Donkey Kong Land

Not to be confused with the game it was based off, Donkey Kong Country.

Donkey Kong Land
North American boxart of the game Donkey Kong Land for Game Boy.
Developer(s)	Rareware
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Main Development Staff	Designer: Andrew Collard Programmer: Paul Machacek Artist: Dean Smith Composers: David Wise Graeme Norgate[1]
Platform(s)	Game Boy, Super Family Computer/Super Nintendo Entertainment System via Super Game Boy, Nintendo 3DS
Release Date(s)	Game Boy June 26, 1995 July 27, 1995 August 24, 1995 Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console April 2, 2014 October 16, 2014 February 26, 2015
Genre(s)	Platformer
Ratings	ESRB: Kids to Adults
Mode(s)	Single player
Media(s)	Game Boy ROM Cartridge[2]
Input(s)	Game Boy Buttons
Preceded by	{{{preceded by}}}
Succeeded by	{{{succeeded by}}}

Donkey Kong Land (スーパードンキーコングGB, Super Donkey Kong GB in Japan) is a platformer game developed by Rareware and released for the Game Boy by Nintendo in 1995. It was a handheld follow-up of the game Donkey Kong Country. The game was also one of the few Game Boy games to feature a specially colored cartridge (yellow), which was also used on the sequels, Donkey Kong Land 2 and Donkey Kong Land III. It was also one of the first games to feature Super Game Boy special features, including a rendered jungle border to adjust the aspect ratio to the television screen when playing the Game Boy cartridge in the Super Family Computer/Super Nintendo Entertainment System.

The game is often mistaken as a Game Boy port of Donkey Kong Country. Although both games use the same engine and share some resources, Donkey Kong Land possesses its own storyline, different levels and worlds, some new enemies and bosses.

Donkey Kong Land was re-released on the Nintendo 3DS via the Virtual Console in Japan on April 2, 2014, in Europe on October 16, 2014, and in North America on February 26, 2015.

Story[]

The game is set as a pseudo-sequel to Donkey Kong Country. Donkey and Diddy Kong tell Cranky Kong all about their recent Donkey Kong Country adventure. Cranky admits that he underestimated the success of it, but blamed it on the "fancy graphics", "modern music" and the fact that "kids'll buy anything nowadays". Cranky Kong proceeds to ramble about his older games but Donkey and Diddy ignore him, telling him that the gameplay was also a factor.

Despite agreeing with it, Cranky asks if both heroes believe that the game would still be a success even on a 8-bit system, such as the Game Boy. Donkey and Diddy answer they will even let the Kremlings to steal the banana hoard again and get it back on the Game Boy. After tricking both Kongs in accepting the bet, Cranky then declares that he will call for King K. Rool to steal his grandson's bananas, hide them in new places around the Donkey Kong Island, and use new tricks and enemies in order to make a harder adventure and stop the heroes. Feeling angry for falling for Cranky's plan and preferring to lie down resting, Donkey Kong agrees with the bet and decides to go to his treehouse to get some sleep before the adventure.^[3]

Gameplay[]

Gameplay was based on the original Donkey Kong Country. The game is a sidescrolling adventure game starring Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, and the two retain their abilities from Donkey Kong Country. As such, the game features the two Kongs available in gameplay, and each can be switched out when the player decides, but due to limitations only one Kong is displayed on a screen at a time. They must reach the end of the level in order to proceed to the next, until the end of the area where the boss is fought. Rambi the Rhinoceros and Expresso the Ostrich return, with their abilities carried over. Not much has changed with the two aside from Expresso's ability to defeat enemies such as Zingers by flying into them.

Characters[]

• Donkey Kong: he is the first main playable character. Donkey is the current leader of the Kong Family. He is slightly slower and stronger, being capable of bouncing and defeating strong enemies, such as Klumps and Krushas. Donkey can execute a roll move, but he lacks his Hand Slap move from Donkey Kong Country.
• Diddy Kong: he is the second main playable character. Diddy is the sidekick and best friend of Donkey Kong. He is faster, but he is not strong enough to use physical moves to defeat some enemies, such as Krushas. Diddy can execute a cartwheel move.
• Cranky Kong: he is the grandfather of Donkey Kong. Despite Cranky not appearing in the game, the instruction booklet mentions him as the responsible for the events of Donkey Kong Land.^[3]

Animal Buddies[]

• Rambi the Rhinoceros, who returns from Donkey Kong Country, also appears in the first level, "Jungle Jaunt". He is needed to break open entrance on the walls for Bonus Rooms.
• Expresso the Ostrich also returns from Donkey Kong Country, complete with his flying ability, though is oddly quite rare, and his Animal Crate is usually found inside some Bonus Rooms.

Enemies[]

As with their previous adventure, the Kongs find a variety of enemies in the game. Most are from Donkey Kong Country, though some are new.

• Gloops
• Armies
• Chomps Jr.
• Clambos
• Fangfishes
• Gnawties
• Hogwashes
• Klaptraps
• Kritters
• Krushas
• Mini-Neckies
• Neckies
• Nemos
• Slippas
• Flappers
• Swirlwinds
• Zingers

Bosses[]

Bosses appear at the end of each world.

• Wild Sting
• Giant Clam
• Hard Hat
• King K. Rool

Items and Objects[]

The Kongs encounter many types of items in the game, mainly carried over from Donkey Kong Country.

• Bananas return as the basic "coins" of Donkey Kong Land. 100 gives an extra life.
• Banana Bunches are worth ten bananas, and are not as common.

• Kong Tokens are common items found in regular stages, used for earning extra lives inside Bonus Rooms with Button Barrels.
• Extra Life Balloons are the basic lives of the game. They are displayed as hearts at the bottom of the screen.
• K-O-N-G Letters do not grant an extra life, as they do in other games. Instead, collecting the K-O-N-G letters and finishing a level will save the game.

Barrels[]

In addition, there are a few types of barrels found in the game, all carried over from Donkey Kong Country:

• Wooden Barrels, common, rolling barrels used as a base weapon in the game.
• DK Barrels function much like they did in Donkey Kong Country, summoning a lost Kong.
• TNT Barrels are powerful, explosive barrels which easily clear the path of enemies.
• Button Barrels are Barrel Cannons which the shooting or trajectory is controllable by a button nearby.

Worlds and Levels[]

World 1 - Gangplank Galleon Ahoy![]

1. Jungle Jaunt (Jungle)
2. Freezing Fun (Snow)
3. Simian Swing (Jungle)
4. Deck Trek (Ship)
5. Rope Ravine (Snow)
6. Tyre Trail (Jungle)
7. Riggin' Rumble (Ship)
8. Congo Carnage (Jungle)
9. Arctic Barrel Arsenal (Snow)
10. Wild Sting Fling (Ship)

World 2 - Kremlantis[]

1. Tricky Temple (Temple)
2. Kremlantis Kaos (Underwater Ruins)
3. Reef Rampage (Coral)
4. Snake Charmer's Challenge (Temple)
5. Chomp's Coliseum (Underwater Ruins)
6. Nautilus Chase (Coral)
7. Swirlwind Storm (Temple)
8. Seabed Showdown (Underwater Ruins)

World 3 - Monkey Mountains and Chimpanzee Clouds[]

1. Pot Hole Panic (Caves)
2. Mountain Mayhem (Mountains)
3. Track Attack (Clouds)
4. Spiky Tyre Trail (Caves)
5. Sky High Caper (Clouds)
6. Landslide Leap (Mountains)
7. Collapsing Clouds (Clouds)
8. Mad Mole Holes (Caves)

World 4 - Big Ape City[]

1. Balloon Barrage (Skyscraper)
2. Kong Krazy (Blimp)
3. Construction Site Fight (Construction Site)
4. Fast Barrel Blast (Blimp)
5. Skyscraper Caper (Skyscraper)
6. Button Barrel Blast (Construction Site)
7. Oil Drum Slum (Skyscraper)
8. K. Rool's Kingdom (Blimp)

Gallery[]

Logos and Boxarts[]

North American logo for Donkey Kong Land for Game Boy.

North American boxart (back) of Donkey Kong Land for Game Boy.

"Million seller" North American boxart of Donkey Kong Land for Game Boy.

Japanese boxart of Super Donkey Kong GB for Game Boy.

European boxart of Donkey Kong Land for Game Boy.

Game Screens[]

North American title screen of Donkey Kong Land on the Super Game Boy for SNES.

Japanese title screen of Super Donkey Kong GB on the Super Game Boy for Super Famicom.

Game Over screen on the Game Boy.

Artwork of Unused Characters[]

Ram Bunkshus, unused animal buddy.

Pucka, unused enemy.

Unnamed Kong wearing a hat, dubbed "Fedora Kong".

Trivia[]

• This is the only Donkey Kong Land game that has DK Barrels on the ground. The next two titles would only have them floating in mid-air.
• The limitation of only a single main character appearing at the screen per time during gameplay in the game Donkey Kong Land is also present in the Game Boy Color version of the game Donkey Kong Country.
• An animal buddy called Ram Bunkshus was supposed to appear in the game Donkey Kong Land, as seen in an issue of Nintendo Power (see Artwork of Unused Characters in the Gallery section above). He has been stated to be male, be able to climb, and use his horns as a weapon. It is possible he was a considered replacement for Rambi given his horns, but was dropped.
• Pucka is also a dropped underwater enemy from the game Donkey Kong Land also appearing in Nintendo Power (see Artwork of Unused Characters in the Gallery section above). It has been stated to be a "large fish in a small sea", and make water levels tougher for DK and Diddy. It might of been dropped due to the abundance of underwater enemies already in the game.
• The final unused element in the game Donkey Kong Land is a Kong character resembling Donkey Kong except he is pudgy, rounder, darker and jagged fur and slightly more pink skin tone, mature, sophisticated, and wearing a dapper fedora fit for a gentleman (dubbing him "Fedora Kong") (see Artwork of Unused Characters in the Gallery section above). Nothing else is known about him, not even his name.
  • Men who wear fedoras in the earlier days of film have this demeanor and fashionable hat which are used to depict a mature and level-headed fatherly figure. His pose is similar to Donkey Kong Jr.'s forward facing sprite pose from the game Donkey Kong Jr. It is speculated that he is an all grown up adult Donkey Kong Jr.
  • One of the worlds in Donkey Kong Land is Big Ape City, which "Fedora Kong" may have connections. There is also a large construction site in the city, hinted to be the place where Pauline was kidnapped in the original Donkey Kong (game). The instruction manual for Donkey Kong Land itself claims that the area "brings back fond memories". Nintendo Power further pushed this fact with a statement in a caption in a screenshot of the area, "Cranky used to roll barrels at a plumber in the construction site here."^{[citation needed]}
• Despite no confirmation, it is assumed that the world Big Ape City in the game Donkey Kong Land could have been renamed as New Donk City, city located in the Metro Kingdom from the game Super Mario Odyssey.

External Links[]

• Donkey Kong Land on Moby Games
• Donkey Kong Land on Gamefaqs

References[]