DK Coin
DK Coins, also known as Hero Coins were first introduced in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for the Super Nintendo. Cranky Kong had hidden them in each level in Donkey Kong Country 2 for Diddy and Dixie Kong to find. Some of the places that these coins were hidden include a room that had a secret passage to access it, as an end of the level prize, or even in a bonus stage. There are fourty coins in all. A DK symbol will appear next to the level name after you have found the DK Coin in that level.
When the game is beaten, Cranky will tally up all the DK Coins that have been collected and will then rank the Kongs on how many they have obtained.
In the remake of Donkey Kong Country 2 for the GameBoy Advance, twenty-eight new DK Coins were added making a grand total of sixty-eight DK Coins. To earn these new coins, the following had to be done:
- Beating all the Funky's Flights missions.
- Getting first place in all of the Expresso Racing levels.
- Filling out the entire scrapbook that Wrinkly Kong gives the Kongs for homework.
The remaining fourty coins are located in the same spot as in the original game.
DK Coins also make an appearance in Donkey Kong Land 2. In Donkey Kong Land 2, there are fourty-seven DK Coins to be found like in Donkey Kong Country 2; each level has one hidden DK Coin in them.
In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble, the DK Coins made a return. They were each hidden in a level like in Donkey Kong Country 2 but with one major difference. An enemy known as Koin used a DK Coin as a shield, Koin must be defeated to obtain it. To defeat Koin, a Steel Keg must be over him and wait for the barrel to hit the wall and come back to hit Koin in the back. Koin can only be defeated with a Steel Keg barrel for two reasons:
- Koin is always facing the direction the Kongs and any attempt to attack him will be futile, as Koin can simply bash the Kongs away.
- If an attempt to jump on Koin is made he will simply raise his sheild over his head to block the attack.
If the player fails to defeat Koin with a Steel Keg, a new keg will usually regenerate in most levels. However, in some levels, only one chance is given to defeat Koin. There are a total of fourty-one DK Coins in this game. When a DK Coins has been collected in a level, a yellow flag will appear on top of the flagpole of that level on the world map. Once all DK Coins have found, players can go over to Funky's Rentals and trade them in for a Gyrocopter which will allow players to fly all fly the Northern Kremisphere. This will give access to the last five Banana Bird Caves that are only accessible by using the Gyrocopter.
In Donkey Kong Land 3, there are fourty-two coins hidden in the game. Koin is also guarded by one in each level. Exclusive in this game, DK Coins can be obtained by playing a card game in the Sheepy Shop in each world. A certain number Bonus Coins are needed to play this card game. The object of the card game is to match two pairs and keep on doing that until all pairs are found. There is also a time limit too and the game will end if players fail to find all the pairs when time is up.
DK Coins in Donkey Kong Land 3 are used to enter Krematoa after Baron K. Roolenstein is beaten in Tin Can Valley. All DK Coins will need to have found in all the levels between the first one and the duel with Roolenstein. DK Coins are also used to battle Roolenstein for the last time by gaining the remaining DK Coins in the Lost World levels as well as all of the Stop Watches.
DK Coins also appear in DK: King of Swing. Here they were to be the prizes for the upcoming Jungle Jam tournament, seemingly a Kong equivalent of the Olympic games. Unfortunatly all the DK Coins are stolen by King K. Rool, Donkey Kong much adventure throughout Donkey Kong Island to reclaim the coins.
DK: King of Swing, along with having the regular large, golden DK Coins it also introduces medium-sized silver DK Coins and small bronze colored ones. Both of these types of DK Coin are lesser in value to the large gold ones.
Trivia
- In Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2, when a Bonus Stage is beaten in the Lost World, the prize is a DK Coin instead of a Kremkoin like in the normal levels of the game. There is only one bonus stage per level in the Lost World.
- In Donkey Kong Land 3, when Koin is defeated, a DK Coin is automatically gained. In Donkey Kong Country 3, once Koin is defeated, the coin must be obtained by taking it from the spot Koin was located.
- In Donkey Kong Land 3, the underwater levels are the only levels where the DK Coins were not guarded by Koin. Instead, they were hidden in the level just like in Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2.
- Despite obviously being DK Coins they are never reffered to as such in DK: King of Swing, instead they are simply called medals.
- In Donkey Kong 64 several mini-games have the Kongs needing to collect small coins with with "DK" emblazoned on them in red. Whether these are a different type of DK Coin, like the silver and bronze ones in DK: King of Swing is unknown
