[Bat Out of Hell]]: The Squeeklies. Level 4-5 ("Crowded Cavern") focuses on them the most, including a ''[[Giant Mook|huge]]'' one with [[Make Me Wanna Shout|sonic]] [[Breath Weapon|beams]].

* [[Beat the Curse Out of Him]]: All bosses, except for {{spoiler|Tiki Tong}} and possibly Colonel Cluck. They're ordinary animals possessed by the Tiki leaders. Once Donkey and Diddy defeat the bosses, the animals are freed and the Tikis float out of them in a stupor (and get a pounding of their own).

** One is hidden in each of three later factory levels. You must find and activate all three to open the rocket level that leads to the boss. [[Lampshade Hanging|Lampshaded]] directly by Cranky Kong.

* [[Blatant Lies]]: "Peaceful Pier". It's anything but peaceful due to the Rocket Barrel, sharks, and a pirate ship firing cannonballs of death at you.

** [[Fridge Brilliance|Well, the 'pier' was peaceful, it's just the open ocean past it that isn't.]].

* [[Blow You Away]]: theThe Kongs can use their breath to blow certain things such as plants, windmills, lanterns, etc. to find collectibles and such. It's even needed against certain enemies in order to defeat them.

* [[Boss -Only Level]]: Every boss, like in the original trilogy.

* [[Butt Monkey]]: The first tikiTiki boss you fight is beaten ''twice'' by Donkey Kong. Also, you can beat it endlessly just entering again and again in the first level.

** The tikisTikis in general can be considered this. They tend to be the weaker enemies in the game, have to be bounced off to get KONG letters and puzzle pieces, one gets a [[No-Holds-Barred Beatdown]] at the end of every world, and even when one of then is the final boss, Hehe's notably more predictable and easier than the other bosses.

** Another one is hidden in the background in "Foggy Fumes"; there is an area that looks like the same building under construction in the first ''Donkey Kong''.

** "Peaceful Pier" has an area during the rocket barrel sequence where a crosshair follows you, then stops so the crabs on the ship can fire an anchor at you; this is likely a reference to the "Krack-Shot Kroc" level in ''DKC3Donkey Kong Country 3''.

** {{spoiler|Some of the carvings on the walls in the hidden Templetemple levels feature sprites from the original ''[[Donkey Kong]]'' game.}}.

* [[Cartoon Bomb]]: Thrown by a couple of bosses and {{spoiler|Kowalee}}.

* [[Check Point]]: A pig runs a stand with a check on it somewhere in the middle of the level. [[Captain Obvious|Take a wild guess what it is]]. {{spoiler|The gold bonus stages where you get the orbs to enter the Golden Temple have no checkpoints whatsoever. They're also considered to be [[Nintendo Hard|the hardest stages in the game]]. Have fun with that}}.

* [[Colony Drop]]: {{spoiler|DK punches the MOON into Tiki Tong's Tower! Subverted because DK isn't trying to destroy the entire world, and the resulting explosion pops the moon back into place.}}.

* [[The Dev Team Thinks of Everything]]: Inter-level continuity in this game is very good; every large area begins its first level with scenery containing the last vestiges of the previous area: level 3-1 begins on the coast before moving inland into the ruins, level 4-1 begins in the ruins before entering the caves, level 5-1 begins in the caves before being launched up and into the forest canopy. There are also smaller examples: level 3-2 begins with the Kongs entering the inside of the ruins, where they mostly remain for the remainder of worldWorld 3. Mid-way through World 2 and progressing through a few levels, clouds begin to build, finally culminating in raging storms during the last part of the second-to-last level, and the titular feature of the last one.

** There are actually three versions of the final cutscene FMV: Oneone for each Kong by themselves, and one if you manage to beat the [[Final Boss]] with both Kongs in your posessionpossession.

** Rambi stays in place when you dismount, but if an enemy wanders close, he'll knock the enemy out on his own.

* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Not so much {{spoiler|1=punching him directly, but punching the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsPAn1sU8KE moon into him!]}}!

* [[The Dragon]]: All of the Tiki bosses may count, but Colonel Pluck takes the cake since he ''is'' the one {{spoiler|running the manufacturing process for the Tikis.}}.

* [[Drill Tank]]: youYou encounter a Drill ''Train'' in a few levels in World 4, operated by [[Drill Mole|moles]].

* [[Elite Mook]]: Tiki Tank, a kind of tikiTiki mook that must be stunned with a Ground Pound before any kind of attack (barring Rambi's charge) can beat it.

** CrowdedThe Cavernend couldof also"Crumble qualify;Canyon", evenin thoughwhich you can't control your speedhave to outrun thea giant bat,flaming youTiki stillball have(which to[[One-Hit dodgeKill|one-hit-kills hisyou]]) attackswhile asmaneuvering hethrough chasesa you to the endseries of the levelobstacles.

* [[Foreshadowing]]: The name and theme of "Crumble Canyon.". {{spoiler|The path leading straight from it to the boss level likewise crumbles}}.

* [[Funny Background Event]]: The zebra, elephant, giraffe (and squirrel) from the opening cutscene pop up a few times in the backdrops of various stages, most notably in "Blowhole Bound" where they are floating in a dinghy in the background.

* [[Giant Enemy Crab]]: The Scurvy Crew is a trio of [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|giant crab pirates]]. And the way to defeat them is to flip them over, then [[Attack Its Weak Point|attack their weak points]] ([[For Massive Damage]]).

* [[Goomba Springboard]]: Rather than just holding the jump button, you ''have'' to press it the moment you hit the enemy from above. This is a survival requirement in some of the harder levels where said enemies are the only thing between you and a [[Bottomless Pit]]. It's at its worst in "Platform Panic", where you HAVE to get the extra height quite a lot. Then sometimes they throw in a puzzle where if you get the extra height, you hit a spiked ceiling and lose a heart. After a long stream of high jumps, this flies straight into [[Damn You, Muscle Memory!]] territory.

* [[Guide Dang It]]: The puzzle pieces. Squawks will start chattering when you approach where one is hidden, but this won't necessarily tell you ''where'' the piece is hidden or how to reveal it --... that's up to you. There are two particularly egregious examples:

** There are two particularly egregious examples. One is in the ruins;: there is a puzzle piece hidden off the bottom of the stage in a place you would never know to even look, as there is no hint it is down there. The other is near the end of the game, where he squawks around a small platform just above the lava. It seems like a puzzle piece would spawn there, but in actuality it is simply a platform to allow you to access the real puzzle piece - namely, behind a breakable wall in a bonus room, in an area where the last (and only) barrel is a great distance behind. If it were not for squawks, these would be nearly impossible to find.

** [[Invincible Minor Minion]]: The flaming Tiki Buzzes, Tiki Zings (only beatable with Rambi), and flaming Tiki Zings (unbeatable, even with Rambi). It is possible to actually blow out the flaming Tiki Buzzes and make them vulnerable, but only in a select few spots in the game where they fly close to the ground.

* [[It Runs on Nonsensoleum]]: {{spoiler|In the factory, inanimate Tiki masks are brought to life by the squashed bananas from DK's Hoard.}}.

* [[Justified Extra Lives]]: Previously, the balloons were just there for you to collect and gain extra lives. Now, they carry you back into the stage upon the event of dying. In co-op, if one Kong dies, and the other remains active long enough, one of the balloons will carry in a DK Barrel for you to break and bring the first Kong back into action. If both Kongs are dead, two extra lives are given up in order to bring them back.

* [[Leitmotif]]: Each boss tikiTiki's instrument that they're themed off of is added into their boss music and hypnosis music.

* [[Loads and Loads of Loading]]: Every time you start or finish a level, you have to wait for DK to strut across the screen twice to a bass sequence that quickly borders on [[Most Annoying Sound]] territory for that reason. There are animations at the beginning of each bonus level that you can't skip, and animations at the beginning of levels that thankfully you can.

* [[Magic Music]]: The high-ranking Tikis play themselves as instruments to hypnotisehypnotize the island's animals.

* [[Malevolent Architecture]]: andAnd HOW. The {{spoiler|secret bonus temple}} levels, especially.

* [[Megaton Punch]]: To defeat the final boss, DK {{spoiler|''punches the moon into it.''}}.

* [[Mercy Mode]]: Similar to ''[[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]]'', after dying enough times trying to complete a single level, Tutorial Pig will appear and offer the "Super Guide", which calls in a [[Palette Swap|Palette Swapped]] white DK to play the level for you. The game clearly warns you that Super Kong will only ''complete'' the level --... you don't get to keep any of the items he collects in the process. Which means that in order to unlock the Golden Temple level, you ''must'' beat the hidden Kong Temple stages by yourself because that's the only way to collect the orbs at the end of each temple level.

* [[Nintendo Hard]]: [[Up to Eleven|Much harder than the previous games, in fact]]. [http://wii.gamespy.com/wii/donkey-kong-country-returns/1135968p1.html This trope is specifically mentioned in the GameSpy review]. The unlockable temple levels border on [[Platform Hell]], even the World 1 temple (which is aptly named "Platform Panic"). However, the very worst levels in the game tend to be the rocket levels, which (like the minecart levels) will kill you if you touch anything, but unlike the minecart stages have few to no breaks from the carts and as the rocket is not running on rails gives you many more chances to die.... especially with how touchy the rocket controls are.

* [[Platform Battle]]: Mangoruby (falling off nets no real penalty beyond wasting time needed to hit all the switches), and the Mole Train especially (see [[High Speed Battle]] above).

* [[Raymanian Limbs]]: {{spoiler|Tiki Tong}}.

* [[Rearrange the Song]]: Half of the game's soundtrack contains remixes of songs from the original DKC''Donkey Kong Country''. This includes the title screen, [[World Map]], [[Jungle Japes|jungleJungle]], [[The Lost Woods|forestForest]], [[Ruins for Ruins Sake|ruinsRuins]], [[Eternal Engine|factoryFactory]] and [[Minecart Madness|mine cart]] levels....

* [[Recursive Ammo]] / [[Spread Shot]]: Thugly, the boss of worldWorld 6, launches a fire ball that splits into three, one of which will split into three again (and may do so ''yet again''). Good luck trying to dodge this one.

* [[Revenge of the Sequel]]: Taken to a literal extent. It's the return of Donkey Kong (the character) ''and'' the ''Country'' series.

* [[Ribcage Ridge]]: World 6 is a trek through cliffs covered in gigantic fossils. [[Everything Trying to Kill You|That try to kill you.]].

* [[Rise to the Challenge]]: Courtesy of nice hot videogamevideo game lava ("Red Red Rising", "Perilous Passage"). The last half of "Muncher Marathon" proceeds in a vertical format as well.

* [[Rocket Ride]]: theThe Rocket Barrel, which is easily cited for having the game's most difficult stages.

** Both Mugly and Thugly progress through three stages as you fight them ([[Turns Red|turning red]] on the third). In addition, in each phase, they have to be hit three times.

** The second boss is the Scurvy Crew, consisting of three pirate crabs. Because there's three of them, three tikisTikis are needed to hypnotize them.

* [[Saharan Shipwreck]]: Level 6-7 "Tippy Shippy". Somehow, a fleet of pirate ships managed to get stuck up there.

* [[Shaped Like Itself]]: The UK advert (voiced by [[Brian Blessed|Brian]] [[Large Ham|Blessed]],) invites you to "Join this hairy wrecking-ball as he tears through your living room, like an ape tearing through your living room!".

* [[Shockwave Stomp]]: Mugly, Thugly, and Tiki Tong all have one.

* [[Stalactite Spite]]: The crystals in level 4-3 ("Bombs Away"), although most of them simply shift position instead of outright falling. The next level, 4-4 ("Mole Patrol"), plays this straight, again with crystals.

* [[Stealth Pun]]: The main enemies of the Factory levels, Buckbot and Buckbomb, are mechanical poultry fashioned after the boss of the area, Colonel Pluck, who commands a giant mech of his own. In short, {{spoiler|[[Robot Chicken|Robot Chickens]].}}.

* [[Super Drowning Skills]]: Unlike in the previous ''Donkey Kong Country'' games, deep water is essentially just another [[Bottomless Pit]] here.

* [[Suspicious Videogame Generosity]]: All of those extra lives this game seems to throw at you? [[Nintendo Hard|You're going to need them.]]

* [[Tactical Suicide Boss]]: The Scurvy Crew, Stu, and Thugly.

* [[Time Trial]]: To get an idea on how this already [[Nintendo Hard]] game deals with time trials, you can net the best medal<ref>Not gold. It's a hidden record to beat.</ref> in the first level of the game by beating it within '''[[Harder Than Hard|53 seconds]]'''. Mercifully, time trial mode [[Self-Imposed Challenge|has no bearing on]] [[Cosmetic Award|100% game completion whatsoever.]].

* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: Rambi the Rhino was already a heavy, steamrolling character in the original games. Here, he can break through blocks much larger than himself, and is not ony immune to [[Spikes of Doom]];, he actually ''destroys them on impact''. The only thing that can harm him this go around is [[Kill It with Fire|fire]].

** [[Death Mountain]] / [[Prehistoria]]: World 6.

** [[Eternal Engine]]: World 7 includes factoryFactory levels, including one in silhouette with platforms obscured by smog. See [http://www.gametrailers.com/video/exclusive-eruption-donkey-kong/707132 here].

** [[Floating Continent]]: {{spoiler|The Golden Temple is this.}}.

** [[Lethal Lava Land]]: World 8, which somehow manages to ''outdo'' the one in ''[[New Super Mario Bros. Wii]]''.

** [[Level Ate]]: {{spoiler|World 9's single level. It's bizarre, to say the least. In-game artwork shows that they planned to include more levels in the Golden Temple, many of them having a food theme.}}.

** [[Minecart Madness]]: One of the many series trademarks;: World 4 consists almost entirely of them. The antics that actually occur ''during'' said levels make the original series's [[Minecart Madness]] look boring by comparison.

** [[Ship Level]]: mostlyMostly World 2.

** [[Under the Sea]]: Unlike all three previous installments in the series, this game [[Averted Trope|does not have any.]].

** [[Underground Level]]: mostlyMostly overlaps with [[Minecart Madness]]. The entirety of World 4.

* [[You Have Failed Me...]]: Averted with the boss Tikis; : {{spoiler|Onceonce they power up Tiki Tong [[It Runs on Nonsensoleum|with bananas]], he turns them into giant hands(!) to fight Donkey and Diddy Kong with.}}.