History YMMV / DonkeyKong64

** How about the Gloomy Galleon boss, Puftoss? To damage the boss, you have to pilot a little motorboat through a series of checkpoints. The problem is, it handles about as well as the hovercraft in DiddyKongRacing, and the checkpoints get smaller and smaller. The first phase is deceptively easy, but then it gets cruel. In the second phase the checkpoints are still as large as the first time where it's easy, but it becomes hard because they're all next to him and he spams you with shockwaves that are an instant one-hit kill. So you can avoid them or risk jumping over them. In the third phase, the stars vary from close to far as they will in the last three. His shockwaves are less frequent thankfully, and disappear in the fourth and are replaced by heat seeking missiles that do half a melon's worth of damage (still better than one hit kill). Fifth stage of the battle near the end can be either almost impossible or easy, depending on if you have enough health left to take one or two hits since the star reappears in the same location.

* MemeticMutation: The "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4ckUXSMBiI Puzzle in the Caves]]" and "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G9ChcF8qcc Demon Resident Mine Cart]]" themes have gained more notice than others thanks to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBuggMdUbog Painis]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwuBiy98BCs Cupcake]].Oh, banana! Well done!

** It should also be mentioned that the two that require herding 15 are both ''in the same freaking level!'' Way to be original, Rare!
** A lot of those barrels are infuriating, especially Splish-Splash Salvage, where you have to collect eight submerged coins in a barrel. The biggest problems stemmed from the fixed camera and the fact that the coins used 2D sprites, which could render them nearly impossible to see if they were underneath the camera.
** Also any of the races that require you to collect a certain number of coins and still beat your opponent. In particular, ''the slides''. It seems Rare didn't learn their lesson from ''DiddyKongRacing''.

* AndTheFandomRejoiced: The fact that Donkey Kong was finally playable again. After being BadassInDistress in the second and third Country games.

* ObviousBeta: You can swim through walls, dive under islands, and walk around in voids without any cheating device if you manipulate the first-person view. Beaver Bother's mechanics are also quite unpolished, leading to ScrappyMechanic.
** Especially notorious is Hunky Chunky, who can clip through almost anything.

* ThatOneBoss: Mad Jack. You're forced to twirl back and forth between platforms to avoid being smashed. Worst of all, he speeds up as the battle goes on, so you need to land precisely on the edge of every platform or else you won't have enough time to reach the next one. This repeats for 10-15 times, and if you fall off, the pattern starts over. Also the camera is known to make a switcheroo mid-twirl. King Kut-Out also qualifies.
** King Kut-Out becomes ''much'' easier once you realize you need to shoot him when he's ''actually'' in front of you, not when you ''predict'' he will be. Once you actually see him at any of the openings, you can shoot freely; once a shot is fired he stops moving, so if he was somewhere else you'll lose a Kong, but if he was right in front of you it's a guaranteed hit.

** How about the Gloomy Galleon boss? To damage the boss, you have to pilot a little motorboat through a series of checkpoints. The problem is, it handles about as well as the hovercraft in DiddyKongRacing, and the checkpoints get smaller and smaller.

** Also, contrary to ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', either of the slides.

* NightmareFuel: [[{{NightmareFuel/DonkeyKongCountry}} as always.]]
* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Frantic Factory, Fungi Forest, and Hideout Helm. Props also go to the boss intro theme.

* HellIsThatNoise: That strange moaning in the dungeon of Creepy Castle...

* ObviousBeta: You can swim through walls, dive under islands, and walk around in voids without any cheating device if you manipulate the first-person view.

** Crystal Caves also has that spinning maze which you have to complete at a fixed camera angle, [[IncrediblyLamePun slices a whole melon]] from your health meter if you touch the wall, and gives DK only a marginal amount of space to move around in.

* MemeticMutation: The "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4ckUXSMBiI Puzzle in the Caves]]" and "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G9ChcF8qcc Demon Resident Mine Cart]]" themes have gained more notice than others thanks to [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBuggMdUbog Painis]] [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwuBiy98BCs Cupcake]].
Oh, banana!
Well done!

* Oh, banana!
* Well done!

* ObviousBeta: Technical-wise. You can swim through walls, dive under islands, and walk around in voids without any cheating device if you manipulate the first-person view.

** The last Banana Fairy to be photographed is in the final room, and is nearly impossible to capture on film since due to her frantic flying. ''However,'' she only flies about when you're actually in the room, and you can take her picture through a window with no trouble at all. It's unclear if this is actually a bug or a treat for thinking outside the box.

** '''GET OUT.''' That sound can give tropers nightmares.

* ScrappyMechanic: Beaver Bother. It's a basic herding game where, as a Klaptrap, you have one minute to scare beavers into a tiny hole in the center of a round stage. Problem is, the collision detection for the beavers vs. the hole is a little too good, and your Klaptrap can't simply push them in, also due to collision mechanics. The beavers also have a slowish respawn, and frequently get stuck on the wall. There's one game that requires you to herd 12 beavers in the hole, which is difficult, but then there are two, count 'em: ''TWO'', versions that require you to herd 15.

* ScrappyMechanic: '''BEAVER BOTHER.''' It's a basic herding game where, as a Klaptrap, you have one minute to scare beavers into a tiny hole in the center of a round stage. Problem is, the collision detection for the beavers vs. the hole is a little too good, and your Klaptrap can't simply push them in, also due to collision mechanics. The beavers also have a slowish respawn, and frequently get stuck on the wall. There's one game that requires you to herd 12 beavers in the hole, which is difficult, but then there are two, count 'em: ''TWO'', versions that require you to herd 15. Those are downright impossible.
** Its made a bit easier if you sort of spiral around the arena.
*** Actually, you should approach the beavers from the side and not head on, [[FridgeLogic because the beavers will not fall directly into the hole]]. [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0tfSbVIaTU This video demonstrates how it is done.]]

** A lot of those barrels are infuriating. The one this troper remembers most vividly was Splish-Splash Salvage, where you have to collect eight submerged coins in a barrel. The biggest problems stemmed from the fixed camera and the fact that the coins used 2D sprites, which could render them nearly impossible to see if they were underneath the camera.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Frantic Factory, Fungi Forest, and Hideout Helm. Props also go to the boss intro theme.

* NightmareFuel: [[{{NightmareFuel/DonkeyKongCountry}} as always.]]

** The arcade DonkeyKong game in Frantic Factory. It has to be beaten twice in order to reach the final boss, but you have to beat the entire game [[NintendoHard with one life]] both times.

** Also, contrary to ''SuperMario64'', either of the slides.

* TheWoobie: K. Lumsy.
* YourMileageMayVary: Notoriously the DK Rap, but the game itself may qualify.