Where in "Donkey Kong Country Returns" Are We? Quiz

Answer: Ruins

The Ruins, the third world of the game, brings the Kongs through an elaborate series of temples and structures, forcing them to descend into some of the darkest, dustiest spots in the game before emerging into the mines. While some of the levels take place outdoors, most occur inside; Itty Bitty Biters is one of them.

In this level we face off against small, bouncing creatures which hurt the Kongs by jumping onto them. Some can be used to our advantage, especially when they appear in later levels, but some can jump higher than others and cause problems in that way.

Many of the other levels in the Ruins make use of different devices like switches and barrels.

Answer: Forest

Muncher Marathon is one of the later levels in the Forest stage, the fifth world of the game, and it can be quite frustrating if you're not used to finding yourself powerless to fight the enemies at hand. The entire level is a race through a large tree, always attempting to stay ahead of some very hungry, angry termites making their way through behind us.

This level is unavoidable; we can't make our way by it with a key. Instead we simply need to use our reflexes to make the proper jumps and reach the barrel at the very end...or else be eaten.

Answer: Jungle

As was the case in the very first "Donkey Kong Country" game back on the SNES in the 1990s, we begin our adventure in the Jungle DK and Diddy call home-- we even get to start by bursting out of the front door (and can head back inside for goodies if we're so inclined. Like in the original game, the first level is known as Jungle Japes and it takes us on an introductory look at the mechanics of the game, even going so far as to point out controls.

While these may be the easiest levels of the game, some, like Sunset Shore, also show a certain stylistic flair.

Answer: Volcano

The last of the Kong Banana Temple levels in the game, Five monkey Trial puts us to the test with timing and battle-savviness, and if we're not at the top of our game we'll end up falling to one of the (obviously) five chambers between the starting point and the Rare Orb at the end of the level.

This is the only Kong level in which we move through the stage from front to back instead of left-to-right or upward; this is done by shooting back through chambers as they're completed. There are eight Kong Temples in all, each resulting in an orb needed to access the final level of the game.

Answer: Cave

The Cave area, the fourth in the game, brings us underground to jump into a rather extensive swath of vehicles; only the Kong Temple area (Jagged Jewels) is completed on foot while all five regular levels-- and the boss-- are played either on/in a mine cart or on a rocket barrel.

These levels also dot the landscape of the game throughout the other stages, of course, but the Cave marks the first time in any "Donkey Kong Country" game where there's no real choice but to hunker down and hope for the best. Three levels (and the boss level) are done on mine carts (and one train full of bananas) while two are done on the rocket barrel.

Answer: Cliff

The avalanche itself occurs when we make our way through the precarious level known as Crumble Canyon (6-6) and as a result of the lack of grace (as it were) we're stuck completing two extra levels on the way to the boss battle against Thugly. The Cliff area is fairly unique. Closer to the summit than most, the area is actually a well-preserved spot home to dinosaur skeletons, tar pits, and ingenious pulley and platform systems...which occasionally break under strain, but no one's perfect.

Answer: True

The Beach is the only water-themed area of the game and, coming right after the Jungle stage at the start of the adventure, it provides the opportunity for us to learn (the hard way?) that DK and Diddy can't swim in this instalment; the ability returns to the series in "Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze" (Wii U). Squiddicus appears in level 2-5, Stormy Shore, and uses his tentacles to try and hit us as we make our way through a derelict shipwreck off the coast. Squiddicus returns in "Tropical Freeze".

Answer: Clouds

The Clouds level is exclusive to "Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D" and as a result we couldn't be there if we're relegating ourselves to the Wii version of the game (which only contains eight worlds-- not the nine on the handheld). The area brings the Kongs into the sky to reach the Golden Temple (which is only a single level in the console game) and can only be reached if they have all eight Rare Orbs found in the Banana Temples scattered throughout the game.

When the Cloud area's nine levels are complete, Mirror Mode is unlocked; this is unlocked just by beating the Golden Temple in the Wii game.

Answer: Forest

Oddly enough, two of these levels actually require that we buy a key from Cranky's Shop in order to visit-- Sunset Shore in the Jungle and Smokey Peak on the top of the Volcano each need a key. The other silhouette level, Foggy Fumes, is the first to appear in World 7, the Factory, and must be beaten to start the fans and clear the region of industrial pollution.

In all three levels, DK and Diddy can't actually be seen in full; something always obscures them just enough that we can only tell them by their darkened shapes and the glaring red of their tie and cap.

Answer: Lift-off Launch

Part of the problem in the Factory area is that in order to reach the boss battle way up on high, we need to find a suitable means of transport to get there. Success is found by using the environment to our advantage-- by activating the three red switches (one in each of the levels found surrounding the launch pad in the center of the map) we can make use of a Rocket Barrel that will fly us up through Lift-off Launch, level 7-R.

This also happens to be the last part of the area before Feather Field, the boss battle against Colonel Pluck.