Kip and Kass

KIP & KASS

Two more characters introduced for the game were a couple of Kremling children, both dressed up in punk clothes and placed on the roster as the main rivals for Diddy and Dixie respectively.

These were Kip and Kass, a pair of mischievous Kremling youngsters that filled up the lightweight category for the Kremling side of things.

As fighters, they are echoes of Kalypso, likewise lighter and floatier, but also acting as a duo, akin to Ice Climbers, so their attacks do double the damage. Their moves will pull from the items shown in the game as well.

Likelihood rating: Piranha Plant clause.

Second Chance: Kip and Kass

KIP AND KASS

Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast was a difficult one to parse out in its time, as it introduced three original characters to the crew who never appeared elsewhere. Now, it made sense for at least one of these to represent the game as a gimmick rep, but the number three was awkward, and the one of the three had a drastically different body type than the other two, so, in the moment, I felt the best thing to do was to use Kalypso as the gimmick rep, and represent Kip and Kass as assist trophies. However, looking back now, it does seem perfectly reasonable, given Kip and Kass's relative size uniformity and penchant for being paired up, to have them together act as an echo to Kalypso. Now, the question remained, should they be color swaps to each other, or should they be a duo like Ice Climbers and have Kalypso's attacks hit twice but weaker. I put up a poll on that question and it seems like the people have spoken. Ice Climber-style it is.

My answer is . . . 

YES

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Mini-Necky

They could produce two Neckies.

Side B: Wild Move

Would be fun if they spun around each other and got further away from each other to widen the attack's range.

Up B: Whirlwind

They could launch consecutively through this, giving them two hit boxes

Down B: Mini-Zingers

Likewise the hitbox here could be different.

Final Smash: Ultra Barrel

Same, just coming from two different directions.

Entrance: Hovering into place and high fiving.

Taunts: Up, they would race up and around each other. Side, they would bonk heads with each other and cheer. Down, they would crouch and look all sneaky at their opponents.

Kirby Hat: Kip's little punk coat.

Kart: Their rocket barrels.

Special Move: Kass would take off separately from Kip and divebomb an opponent ahead of them.

Spirit Battle: The two together on Kongo Bongos.

Victory Screen: The two would cheer and perform an aerial high-five.

Losing Screen: Both would sit together and look dejected as their barrels smoke.

Color Swaps: Their normal colors, colors based on Diddy and Dixie, colors based on Kritter and Kalypso, colors based on Donkey and Tiny, Kopter and Kludge, Lanky and Funky, Klump and K. Rool, Cranky and Wrinkly.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, let's cover the rest of the Tiki Tak Tribe, not just Tiki Tong.

Character Sheet: Kalypso (DK Miscellaneous)

KALYPSO

Let's kick off this final round of DK revisions. We have a few old ones to go over, mostly for thoroughness's sake, alongside four new additions to the roster. Let's see what we've got!

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. Wrinkly Kong (Revision)
8. Tiny Kong (Revision)
9. Lanky Kong (Revision)
10. Kritter (Revision)
11. Krusha (Revision)
12. Klump (Revision)
13. Timber
14. Kalypso
15. Wizpig
16. The Evil Kings

Today, we are basically covering Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast the character, much like our last character for Diddy Kong Racing. The difference here is that while Diddy Kong Racing had a plethora of unique characters, with only one pre-existing character and two that would go on to do other things, this game is made up of mostly pre-existing Donkey Kong characters with a handful of unique characters. The three truly unique characters are Kalypso, a tall female Kremling with an afro, and Kip and Kass, a pair of younger Kremlings with smaller body types. (You can also could Kludge here too, but he's basically Kudgel or Krusha with a new name, so . . . ). I chose Kalypso to represent the game primarily because she is easily the most unique and iconic new character of the bunch. Her body type is quite a bit different than, say, Kip or Kass, and they don't ride around in karts, so you do have to factor in the whole body, but if you'd like to think that her color swaps are the other characters, be my guest. If you'd prefer it to be just Kalypso, also be my guest. It's the same basic character model either way.

In the game, you fly around with a pair of rockets attached to your waist. This means the character will likely be very floaty, hovering an inch or two off the ground at all times like Dark Samus or Mewtwo. The games mechanics also included boosts, and wild moves which let you ricochet forward wildly for a time. You also had use of items obtained along the track, including a prop monkey that throws bananas, Squawks and Quawks who bother the other players, banana fairies who gather bananas, a fiery banana, a melon that makes you invincible, a mini-Necky that rams into players, a miniature tornado, a barrel you can throw behind you, Zingers that swarm part of the track, Chunky Kong's pineapple launcher, and an elixir that gives you wild moves. Alright, now that that's all squared away, let's see what we've got.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Mini-Necky
Kalypso will produce a mini-Necky that will rush out and ram into another opponent, knocking them over. This also gives some representation to the Necky enemy, so that's a bonus.

Side B: Wild Move
Kalypso will blast forward wildly, knocking aside opponents willy-nilly. This may be a little difficult to control, so watch out.

Up B: Whirlwind
Kalypso will create a whirlwind around her feet that will spin her around and launch her skyward. Other characters may get caught in this as well.

Down B: Mini-Zingers
Kalypso will produce a swarm of mini-Zingers that will hover in one area of the stage, attacking any that pass through it. This will function similarly to Piranha Plant's poison cloud. Also gives some representation to Zingers, so also bonus.

Final Smash: Ultra Barrel
This represents Ultra Barrel DK, the game's secret character, where DK glows and gets all of his stats maxed out. Imagine pretty much that, but on Kalypso. Kalypso will start to glow and she will proceed to race back and forth across the track like Super Sonic.

Entrance: Hovering into place

Taunts: any number of spins or flashy moves pulled from the game. Since she has a disco vibe, she could also pull off a few disco moves.

Thanks for reading! Tomorrow, we'll tackle Timber's nemesis Wizpig!