Editing Donkey Kong Country (series)

|image=[[File:DKCLogo.png|250px]]<br>The logo used for the original three installments in the series<br>[[File:Logo_DKC23.png|250px]]<br>The logo used for ''Donkey Kong Country Returns''<br>[[File:DKClogo3.png|250px]]<br>The logo used for ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze''

|number=15 (5 main, 6 reissues, 2 promotional, 1 browser, 1 canceled, 1 upcoming reissue)

|staff=[[Stamper brothers|Tim Stamper]], [[Gregg Mayles]], [[Chris Sutherland]], [[David Wise]], [[Leigh Loveday]]

The '''''Donkey Kong Country''''' series is a video game series in the [[Donkey Kong (franchise)|''Donkey Kong'' franchise]]. Although it usually stars [[Donkey Kong]] and his sidekick, [[Diddy Kong]], Donkey Kong also ends up kidnapped in several games. The series is a platformer series. The series was started and produced by [[Rare Ltd.|Rare]], until they were bought by Microsoft. Remakes are included in the [[Game Boy Color]], [[Game Boy Advance]], and [[Nintendo 3DS]] handhelds. The series was later revived by [[Retro Studios]] and their game, ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]''. The ''Donkey Kong Country'' series also has well-received reviews and has greatly impacted future titles.  

The ''Donkey Kong Country'' series is also the inspiration for a very similar series created for the [[Game Boy]] system, known as the [[Donkey Kong Land (series)|''Donkey Kong Land'' series]].

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!width=150 style="background-color:#e0e0e0;"|Cover, original release, and system

!style="background-color:#e0e0e0;"|Synopsis

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Boxart dkc front.png|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|UK|November 18, 1994}}[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]]</span>

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKC2.jpg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|Japan|November 21, 1995}}[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]]</span>

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKC3 cover art.jpg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|USA|November 22, 1996}}[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|SNES]]</span>

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKCRBoxart.jpg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|USA|November 21, 2010}}[[Wii]]</span>

|''Donkey Kong Country Returns'' is a revival of the series, released in 2010. It is a 2.5D side-scrolling [[Wii]] developed by [[Retro Studios]] after a hiatus (excluding remakes) of over a decade. The game has new villains, called the [[Tiki Tak Tribe|Tiki]]s, who raid Donkey Kong's banana stash. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong set out to retrieve the lost bananas due to this. [[Cranky Kong]] also makes an appearance as the shopkeeper. This is the first Donkey Kong Country series game to not feature [[Kremling]]s or underwater levels.

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKC-TF box.jpeg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|Japan|February 13, 2014}}[[Wii U]]</span>

===Reissues===

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!width=150 style="background-color:#e0e0e0;"|Cover, original release, and system

!style="background-color:#e0e0e0;"|Synopsis  

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:Donkey Kong Country GBC US box art.jpg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|Europe|November 17, 2000}}[[Game Boy Color]]</span>

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKC GBA Cover.jpg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|Europe|June 6, 2003}}[[Game Boy Advance]]</span>

|''Donkey Kong Country'' was remade for the [[Game Boy Advance]] in 2003, as the original code had been lost,<ref name="DK Vine">{{cite|deadlink=y|archive=web.archive.org/web/20111221071415/http://www.dkvine.com/features/stamped_dkcgba.html|title=The ''Donkey Kong Country'' GBA Trilogy|publisher=DK Vine|language=en|accessdate=May 29, 2024}}</ref> requiring recoding from scratch and ripping of graphics from the SNES version using emulators. This remake features new changes to the game not in the Game Boy Color port. Changes include bosses made more challenging, redesigned graphics, replaced order of levels, new modes, a scrapbook, and more.

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKC2 GBA Cover.jpg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|Europe|June 25, 2004}}[[Game Boy Advance]]</span>

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKC3 GBA cover art.jpg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|Europe|November 4, 2005}}[[Game Boy Advance]]</span>

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKCR3Dboxcover.png|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|USA|May 24, 2013}}[[Nintendo 3DS]]</span>

|style="text-align:center"|[[File:DKCTF Switch cover art.png|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|Japan|May 3, 2018}}[[Nintendo Switch]]</span>

According to Rare employee Paul Rahme, it was internally suggested at [[Rare Ltd.|Rare]] to make a ''Donkey Kong Country'' sequel on the [[Nintendo DS]], as remaking the trilogy for the [[Game Boy Advance]] gave the developers experience and a good basis for making a sequel.<ref>{{cite|url=www.dkvine.com/?p=1654|author=Matt|date=October 7, 2011|title=Donkey Kong Country 4: Here Comes <nowiki>[</nowiki>REDACTED PUN<nowiki>]</nowiki>!|publisher=DK Vine|accessdate=May 30, 2024|language=en}}</ref><ref name="DK Vine"/>

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!style="background-color:#e0e0e0;"|Description

!style="background-color:#d9d9d9;font-size:125%;text-align:left"colspan="2"|Title  

!width=150 style="background-color:#e0e0e0;"|Cover, original release, and system

!style="background-color:#e0e0e0;"|Plot synopsis  

|[[File:N64 donkeykong64.jpg|145x145px]]<span style="font-size:8pt"><br>{{flag list|USA|November 22, 1999}}[[Nintendo 64]]</span>

The ''Donkey Kong Country'' games are divided into worlds, all containing a variable number of levels, friendly Kongs who provide services such as saving, tips and minigames, and a boss battle that marks the end of the world. Worlds tend to be linear, although ''Donkey Kong Country 3''{{'}}s map allows for a limited degree of exploration.

In the original trilogy of games, the player can switch between two Kongs, and use a [[team up]] move in the latter two games. In all three games both Kongs act differently, are sometimes required to reach certain areas. If the player takes damage, the Kong that they are playing as runs off the screen and the player is required to use the other Kong until they get them back, usually with a [[DK Barrel]]. With one Kong the player cannot use a team up move. If the player takes damage with one Kong, they lose a life. In the games developed by [[Retro Studios]], rather than being fully-featured playable characters, the Kongs besides Donkey Kong acts as powerups expanding Donkey Kong's health and moveset, although they are fully playable in multiplayer and ''Tropical Freeze'''s Hard Mode. When the player loses the health gained by the additional Kong, the player loses the Kong. While the original trilogy only allowed the player characters to take one hit in a deliberate effort to reduce clutter<ref>{{cite|deadlink=y|archive=web.archive.org/web/20120316134452/http://www.nowgamer.com/features/895227/the_making_of_donkey_kong_country.html|title=The Making Of Donkey Kong Country|language=en|publisher=NowGamer|accessdate=May 30, 2024|author=Retro Gamer Magazine|date=June 21, 2010}}</ref> on the screen, Donkey Kong can now take multiple hits, with a visible indicator showing his remaining health.

In a certain level, vehicles are used. In all games in the series, the player can ride on [[Mine Cart]]s, [[Roller Coaster]]s, or [[Toboggan]]s. These automatically move through a stage and depending on the game and level the player can either jump out of the vehicle or make the vehicle jump. Toboggans can also jump on [[Buzz (enemy)|Buzz]]es and latch onto railings. In ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'', Mine Cart which the player can only jump out of having crystals in them. In ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze'', the player can switch tracks in a third-person view in the level [[High Tide Ride]]. In ''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble'', a [[Rocket Barrel]] appears in the level [[Rocket Rush (level)|Rocket Rush]]. The player controls the Rocket Barrel by moving left and right and exhausting fuel, which they can restore with [[Fuel Drum]]s. The Rocket Barrel goes upward at the end of the level. Depending on the version of the game the Rocket Barrel can defeat different types of Buzzes. Rocket Barrels reappear in ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'' and ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze'', where they automatically move right, do not use fuel and can be moved up or down. At a certain level in ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'', Rocket Barrels automatically move up and can be moved left and right. In ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze'', the [[Log Canoe]] appears which automatically moves right, can jump, and can sink into the water after jumping. The player can defeat enemies while jumping using the Log Canoe.

The ''Donkey Kong Country'' series features an emphasis on item collection and exploration. Four [[KONG Letters]] appear in each stage giving the player an extra life if they collect all four. The original ''Donkey Kong Country'' encourages players to find all of the game's hidden [[Bonus Area]]s, with [[Completion|100% completion]] slightly changing the dialogue in the ending sequence. Bonus Areas are found usually by breaking a wall or going inside a hidden [[Barrel Cannon]]. Each Bonus Area contains a room with a minigame or platforming room. ''Donkey Kong Country 2'' added [[Kremkoin]]s which are rewards for beating each Bonus Room's objective, and [[DK Coin]]s which are hidden in each level and are rewards for the Bonus Rooms in the [[Lost World (Donkey Kong Country 2)|Lost World]], which is a new post-completion world with a final boss battle, which can only be accessed by finding and successfully completing the game's bonus areas. ''Donkey Kong Country 3'' features a similar hidden world and again expands the mechanic by featuring another item collection sidequest that extends beyond the game's bonus world. The games developed by Retro Studios include [[Puzzle Piece (Donkey Kong Country series)|Puzzle Piece]]s, which replace Kremkoins as the reward for beating Bonus Rooms, and also are collectibles in the main parts of stages. They give access to pictures. In these games, KONG Letters give access to secret levels once all KONG Letters in a world are completed.

The first ''Donkey Kong Country'' is famed for its usage of pre-rendered 3D sprites, which were rendered on then-cutting edge {{wp|Silicon Graphics}} workstation. Although not the first game to use these graphics (the Sharp X68000 version of ''{{wp|Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished|Ys}}'' and ''{{wp|Viewpoint (video game)|Viewpoint}}'' feature similar pre-rendered sprites, and predate ''Donkey Kong Country'' by several years), ''Donkey Kong Country'' was the first mainstream game to be extensively marketed around its pre-rendered graphics, with commercials for the game playing up that the SNES was able to output a game of its visual fidelity without any add-ons,<ref>{{cite|author=Some Old Videos|date=May 25, 2020|url=www.youtube.com/watch?v=c82nevuVicM|title=''Donkey Kong Country'' SNES commercial (1994)|publisher=YouTube|accessdate=May 30, 2024}}</ref> mocking the {{wp|Sega Genesis}}.

The Retro Studios installments use rendered-on-the-fly 3D models. In an interview, it was noted that ''Donkey Kong Country Returns''{{'}}s levels featured three times as many polygons as a room in the studio's previous game, ''[[metroidwiki:Metroid Prime 3: Corruption|Metroid Prime 3: Corruption]]''.<ref>{{cite|author=Harris, Craig|date=June 17, 2010|url=www.ign.com/articles/2010/06/17/e3-2010-kensuke-tanabe-and-the-metroid-palm-tree|title=E3 2010: Kensuke Tanabe and the Metroid Palm Tree|publisher=IGN|accessdate=May 30, 2024}}</ref>

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|[[Donkey Kong]] is the main star and hero of the ''Donkey Kong Country'' series. Though he does get kidnapped by the [[Kremling Krew]] from time to time, he plays a major role in all the ''Donkey Kong Country'' games. He is the more powerful, but slower of the two [[Kong]]s that the player controls in the ''Donkey Kong Country'' games. He often thwarts King K. Rool's raid of his [[banana hoard]], but he also gets kidnapped by King K. Rool and plays the part of a hostage. In the latest game in the series, ''[[Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze]]'', Donkey Kong and his friends are kicked off [[Donkey Kong Island]] by a gang of Vikings.

|[[Cranky Kong]] appears in most ''Donkey Kong Country'' games, where he occasionally played some roles. He is the original Donkey Kong that attacked [[Mario]], and is said to be the current Donkey Kong's grandfather. He usually gives advice to the Kongs and helps them on their quest, and serves as an element of comic relief with his jokes and sarcasm. However, he plays a very minor role in ''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!''. In the Game Boy Advance remake, he plays a slightly larger role by owning [[Cranky's Dojo]]. He runs [[Cranky Kong's Shop|a shop]] in ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'', and is playable in ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze''.

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|[[Funky Kong]] appears in all ''Donkey Kong Country'' games that were released so far, except for ''Donkey Kong Country Returns''. He helps the Kongs by providing them with mechanical services, such as lending them the [[Jumbo Barrel]], which enables the Kongs to travel in islands where they already cleared; later games where the vehicles he lends have a similar function. He also hosts minigames that promise certain rewards if cleared, such as [[Funky's Fishing]].

|[[Candy Kong]] first appears in ''Donkey Kong Country'', where she helps the Kongs save by managing [[Candy's Save Point]]. In the remakes of ''Donkey Kong Country'', she runs several minigames, such as [[Candy's Dance Studio]]. She does not have any other major role later in the series, partly because her role of saving the game progress is later occupied by Wrinkly Kong, although she does make cameos in several minigames in the remakes.

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|[[Clapper]] appears in ''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' in the levels [[Lava Lagoon (Donkey Kong Country 2)|Lava Lagoon]] and [[Clapper's Cavern (Donkey Kong Country 2)|Clapper's Cavern]]. When jumped on he cools the water in the former and freezes the water in the later.

|[[Glimmer]] appears in ''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' in the level [[Glimmer's Galleon (Donkey Kong Country 2)|Glimmer's Galleon]], where he follows the player(s) and uses his light to light up the water.

|[[Quawks]] appears in ''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' and ''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!''. In ''Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest'' Quawks only appear in the level [[Parrot Chute Panic (Donkey Kong Country 2)|Parrot Chute Panic]] where there are multiple Quawks that, when grabbed, slow the player(s)' decent. When they grab a Quawks they can move horizontally. After a certain point, the Quawks will drop the player(s). In ''Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!'' a Quawks appears in the levels [[Low-G Labyrinth]] and [[Buzzer Barrage]] where the player(s) transform into it via an [[Animal Barrel]]. While playing as a Quawks the player(s) can fly around like [[Squawks]] and can pick up barrels and [[Iron Barrel|Steel Barrel]]s with Quawks' talons and can drop the Barrels and Steel Barrels on enemies.

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|The [[Kremling Krew]], led by King K. Rool, is the main antagonist organization of the [[Kong]] family. They are mostly made up of [[Kremling]]s with different colors, sizes, shapes, and traits, and many make their appearance as enemies throughout the many levels of the series. They also are the primary cause of the Kong family members getting kidnapped throughout the games, including Donkey Kong. King K. Rool and his aliases are often the final boss faced in the games, excluding ''Donkey Kong Country Returns'' and ''Tropical Freeze''.

|The [[Tiki Tak Tribe]] is the main organization of enemies in ''Donkey Kong Country Returns''. They resemble wooden masks or musical instruments, many having adornment feathers, and are references to real-life {{wp|tiki}}s. Their leader is [[Tiki Tong]]. Some Tikis have hypnotizing abilities, and these serve as the cause of the boss battles, hypnotizing creatures into fighting against Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. Minor Tikis are found as regular enemies throughout the levels; most of them are drum-shaped.

{{quote|Donkey Kong Country is truly perfect. If you do not get this amazing new generation of Donkey Kong Country madness, you are stupid. Yes, I know it's insulting, but that's also the truth. If you're a true video game fan, you will not hesitate in the slightest bit to buy this piece of gaming history.|George Wood|Flight of Fantasies}}

The ''Donkey Kong Country'' series has received critical acclaim. On {{wp|GameRankings}}, every game in the series have scored 78.61% to 87.87%. On {{wp|Metacritic}}, the series' games that were reviewed received 77% to 90%. ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze'', was nominated for several awards by news sites such as {{wp|IGN}}<ref>{{cite|url=www.ign.com/lists/best-of-games-genre/platformer|title=Best Platformer - Best of 2014: Games, By Genre - IGN|publisher=IGN|language=en|accessdate=May 30, 2024}}</ref> and {{wp|Gamespot}}.<ref>{{cite|deadlink=y|archive=web.archive.org/web/20141214004324/http://www.gamespot.com/articles/mario-kart-8-wii-u-game-of-the-year/1100-6423917|title=Wii U Game of the Year - Mario Kart 8 - Best Games of 2014 - Game of the Year 2014|publisher=GameSpot|accessdate=May 30, 2024|language=en}}</ref>

The game ''Jet Kave Adventures'' was influenced by ''Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze''.<ref>{{cite|author=Lane, Gavin|date=August 4, 2019|url=www.nintendolife.com/news/2019/08/feature_7levels_on_jet_kave_adventure_and_its_donkey_kong_country_inspiration|title=Feature: 7Levels On Jet Kave Adventure And Its Donkey Kong Country Inspiration|publisher=Nintendo Life|language=en|accessdate=May 30, 2024}}</ref>