DKC Atlas Forum

[Jomingo]

Well, in order to start this shiny new forum off, let's talk about characters you wanted in Barrel Blast, or maybe those you wished weren't in it.

First, I really miss Kiddy Kong, and I also would've liked to see RockKroc. And I absolutely dispise Tiny Kong.

[cfh]

RockKroc would have been cool, I never thought of that before. It would be awesome to see PAON's re-design of him.

[Jomingo]

Definately, same goes for Kutlass and Bazooka.

[cfh]

I don't think they'd work well as racers, since part of their character is the weapons they carry, but a re-design would be great. Maybe in the next peg-swinging game?

[Jomingo]

Yeah, that's true. I also think that some brother's bear should've been in it. Preferably Brash and Blue.

[Tiptup Jr.]

You know who should have been playable in this game? Candy Kong. She would've gone along better with Kalypso than Tiny.

[Qyzbud]

I haven't even played Barrel Blast yet, as much as I'd like to.

Jomingo, I like your suggestions. Kiddy missing out on a spot in this game is sheer insanity. Sounds like they willfully avoided including that portly youngster. I think he'd have been great for the game, even if I did find him a nuisance in DKC3. A Rockkroc would have been cool, and Brash surely would have liked a chance at a rematch vs the Kongs.

Yeah, Candy should have been in it, too.

[mattdog1000000]

Definitely Kiddy Kong.

And especially since he was going to return in Donkey Kong Racing he's even more missed.

Come on Paon, lets see him already.

[Sean]

I don't think we're going to be seeing Kiddy or Chunky again, at least not in a Paon game (but then, if it isn't a Paon game we'll be lucky to get Diddy). Basically, Paon has redesigned Funky into fulfilling the Strong Kong role, what with his six pack and more muscular build now (and the fact that he's now bigger than DK). Having Kiddy or Chunky show up would end up conflicting with that.

I dunno, all things considered I thought Barrel Blast did pretty good character-wise. Not having Kiddy, Chunky or Swanky show up is unfortunate, but I can grasp why they weren't included (well, Kiddy and Chunky anyway, Swanky would have been neat as an emcee of sorts), and Candy had a pretty important role in the game, which is nice, especially considering her throwaway (but still welcomed) role in King of Swing and her lack of appearances for years. Brothers Bear would have been amusing but would also have clashed with the Kongs vs Kremlings concept, which I love to death.

[Jomingo]

I think it would have been better for Kiddy to be in DKRDS instead of Tiny. I hate her. Why have her and Dixie playable? It just didn't make sense to me. And as for Brash, I think there should have been a neutral section of characters, maybe Brash and Snide?

[Tiptup Jr.]

Personally, I enjoy Tiny's new look. It further differentiates her from Dixie, and I never liked her old look to begin with. She kind of destroys any chance Candy had at future playability, but hey. We're Donkey Kong fans. We can take it.

I also don't think the Brothers Bear would have been a good idea in this game... playable, anyway. Maybe they could have run shacks in the game for you to buy powerups and complete missions in order to gain new characters, paving the way for Candy to be playable.

...Of course, then you have Tiny. Crap.

[Jomingo]

I absolutely dispise Tiny Kong. Dixie should've been in DK64, and so should Kiddy in place of Chunky.
"Kiddy should've been playable alongside Dixie in DKRDS, instead they decide to put the two characters that are the exact same together in the game."
"But wait, there the same. Instead we'll make her tall and give her breasts."
"But wait, then she's a clone of Candy Kong, and her name doesn't make sense, now she's not Tiny."
"Well, maybe it's like that big strong guy who's huge and his name is funny cause he's not tiny."
"But she's not that big, the joke wouldn't makes sense."
"Your Fired!"


Tiny Kong is personally responsible for Kiddy Kong not appearing in 12 years. If he was in DKRDS, then they wouldn't have made Funky into the strong guy, and Kiddy would've had a spot in DKBB. And then Candy would've been in instead of Tiny.

[Qyzbud]

Tiny Kong is personally responsible for Kiddy Kong not appearing in 12 years. If he was in DKRDS, then they wouldn't have made Funky into the strong guy, and Kiddy would've had a spot in DKBB. And then Candy would've been in instead of Tiny.

Mmm... and the world would have been a better place, I agree.

Oh how it bothered me that Tiny came to replace Dixie in DK64. At least Dixie is starting to re-establish her presence, being a starting character in DKBB, while Tiny's just an unlockable... Hopefully someday she'll reclaim her full former glory, and banish Tiny to the NPC status the no-longer-so-little brat deserves. All that said, I wouldn't probably mind Tiny at all except for the fact that she took Dixie's spot all those years ago - but for that, she can't be forgiven.

In other news: How would the Queen Banana Bird have been as a super-secret unlockable character?

[Jomingo]

Queen Banana Bird? Well, that's a new one. Actually I've never beaten DKC3 102%, so I haven't seen the Queen in person.

As for Tiny, I think she has ruined Dixie Kong too, after replaceing her and then being made a teenager it makes Dixie look like a little girl. Especially when compared to Kass. This is my ideal roster, if you don't include brother's Bear:
DK-Kludge
Diddy-Kip
Dixie-Kass
Kiddy-Klump
Candy-Kalypso
Funky-Kritter
Cranky-K. Rool
Lanky-Kopter
I thought that DK should be a heavy character again, so he's against Kludge. Kiddy is against Klump because they're both heavy. Candy replaced Tiny. Funky should lose the tough guy persona since Kiddy's in, and I never liked the fact that they made him bigger than DK. I took out Wrinkly since Kiddy was in, and I really think she should crossover to the other side already. I never thought it made any sence for a ghost to be racing with bongo-jets. If I could add a few more characters I would add:
Swanky-RocKroc
Bumpkin-Klubba
I know none of these would happen, but I can dream.

[Sean]

Jomingo, your argument about Tiny in DKRDS has one problem: Paon and Nintendo redesigned her, not Rare. Rare's admitted to this in Scribes; initially she was just going to be her DK64 design, but Paon had already redesigned her for Barrel Blast and Nintendo had Rare use that design instead. Also, she actually is rather tall with her new design, especially in comparison to Diddy and Dixie, so the joke concept applies. And even in DK64, she wasn't that small in comparison to Diddy; the name came from the fact that she could turn tiny through Cranky's spells.

Also, Funky's transformation into being the strong guy was Paon's idea, and was introduced in King of Swing, which was revealed in 2004 and released in 2005: a year before we knew DKR DS was even being made.

And it's not like Candy didn't make it in. She IS in Barrel Blast, and in a pretty important role all things considered. Considering Kalypso was designed specifically to look like Tiny, I don't see how you can say Candy would have "gone better" with her.

And would we want the Queen Banana Bird in when she would have to be using some sort of barrel jet apparatus? Even if they made something unique for her like they did K. Rool, it would still have to be something that the control scheme could reflect.

[Jomingo]

I never said that Rare designed her that way, just that she was redesigned. I don't like it no matter who did it.

The fact that she's tall doesn't really make the name joke make sense, I mean yeah she's taller than the rest of them, but she's not necassarily huge. I think that most people wouldn't get it until they thought about it.

The Funky being tough thing- I was just saying I don't like his tough guy look. They shouldn't have done it, but it's too late.

The reason I wanted Candy in wasn't to fit Kalypso better, it was pretty much an excuse to take Tiny out.

As I said before, I don't know much about Queen Banana Bird, but maybe she could play the bongos with her feet? They could hang down there and she stomp left or right or whatever.

[mattdog1000000]

Or simply flap?

I dunno, Paon is great and all. But if we don't see kiddy in their next game I'll be a tad disappointed.

And is Tiny considered a heavyweight racer in DKRds? Like as if shes Banjo's skin replacement?

[Sean]

Tiny, Diddy and Dixie all have the same stats, which going from memory I believe is three stars across the board. Banjo's replacement, as such, could potentially be either Taj or Wizpig, both of whom are playable in DKRDS (and at the very least I believe Taj wasn't playable in the N64 version).

And I wouldn't even get my hopes up of there being another Paon DK game.

[Jomingo]

Yeah, there past 3 games haven't exactly been blockbuster hits. And Taj and Whizpig were not in Diddy Kong Racing, just DKRDS.

[Tiptup Jr.]

I don't have a problem with Tiny. I mean, just loook at King of Swing and Jungle Climber. No Tiny there, just Dixie, Candy, and the other DKC Kongs. My ideal Barrel Blast roster would have twelve Kongs and twelve Kremlings, as such:

Donkey Kong - Kritter
Diddy Kong - Kip
Dixie Kong - Kass
Lanky Kong - Kopter
Tiny Kong - A young, teenage Kremling similar to Kalypso, but not as... well, you know.
Funky Kong - Klump
Wrinkly Kong - Kackle
Cranky Kong - King K. Rool
Chunky Kong - Kludge
Kiddy Kong - Krybaby, an infant Kremling.
Swanky Kong - Koin
Candy Kong - Kalypso

When you think about it, everything works out. I guess we'll just have to wait until Barrel Blast 2: Kiddy's Revenge.

[cfh]

Koin is a good idea. He could whack people with his shield. Which makes me think, if there is another Barrel Blast the DK Coin should be something to collect on the track somehow.

[Jomingo]

I had an idea where they redesigned Koin. He would have a suit of armor made of junk and trash.

As for that roster, I love the idea for Kackle vs. Wrinkly, and it would have been cool to see a baby kremling. He could be really chubby, like most babies, and have a diaper and one tooth. I think that Klump is better against Chunky, and Kludge to Funky, and I would've liked to see RocKroc, but that roster is pretty good. Way better than the current one.

I think that Kludge shouldn't been in the game. They should've had Krusha, instead of another clone of him.

[cfh]

I would like to see a re-design of Krusha... when I first saw Kludge, I thought that was what it was.

[Tiptup Jr.]

I just thought of something. Instead of making a full-fledged sequel to compensate for the lack of a few characters, what if they made downloadable content available for Barrel Blast that gave you extra characters? That would solve some problems.

[cfh]

That would be cool... but I don't think that would be possible with the game currently. But they could make a sequel that has downloadable content.

[Jomingo]

Downloadable content would probably be impossible for the game, but if it could I doubt they would. Brawl doesn't even have it. And they wouldn't need downloadable content in the sequel, they could just put all those characters in.

[cfh]

Woah, glitchy page.

Anyway, they could do downloadable stuff. It could just soft patch the game every time it starts up.

[Tiptup Jr.]

Brawl might have downloadable content. Remain optimistic, Jomingo!

[Jomingo]

What about Manky Kong, or maybe Klubba? Or maybe even Bumpkin Kong! That would be awesome.

[Tiptup Jr.]

Okay, not that optimistic. I was just saying that we shouldn't rule anything out regarding downloadable content for Brawl. I don't think they're ever going to bring Bumpkin Kong back from the dead, but if they did, it would be very awesome indeed.

[Qyzbud]

Guys, sorry about the glitch on this page.
Not sure what the problem is, but I'm working on it now.

I hope it hasn't caused too many problems.

Edit: Fixed, I hope. Are things back to normal for you all, now?

[Jomingo]

I never noticed a glitch.
Anyway, this is my current roster Idea. There's 12 on each team now, with a total of 36.
DK-Kritter-Manky
Diddy-Kip-?
Dixie-Kass-?
Kiddy-(baby krem)-?
Lanky-Kopter-Snide
Tiny-Kalypso-?
Funky-Kludge-Brash
Chunky-Klump-Blizzard
Swanky-RocKroc-Xananab
Bumpkin-Koin-?
Wrinkly-?-Bleak
Cranky-K.Rool-Queen Banana Bird
I could easily take out Wrinkly and Bumpkin, but I wanted them in so now there's 12. Manky is now DK's equal. Brash would be redesigned alot tougher. Blizzard would be fatter, and so would Chunky. Koin would be taller, and a little fatter. I don't know who to put against Diddy, Dixie, Kiddy, Tiny, or Bumpkin on the third team, and I don't know who to put against Wrinkly on the Kongs. I thought about putting Queen B., or Fire Necky in there, but I'm not sure.

[cfh]

DK matched with Manky Kong... now that's a good idea! I think Many Kong needs a bigger role in DK games.

[Tiptup Jr.]

Okay, this is my new updated roster. Kongs and Kremlings are paired up, and 12 others.

Donkey Kong - Kritter - Manky Kong
Diddy Kong - Kip - Minkey Kong
Dixie Kong - Kass - Cat O' 9 Tails
Lanky Kong - Kopter - B. Locker
Tiny Kong - Teenage girl Kremling - Mad Jack
Funky Kong - Klump - Snide
Wrinkly Kong - Kackle - Kritter-in-a-Sheet
Cranky Kong - King K. Rool - Queen Banana Bird
Chunky Kong - Kludge - Troff
Kiddy Kong - Krybaby - Scoff
Swanky Kong - Koin - Xananab
Candy Kong - Kalypso - Xananab's girlfriend/wife (seen in Jungle Climber's credits.)

Yeah, that's my dream roster right there. I'm still working things out for characters such as Bumpkin, Bluster, Eddie the Mean Old Yeti, and the Jungle Beat Kongs, but I really don't think they belong in a game such as Barrel Blast.

And you know Cat O' 9 Tails would be awesome... I'm picturing his redesign right now...

[cfh]

Those neutral characters are pretty crazy, I'd love to see this in an actual game.

[Tiptup Jr.]

RANDOM USELESS FACT: I misspelled someone's name. It's actually "Cat-O'-9-Tails". I spelled it without the hyphens.

Thanks for listening to my RANDOM USELESS FACT.

[Jomingo]

DK matched with Manky Kong... now that's a good idea! I think Many Kong needs a bigger role in DK games.

Thank You! I have been saying that forever on DKU forums.

I love the idea of Cat '0' 9 tails, but I think that the Brother's Bear could fill some of those positions better. At least Brash. Maybe Brigadier Bazooka could have died and became a ghost and be against Wrinkly. I didn't think that Snide was so strong, but you have him against Funky and Kludge! And Xananab's wife is great in there to. But she needs a name.

[Tiptup Jr.]

I put Snide against Funky because, according to Donkey Kong Country 3 and Donkey Kong 64, they are both mechanical geniuses.

But I don't think the Brothers Bear should be in. If you include Brash or Bazooka, you're leaving all the other ones out. And then people will complain about their favorite bear not making the cut. If you're going to include one Brother Bear, you should include all of them. I have no idea why Barnacle is in Donkey Konga 3, so that game doesn't count.

Maybe Xananab's lover's name could be something along the lines of "Xananunu" or "Xananette". Any other suggestions?

[Jomingo]

I don't think that it would matter much to leave out some brother's bear, and if you have a neutral section it wouldn't do the bears justice to leave them out completely. A neutral section is the only way they will ever appear again, and I'd say Brash is the most popular Bear. Plus he's already known to be competitive, and to play video games, since he had that record in DKC3. I just said Bazooka because I figured it made sense that he'd become a ghost. I think at least 2 bears are neccasary.

Donkey Kong - Kritter - Manky Kong
Diddy Kong - Kip - Minkey Kong
Dixie Kong - Kass - Cat O' 9 Tails
Lanky Kong - Kopter -Snide
Tiny Kong - Kalypso- Xananab's Wife
Funky Kong - Klump - Brash
Wrinkly Kong - Kackle - Brigadier Bazooka Ghost
Cranky Kong - King K. Rool - Queen Banana Bird
Chunky Kong - Kludge - Troff
Kiddy Kong - Krybaby - Scoff
Swanky Kong - Koin - Xananab
Bumpkin Kong-Klubba-Blizzard
There, I put Snide against Lanky, took out Candy for Bumpkin, put Kalypso back against Tiny, as well as Xananab's Wife. Brigadier is against Wrinkly as a ghost, Klubba and Blizzard are now against Bumpkin.
Redesigns:
Bumpkin is slightly more muscular, Klubba is slightly less muscular, and Blizzard is taller.
Brigadier is a ghost.
Brash is taller and stronger.
I think that maybe someone other than Scoff could be against Kiddy, someone more baby like. Nothing comes to mind.

Oh, and for Xananab's wife, how about Vananab, or Xoconut? I don't know, I like Xananette.

[Graf Saecula]

The character roster was pretty much perfect for me. Okay, I would've preferred Chunky as Kludge's Kong counterpart, while Funky could've had a small NPC role. He could've been the narrator of the settings menu, the guy who holds the flag at the start/finish line, or even the tutor instead of Cranky... Although, if I think about it, a game about flying barrels without Funky as a playable character wouldn't be right. He's the Kongs' flying barrel guru, after all. (Even though it was technically Cranky who invented the rocket barrels in DK64, but meh.)

But we should definitely have had Krunch instead of a random Kritter. Not only was he introduced in a racing game that was related to the DK series, he was also a heavyweight, which would make him fit with Donkey much better. But what can you do? They can't think of everything.


On a different note, I still don't see how all the Tiny/Chunky hate in this thread is warranted. In this day and age, the Kong sisters get along well and live happily beside each other in two racing games. I see no need in shooting down Tiny; she hasn't replaced her older sister permanently and probably never will. And concerning Chunky: The whole concept behind him was that he is even bigger, stronger and heavier than DK himself. How would you have put Kiddy - essentially a DK who can roll on water - in that role? The only way would have been to make him grow, but then everyone would have bitched about that.

Besides that: Barely any Donkey Kong fans liked DK64 - I doubt this would have changed much if Rare had replaced two characters' skins. It's not worth complaining about; the game would've been the same.

[Tiptup Jr.]

I find that highly offensive, Graf. Donkey Kong 64 was an awesome game, but I'm actually glad that Tiny got in instead of Dixie. Think of how many games Tiny has been in since Donkey Kong 64.

Yeah, two. Dixie was in both of those games, plus countless others since DK64's release. Now, what if Dixie and Tiny's appearances were switched? Would that be good for anyone?

...No, I think not.

[Jomingo]

My reasoning for hating Tiny is not because she replaced Dixie, it's actually because she is stopping Kiddy from returning. If Kiddy was in DKRDS instead of Tiny, then Kiddy would probably have been in DKBB instead of Tiny. Kiddy deserves to be in, and because of Tiny he probably won't return for a long while, if at all.

[CM August]

Candy Kong should have been a playable character instead of Tiny. She's been there since the beginning and is much more important to Donkey Kong, being his closest friend and sweetheart; a fact Nintendo/PAON have chosen to completely ignore. And while Tiny's redesign is cute and appealing, it spits in the face of continuity. I've heard the "8 years later/growth spurt" argument and don't believe a word of it. It's just careless, plain and simple.

Really though, there shouldn't have been a need to cut out either. A slot was wasted on a souped-up version of the same character. Couldn't they have utilized Ultra Barrel DK as an optional upgrade to the regular DK, and left the last slot free for somebody else?

Half the Kremling roster is made up of completely new characters. That might have been fine if they were introduced properly, but they're just shoved in without any kind of fanfare whatsoever. Even Krunch, a Kritter drone, got a simple but suitable backstory in DKR; Kip, Kass and Kalypso are definitely unique characters, not drones, and they got zip. I'd honestly have preferred classic drones like Krusha, Klinger or RockKroc to a bunch of new characters made up on the spot with no regard to what the hell they're doing here. Either that or an actual story/character description.

That's about it really, in terms of missed characters... I know there's a bit of wasted potential in sticking to the Kongs vs. Kremlings theme, but that's pretty forgiveable overall.

Oh yeah, it would have been nice if Klump actually resembled the character he's supposed to be in the slightest.

[cfh]

I like the new characters, but I think they should be in a platformer to be properly introduced.

[Jomingo]

Or they could've at least had some profiles for each character in the game, that would've been awesome.

[CM August]

I like the new Kremlings, but as with Tiny, I'd have appreciated a little more effort in actually making them fit in.

[Jomingo]

Definately, and by the way, lovin' the new avatar.

[cfh]

Yeah, nice avatar, too bad I didn't think of it first!

[Jomingo]

Yeah, it's the definition of awesome.

[Tiptup Jr.]

Candy Kong should have been a playable character instead of Tiny. She's been there since the beginning and is much more important to Donkey Kong, being his closest friend and sweetheart; a fact Nintendo/PAON have chosen to completely ignore. And while Tiny's redesign is cute and appealing, it spits in the face of continuity. I've heard the "8 years later/growth spurt" argument and don't believe a word of it. It's just careless, plain and simple.

Really though, there shouldn't have been a need to cut out either. A slot was wasted on a souped-up version of the same character. Couldn't they have utilized Ultra Barrel DK as an optional upgrade to the regular DK, and left the last slot free for somebody else?

Half the Kremling roster is made up of completely new characters. That might have been fine if they were introduced properly, but they're just shoved in without any kind of fanfare whatsoever. Even Krunch, a Kritter drone, got a simple but suitable backstory in DKR; Kip, Kass and Kalypso are definitely unique characters, not drones, and they got zip. I'd honestly have preferred classic drones like Krusha, Klinger or RockKroc to a bunch of new characters made up on the spot with no regard to what the hell they're doing here. Either that or an actual story/character description.

That's about it really, in terms of missed characters... I know there's a bit of wasted potential in sticking to the Kongs vs. Kremlings theme, but that's pretty forgiveable overall.

Oh yeah, it would have been nice if Klump actually resembled the character he's supposed to be in the slightest.

I usually don't quote big posts, but... an exception must be made.

First off. Tiny's last appearance before DKRDS was in Donkey Kong 64, which was released in 1999. DKRDS was released in 2007, while the original was released in 1997. So, if this postcard is to be believed, the Donkey Kong games are in a real-time setting. In the time between Tiny's first and second major appearances, she hit puberty. It happens to all of us.

Second of all: Ultra Barrel Donkey Kong is an optional upgrade to the regular DK. He doesn't take up a slot on the character select screen, and thus, no characters are wasted. Although, if Paon really wanted to go the extra mile, they would have made Ultra Barrels an option for every character, not just Donkey Kong.

Third order of business. Yes, half the Kremlings are new, but think about it. Before this game, there were no juvenile or female Kremlings. The way I see it, they practically had to invent new Kremlings, to avoid a Kremling roster full of grumpy old males. I agree with you when you say that their backstories should have been explained, but hey. It's a racing game without a story.

Klump's redesign is another issue I'd like to address before I end this post. I like it... so shut up about it.

That is all.