DK: King of Swing

DK: King of Swing
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer	Paon Nintendo SPD Group No.4
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console (Wii U)
Release date	Game Boy Advance: Template:Release Virtual Console (Wii U): Template:Release[?]
Language(s)	English (United Kingdom) English (United States) French (France) German Spanish (Spain) Italian Japanese
Genre	Puzzle
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone[?] PEGI: - Three years and older[?] CERO: - All ages[?] USK: - All ages[?]
Mode(s)	Single-player, multiplayer
Format	Wii U: Digital download Game Boy Advance: Game Pak
Input	Wii U: Wii U GamePad Wii Remote (horizontal) Classic Controller Wii U Pro Controller Game Boy Advance: Gamepad
Serial code(s)	Template:Serials

DK: King of Swing is a puzzle game starring Donkey Kong for the Game Boy Advance. It is the first installment of the DK series. Its gameplay is similar to the NES game Clu Clu Land, but it has been re-formatted in aspects to provide more of an adventure game feel. In the game, Donkey Kong must quest across five worlds to recover the Jungle Jam medals that King K. Rool has stolen and scattered across the levels. DK: King of Swing is the first Donkey Kong franchise game to be developed by Paon. A sequel, titled DK: Jungle Climber, was released for the Nintendo DS in 2007.

DK: King of Swing was re-released for the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan and North America in November 2014 and in Europe and Australia in January 2015.

Story

A screenshot from the intro, where K. Rool steals all the medals

The game takes place during the Jungle Jam, where a huge festival is held. During the tournament, medals are given out as prizes to participants in contests like breaking barrels and jumping pegs, with the winner being crowned the hero of the jungle. King K. Rool appears and steals all the medals before the tournament commences, proclaiming himself the jungle hero. Donkey Kong goes on an adventure after King K. Rool to recover the medals. After traveling through four different worlds, gaining the stolen medals dropped by K. Rool, Donkey Kong enters the final world, K. Kruizer III. At the end of the last world, Donkey Kong is confronted by K. Rool, who challenges him to both a climbing race and battle for the last medal. After defeating K. Rool, Donkey Kong leaves the location using a small, green aircraft while the King Kruizer III explodes and falls from the sky.

Gameplay

Donkey Kong climbing across some Peg Boards in the first level, Banana Bungalow

Like Clu Clu Land, the gameplay consists of Donkey Kong swinging and climbing across many pegs. Donkey Kong's goal is to climb, swing, and even blast his way to the top of the level. Donkey Kong cannot battle the world boss without completing every level prior. When Donkey Kong defeats the boss, he can continue to the next world.

There is either a bronze or a silver medal hidden in each level. In every boss level, Donkey Kong is rewarded a gold medal if he defeats the boss. Medals are usually found inside a barrel located in detours of the main path, or in hard to reach areas.

Crystal Coconuts are another collectible item in the game, and they are often hidden inside a crate, a barrel, or as a reward for completing a Bonus Barrel challenge. Sometimes, Donkey Kong must defeat an enemy to obtain the Crystal Coconut. While they are not required to complete the adventure mode, the Crystal Coconuts allow the player to unlock more content. If Donkey Kong obtains all twenty of them, the player unlocks Wrinkly Kong in the single player Jungle Jam Tournament.

After completing the game and obtaining every medal, the player unlocks the Diddy Mode, where they play as Diddy Kong during the adventure mode instead of Donkey Kong. A few things were removed from Diddy Mode, including the tutorial level, the Crystal Coconuts and thus the Bonus Barrels, and most bananas were removed except for those that can be obtained from defeating enemies or breaking crates. Diddy is able to jump higher than Donkey Kong.

Controls

The game mainly uses the and buttons, which moves Donkey Kong left and right respectively. Unlike most games, the is rarely used, except when selecting an option on the main menu or a level from the world map. While Donkey Kong is holding on a peg, the player can hold the or buttons to make him spin in a counterclockwise or clockwise direction respectively. If the player releases either button, Donkey Kong jumps in the direction that he is facing. While Donkey Kong is in midair, the player can press or to make him grab with his left or right hand respectively. When Donkey Kong is on the ground, the player can make him move quickly from left to right by pressing the respective and buttons. If they simultaneously press the buttons, Donkey Kong jumps up into the air. If the player holds down both the and buttons, Donkey Kong clutches on the pegs and builds up energy for performing a charge attack. When Donkey Kong is glowing red, the player must release the buttons to make Donkey Kong spin into a ball and charge in the direction he is facing.

By pressing the button, the player can use ten of Donkey Kong's collected bananas to restore one of his heart units. By pressing , the player can use twenty of Donkey Kong's bananas to have temporarily invincible and perform the Going Bananas move. The move also allows him to jump higher. The moves do not work if Donkey Kong does not have the necessary number to perform either move.

Game modes

The list of modes

• Adventure: The main mode of the game.
• Single Jungle Jam: The mode has a total of twelve events, most of which are races. The player can choose between Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong, and Funky Kong, and they can also unlock Bubbles, Wrinkly Kong, King K. Rool, and Kritter too. The CPU uses the other characters. The first accessible events are: Climbing Race 1, Climbing Race 2, Obstable Race 1 and Attack Battle 1.
• Multiplayer Jungle Jam: The same as above, but in multiplayer with four players using the GBA Link Cable.
• Extras: It features Cranky's Lectures (the tutorial level), a Time Attack Mode, and Diddy Mode.

Time Attack mode

The player can unlock the Time Attack mode after completing the Adventure mode. When the player selects the mode, they are given a list of every level, each with its own best time that the player can beat. Three other times also exist in the high scores list that the player can beat. The times are optional and do not allow the player to unlock any new mode or item.

During the mode, Donkey Kong has three hearts like in the regular adventure. If he loses all three of them, the player must restart the level. Donkey Kong can still find bananas around the level, although he is not given any to start with. When Donkey Kong completes a level, the player can record their time if it beats a score on the high scores list.

Characters

Playable in all modes
Image	Name	Description	Stats
	Donkey Kong	Donkey Kong is the main protagonist and the playable character of Adventure mode. He is also playable in the Jungle Jam mode, and has the most balanced statistics of the other characters.	Jump: 3/5 Attack: 3/5
	Diddy Kong	Diddy is playable in the unlockable Diddy Mode, where the player plays as Diddy instead of Donkey Kong. Diddy is also playable in the Jungle Jam mode, where he has a high jumping ability but has a low-average attack.	Jump: 4/5 Attack: 2/5
Playable in Jungle Jam
Image	Name	Description	Stats
	Dixie Kong	Dixie Kong is Diddy Kong's girlfriend. She is one of the four starter characters of the Jungle Jam mode. Out of all the characters, Dixie has the highest jumping ability, but has the weakest attack.	Jump: 5/5 Attack: 1/5
	Funky Kong	Funky is one of the four starter characters of the Jungle Jam mode. His statistics are switched from Diddy's, as he has an average-high attack, but a low-average jumping ability.	Jump: 2/5 Attack: 4/5
Unlockable in Jungle Jam
Image	Name	Description	Stats
	Kremling	Kremling one of the unlockable characters in the mode. It is a Kritter, but is named "Kremling" in the game. The player can unlock Kremling by obtaining six gold medals in the Jungle Jam. Its statistics are the same as Donkey Kong's.	Jump: 3/5 Attack: 3/5
	Wrinkly Kong	Wrinkly Kong can be unlocked after Donkey Kong obtains all 20 Crystal Coconuts. Wrinkly is tied with Dixie for highest jump ability. She has a low-average attack power, slightly higher than that of Dixie's.	Jump: 5/5 Attack: 2/5
	King K. Rool	King K. Rool is unlocked after earning 12 gold medals in the Jungle Jam. He has a maximum attack power, but his jumping ability is very weak.	Jump: 1/5 Attack: 5/5
	Bubbles	Bubbles is unlocked after the player completes Diddy Mode from collecting all 24 medals. This is her first and only appearance in a Donkey Kong game. She has the highest balanced stats of the characters.	Jump: 4/5 Attack: 4/5
Supporting
Image	Name	Description
	Cranky Kong	Cranky Kong's main role is in Cranky's Lectures, where he teaches the controls to Donkey Kong along with providing some advice.
	Candy Kong	Candy Kong has minimal involvement in the story, only appearing in the opening, when K. Rool steals the medals, and the ending, when Donkey Kong returns with them.

Worlds and levels

There are five worlds, each with four regular levels and a boss level at the end. There are a total of 25 levels in the game.

Template:Color-link
Level	Medal	Type of level
Banana Bungalow	none	Jungle
Tropical Treetops	Bronze	Jungle
Contraption Cave	Bronze	Cave
Puzzling Pyramid	Silver	Pyramid
Boss level: Congazuma's Castle	Gold	Pyramid
Template:Color-link
Level	Medal	Type of level
Necky's Canyon	Silver	Desert
Cactus Woods	Silver	Cactus
Treacherous Twister	Bronze	Desert
Madcap Mine	Bronze	Mines
Boss level: Fire Necky's Nest	Gold	Desert
Template:Color-link
Level	Medal	Type of level
Risky Reef	Bronze	Underwater
Lockjaw Falls	Bronze	Waterfalls
Kremling Kamp	Silver	Ship
Ship of Souls	Silver	Ship
Boss level: Davy Bones' Locker	Gold	Underwater
Template:Color-link
Level	Medal	Type of level
Cold Cold Forest	Silver	Forest
Raging Ravine	Silver	Ice
Underwater Ruins	Bronze	Underwater
Ice Castle	Gold	Ice
Boss level: Sassy Squatch's Lair	Gold	Ice
Template:Color-link
Level	Medal	Type of level
Booster Barrel Skyway	Bronze	Sky
K. Kruizer III Artillery	Silver	Gunship
K. Kruizer III Hull	Gold	Gunship
K. Kruizer III Engine	Gold	Gunship
Boss level: King K. Rool	Gold	Gunship

Items

Pegs

Pegs are common objects in the game that have many different variants. Each variant performs a different function and assists Donkey Kong in reaching further areas.

Development

While playing around with a Game Boy Advance, Paon employee Atsushi Kaneko had an idea to make a game that used the system's shoulder button to simulate the action of grabbing with one's left and right hands, being inspired by the hobby of free climbing. The Paon team made the initial pitch to Nintendo with an original character, but afterwards producer Toshiharu Izuno suggested to make it star Donkey Kong as to give the game more international appeal and because he thought Donkey Kong best conveyed the visual of a character climbing with his feet dangling. The game started development in earnest on the summer of 2003 but it took the Paon developers about half a year to create proper visuals for Donkey Kong. Nintendo heavily supervised Donkey Kong's design and portrayal, explaining to the developers that the character has a "warm image and a bit of a laid-back feel." The game was originally made for the Nintendo GameCube in mind until halfway through development after which the target system changed to the Game Boy Advance.

Reception

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
Game Boy Advance	Craig Harris, IGN	7.8/10	"DK: King of Swing is a classic example of a Nintendo game attempting something that's both unique and familiar at the same time. It's a concept that could only be successful on the Game Boy Advance for its rather basic structure, but even with its simplistic design DK: King of Swing has a lot going for it. Simple L and R gameplay isn't enough to keep interest high all the way through, so it works best as a quick-shot experience."
Game Boy Advance	Frank Provo, GameSpot	7.3/10	"All told, DK: King of Swing is a unique and interesting take on the puzzle genre that people will either love or hate depending on how accepting they are of the game's innovative control scheme."
Game Boy Advance	Kristan Reed, Eurogamer	7/10	"But ignoring the entirely superfluous Jungle Jam, the single-player adventure more than makes up for it and although has arguably way too many incidences of annoying level design to get too excited about, for those with a steely mindset and a longing for something genuinely new DK: King Of Swing is a surprisingly worthwhile addition to the handheld (swinging) scene. Monkeys and bananas are still evidently doing it for us."
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		70
GameRankings		71.85%

Staff

Main article: List of DK: King of Swing staff

Quotes

Main article: List of DK: King of Swing quotes

Pre-release and unused content

DK: King of Swing went through some changes during its development.

Image	Description
	This screen shows five heart points, while in the final, there are only three of them. It was not possible to go beyond that number in the final release.
	Everything in this image is the same as it is in the final game, minus the five heart points and different background.
	This screen features explosive pegs that weren't present in the final game.
	These floating spikes were not found in this area in the final game.
	This area does not exist in the final game.

Profiles

Nintendo eShop description

King K. Rool has stolen the medals to be used in the Jungle Jam Tournament just as the festivities are ramping up, putting a damper to everyone's good spirits. With Cranky's blessing and techniques, Donkey Kong sets off to bring those medals back to their rightful place!

Grab, climb, and swing on pegs as you charge and bash through enemies that block your way. Collect bananas and Crystal Coconuts in the five worlds of Adventure mode, or play some puzzling levels in Single-player Jungle Jam mode.

Find those medals, and let the festivities begin!

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:DK: King of Swing.

• 

  Donkey Kong

• 

  Diddy Kong

• 

  Dixie Kong

• 

  Funky Kong

• 

  Wrinkly Kong

• 

  Cranky Kong

• 

  King K. Rool

Media

For a complete list of media files for this subject, see Multimedia:DK: King of Swing.

Theme

File infoMedia:DKKOSTitle.oga ​

Help:Media • Having trouble playing?

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Chinese (simplified)	摇摆森喜刚 Yáobǎi Sēnxǐgāng	Swing Donkey Kong
German	DK: King of Swing[?]	-

Trivia

• It is the first game where Funky Kong, Wrinkly Kong, Kritter, and King K. Rool are playable.
• It is the first and only game where Dixie Kong does not wear her top tied.
• This game was planned to release in mainland China by iQue, but left unreleased due to the huge scene of piracy in China at that time. The unreleased Chinese prototype received an ISBN, meaning it was approved for distribution despite the ban on video games from Chinese government.
• A promotional browser game was released in 2005 called DK: King of Swing -- Hurling for Distance.

External links

• Official Japanese website
• European manual