King of Swing

The DK handheld games were odd ones. Based on the game Clu Clu Land, it featured a mechanic of moving Donkey and his pals by spinning around on floating pegs and launching them to the next section.

This stage will attempt to capture the feel of these two games. It will take place on a handful of stationary platforms as numerous pegged blocks float in the air around them. I would like for the characters to be able to grab the pegs, but I don’t know if that would interfere with gameplay or not.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRFYqVtTzZw

Funky's Flights

Throughout the series, Funky Kong has played the near constant role of running Funky’s Flights, using his big bi-plane made of barrels to transport our heroes back to previous levels that they might want to revisit.

The stage will function similar to the current Pilotwings, taking place entirely on the wings of Funky’s biplane as it takes off from his landing strip and moves from island to island, all based on various locations of the Donkey Kong series. Bluster Kong’s barrel copter will occasionally appear in the background.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8mgAP-tTF0

Wrinkly Kong

Just like Candy and Funky in the first Donkey Kong Country game, Donkey Kong Country 2 likewise provided players with supporting Kongs who would help out in various ways. Most prominent of these was the introduction of Donkey’s grandmother, Cranky’s wife, who provided players with hints on how to move forward.

This is Wrinkly Kong, a sweet, elderly ape whose personality is entirely opposite from her husband’s. She will reappear again and again throughout the games, passing away of old age before Donkey Kong 64, but still lingering on as a ghost for many more games to come.

As a fighter, Wrinkly will appear in her ghostly form, making her floaty with good defense like all other ghost characters. Her moves will pull from her various supporting roles as well as from one of her rare playable appearances in DK: King of Swing.

Likelihood rating: Piranha Plant clause

Character Sheet: Wrinkly Kong (DK Handhelds)

WRINKLY KONG

And now, it's time to go through our characters once again. This time, most of them will just be a token effort as there really isn't anything new to add to most of the characters. However, for the sake of thoroughness, and to give myself the chance to get ahead on watching and taking notes on upcoming games so that I don't get behind, let's go through them anyway.

1. Donkey Kong (Revision)
2. Diddy Kong (Revision)
3. Dixie Kong (Revision)
4. King K. Rool (Revision)
5. Cranky Kong (Revision)
6. Funky Kong (Revision)
7. Kiddy Kong (Revision)
8. Kritter (Revision)
9. Krusha (Revision)
10. Klump (Revision)
11. Wrinkly Kong
12. Xananab

After all this time, Wrinkly Kong finally gets her due. Wrinkly Kong is Donkey Kong's grandmother and Cranky Kong's wife, likely making her the mother of Donkey Kong Jr. as well. Wrinkly Kong is probably one of the few characters with a visible physical arc over time, first appearing as the elderly dean of Kong College, giving out hints to the players, in Country 2, then appears to have retired in Country 3, spending her days working out and saving your game. She seems to have tired of exercise by Land III, simply resting in her rocking chair, and by 64, she has died and appears as a ghost to provide the heroes with hints. She retains this ghostly form in every subsequent game appearance.

In one of her solitary playable appearances, Wrinkly appears in DK: King of Swing, first during the tutorial stages, with Cranky instructing the player on how to perform basic moves, and Wrinkly demonstrating them. Wrinkly then carries over into the challenge modes as an optional player. As the game is rather unique for her playability, it seems fitting that she more or less act as a representative of the game's mechanics, including climbing around on pegs, throwing rocks, launching from the pegs, and so on. Some of her previous stuff fits in too.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Rock Launcher
This is based on the basic attack move from King of Swing, wherein DK spins around a peg, grabs a rock (or sometimes a bomb), and chucks it into the air as a projectile. A peg will appear in midair, Wrinkly will spin around it, producing a rock on the down sweep, and chuck it into the air. A small percentage of the time, the rock will be a bomb.

Side B: Hammer
This one comes from Jungle Climber, where she is not playable, but as that one didn't quite fit into the moveset I had planned out of Xananab, I figure it works just as well for her. A disembodied hammer will float around Wrinkly, slamming wildly left and right and all around for a few seconds.

Up B: Charge Attack
This one is based on the move from King of Swing, where the player can pull down on the two pegs he is holding and release them to launch high into the air. Wrinkly will grab two pegs that appear above her, pull down on them to charge for a second, then throw herself into the air.

Down B: Banana
This one will be a health restorative move, as we probably haven't seen one of those yet, and is based on the bananas used to heal your character in King of Swing. Wrinkly will eat a banana and her health will be restored some.

Final Smash: Going Bananas
Wrinkly will eat a bunch of bananas which will make her glow a rainbow color similar to the Starman, making her invincible, faster, and stronger than she normally would be for a short time, able to KO several characters in that time.

Entrance: If I wanted to be really morbid, I could have her falling asleep in her rocker then having her ghost emerge from it. If not she could burst from a barrel like the others, or emerge from her door in Donkey Kong 64.

Taunts: Maybe making a scary face then laughing, looking something up in a book, or lifting some weights.

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll be covering Wrinkly Kong!

Character Sheet: Kritter (DK Handhelds)

KRITTER

And now, it's time to go through our characters once again. This time, most of them will just be a token effort as there really isn't anything new to add to most of the characters. However, for the sake of thoroughness, and to give myself the chance to get ahead on watching and taking notes on upcoming games so that I don't get behind, let's go through them anyway.

1. Donkey Kong (Revision)
2. Diddy Kong (Revision)
3. Dixie Kong (Revision)
4. King K. Rool (Revision)
5. Cranky Kong (Revision)
6. Funky Kong (Revision)
7. Kiddy Kong (Revision)
8. Kritter (Revision)
9. Krusha (Revision)
10. Klump (Revision)
11. Wrinkly Kong
12. Xananab

Today, we'll go over Kritter once again, who appeared in all of the games here, though mostly just acting as the basic version of what they were in the country games. In the DK series, they could crawl around on pegs just like the Kongs, and were optional characters in the challenge modes, while in Jungle Climbers, several accompanied King K. Rool and were mutated into bosses by the power of the crystal banana.

Here's their moveset, which I left mostly the same:

Standard B: Krook

Side B: Krash

Up B: Kaboing

Down B: Kaboom

Final Smash: King Kut Out

Entrance: Maybe skidding onto the stage, paying reference to the Skiddas.

Taunts: Lord only knows. A number of the taunts and noises the various Kremlings could work. It would also be fun to have him harassed by a Klaptrap just like in 64.

Thanks for reading! Next time, we'll cover the Krusha enemies.

Character Sheet: Funky Kong (DK Handhelds)

FUNKY KONG

And now, it's time to go through our characters once again. This time, most of them will just be a token effort as there really isn't anything new to add to most of the characters. However, for the sake of thoroughness, and to give myself the chance to get ahead on watching and taking notes on upcoming games so that I don't get behind, let's go through them anyway.

1. Donkey Kong (Revision)
2. Diddy Kong (Revision)
3. Dixie Kong (Revision)
4. King K. Rool (Revision)
5. Cranky Kong (Revision)
6. Funky Kong (Revision)
7. Kiddy Kong (Revision)
8. Kritter (Revision)
9. Krusha (Revision)
10. Klump (Revision)
11. Wrinkly Kong
12. Xananab

Now, technically, Funky Kong was supposed to be the one yesterday, but got switched out with Kiddy for the gag. I figure, if Funky were real, he'd be cool with it. He's funky like that. Funky doesn't appear much in the Land games, his role being one of those cut out for simplicity, but he does appear in the DK games as an alternate playable character in the challenge modes. Not much unique to him, but that's okay.

Here's his moveset:

Standard B: Bazooka Boot

Side B: Hovercraft

Up B: Surfboard

Down B: Item Shop

Final Smash: Biplane

Entrance: He'll be leaning against a barrel, waxing his surfboard

Taunts: Rock out to a boom box, make a number of cool poses, adjust his shades, maybe the demonstration of a weapon's abilities he does in 64.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, we'll cover the Kritters!

Character Sheet: Cranky Kong (DK Handhelds)

CRANKY KONG

And now, it's time to go through our characters once again. This time, most of them will just be a token effort as there really isn't anything new to add to most of the characters. However, for the sake of thoroughness, and to give myself the chance to get ahead on watching and taking notes on upcoming games so that I don't get behind, let's go through them anyway.

1. Donkey Kong (Revision)
2. Diddy Kong (Revision)
3. Dixie Kong (Revision)
4. King K. Rool (Revision)
5. Cranky Kong (Revision)
6. Funky Kong (Revision)
7. Kiddy Kong (Revision)
8. Kritter (Revision)
9. Krusha (Revision)
10. Klump (Revision)
11. Wrinkly Kong
12. Xananab

I find it a rather amusing bit of irony that the year should end on the cranky old monkey constantly talking about "back in his day." In fact, the only thing that would make it even better is if Kiddy Kong were to be the one to start the new year. (To be honest, I'm really tempted to go out of order tomorrow just to make that happen). But I digress. Cranky actually doesn't appear much in the Land games outside of his role in the setup of Land 1, but he acts as the game's mentor and tutorial throughout both DK games, I suppose implying that he can do most of it, but as Wrinkly and Xananab will cover most of those mechanics, I'm not too worried about it.

So here's what I came up with:

Standard B: Dynamite

Side B: Barrel

Up B: Pogo Stick

Down B: Dentures

Final Smash: Mad Scientist

Entrance: Cranky could break out of a barrel like the rest of them, though he could just be sitting on stage, cranking his gramophone like in the first game's cutscene. 

Taunts: Waving his stick around like a grumpy old man, making some comment about "kids these days." Maybe a secret taunt where he gives out hints.

Next up: Let's cover Funky Kong (or Kiddy Kong if I give in to my own sense of humor)!

Character Sheet: King K. Rool (DK Handhelds)

KING K. ROOL

And now, it's time to go through our characters once again. This time, most of them will just be a token effort as there really isn't anything new to add to most of the characters. However, for the sake of thoroughness, and to give myself the chance to get ahead on watching and taking notes on upcoming games so that I don't get behind, let's go through them anyway.

1. Donkey Kong (Revision)
2. Diddy Kong (Revision)
3. Dixie Kong (Revision)
4. King K. Rool (Revision)
5. Cranky Kong (Revision)
6. Funky Kong (Revision)
7. Kiddy Kong (Revision)
8. Kritter (Revision)
9. Krusha (Revision)
10. Klump (Revision)
11. Wrinkly Kong
12. Xananab

This is probably one of the few that might get something new, though I'm not certain. His boss battles in the three Land games are basically just simplified versions of his Country battles, but the DK series of games do give us something new. His boss battle in King of Swing is mostly based on the same mechanics as Donkey Kong in the game, and their battle is just the two of them crawling around on pegs to hit each other. However, in Jungle Climber, King K. Rool grows massive, will pegs littering his belly for Donkey to climb on, and he will swipe and breathe fire at the Kong on his belly. New for sure, but I don't know if it's inherently unique enough to him.

Here's his moveset:

Standard B: Crown Toss

Side B: Blunderbuss

Up B: Propeller Pack

Down B: Belly Counter
Yeah, I'll stick with this one. His belly was big enough to climb on this time around, so I guess it still kinda works.

Final Smash: Blast-o-Matic

Entrance: As he tends to just be waiting for you when you reach his battle, I guess him just dropping in looking smug is as decent as any other move.

Taunt: slapping his belly the way he does, biting at the screen, laughing maniacally, so on.

Thanks for reading! Now, let's cover Cranky Kong again!

Character Sheet: Dixie Kong (DK Handhelds)

DIXIE KONG

And now, it's time to go through our characters once again. This time, most of them will just be a token effort as there really isn't anything new to add to most of the characters. However, for the sake of thoroughness, and to give myself the chance to get ahead on watching and taking notes on upcoming games so that I don't get behind, let's go through them anyway.

1. Donkey Kong (Revision)
2. Diddy Kong (Revision)
3. Dixie Kong (Revision)
4. King K. Rool (Revision)
5. Cranky Kong (Revision)
6. Funky Kong (Revision)
7. Kiddy Kong (Revision)
8. Kritter (Revision)
9. Krusha (Revision)
10. Klump (Revision)
11. Wrinkly Kong
12. Xananab

Dixie Kong falls into the same boat here as Donkey and Diddy. She appears in Land 2 as a sidekick, Land 3 as the main hero, and in both DK games as an alternative playable character in the challenge modes. That's pretty much it. Nothing too exciting.

Here's her moveset:

Standard B: Hair Flick

Side B: Bubblegum Pop

Up B: Ponytail Twirl

Down B: Grab and Throw

Final Smash: Guitar Gazump

Entrance: Burst out of a barrel.

Taunt: Blow a bubble, play a couple of notes on her guitar, sweep her ponytail forward, so on.

Thanks for reading! Next time, we'll cover King K. Rool!

Character Sheet: Diddy Kong (DK Handhelds)

DIDDY KONG

And now, it's time to go through our characters once again. This time, most of them will just be a token effort as there really isn't anything new to add to most of the characters. However, for the sake of thoroughness, and to give myself the chance to get ahead on watching and taking notes on upcoming games so that I don't get behind, let's go through them anyway.

1. Donkey Kong (Revision)
2. Diddy Kong (Revision)
3. Dixie Kong (Revision)
4. King K. Rool (Revision)
5. Cranky Kong (Revision)
6. Funky Kong (Revision)
7. Kiddy Kong (Revision)
8. Kritter (Revision)
9. Krusha (Revision)
10. Klump (Revision)
11. Wrinkly Kong
12. Xananab

Again, really not much to say here. Diddy Kong acts as the sidekick in Land and the hero in Land 2, his moveset being a more simplified version of his country moveset. He also appears as a sidekick in both of the DK games, mostly using the same mechanics though. He does have a few moves in Jungle Climber unique to him, like being thrown forward by Donkey, swinging around a hammer, and using a blowtorch. Let's see if we can do anything.

Here's his moveset:

Standard B: Peanut Popgun

Side B: Chimpy Charge

Up B: Rocketbarrel Pack

Down B: Banana

Final Smash: Rocketbarrel Barrage

Entrance: Pop out of a barrel

Taunts: Him rocking out to his boom box for sure, eating a banana, dancing like he does in the Konga games?

Thanks for reading! Next up, we'll cover his girlfriend Dixie Kong!

Character Sheet: Donkey Kong (DK Handheld Series)

DONKEY KONG

And now, it's time to go through our characters once again. This time, most of them will just be a token effort as there really isn't anything new to add to most of the characters. However, for the sake of thoroughness, and to give myself the chance to get ahead on watching and taking notes on upcoming games so that I don't get behind, let's go through them anyway.

1. Donkey Kong (Revision)
2. Diddy Kong (Revision)
3. Dixie Kong (Revision)
4. King K. Rool (Revision)
5. Cranky Kong (Revision)
6. Funky Kong (Revision)
7. Kiddy Kong (Revision)
8. Kritter (Revision)
9. Krusha (Revision)
10. Klump (Revision)
11. Wrinkly Kong
12. Xananab

There's not a whole lot to say. Donkey Kong functions in Donkey Kong Land more or less the same as he did in Country. The only difference is a few missing moves for simpler gameplay. The DK games bring in a few new mechanics, but the games are distinct enough to themselves that I decided to have them represented by a couple of gimmick reps (see: the last two items on the list). As such, Donkey stays pretty much the same.

Here is his moveset again:

Standard B: Giant Punch

Side B: Barrel

Up B: Barrel Cannon

Down B: Ground Pound

Final Smash: Jungle Rush

Entrance: He bursts out of a barrel.

Taunts: Pounding his chest for sure, maybe eating a banana, maybe playing his bongos a bit.

Next up: Let's cover Diddy Kong!

DK: King of Swing

DK: KING OF SWING

This should probably be more in the "spinoffs" section than anything, but as they were Donkey Kong's main handheld entries for a little while there, and separating out the DK titles into three clean groups makes them fit more here than anywhere else, I guess its okay. DK: King of Swing is the first of two titles created as spiritual successors to the NES game Clu Clu Land, featuring Donkey and his friends rather than a little red fish.

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong act as the main principal players in the game, though Dixie Kong, Funky Kong, Wrinkly Kong, King K. Rool, Kritter, and Bubbles (the fish from Clu Clu Land) are all playable in the game's challenge mode, functioning under the same basic mechanics of the game. Cranky and Candy also appear in supporting roles, Cranky running the tutorial with Wrinkly demonstrating, and Candy basically just showing up in the cutscenes.

The main mechanic of the game is massive sections of pegs floating in the sky that Donkey and Diddy must hang from and spin around on in order to navigate through a course. Other mechanics used include the ability to pull back on two pegs and launch yourself high into the air, throw rocks and bombs by grabbing it while spinning around and throwing it at enemies. They can also "go bananas" which is basically a Donkey Kong version of the Starman item. King K. Rool also has an airship that he uses, but his boss battle is mostly just him and DK crawling around on the pegs fighting each other with those mechanics.

Other enemies that appear are generally series regulars, though reworked a bit to fit this specific playstyle. Flitters buzz back and forth across the map, Neeks crawl around on the pegs, Flipflaps and Neckies fly around, Click-Clacks crawl on the pegs, Lockjaws swim around and leap from the water while Shuris spin toward you, Zingers buzz around as they do, and Powans are new ghost enemies who float around in haunted house levels. As for bosses, we have Congazuma, a giant statue that tromps around, Fire Necky, a firebird that flies around and spits fireballs, Davy Bones, a skeletal sea monster that will bite at you, and Sassy Squatch, an abominable snowman who chases you up a ravine and spits ice.

We have a number of levels, though each is generally built around a theme. The first generally has a jungle theme, the second with a desert theme, the third with a water theme, the fourth with a snow theme, and finally K. Rool's airship, the K. Kruiser III. The K. Kruiser III is getting in for sure if I have anything to say about it. As for items, we have rocks and bombs, and the pegs themselves, but that's about it for now.

Let's see what we've got!

Characters:
Donkey Kong: everything from Country, climb and swing around pegs, launch from pegs, throw rocks and bombs, go bananas
Diddy Kong: everything from Country and Country 2, climb and swing around pegs, launch from pegs, throw rocks and bombs, go bananas
Dixie Kong: everything from Country 2 and Country 3, climb and swing around pegs, launch from pegs, throw rocks and bombs, go bananas
Kiddy Kong: everything from Country 3
Funky Kong: climb and swing around pegs, launch from pegs, throw rocks and bombs, go bananas
Wrinkly Kong: climb and swing around pegs, launch from pegs, throw rocks and bombs, go bananas
Cranky Kong: tutorial for King of Swing
King K. Rool: throw crown, charge, blunderbuss, float, throw bombs, bounce, electric beam, climb and swing around pegs, launch from pegs, throw rocks and bombs, go bananas
Kritter/Klomp/Kobble: walk forward, Kaboing, Klinger, Rekoil, Skidda, climb and swing around pegs, launch from pegs, throw rocks and bombs, go bananas
Krusha/Kruncha/Krumple: walk forward
Kannon: shoot blunderbuss
SPECIAL GUEST: Bubbles

Assist Trophies:
Klaptrap
Rambi
Expresso
Enguarde
Rattly
Squitter
Clapper
Squawks
Ellie

Bosses:
Wild Sting
Giant Clam
Hard Hat
Krow
Kleever
King Zing
Kreepy Krow
Barbos
Bleak
Arich
KAOS
Kongazuma
Fire Necky
Davy Bones
Sassy Squatch

Stages:
Gangplank Galleon Ahoy
Kremlantis
Monkey Mountains & Chimpanzee Clouds
Big Ape City
Gangplank Galleon
Krem Cauldron
Kremland
Gloomy Gulch
K. Rool's Keep
Cape Codswallop
Primate Plain
Blackforest Plateau
Great Ape Lakes
Tin Can Valley
The Lost World
Jungle World
Desert World
Underwater World
Snow World
K. Kruiser III

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the game's sequel, Jungle Climber!