Editing Spike Ball

Spike Balls are the core mechanic of the level [[Boulder Roller]] in ''[[Donkey Kong Country Returns]]'', its [[Nintendo 3DS]] [[Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D|port]], and its [[Nintendo Switch]] [[Donkey Kong Country Returns HD|port]]. They are made from brown wood held together by nails, and the spikes appear to be sun-bleached on their ends. They can have various sizes .Spike Balls can approach from any direction: They can fall in from above, roll in one direction, then fall away. They can fall from above directly into a pit. They can bounce up out of pits and fall back in. They can roll from the background to the foreground, then fall away. In all but the last case, a Spike Ball's appearance is indicated ahead of time by dust bursting into the screen from the point of arrival. In the first case, the Spike Balls are large enough that there are sometimes divots in the ground Donkey Kong can [[crouch]] in to dodge the Spike Ball. The last case does not allow the Spike Ball to be especially large, since they appear from holes in the background. Spike Balls sometimes come in groups, forcing the player to either beat the Spike Balls to the platform they want to use or wait for all of them to pass. Most instances of groups are limited to two, unless they are rolling from the background in which case they can contain many more Spike Balls. In one case, a gap in a group of six that drop in and roll away  allows DK to walk between two of the Spike Balls to follow them to the next portion of the level. [[Skellirex]]es are shown to be defeated by Spike Balls.

The start of the level has a giant immobile Spike Ball blocking the path, held there by rocks. It does not inflict damage, but there is no way around it. To remove it, Donkey Kong has to use a couple other mechanisms to make a large gold DK-branded button appear, then [[Hand Slap|ground-pound]] the button into the ground. This breaks the rocks and has the giant Spike Ball roll into the background. It can be seen hurtling through the background across the rest of the level. At the end of the level, it drops in at the top of a half pipe, behind Donkey Kong. Now it defeats the [[Kong]]s in one hit, so it must be avoided by hiding in a divot in the center of the half pipe or outrunning it with the [[Kong Roll]]. The half pipe is too long to [[Roll Attack]] all the way up as fast as a Kong Roll. If the Spike Ball reaches either end of the halfpipe, it reverses course. This means if it rolls down the right side, the way forward is open for a while. After evading that Spike Ball, the final [[Barrel Cannon]] to the [[Slot Machine Barrel]] has a giant Spike Ball dangling precariously above it. If the Kongs do not fire from the Barrel Cannon fast enough, the Spike Ball will gradually descend before finally dropping. It it hits the Barrel Cannon, then the cannon is destroyed and the Kongs are defeated instantly.