History VideoGame / DonkeyKongCountryReturns

* BatOutOfHell: The Squeeklies. 4-5 (Crowded Cavern) focuses on them the most, including a ''[[GiantMook huge]]'' one with [[MakeMeWannaShout sonic]] [[BreathWeapon beams]] called Mama Squeekly.

* NintendoHard: In fact, it's much harder than the previous games. [[http://wii.gamespy.com/wii/donkey-kong-country-returns/1135968p1.html This trope is specifically mentioned in the GameSpy review.]] The unlockable Temple levels border on PlatformHell, even the World 1 temple (which is aptly named "Platform Panic"). However, the very worst levels in the game tend to be the rocket levels, which (like the minecart levels) will kill you if you touch anything, but unlike the minecart stages, have few to no breaks from the carts, and as the rocket is not running on rails, gives you many more chances to die.... especially with how touchy the rocket controls are.

A UsefulNotes/WiiU sequel called ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongCountryTropicalFreeze'' was released in 2014.

* AllTheWorldsAreAStage: The UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS version has an expanded version of [[spoiler:the Golden Temple, which now has 9 levels. The first 8 are thematically based on the standard worlds of the game respectively, while the ninth is original (a mixture of LevelInTheClouds and LevelAte)]]. In the original Wii version, only the thematically new level is present.

** The UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS port reintroduces Green Balloons (which would go on to appear in ''Tropical Freeze'' as well), but unlike in the SNES trilogy where they granted two extra lives, these are bought from the games' stores and used as a BottomlessPitRescueService - if a Kong falls into a pit while they have a Green Balloon equipped, it'll lift them back out.

* TheCameo: Mr. UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch can be seen in the background of Foggy Fumes, hammering away a pipe.

* CompanyCrossReferences: [[UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch Mr. Game and Watch]] appears in the background of one of the factory stages.

** Beating the final boss reveals [[spoiler:the game's secret world. In the original UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} version, it only has one level, but in the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS version, it has nine levels (with the new ones being examples of AllTheWorldsAreAStage, as they're thematically based on the regular worlds)]]. Regardless, if you want to play it, you need to get the eight orbs from the NintendoHard hidden temple levels... which ''themselves'' require that you get all the KONG letters in the other levels.

* IdleAnimation: Donkey Kong looks around, sits on the ground, pulls out a UsefulNotes/NintendoDS, and plays while Diddy watches over his shoulder. After a while, he gets bored and tosses it casually over his shoulder. This may or may not have been inspired by a famous incident (Creator/RetroStudios took note of it on their website) wherein a kid dropped his DS in the gorilla pen at the zoo and the gorillas played it.

** A stage set in the ruins features an enormous stone statue of the original VideoGame/DonkeyKong holding a UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} Remote, as opposed to a barrel, over his head. In fact, the sprite is a modified sprite from Donkey Kong Jr. Math, with the tie added and a sign replaced with the Wii Remote.

** "Foggy Fumes" has a trio of them - you can see the first level from the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong'' at the start of the stage, a skull reminiscent of [[VideoGame/SuperMetroid Crocomire]] next to it, and [[UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch Mr. Game & Watch]] pounding away at a pipe later on.

** Whereas in the original ''DKC'', a single player could freely switch between DK and Diddy to play as either one, this Diddy is effectively just a powerup, as he was in ''VideoGame/DonkeyKongJungleClimber'', that grants DK two extra hits and a jetpack for mid-air jumps (and [[NintendoHard you'll need it]]). Diddy is only truly playable in two-player co-op, and only by Player 2.

* ConsoleCameo: One of DK's [[IdleAnimation Idle Animations]] is to whip out a UsefulNotes/NintendoDS and start playing it.
* ContinuingIsPainful:
** Just like in the original games, it can suck a lot to go through any segment without already having the second Kong, especially if there happens to be no DK Barrels between your current checkpoint and the end of the level. [[spoiler:This very much applies to the FinalBoss, because if you die, the only way to get Diddy back is to restart the whole level and go through the Rocket Barrel gauntlet again. Only to probably die again anyway. Your best option is to accept it and fight the final boss using only DK. And Diddy is very, very useful in this fight.]] Thankfully, [[SocializationBonus this doesn't become an issue in multiplayer.]]
** This is how the temple levels are. No checkpoints and (usually) no DK Barrels. Unless you wanna go to another level and get Diddy there, if you die, you'll be forced to navigate with just Donkey and his two hearts.
* ContinuityNod:

* CoolGuns: Diddy is armed with his [[EdibleAmmunition Peanut Popgun]].

* TooDumbToLive: Donkey Kong himself appears to be capable of resisting Kalimba's hypnosis (which had taken over most of the other inhabitants of DK Island by then), most likely due to his thick-headedness and scrap-happy nature.

* RevisitingTheRoots: After the controversial collect-a-thon gameplay of ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong64'' and a string of mostly-forgotten spin-offs, ''Donkey King Country Returns'' is, as the name implies, a return to the linear, tough-as-nails, set piece platforming of the original trilogy.

* KingKoopaCopy: [[spoiler:Tiki Tong]], leader of the villainous Tiki Tak Tribe. He's got RedEyesTakeWarning, a JaggedMouth, and a scary roar.

** Button Bash of the Ruins world features a room containing 6 Humzees. These hummingbird like creatures try to charge into you with their sharp beaks and defeating them are required to proceed through the stage.

** Also from the Ruins world is the Giga Rangwi a [[KingMook King Mook]] of the shark-like Snaggle. This giant piscine is only found at the very end of Damp Dungeon, right before the goal. Since the specific stage it is found in is optional, it means that it's possible to miss it on an initial playthrough.

** Crocomire's skull isn't the only Metroid reference - there's a few fossilized [[VideoGame/MetroidPrime3 Infant Leviathans / Parasites]] at the beginning of "Tippy Shippy". Fitting, considering the devs of this game are the same people who made the Metroid Prime games.

* SaharanShipwreck: Level 6-7 "Tippy Shippy". Somehow a fleet of pirate ships managed to get stuck up there.

* SequenceBreaking: There are some pretty clever ways to bypass certain obstacles, and this becomes necessary when going for the best records in Time Trials.

* WalkingSpoiler: The FinalBoss. Normally, if you lose a life in a specific world's level, you get a silhouette of its leading instrument tiki's face as the screen transitions to the lose a life screen. In the volcano, which is the last world, [[spoiler:Tiki Tong's face]] is replaced with a question mark before you meet him.

* AllTheWorldsAreAStage: The UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS version has an expanded version of [[spoiler:the Golden Temple]], which now has 9 levels. The first 8 are thematically based on the standard worlds of the game respectively, while the ninth is original (a mixture of LevelInTheClouds and LevelAte). In the original Wii version, only the thematically new level is present.

* BackgroundBoss: [[spoiler:Tiki Tong]] is one [[spoiler:up until you destroy his hands]], as he first heeps his head in the background, safe from your attacks.

* BonusDungeon: The Golden Temple, which is only accessible after completing the game and clearing all Temple levels in the regular worlds. It only has one level in the Wii version, but it has nine in the 3DS one; all of them are very challenging, and require good reflexes and timing to be conquered.
* BonusLevelOfHeaven: Collecting all the KONG letters in the levels, and then completing all world's secret temple levels unlocks the very definitely bonus temple on the world map. ... Which is NintendoHard with CheckPointStarvation with brand new {{Unique Enem|y}}ies which you won't find anywhere else in the game.

* BonusStageCollectibles: The bonus stages are filled with normal collectables like bananas and coins, but collect all of them and you get a puzzle piece, of which there are only a few per level and are needed to get HundredPercentCompletion.

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The bosses (save for the FinalBoss) are creatures brainwashed by the Tikis into attacking Donkey and Diddy.
* BrutalBonusLevel: The temples, which can only be unlocked by gathering all KONG letters in the standard levels. They're exceptionally difficult, featuring setpieces and gimmicks that make up for more devious level designs, and anything below honed reflexes and timing results in a guaranteed death. Completing them unlocks the equally difficult Golden Temple level (''levels'' in the 3DS version) after the game's ending.

* CartoonBomb: Thrown by a couple of bosses and [[spoiler:Kowalee]].

** There's a level (Muncher Marathon) that has an AdvancingWallOfDoom made of spiders. Once you hit the checkpoint, you can finish the level in 30 seconds. Everywhere before that, if you die, you are back to square one. Near the end of the game, level 8-5's first stretch is quite a long and difficult one.

* CityOfGold: Not an actual city, but the postgame has the Golden Temple, which transports you to a BrutalBonusLevel (several in the 3DS version) made up of gold-colored architecture, floating fruits and idyllic passageways.

* ConsoleCameo: One of DK's idle animations has him playing a DS and if you listen carefully, you can hear sound effects from the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''.

** Another one is hidden in the background in Foggy Fumes; there is an area that looks like the same building under construction in the first Donkey Kong.

** [[VideoGame/DonkeyKong 25m]] can be seen in the background of Foggy Fumes.

** This is how the temple levels are. No check point and no DK Barrels. Unless you wanna go to another level and get Diddy there, if you die, you'll be forced to navigate with just Donkey and his two hearts.

** Beating the final boss reveals the game's secret world. In the original UsefulNotes/{{Wii}} version, it only has one level, but in the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS version, it has nine levels (with the new ones being examples of AllTheWorldsAreAStage, as they're thematically based on the regular worlds). Regardless, if you want to play it, you need to get the eight orbs from the NintendoHard hidden temple levels. Which ''themselves'' require that you get all the KONG letters in the other levels.

** Also, unlocking the gallery images for [[spoiler:Tiki Tong Tower and Tiki Tong]] requires you to collect the puzzle pieces (as per usual) in the levels "Moving Melters" and "Red Red Rising" respectively. However, you also need to defeat [[spoiler:Tiki Tong]] in order to actually view them.

** If you buy items, Cranky Kong will make fun of you. Especially if you buy the Heart item which grants you more health as he'll start asking if "I should hold your hand too." Then again, he ''is'' Cranky Kong. Notably, he keeps his mouth shut if you buy the key that unlocks the extra level in a given world, the only item in the shop that doesn't make anything easier.

* EternalEngine: World 7 (Factory). This industrial facility, originally shrouded in fog until the completion of its first level, is where the Tiki tribe takes the stolen bananas and prepares their juice to feed their master (Tiki Tong). As Donkey and Diddy venture through it, they have to deal with dangerous mechanisms like fire pistons, giant mallets, purple electric barriers, and moving pieces of mechanical terrain. In three levels, the Kongs also have find and press hidden switches in order to enable the launch of a rocket that will take them to the lair of the world's boss, Colonel Pluck.

* IndyEscape: Crumble Canyon, a level from the Cliff. Midway into the stage, you have to outrun an [[OneHitKill instant killing]] Tiki-Tak giant sphere until near the end. [[NintendoHard It's harder than it looks]].

* LethalLavaLand: World 8, which somehow manages to ''outdo'' the one in ''VideoGame/NewSuperMarioBrosWii''. It is here where the BigBad (Tiki Tong) is located, and it was there where he was inactive until the volcano's eruption. Features include hovering balls of fire, lava drops, fiery enemies and rivers of magma. Even the minecart and rocket levels have the Kongs deal with geyser-like lava eruptions, and dealing with them requires good reflexes.

* LevelInTheClouds: The Golden Temple (solo level in the Wii version, ninth in the 3DS version) combines this setting with LevelAte. Several giant fruits are suspended in the sky, and Donkey and Diddy have to take them with extra care in order to avoid falling into the abyss. This being a 2.5D game, the vertical-moving bananas can only be stepped on when they're aligned with the axis of the characters (they're looping from the background). Horizontal-moving bananas simply oscillate, cherries explode shortly after they're stomped on, strawberries and blueberries have trouble resisting the Kongs' weight. Lastly, several Tikis appear from small portals to attack the Kongs with projectiles.

** The Kowalees in [[spoiler:the Golden Temple level]] frequently toss bombs at the Kongs, who have to toss them back at them to defeat them.

* MushroomSamba: DK and Diddy find a magic floating golden banana in the final level. After digging in, [[spoiler:they find themselves in a mysterious land in the sky full of floating fruit platforms and koalas that are also half helicopter. One might argue that this wasn't a hallucination and they were actually transported to a land where giant cherries are actually proximity bombs. One might also be a little naive]].

* NewGamePlus: Mirror Mode, available after finishing the game and completing the bonus levels (including Golden Temple). When playing a level in this mode, all items you collected (puzzle pieces and KONG letters) remain as such, so your goal is to simply reach to the end. Easier said than done, however. Donkey Kong cannot be helped by Diddy or the inventory items, and he only has one HP.

* PlayableEpilogue: The [[spoiler:Golden Temple]] serves this role. More so in the [=3DS=] version which has multiple levels instead of just one (Wii version). There's also Mirror Mode, but there the [[spoiler:Golden Temple]] and every other level is unlocked de facto, so it feels more like an open-ended NewGamePlus where you have to clear all levels again regardless of order.

* PreRenderedGraphics: The game uses pre-rendering for the intro, the FinalBoss's introduction, the ending, the reveal of the [[SecretLevel Golden Temple]], and the transition from the opening area of the Golden Temple to the main level. Three of these cutscenes have three variations depending on which Kongs were present, making a total of twelve pre-rendered cutscenes.

* SequentialBoss: Mugly and Thugly have three phases each, an in turn each phase the bosses get angrier and attack more aggressively (especially Thugly). Colonel Pluck and the FinalBoss have two each: Pluck, upon seeing that the legs of its MiniMecha were destroyed, will attack rapidly while it's hovering in the air; [[spoiler:Tiki Tong]], after losing his hands, fires multiple projectiles from his head.

* ShockwaveStomp: There are bosses that will dive on the ground and send a fast (but colourful) shock-wave towards you. These bosses are, namely: Mugly, Thugly, and [[spoiler:Tiki Tong]].

** In "Foggy Fumes", one of the Smokey Factory levels, you can see the first level from the original ''VideoGame/DonkeyKong''.

** Mr UsefulNotes/GameAndWatch appears in the background of Foggy Fumes, which itself is stylized to look like a Game & Watch game.
** Retro created the ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' games, and they slipped in a few shout outs to Videogame/{{Metroid}} in there:
*** Just to the right of the Jumpman scaffolding is the silhouette of [[VideoGame/SuperMetroid Crocomire's skull]].
*** You can see fossilized Infant Leviathans from ''Videogame/MetroidPrime3'' in one of the cliff levels.

* SocializationBonus: If all but one player die, they can be resurrected by the one still standing. Makes beating some levels MUCH easier.

* TimeTrial: To get an idea on how this already NintendoHard game deals with time trials, you can net the best medal[[note]]Not gold, but ''shiny gold''. It's a hidden record to beat.[[/note]] in the first level of the game by beating it within ''' 53 seconds'''. Mercifully, time trial mode has no bearing on [[CosmeticAward 100% game completion whatsoever.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: Rambi the Rhino was already a heavy, steamrolling character in the original games. Here, he can break through blocks much larger than himself, and is not ony immune to SpikesOfDoom; he actually ''destroys them on impact''. The only thing that can harm him this go around is [[KillItWithFire fire]].

* TreeTrunkTour: The first levels of the fifth world has Donkey getting inside trees and blasting himself through them.

* UpgradedBoss: The sixth boss of the game is Thugly, a [[PurpleIsPowerful purple]], {{heavily armored|Mook}} version of the first boss, Mugly. Compared to the first fight, Thugly is highly aggressive, much faster, and has a slew of all-new [[PlayingWithFire fire attacks]] that all serve to make him far a far more challenging opponent.

** Furthermore, each mine cart level and rocket barrel level has instrument changes for their respective themes dependent on the level.
* TheVeryDefinitelyFinalDungeon: The Volcano area of Donkey Kong's Island houses the lair of Tiki Tong, the leader of all the Tikis that have stolen all the bananas and hypnotized all animals except the Kongs and three of the Animal Buddies (Squawks, Rambi and Professor Chops). The levels within the Volcano are very challenging, and the one housing Tiki Tong himself averts the BossOnlyLevel trait shared by ''all'' other boss levels in the game ''and'' the other 2D games in the series: Before meeting the BigBad, Donkey and Diddy have to reach it by traveling upward through a perilous vertical section with a rocket barrel.

* MeaninglessLives:
** While the game is pretty difficult, this is a classic example of a game with meaningless lives. Most of the difficult stages have bonus rounds near the start of them, allowing you to gain infinite extra lives — and indeed, dying in them often will gain you stocks, as the bonus round has 1-2 extra life balloons in it AND bananas, and coins (which can be used to buy extra lives, as well as other items) are plentiful, and all the more so when you start dying repeatedly on the harder stages later in the game, thus collecting the same banana coins over and over again.
** This game provides a similar thing in Meaningless DK Barrels. Some levels provide you with DK Barrels right before long stretches of Blast Barrels, Rocket Barrels, and Mine Karts that go on until the end of the level. These areas are OneHitKill, and the other benefits from having Diddy (his rockets, for example) are a non-factor, rendering him completely useless.

* BlackOutBasement: The game uses on and off lighting in The Mole Train. The first time through, you can easily see the moles coming up and avoid them or stomp on them, while the third time through, the light comes and goes, making spotting enemy moles much harder.

* EverythingTryingToKillYou: As if the minecart levels weren't bad enough, the Rocket Barrel levels crank this right on UpToEleven without apology.