Donkey Kong Country 4 brings back and expands all the variety you’ve known and loved in the series.  From mini-games to extra modes, you’re sure to have many hours of enjoyable gaming with all DKC4 has to offer.  Variety is the spice of life on Kongo Bongo!

Main Game – Adventure Alone or With a Friend: In single player, you control both Kongs at once in their quest to liberate the island.  However, add a second player, and the game changes drastically.  Rather than one Kong following the other and being invulnerable, both players control the Kong of their choice, adventuring through levels separately.  The characters can help one another out in gameplay, although you may find yourself losing more lives.

This is by definition a ‘dick’ game, meaning you can piss your companion off by grabbing him and chucking him to his death, or using him like a footstool in a tricky platforming level.  Learn to cooperate and you’ll be hauling ass in no time!  There are differences with two players in aspects like potions and various exclusive teamwork moves that will be described in future updates.

Time Trials: After you complete your first level, you’ll unlock this mode.  Time Trials pits DK and Diddy in a race against Father Time, as they try to dash to the finish in as little time as possible.  Along the way, you can rack up points by defeating enemies, gathering items, and the like.  It takes a whole new kind of strategy to master this mode.  You can play with one or two players.

Monkey Mini-Games: All your Kong Family members return (once you’ve rescued them from the various Kongcentration Kamps) with a new batch of unlockable mini-games.  You can access each one from the world which you’ve saved them.  The ever-disgruntled Cranky is one of the default Kongs, who you’ll meet early on for a tutorial on Potions.  These are not the least of the many prizes you’ll earn by playing the games of your Kong kin.

There is one more unlockable mode that you’ll need to fulfill some hefty requirements to unlock.  You’ll find out all about it in due time…

DK and Diddy are old hands at the adventuring life; they retain all of their old tricks, while gaining a few new monkey manuevers.  Oh, and by the way, you can kiss waggling the Wii Remote like a dumbass goodbye (sorry, Junahu).  That’s right, good ol’ Nintendo Gamecube controllers are how you’ll be playing DKC4.  It’s almost like you’re playing that hypothetical good DK platformer for the GC that never was to be!

This >>> The Wii's Motion-Sensing Shit

Control Stick: This big, long kinky stick is how you’ll be moving your monkey pals around Kongo Bongo.  Tilt it in one direction, to well, amble forward in that path.  You can hold down the B Button while doing so to enter a run.  Tap down on the stick to enter a ducking position; this is a valuable tactic for dodging some enemy projectiles, even moreso than it was in the original trilogy.  Finally, this baby is how you’ll be making selections on the various menu screens of the game.

A Button: This is one button your thumb will be getting up close and personal with in no time.  On land, it makes your simian buddies jump, while it allows them to paddle while submerged in water.  Lastly, the button can be used to confirm selections on menu screens.

B Button: Now, here’s the grand daddy of your offensive game.  Holding B with the Control Stick transitions the Kongs into a speedy dash.  Tap B in place to do a Barrel Roll (h) or Cartwheel Attack, as DK or Diddy respectively.  While standing over a barrel or throwable item/enemy, press and hold B to pick up the subject; releasing B throws said subject.  On menu screens, the B Button cancels your previous selection.

But that’s not all! A brand new move enters DKC4!  By tapping B in mid-air, the Kongs will perform a special aerial attack to accomplish a double jump of sorts.  This can be used to take down some aerial foes safely (although those pesky Zingers are still one step ahead of the Kongs!), as well as reach some well-hidden Bonus Barrels.

L Button: The two pointer-finger buttons play a rather simple role in the game.  Pressing it in single player swaps your lead monkey, as the former one hops over the other’s shoulder and tags along.  However, in two-player, you swap the monkey controlled with your partner.  Say P1 is DK and P2 is Diddy; now, it’s in vice versa.  If you need to clear a specific obstacle with one Kong as lead player, this is a handy tactic.  Plus, noobs may just specialize with one Kong!

Oh, if you’re on an Animal Buddy, pressing L will dismount your monkey.  In a slight change from the old games, your dismount is now a Yoshi-Jump esque bound.  That is, if you dismount over a chasm, you’ll spring from your poor slave animal friend, and toward solid ground.

R Button: This would seem a rather dull button, it is merely an alternate input for running if you hold it with the Control Stick.  On menus, L and R can be used to shuffle sideways through screens, especially when viewing your Photo Album.  Pretty lame, huh?

But…there’s more!  The Tag-Team move from DKC2 and onwards returns!  The secondary Kong hops onto the leader’s shoulders, and can be carried around and thrown with B.  Aim your toss carefully with the Control Stick; be sure not to throw your monkey into an enemy, or he’ll be knocked out.  In a similar fashion to DKC3, DK can move rapidly, jump, and throw Diddy a nice distance due to his strength.  However, Diddy moves much slower with an 800-lb. gorilla on his back; he can’t jump, and throws DK a much shorter distance.  Although this may seem useless at first, Diddy can throw DK onto patches of ground to unearth hidden items.  Yea-yuhs!

As an Easter Egg, if used by itself during gameplay, DK will perform his shrugging taunt from our favorite fighting game featuring Nintendo’s All-Stars and Falco/Sheik/Retro Characters.  Diddy removes his hat and scratches his head stupidly, just like his original DKC idle animation.  Oh, the nostalgia!

X/Y Button: The next new concept introduced to this game are…Potions!  That’s right, Cranky’s begun brewing up his mixes from DK64 again, and he’s got plenty of new tricks up his sleeves for the Kongs to try out.  It’s simple, really: just press X/Y to select the Kong (Y for secondary, X for leader), then use the Control Stick and A to select the potion to drink from the inventory menu.  The Kong will gain a new ability for the rest of the level, courtesy of the mix.  Only one potion can be in use at a time, and they aren’t exactly cheap.  Look for details on obtaining potions, the moves they result in, and strategies for both Kongs with potions in the future.

Start Button: This one doesn’t have an in-game role; it serves as the game’s pause button.  From there, you can press X/Y together to exit levels you’ve already completed.  From the World Map, you can do the same, although you’ll have to select the quit option rather than X/Y.

Phew!  Now, it’s on to game modes…coming soon!