Pikmin set a relatively low bar for the New Play Control series of GameCube remakes. While the new pointer control is a fantastic addition, it was basically the only addition. Aside from widescreen support and an enhancement to the save system, it was largely identical to the GameCube original.

Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat is not Pikmin. Nintendo, in the process of gutting the original bongo-driven controls, has seen fit to alter or enhance virtually every facet of the game. The result is a veritable Zelda-esque second quest that plays with your expectations at every turn.

Let's start with interface upgrades:


  • There's a new six-slot file select screen with customizable Mii-or-DK avatars, ala Super Mario Galaxy.
  • The level selection interface has been generally altered, both visually and functionally. You start with three kingdoms, which belong to the "D" barrel. Beat those three and you get the "K" barrel with three more kingdoms, and so on. Left and right on the stick scroll through levels, but you can hit Z and B to page through barrels as a shortcut.
  • When you completed a level in the GameCube version, you'd be rewarded with a short video highlighting neat things you could do in the level. These videos are now accessible via the level select screen by pressing either 1 or 2 on the Remote, and contain hints not found in the GameCube version.
  • After playing for a while you're treated to a Wii-Sports-style "take a break" message, complete with a banana lying next to the Remote on the table.

There have been significant changes to the way you progress through the game:


  • While the GameCube original had literally no plot exposition, there are now a series of "hint monkeys" scattered about that explain the controls, give you advice, and set you out on your quest.
  • When you complete a kingdom, you're awarded a crown. Crown collection is the primary mode of unlocking stages. DK will even wear the crown while your bananas are tallied at the end of the level.
  • The crests you unlock for high banana scores are no longer themed as bronze/silver/gold/platinum, and the spread for earning them has been widened so there are only three per level. You get a crest at 200 bananas, 500 bananas, and "a lot" of bananas, which is likely either 1000 or 1200.
  • Update: Collecting all of the crests over the three kingdoms that comprise a single barrel on the level-select screen will unlock a fourth secret kingdom for that barrel.
  • Bananas no longer double as a health bar, and are supplanted by a new three-heart health gauge. You lose a full heart any time you get hit, and can replenish them by picking up extra hearts found throughout the levels. Only being able to take three hits before you die actually makes certain levels much more difficult.
  • Adding to the new health system is a life system. If you run out of lives, you have to start a kingdom over from scratch. Losing a single life will place you at either the start of the current stage or the last checkpoint, yet another new addition. Extra lives can be found in coin-form throughout the levels.
  • Passing certain banana thresholds within a single kingdom will reward you with either hearts or lives, depending upon which you're more in need of. The thresholds I've noticed are 200, 500, and 1000 bananas.
  • Between the second stage in a kingdom and the boss battle, each full heart you have remaining is converted to 50 bananas and added to your total. This cumulative banana count acts as your health bar during the boss fight, like in the GameCube original.

Perhaps the most notable change is the excision of the original game's bongo-based control scheme. While some of the visceral feel is maintained with motion-sensitive functionality, significant alterations have been made to how DK interacts with his surroundings in order to support the new controls:


  • Claps are now performed via sharp shakes of either the Wii Remote or Nunchuck, and are directional. Rather than radiating out of DK in all directions, you fire out a sound wave in the direction you point the analog stick. You can also slap the ground to create a small radial wave by pointing the stick down and shaking the controller while grounded.
  • Claps are used for interacting with your surroundings, as usual. Popping banana bubbles, hitting enemies, grabbing on to monkeys or plant stems, etc. However, they no longer duplicate as a banana-grab. In order to reach out and grab multiple bananas at once, the core of the comboing mechanic, you hit the A button while in the air. DK will flex if there's nothing around, but will otherwise collect all bananas in his immediate vicinity. You can't perform this action while on the ground or hanging from a flying squirrel or bird, however. You need to be airborne and have your hands free, which is a pretty significant change, and is reflected in the banana placement during these segments.
  • Bongo-slapping events like when you need to repeatedly punch a dude in the face, or when you collect bananas at the end of a stage, have been emulated with back-and-forth Nunchuck and Wii Remote shaking sessions. They actually fit into the generally traditional control scheme pretty well.
  • Ground pounding is a lot easier to do, simply with a tap of Z while in the air, and has become increasingly useful in evading obstacles and enhancing combos.
  • While floating around in a bubble, you move around by holding the Wii Remote up and tilting it side to side. Or so the manual claims!
  • There's heavy use of the Wii Remote speaker, which is pretty neat, really. Some in-game sound effects are actually duplicated through the remote depending upon how close DK is to the source that's making the noise.

With all of the changes to the game's progression and moveset, naturally the levels themselves have to change along with them. Many of the alterations go beyond necessity, however, and are simply attempts at improving and adding to the flow of the game:


  • Levels have generally changed a lot. There are different obstacles, different enemies, and different banana placements.
  • There are piles of logs that you can jump over or ground-pound through, yielding small amounts of bananas.
  • Piles of cacti function as obstacles, but can be destroyed via claps for bananas.
  • You will occasionally notice a seed embedded beneath the ground that can be germinated via repeated ground-slaps, popping bananas up into the air.
  • Groups of mushrooms that used to all respond to a single clap now have a single mushroom in the group that's sparkly, and it's the one that sets them all off when clapped at.
  • The first stage in the second kingdom features Thwomp-esque falling blocks.
  • Plants that used to eat you and shoot you out in a particular direction have been replaced by Donkey Kong Country style arrow-barrels.
  • The second stage in the second kingdom features these little electric dudes that follow set paths, and are reminiscent of Super Paper Mario enemies in design. The whole first chunk of that level is new due to their placement.
  • There's been talk of a new final boss not found in the GameCube original, and entirely new levels. I've personally only gotten through the first three kingdoms so far, and there are sure to be a whole mess of new things in the rest of the game.

To fans of the original Jungle Beat, this Wii iteration offers a huge amount of content. The bongos are missed, as they were absolutely a key part of why the original was so much fun, but what's great is how much attention was paid to making the Wii version a game worthy of existing without them, rather than just a port sheared of its main draw. I can't wait to see what changes have been made to the rest of the game, and encourage fans of the original to snatch it up.