The Mole Train

This article is about the boss level. For the eponymous train, see Mole Train.

Level
The Mole Train
Level code	4-B
World	Cave
Game	Donkey Kong Country Returns (3D/HD)
Boss	Mole Miner Max
** << Directory of levels >>

The Mole Train is the fourth boss level in Donkey Kong Country Returns and its Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch ports, located at the end of the Cave world. It takes place on the eponymous train operated by Mole Miner Max and his army of Mole Miners. Apart from Tiki Tong Terror, The Mole Train is the only boss stage in the series that is not entirely focused on fighting the main boss. This level allows the player to use a Crash Guard, even though the Mine Carts of this boss battle are not vehicles and do not benefit in any way.

Overview

The player starts the level on flat ground, with DK Barrel is just ahead. After advancing far enough, a cutscene begins where the Mole Miners are seen loading bananas into Mine Carts of the train. When Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong spot Banjo Bottom watching the process, he reacts by sounding the whistle to get all the Mole Miners to jump into the carts. He then hypnotizes Mole Miner Max, who then starts the train to drive off with the bananas. The Kongs jump onto a left over Mine Cart, still full of bananas, and roll after them.

The battle is divided into two phases which cycle back and forth between each other, followed by a final phase. For the first phase, the player stands on the left over Mine Cart as it chases after the train and its four carts of bananas in a cave. The track can move up and down dramatically as it crests hills and descends into valleys, dramatically changing the positions of the Kong's Mine Cart and the train. Like all Mine Cart rails, these tracks are intangible. This means falling off the spare Mine Cart is falling into a bottomless pit. Above all characters is a ceiling of rocks. hearts occasionally hang from hooks. Note that the Mine Carts of this stage are special: They are larger than normal Mine Carts and are essentially platforms that move rather than vehicles like other Mine Carts in the game.

The goal of the first phase is to catch up to the train. The spare Mine Cart gradually approaches the train, which is the simplest way to reach the train. However, a Mole Miner on the back of the train throws pickaxes one at a time. These pickaxes fly in a straight line, and follow extreme contours of the train tracks. Small contours are ignored. Pickaxes can be thrown low or high, with the high throw being high enough to crouch under. Once the player gets close enough, this Mole Miner stops attacking. Another method to end the phase is to jump onto the train. If done early enough, with the spare Mine Cart too far away, this can only be done with a Rolling Jump. Mind that the shifting terrain may impede such a leap, and there is a pit below.

Once the player is close enough to the train, closer than when the Mole Miner stops attacking, the Mole Miner retreats into the pile of bananas in its Mine Cart. The train's engine decouples from the cargo and races off screen. The Kongs' Mine Cart speeds up and couples with the cargo. The five Mine Carts making up the combined cargo are where the second phase takes place, in which the Mole Miners attack by popping out of Mine Carts with their claws held up. During this phase, the track's changes in elevation are never extreme, though they do still shift. Multiple Mole Miners pop up one after the other, up to a max of three being outside at a time. Mine Carts with a Mole Miner sticking out from them glow brightly. The player can tell which carts to avoid because a cart with an Mole Miner that will pop out shakes just before it happens. Once a Mole Miner finishes digging, they rest their claws downward, allowing them to be defeated by stomping them. They may drop hearts, which land floating above the Mine Carts. The player can also stun a Mole Miner with a Ground Pound. Walking into a Mole Miner only bounces the player back, rather than inflicting damage. Given time, a Mole Miner that is not defeated burrows back into the Mine Cart and repeats the process. Digging back into Mine Carts takes longer if the Mole Miner was stunned. If Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong take too long to defeat the moles, three Mole Miners on different train engine approach from the left. The drill on that train engine instantly defeats the player. Worse, it also destroys each Mine Cart it hits, eventually leaving the cargo with a single Mine Cart. Once that happens, the remaining Mole Miners do not pop out, dooming the player to defeat either by pit or drill. If the drill destroys a Mine Cart with a Mole Miner, that Mole Miner is considered defeated.

If the engine from the left is attacking, then once all Mole Miners have been defeated it slows down to leave off the left edge of the screen. Also, all but one Mine Cart of the cargo malfunction and fall away, potentially dumping the Kongs into the pit. This is telegraphed similarly to the Mole Miners: the carts that fall shake and their wheels emit blue sparks beforehand. After all malfunctioning Mine Carts have fallen away, if any, the Kongs are left on a spare Mine Cart. They return to chasing the train as per the first phase.

This loop occurs three times total. In the first phase, the pickax throws become more erratically timed with each loop, sometimes calling for consecutive jumps or a use of the Barrel Jet to dodge them. The second and third loops allow the Mole Miner to throw the occasional bomb, which lands on the the spare Mine Cart. Bombs may bounce too far and fall off. This attack can be negated by jumping as the bomb explodes or grabbing and throwing the bomb away. In the second phase, the second and third loops randomly allow Mole Miners to retreat quickly after appearing.

After the third loop, the last remaining cart catches up to the train, couples to the cargo, and the engine does not flee. Mole Miner Max leaps out of the cockpit and into the banana-filled carts, as the final phase is a battle against Max. The battlefield is very similar to the second phase despite the engine of the train, as the engine is a wall. Mole Miner Max is larger than a normal Mole Miner, and is immune to Ground Pounds. He combines properties from both phases. A number of Mine Carts rattle, but Mole Miner Max only pops out of one of them. The original tell from the Mole Miners is less helpful than the prior sentence suggests, as carts are allowed to continue shaking even after Mole Miner Max appears. The precise shaking Mine Cart he appears from is random, but Max is not allowed to appear from the first cart that shakes. Once he is above the bananas, Mole Miner Max throws a pickax forward. Holding the pickax briefly protects him from attack. He then returns to digging, sometimes after staying in place to look around. Mole Miner Max is defeated after being stomped four times.

The concluding cutscene has Donkey Kong pummel Max off screen. This ends with Donkey Kong smashing Mole Miner Max back into the train's engine. This causes the train to malfunction. and the train slows to a stop just as before it would fall off an incomplete and damaged rail. The drill on the engine comes loose and falls away. Without Mole Miner Max, Banjo Bottom floats up in a daze. The level is cleared by punching Banjo Bottom or by allowing them to recover and fly away. The cargo has an invisible wall to the left, preventing the player from falling off after dealing the final hit to Mole Miner Max.

Gallery

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  Donkey Kong, dodging the pickaxes thrown by a Mole Miner.

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  Round 1 of the Mole Miner match.

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  Four of the five mine carts are breaking down.

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  Mole Miners attempt to hit the duo with the drill.

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  Round 2 of the Mole Miner match.

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  Round 3 of the Mole Miner match.

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  Mole Miner Max enters the fray.

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  Donkey Kong evades Mole Miner Max's pickaxe.

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  Mole Miner Max is defeated.

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  The Mole Train nearly falls off the track.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	ぼうそう列車 モールカート[?] Bōsō Ressha Mōru Kāto	Speeding Train Mole Cart
Chinese (simplified)	失控列车 鼹鼠矿车[?] Shīkòng Lièchē Yǎnshǔ Kuàngchē	Wild Train Mole Cart
Chinese (traditional)	失控列車 鼴鼠老大卡特[?] Shīkòng Lièchē Yǎnshǔ Lǎodà Kǎtè	Runaway Train - Mole Boss Carter
French	Train des Taupes[?]	-
German	Maulwurfzug[?]	Mole Train
Italian	Convoglio Grottalpa[?]	Mole Convoy
Spanish	Tras el Tren Topo[?]	After the Mole Train

Trivia

• The level's name might be a pun on the television show, Soul Train.