DK: Jungle Climber
| DK: Jungle Climber | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 For alternate box art, see the game's gallery. | |||||||||||
| Developer | Paon Nintendo SPD Group No.4 | ||||||||||
| Publisher | Nintendo | ||||||||||
| Platform(s) | Nintendo DS, Virtual Console (Wii U) | ||||||||||
| Release date | Nintendo DS: August 9, 2007[1] August 9, 2007[?] September 10, 2007[2] October 12, 2007[?] November 1, 2007[?]Virtual Console (Wii U): July 8, 2015[?] July 23, 2015[?] August 6, 2015[3] August 7, 2015[?] | ||||||||||
| Language(s) | English (United States) French (France) German Spanish (Spain) Italian Japanese | ||||||||||
| Genre | Platformer | ||||||||||
| Rating(s) |
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| Mode(s) | Single-player, Multiplayer, Local Wireless | ||||||||||
| Format | Nintendo DS:
Game Card
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| Input | Nintendo DS:
| ||||||||||
| Serial code(s) | NTR-ABUJ-JPN NTR-ABUE-USA NTR-ABUP-EUR NTR-ABUE-AUS | ||||||||||
- Everyone
- Three years and older
- All ages
- General
- All ages
DK: Jungle Climber, known as Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber in Japan and Europe, is a platformer of the DK series, released for the Nintendo DS in 2007. It is a sequel to the 2005 Game Boy Advance game DK: King of Swing, and was developed by Paon and published by Nintendo. It was later re-released for the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan and North America in July 2015 and in Europe and Australia in August 2015.
Plot[edit]
The Kong family are on a vacation at Sun Sun Island. While they are there, Diddy notices a giant banana on a mountain. Cranky requests Donkey Kong to acquire it, and Diddy joins him.
On top of the mountain, King K. Rool and the Kremlings are stealing a Crystal Banana from an "alien". They plan to conquer the universe with it. A Banana Ship appears, and DK and Diddy battle it.
After the Kongs destroy the spaceship, a banana alien named Xananab exits from it. He apologizes for attacking the Kongs, whom he mistook for Kremlings. Xananab explains how K. Rool stole the Crystal Banana, and the Kongs go on a journey to retrieve it.
Controls[edit]
DK: Jungle Climber uses the same controls as its predecessor; the player using 
to swing left and 
to swing right. Pressing both and causes Donkey Kong to jump, and pressing 
does a charge jump. Also, pressing 
allows the player to talk to NPCs. More than one Kong will be playable at once in a style similar to the Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land series, with one Kong following the other. However, the player can split the Kongs up to solve certain puzzles.
Characters[edit]
Several familiar characters appear in DK: Jungle Climber. Donkey Kong and Diddy are the only playable characters in Story Mode, while Dixie and Funky are playable in Wireless Multiplayer, just like in DK: King of Swing.
Playable[edit]
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Donkey Kong | The main protagonist is a Kong who sets off to get the Crystal Banana back from King K. Rool. |
|
Diddy Kong | Donkey Kong's companion, who also sets off to get the Crystal Banana back from King K. Rool. |
|
Dixie Kong | A young Kong with yellow hair who is playable exclusively in Wireless Multiplayer. She also hosts the Extra Stages. |
|
Funky Kong | A Kong wearing a funky uniform who is also playable exclusively in Wireless Multiplayer. He allows the Kongs to use his airplane to access new levels in return for a specified number of oil barrels as well. |
Non-playable[edit]
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Candy Kong | A Kong who hosts the Challenge Mode. |
|
Cranky Kong | An elderly Kong who provides tutorials and hints to DK and Diddy. |
|
King K. Rool | The main antagonist is a green Kremling who wears a crown and a red cape. He is responsible for stealing the Crystal Banana. |
|
Wrinkly Kong | An elderly Kong who died and had since become a ghost. She makes a cameo in the intro. |
|
Xananab | A banana alien who lives in Planet Plantaen. His Crystal Banana was stolen by K. Rool. |
Enemies[edit]
Bosses[edit]
Mega Amp (incomplete)
Mega Amp (complete)
King K. Rool (regular form)
King K. Rool (Crystal Banana form)
Items[edit]
DK: Jungle Climber has a variety of items. Some are from the first three Donkey Kong Country titles, while others are entirely new items.
Collectibles[edit]
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Banana | Collecting 100 bananas rewards an extra life. |
|
Banana Bunch | A single one is worth five bananas, while the double variety is worth ten. |
|
Banana Coin | Used for unlocking extra levels |
|
Crystal Star | Grants temporary invincibility, like Going Bananas |
|
DK Coin | They can be spent to unlock cheats. |
  
|
Gem | Collecting 100 results in the Crystal Star, regardless of color. |
   
|
KONG Panels | By finding and collecting all four in a level, the player earns an extra life. |
Tools[edit]
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Hammer | Grants the ability to smash barrels and rocks temporarily |
|
Torch | Necessary for melting ice throughout Chill 'n' Char Island. |
|
Wings | Grants the ability to fly temporarily |
Barrels[edit]
| Image | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Bonus Barrel | Entering a Bonus Barrel will send the Kongs to a minigame. |
|
Booster Barrel | Booster Barrels fly upwards. The Kongs can steer on these barrels. |
|
Cannon Barrel | Cannon Barrels fire the Kongs in a direction specified with a dotted line. |
|
DK Barrel | DK Barrels contain either DK or Diddy if they are missing. |
|
Iron Barrel | Barrels out of steel. Only Diddy's hammer or a TNT Barrel can break them. |
|
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Oil barrel | Oil barrels contain fuel for Funky's airplane. |
|
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Spinner Barrel | Spinner Barrels behave similarly to Barrel Cannons. |
|
TNT Barrel | TNT Barrels explode when a rock is thrown at them. They destroy all obstacles in the blast radius. |
Minigames[edit]
Several minigames appear in this game. There are several single-player, all of which must be unlocked, as well as multi-player games. The single-player games consist of a log jumping game, a banana eating game, a barrel destroying game, and many more. The multi-player games include a barrel racing game and a "race to complete the level first" game.
Bonus Barrels will also send the player to a minigame named Banana Bonanza, which consists of a banana-catching game, in which Donkey Kong is given a random-sized barrel and must catch as many bananas as the player can.
List of minigames[edit]
Worlds[edit]
- Sun Sun Island
- Lost Island
- Ghost Island
- Chill 'n' Char Island
- High-High Island
- Wormhole
- Extra stages
Quotes[edit]
- Main article: List of DK: Jungle Climber quotes
Reception[edit]
The game received positive reviews and was considered an improvement over DK: King of Swing. The game was also praised for its fun, practical controls and its vibrant visuals.
| Reviews | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Release | Reviewer, Publication | Score | Verdict |
| Nintendo DS | Ryan Davis, GameSpot | 7.5/10 | "DK Jungle Climber refines the bright and busy visuals of DK King of Swing, which itself borrowed its charm from the Donkey Kong Country games. Improved resolution means that both screens are packed with detail, though it also ends up making Donkey Kong appear fairly small onscreen. Ultimately, though, being able to see more of the environment is more significant to the gameplay than a bigger DK sprite, despite how much we enjoy watching his dangling legs swing about. Despite being a sequel to a game based on a well-established franchise, DK Jungle Climber still feels surprisingly fresh. While it could've relied on the sheer novelty of its control scheme, it does a smart job of fleshing out the gameplay and offering a well-balanced challenge once the novelty has worn off." |
| Nintendo DS | Tom Bramwell, Eurogamer | 8/10 | "As it is, it's a game that veers between excellence and anguish a little bit too often. When it falls into bad old habits, it undermines its strengths, plunging the largely capable controls into context they suffer from. This is doubly annoying because the controls are ideal for most of what the game does, and have even greater potential: the mistake here is something akin to pitching aerial enemies against a limited aiming ability in a shooter; an unforced error that repeals confidence. We certainly hope Paon and Nintendo are smart enough to see this for themselves, because when Jungle Climber peaks, it's among the DS' best, and a bigger and better instalment - perhaps on the Wii - would again be welcome." |
| Nintendo DS | Craig Harris, IGN | 8/10 | "What was a very good Game Boy Advance title turns out to be an even better Nintendo DS game. The development team stuck to its guns with the original concept and fleshed it out with new levels, new elements, and more stuff to beef up the variety and to toughen things up. The lack of variety is what hurt King of Swing in the long run, and while Jungle Climber shares the same core mechanic that makes the game just a tad repetitive, the designers injected some great ideas into the original to bulk up the fun." |
| Aggregators | |||
| Compiler | Platform / Score | ||
| Metacritic | 77 | ||
| GameRankings | 76.75% | ||
Pre-release and unused content[edit]
In several screenshots, there are some early levels such as a foggy area that was possibly the original Panic Factory. Another screenshot shows an underwater level in the sea with a Lockjaw. There were originally swing-like objects that were in the game. Also, some objects and backgrounds had different palettes. Lastly, the working title for this game was DK: King of Swing DS.
The strange unused swings.
An early Jungle Beach
A foggy Panic Factory
A group of different paletted pegs
An unused background
Early logo
Staff[edit]
- Main article: List of DK: Jungle Climber staff
Profiles[edit]
Nintendo eShop[edit]
King K. Rool™ is up to no good again, and it’s up to Donkey Kong™ to swing into action. Using a simple control scheme that makes the game fun and easy to play, players of all skill levels can swing and climb to new heights.
Donkey Kong and his friends decide to take a well-earned vacation at the beautiful Sun Sun Island. After enjoying a splash in the ocean, a hungry Donkey Kong and his friends see a massive banana floating atop a mountain. Without hesitation, they race off for the mountaintop, wondering what kind of adventure they'll find!
Play as Donkey Kong, or choose to play as Diddy Kong™ in Adventure mode. Players can look forward to new moves, new items, and a bunch of mini-games that are sure to make them go bananas!
Gallery[edit]
- For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:DK: Jungle Climber.
References to other games[edit]
- Donkey Kong Country: "Cranky's Theme" and "DK Island Swing" are arranged in the soundtrack.
- Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: A cover of "Funky the Main Monkey" can be heard.
- Donkey Kong Jungle Beat: Also, the pose that Donkey Kong strikes after completing the bonus stage (where the player has to catch bananas with a barrel) is identical to the pose that he strikes in Jungle Beat after completing the banana-eating bonus at the end of each stage.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ドンキーコング ジャングルクライマー[?] Donkī Kongu Janguru Kuraimā |
Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 大金剛 叢林攀爬高手[4] Dàjīn'gāng Cónglín Pān Pá Gāoshǒu |
Donkey Kong Jungle Climber |
References[edit]
- ^ ドンキーコング ジャングルクライマー. Nintendo Co., Ltd. (Japanese). Retrieved July 24, 2007.
- ^ Super Smash Bros. Brawl Chronicle
- ^ Donkey Kong: Jungle Climber | Nintendo DS | Games | Nintendo UK. Nintendo UK (British English). Retrieved January 16, 2025.
- ^ Nintendo DS 遊戯軟體. Nintendo of Taiwan (Traditional Chinese). Archived March 13, 2019, 01:10:08 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
External links[edit]
- Official website
- Official American English website
- American English instruction booklet
- European English instruction booklet
- Japanese instruction booklet
