Nobody does a final boss fight like King K. Rool

As a Nintendo kid in the 90s, I had no shortage of memorable boss fights with big reptiles. There was the classic falling axes of the original Super Mario Bros., the terrifying Koopa clown car from Super Mario World, and, of course, the old-fashioned turtle-chuck from Super Mario 64. All of those star my favorite Nintendo character and all-star dad, Bowser. But the boss fight that defined my childhood was with a different arch nemesis reptile: King K. Rool — specifically his turn as a boxing champion in the finale of Donkey Kong 64. 

[SPOILER WARNING: This post contains full spoilers for the ending of Donkey Kong Bananza and the final boss fight]

Leading up to the launch of Donkey Kong Bananza — DK’s first 3D outing since the much-maligned DK64 — I became obsessed with a corner of the internet that spent their days, nights, and weekends trying to figure out if the king of the Kremlings would return from his 20+ year hiatus to give us players another run for our money. Because as great and as memorable as Bowser is as a villain, nobody does a final boss fight like King K. Rool.

To my delight, Bananza offered not only a pitch-perfect return for DK’s biggest bad, but a final boss fight to rival the nostalgia-clouded memories I have of his DK64 final bash. Let’s take a walk down memory lane with the K. Rool boss fights of DK games past before talking about what makes K. Rool, King of Rot, such a fabulous enemy encounter.

Donkey Kong Country

King K. Rool

K. Rool debuted — along with the rest of his Kremling army ​​ in Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo. As Donkey Kong the third ... wait, pause. This is a whole thing. 

The DK we all know as K. Rool’s rival is the original Donkey Kong’s grandson, making him Donkey Kong the third. Cranky is the original Donkey Kong (DK senior — don’t even ask where DK Jr. is at this point) from the arcade game of the same name, and his rival is Mario. Diddy Kong is DK III’s nephew, meaning he’s Cranky’s great grandson. OK, that’s all the Kong history we have for today, back to DKC.

As Donkey Kong and Diddy progress across Kong Isle, K. Rool’s pirate ship slowly fades into view, establishing K. Rool’s talent for adding drama and tension — which we’ll get to more of in just a minute.

At the end of the game, the duo board K. Rool’s ship and do battle with the portly king of the Kremlings. He mostly just runs across the screen and throws his crown, occasionally dropping cannon balls on the Kongs. But what makes this fight special, and really established K. Rool as the messy bitch he is, is the fakeout. When DK and Diddy fell the king, he falls to the ground, the game pans to the “Kredits,” which include the names of the Kremlings and an ominous “The End?” When the Kredits finish, K. Rool jumps back up and starts hopping around the screen far more quickly than before. After just a few more hits, the king of Kremlings goes down for good — for this game, at least.