Past Stage: Kongo Jungle
Past Stage: Kongo Jungle
Origin: Donkey Kong Country
Available: Finish the 15-minute Melee with any character.
Kongo Jungle is one of three classic stages taken from Super Smash Bros. for the N64. While we wish that HAL would have included Hyrule Castle instead of one of the three, the ability to relive a bit of the nostalgia is a welcome addition. Kongo Jungle is a secret stage that needs to be unlocked by beating the 15-minute Melee with any character. Your best bet is to use Donkey Kong, stand underneath a platform and knock off your opponents one by one with his down+B ground slap. The classic Kongo Jungle stage is almost like a mixture out of both new DK-themed stages. It's got the color scheme of Jungle Japes combined with the safety barrel from the new Kongo Jungle. Though still simple, the graphics are updated slightly to better match the presentation of the GameCube game. There are four floating platforms in addition to the main area at the bottom. The two platforms in the middle rotate, which makes projectile or thunder attacks from the top a bit more difficult. By the way, due to the depression in the main stage element's floor, barrels thrown from the left or right tend to end up in the middle.
Barrel Cannon: This barrel moves left and right below the platform and is primarily designed to help out Donkey Kong himself. Since DK doesn't have a true vertical recovery jump, he can use this barrel to get back on stage. The barrel will fire when you hit A -- just make sure the arrow is aiming into the right direction or you might accidentally take yourself out. The barrel will automatically fire if you haven't hit your button within five seconds. Note that the barrel acts just like a platform, so if you've used a recovery jump to get into it, you will have a new one after you get fired out of the barrel.