Peaceful Pier
Template:Level Peaceful Pier is the tenth level in Donkey Kong Country Returns, as well as the third level in the Beach world.
This beach level is the first to feature a Rocket Barrel. Throughout the whole level, Donkey and Diddy Kong must ride on this device to ride over the water and coral reefs. The level does not contain many obstacles, and the pathway for the Kongs to ride through is very wide and empty, with only many bananas scatted throughout the air. However, Snaggles appear to jump out of the water in this stage, and a ship run by members of the Scurvy Crew shoot several bombs at the primates. Along with these hazards is a single Tiki Torch that appears at the beginning of the level.
In the Time Attack mode of the game, a time of 1:50:00 is needed to get a gold medal, a time of 1:51:00 for silver, and a time of 2:58:00 for bronze.
Overview
The stage starts in the beach. Donkey Kong can find a pier with a Tiki Torch invading the zone. Blowing out the Tiki's flames, DK can defeat it by jumping on it. The pier also has a DK Barrel, which Diddy Kong lies trapped inside. Breaking up the barrel, DK frees Diddy and the heroes see the pier broken with a Barrel Cannon near. The Kongs must get in the barrel to follow and land on a part of the broken pier, then take another Barrel Cannon that aims to the Rocket Barrel floating in the air. Once inside the Rocket Barrel, the heroes must activate it to ride on it and navigate throughout the rest of the level over the vast sea. At the beginning of this part, there is a Life Balloon and plenty of Bananas and Banana Bunches that can be picked up.
After taking a chain of Bananas, the letter K of the K-O-N-G Letters is found and another set of Bananas follow. The Kongs must take care not to land or ride near the water's surface, as a hungry Snaggle is swimming near to them and eventually jumps up to bite the barrel and destroy it. Following the third chain of Bananas, the Kongs find the letter O while the Snaggle keeps attacking the primates, jumping once more while they try to take the O. After the Snaggle's pursuit, the Kongs can also pick some Banana Coins. The ride continues passing next to a pirate ship, in which members of the Scurvy Crew see the Kongs and chase them to attack. Over a small island, the Tutorial Pig holds the only check point of the course so that the heroes can keep going just starting in that spot.
In the second part of the pursuit, the ship is the main obstacle that the heroes must face. During the chase, the Scurvy Crew shoots a few bombs to the air to stop the Kongs and their machine. These bombs explode in the air and the blasts remaining from these can destroy the rocket and let Donkey and Diddy Kong plummet to their doom. The first bomb shot explodes in the middle of the scene; the primates just have to avoid it. The second bomb explodes at greater height and the third at lower height. Just in that moment, the cannons begin to shoot more bombs: one at greater height and another at lower height. The cannon then shoots two bombs at the same time that explode both in the upper and lower parts of the scene. The Kongs must avoid these hazards by going in the middle. The ship stops attacking to dodge a series of rocks over the water. Now the Kongs can have some time to take another chain of bananas and pick up the letter N there before meeting the pirate ship again.
The ship reappears, and this time shoots more bombs. The ship first shoots a row of bombs in the upper part of the screen, and then another in the lower part. At last, the ship shoots bombs at both parts but in the middle. Frustrated, the Scurvy Crew tries to defeat the Kongs with the last blow using the biggest cannon of the vessel. The Kongs must now avoid to be the target of the cannon, as it aims first with a cursor that appears in the screen. The cannon then shoots the ship's anchor to the targeted zone. If DK and Diddy avoid the attack successfully, the ship keeps going forward but the crew doesn't realize that they dropped the anchor, which is connected to the ship by a cable. The pirate ship is brought to a sudden halt and, according to the next level, crashes into a pier. DK and Diddy now can take the last set of bananas and the letter G for the word KONG before arriving to their destiny. The rocket then stops working and falls in another part of the beach, ending the rocket ride with the Slot Machine Barrel and a Bonus Barrel right after it. Hitting the Slot Machine Barrel finishes the course.
Secrets
K-O-N-G Letters
- K: The letter K can be found immediately after the Puzzle Piece and second line of bananas.
- O: As the Kongs fly over a Snaggle, they move along a line of bananas. At the end of this line is the letter O.
- N: After the primates escape from the Scurvy Crew's first set of cannonballs, they come up to a line of bananas and the letter N.
- G: Soon after the pirate ship is destroyed at the end of the level, the heroes can find a line of bananas and the letter G.
Puzzle Pieces
- At the beginning of the level, the Kongs can find dandelions growing on the beach. If they blow on them, a Puzzle Piece appears.
- If the Kongs grab all of the second line of bananas in the level, the second Puzzle Piece appears at the end of the line.
- When the pirates fire the first group of cannonballs at once at the top part of the screen, the primates can ride straight up at the end of the blast remains to grab the third Puzzle Piece.
- Immediately after the heroes collect the third Puzzle Piece, they can find the fourth right after the blast remains of the second group of cannonballs that the pirates shoot consecutively.
- If the Kongs advance past the Slot Machine Barrel at the end of the level, they can find a spot on the ground that can be pounded on to reach an area underground. Here, there is a barrel that can shoot them into a Bonus Level, where they must use a barrel to move horizontally across the area in order to grab fifty-seven bananas, two Banana Coins, and an Extra Life Balloon to make the last Puzzle Piece appear.
