Donkey Kong Country 4: Kiddy Kong's Adventure

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Donkey Kong Country 4: Kiddy Kong's Adventure is the fourth main game in the classic Donkey Kong Country series. It is the sequel of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, and just like the previous three games, has a semi-sequel for the Game Boy, Donkey Kong Land IV, in addition to two later sequels, Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze for the Wii U. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1997 and for the Game Boy Advance in 2006. The game continues the trend of the secondary Kong character from the previous Donkey Kong Country game being featured as the titular character (Diddy Kong for Donkey Kong Country 2, Dixie Kong for Donkey Kong Country 3). The story revolves around Kiddy Kong (who has aged slightly and been given a redesign), Athlon Kong (Funky Kong's athletic brother), Donkey Kong and his girlfriend Candy Kong as they travel through the island of Kongtopia to stop a dangerous phenomenon going over the island.

As with the previous three games, a Game Boy Advance remake of this game was released in 2006 with new features. It was also re-released temporary on the Wii VIrtual Console in 2007 before being re-released again on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2014 in PAL regions and in 2015 in North America.

Story

1 year has passed after the events of Donkey Kong Country 3, and the Kongs decided to take a vacation in Kongtopia, a modern-stylized island that still houses natural elements. After 3 peaceful days have passed, Donkey Kong noticed a strange sight on the island's central mountain. He was later able to identify it as a launch site along with a nature-draining satellite and wonders if the Kremlings are up to their devious schemes yet again. Thinking ahead, he decides to go with his girlfriend Candy Kong, an older Kiddy Kong, and the brother of Funky Kong, a hoop-wielding athlete named Athlon Kong, on an adventure around Kongtopia to prevent all its nature from being drained. Strangely, it also appears that Dixie Kong and Diddy Kong are missing...

Gameplay

The gameplay of this game is very similar to the previous three installments in the Donkey Kong Country series. The player must take control of the Kongs and make it to the end of the level while avoiding/attacking enemies and collecting items such as Bananas, DK Barrels, Nature Coins, KONG Letters, and Extra Life Balloons along the way. Each of the Kongs can run, jump on enemies and over bottomless pits, swim underwater, and climb up various ropes. They can also attack enemies by rolling into them and/or throwing Barrels. New items such as Packages appear, and if the Kongs deliver them to a certain spot in a level, they are rewarded with goodies such as Banana Coins. The Team-Up mechanic returns from the previous two games as well. Every character has his/her own unique abilities to set them apart from each other. Kiddy Kong can break the ground to find hidden items when thrown by another Kong, skip on water when making contact with it, and even shoot water pellets at enemies with his toy water gun. Athlon Kong can use his hula-hoops to attack enemies and even throw them to get out-of-reach items, Donkey Kong functions like he does in the first game but can now punch enemies to knock them backwards, and Candy Kong can stun enemies with her hand-crafted hearts. Unlike the previous three games, which had a map system for each world in which the player can navigate through, this game introduces a hub system similar to the one in Kirby's Adventure. Here, players can still access levels and special Kong locations here, and even encounter special enemies for extra goodies.

There are two to three Bonus Barrels as well as a DK Coin hidden in each level, each with a unique layout. Returning types of Bonus Rooms include "Collect the Stars!", "Reach the End!", and "Bash the Baddies!", but new types of Bonus Rooms include "Assemble the Pieces!", which has the player assembling pieces of a Bonus Coin, and "Find Perry!", which requires the player to find Perry the Parallel Bird (returning from DKC3) and bring him back to the starting position. Animal Buddies return as well, and they can be broken free from Animal Crates or transformed into when the player jumps into an Animal Barrel. Speaking of Animal Buddies, Animal Tokens reappear from the first Donkey Kong Country game, though instead of the player being directly warped to the bonus area when he/she collects three of the same Animal Tokens, he/she can access it by making it to the end of the level that contains the third consecutive token. The game additionally puts a lot of emphasis on equippable secondary power-ups found within certain stages, called Kong Powers. Kong Powers change the player's properties to reach certain itmes and take advantage of dire situations, making platforming slightly more suitable for less experienced players. For example, the Spring Shoes attaches springs to the Kongs' feet, allowing them to do a mid-air jump even when falling from a high height. However, only one Kong Power can be equipped at a time and they vary depending on the player is in. Similarly to in the previous installment, the player can aid special characters in order to achieve full completion - this time being the Nature Security Squad, a group of animals attempting to thwart K. Rool and his new army of Kremlings. There are 8 of them in total, and every one of them will ask the player to do a special favor for them and will reward him/her with a DK Coin once a task is completed. Because of all these factors, Donkey Kong Country 4 has the most content out of all the classic Donkey Kong Country games.

Playable Characters

Name	Description
Kiddy Kong	The musclebound cousin of Donkey Kong, and the second most powerful Kong in the game, next to Donkey Kong. He is able to smash the ground when thrown by the other Kongs, fire off unlimited water shots with his toy water gun, and skip on watery surfaces for a short period of time.
Athlon Kong	The athletic brother of Funky Kong, and the second fastest Kong in the game, next to Dixie Kong. His hula-hoops are his signature ability, and he can use them to attack enemies and to grab items that are out of reach. His speed comes at a price, however - his power is lower than Kiddy Kong and Donkey Kong, meaning he cannot kill tougher enemies.
Donkey Kong	The grandson of Cranky Kong, and the most powerful Kong in the game. He functions the same as he did in DKC1, being able to slap the ground to get hidden items, but he can now charge up his new punch move to send enemies flying backwards and cause a shockwave upon being thrown by the other Kongs.
Candy Kong	The girlfriend of Donkey Kong, and a more balanced Kong in terms of speed and power. She can hold and then throw hand-crafted hearts to stun enemies, though she stays in place when doing so.
Dixie Kong (unlockable)	The girlfriend of Diddy Kong, and the fastest Kong in the game. She can be unlocked by beating World 6, and has a new Orange Grenade move in which she throws an orange which, when making contact with an enemy, stuns them for a brief period of time. She also retains her Helicopter Spin move.

Other Characters

Name	Description
Diddy Kong	The nephew of Donkey Kong. He plays a damsel-in-distress-like role, often sending the player some items via Funky Kong's biplane after the player clears a world.
Cranky Kong	The grandfather of Donkey Kong. He runs Cranky's Outpost, which is found in several worlds of the game. He allows the player to save the game in the SNES version and can even give hints on how to find certain Bonus Rooms or DK Coins if the Kongs pay enough Nature Coins. In the GBA version, Cranky's Outpost hosts a Cranky Rhythm minigame which sees the player copying the beats that Cranky makes on his drum. If they succeed in each of the 5 challenges, they will earn a DK Coin and unlock access to a newly-added optional world, Lost Resort.
Funky Kong	A friend of Donkey Kong and the brother of Athlon Kong. He runs Funky's Gadgets, which is found in several worlds of the game. Whenever the player visits him, he will allow him/her to rent a character-specific Kong Gadget that helps the player find Bonus Rooms much quicker as well as allowing them to reach hidden areas that can't be accessed normally in parts of the hub rooms, such as the Kong Radar (costs 5 Nature Coins), the Kong Grapple (costs 10 Nature Coins), the Kong Surfboard (costs 15 Nature Coins), and lastly, the Kong Jetpack (costs 20 Nature Coins). In the GBA version, he is also the host of three mission-based minigames which feature a certain Kong utilizing one of the four gadgets, excluding the Kong Radar. The player will earn a DK Coin for every minigame completed successfully.
Dilia Kong	Kiddy Kong's pre-school friend. She runs Dilia's Preskool, which is found in several worlds of the game. She allows the player to play a minigame called Dilia's Sweet Dash, which has the player trying to collect a certain number of sweets before Dilia Kong while dodging spiked balls. There are 3 versions of this minigame: Beginner (collect 30 sweets), Advanced (collect 60 sweets), and Expert (collect 100 sweets). If the player succeeds in all of the 3 minigames, Dilia will reward him/her with a DK Coin. In the GBA version, Dilia's Sweet Dash is replaced by Dilia's Balloon Burst, a new minigame featuring the leading Kong trying to pop as many Kiddy-faced balloons as possible to score points within a time limit. During this new minigame, Kremling-faced balloons will occasionally appear, and the player will lose a point if he/she pops them. There is a normal version of the minigame, as well as a hard version of the minigame that is unlocked after beating the first 7 worlds. If the player succeeds in both versions of the minigame, he/she earns a DK Coin.

N.S.S. Members

Name	Description	Found in:
Robert the Raccoon		Chimp Capital
Patrick the Porcupine		Leafbustle Lake
Donna the Dolphin		Hectic Harbor
Bentley the Bighorn		Mt. Monorail
Catherine the Crow		Creep Ape Chateau
Wily the Weasel		Tallbark Treetops
Edward the Eagle		Lunar Launchsite
Adrian the Alien		Spacekrem Station

Animal Buddies

Animal Buddies are again found in certain stages and serve the same purpose: aiding the player in taking down enemies or solving puzzles. There are a total of 10 buddies in this game - 5 returning ones, 3 new ones, and 2 stage-specific ones.

Name	Description
Rambi the Rhinoceros	Rambi can ram enemies with his horn and perform a Supercharge technique, but can now pick up barrels and toss them at enemies like Ellie the Elephant in DKC3.
Enguarde the Swordfish	Enguarde can stab enemies with his nose and perform a Superstab technique, with the addition of being able to stab vertically.
Katie the Koala (New)	Katie can blow gum bubbles from her mouth to attack enemies, and she can climb up various surfaces to get to out-of-reach places. She can perform a Supergum attack by blowing a big gum bubble that splits into 3 small gum bubbles that land on the ground.
Squitter the Spider	Squitter can spit webs from his mouth to kill enemies or to use as platforms, but can now surround himself with webs to protect himself via the Superweb technique.
Bark the Beaver (New)	Bark can chew on wooden structures and knock them away to solve puzzles, and he can even crawl into tight spaces that the Kongs can't get through.
Squawks the Parrot	Squawks can fly freely in the air and spit coconuts to attack enemies.
Harold the Mole (New)	Harold can slash at enemies with his claws, dig through dirt, and even go underground to dig up hidden items. While digging through dirt, he can move faster by performing the Superdrill technique.
Spouty the Whale	Spouty the Whale is one of two stage-specific Animal Buddies. He can blow water geysers via his blowhole to allow the player to reach higher areas.
Flashy the Mouse	Flashy the Mouse is the second stage-specific Animal Buddy of this game. He can use his flashlight to light up dark areas and make ghosts vanish.
Expresso the Ostrich	Expresso can dash at high speeds via the Superdash technique and flap his wings to fly over large gaps, but can now peck enemies to kill them.

Kong Powers

Kong Powers are special items found in certain stages of the game that serve as alternative power-ups. There are 6 of them in total, and each one changes a Kong's attribute(s) to aid them in combat or platforming, though only one of them can be equipped.

Name	Description
Extra Heart	Gives the player an extra hit point for the Kong(s) he/she is playing as, increasing how much damage he/she can take before losing a life.
Banana Magnet	Gives the player a magnet, allowing him/her to attract out-of-reach Bananas to be able to collect them with ease.
Spring Shoes	Gives the player springs attached to their leading Kong's feet, allowing him/her to do a mid-air jump to collect hard-to-reach items.
Iron Armor	Gives the player steel armor, allowing him/her to break cracked blocks in addition to bashing enemies from above and taking an extra hit, but limits their mobility.
Slow-Mo Gear	Gives the player a gear that he/she can throw to slow enemies' movement, making combat slightly easier.
Tornado Headband	Gives the player a special headband that allows the player to spin around like a tornado and sweep up enemies, leaving them open for attack.

Levels

Donkey Kong Country 4: Kiddy Kong's Techventure/Levels

Reception Poll

<poll> What do you think of this game? Outstanding - Best DKC game of all time!! 9.5-10 Excellent - Check it out! 8.0-9.0 Decent - A game that people can at least try. 6.5-7.5 Meh - Not very good. 5.0-6.0 Awful - Rather not play. 1.0-4.5