What made Donkey Kong Country such a unique, groundbreaking cultural event for Nintendo fans in 1994? Yes, it was the graphics, music, sound, and game design. But as Hyle and Dustin argue, it was also the instruction booklet's unique sense of humor. The Kongversation opens up Dan Owsen's manual masterpiece!

Broadcast live on https://twitch.tv/dkvine on the 30th anniversary of Donkey Kong Country's release in the Americas, Hyle and Malik reflect on three decades of DKC dominance!

DK Vine has not been to the new Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan. But we have plenty to SAY about the new Nintendo Museum! Specifically, all of the surprising Donkey Kong Universe inclusions and references found within its two stories... including Diddy Kong Racing and Banjo-Kazooie!

Broadcast LIVE earlier tonight on Twitch (https://twitch.tv/dkvine), Hyle and Cameron give their thoughts on the final trailer for the Super Mario Bros. Movie, as well as some surprising reveals from the Japanese website! Hear the exact moment we found out that another Kong has surfaced!

CLIVE! WRENCH! Come on over and hear our first full post-game discussion on Clive 'N' Wrench! The new indie 3D platformer has gotten a somewhat mixed reaction, yet it's already picked up a devoted following among aficionados of the genre. Hyle and Cameron share their thoughts on the first four worlds (and the DKU connections therein)!

In this brief time betwixt the full-length and final trailer for the Super Mario Bros. Movie, Hyle and Jeff have a Kongversation about all of the little bits of news relating to Donkey and Cranky Kong's appearance in the film. Their voices! DK Island's portrayal! Leaked merchandise! We also take a detour to Brooklyn to discuss the film's nostalgia-heavy marketing!

A Nintendo Direct lacking significant Donkey Kong Universe news is usually not a reason for DK Vine to celebrate, but Hyle and Dustin explain how the February 2023 presentation sneakily laid out several promising developments for the future of the Kongs!

The Kongversation kicks off its second decade by talking with someone who knows a thing or two about time: Rob Wass, the architect behind the upcoming 3D platformer (and certified DKU adventure) Clive 'N' Wrench!

DK Vine rings out 2022 for the birthplace of the Donkey Kong Universe while ringing in the new of 2023. What will the year ahead look like for Donkey Kong, Rare, and Playtonic?

In the final DKU Tribunal Special Session of the season, Hyle and Dustin relitigate the case for Kameo: Element of Power's inclusion in the Donkey Kong Universe! Has Rare's 2005 Xbox 360 launch title been hiding a firm character-based connection to the DKU all along?

A narrative has begun to take hold in online discourse claiming that the Nintendo 64 was an outright failure. And while this might be true in Japan, it's not speaking to the full story around the world. Josh Wallen from off of the Geek Critique returns to defend the most powerful console of the mid-1990s!

Hyle and Cameron discuss the multitude of changes Mario Kart Tour's gone through in 2022! From the removal of the controversial gacha system and the addition of Balloon Battle all the way to the new Donkey Kong-related karts and tracks... and the possibility that new content in the game may finally be winding down (before we even get Cranky Kong, Brash Bear, and Glow in the Dark Lube Funky Kong).

In a special LIVE episode of the Kongversation broadcast on Twitch, Hyle and Cameron give their full thoughts on the full-length trailer for the Super Mario Bros. Movie featuring Donkey and Cranky Kong! They also dive into all of the Kong cameos from the trailer and poster, and break down how the Kongs will drive the plot of the film!

20 years later, Hyle and Dustin PANsplain the DK Bongos and the Donkey Kong series' brief but defining turn toward rhythm games with the Spotlight episode on the original Donkey Konga!

Sea of Thieves: Season Seven introduced captaincy and the ability to own (and name!) your own ship, finally giving DK Vine its long-awaited Dreadfully Evil. With a 'THE' on the crest and everything. Fight us. But don't, because we'll sink you. Except for when kraken makes inky from its stinky while we're diving shipwrecks. We discuss all of the Adventures and more from the just-wrapped Season Seven!

It's the Silver (Coin) Anniversary of Diddy Kong Racing! As the keystone of the Donkey Kong Universe turns 25, Hyle and Matt discuss why the game still wields such a huge influence over our fandom!

A nostalgic trip to the movie rental store as Hyle and Mitchell reminisce about the golden age of renting video games from Blockbuster Video!

Inspired by several recent events relating to both Super Mario and Donkey Kong, Hyle and Dustin take an evenhanded look at the long and controversial debate about whether or not Mario's Mushroom Kingdom and Donkey Kong's Donkey Kong Island share the same physical world!

Recorded and broadcast live on the afternoon of Halloween, Hyle and Jeff discuss the surprisingly consistent lore for animated skeletons across the Donkey Kong Universe!

Steal some money from your mother's purse and take a trip to Witchyworld, the Isle O'Hags' biggest tourist destination! Just in time for Halloween, Hyle and Dustin guide you through the park's thrills and hidden wonders!

The final installment of our Star Fox Adventures retrospective sees us discuss some of the more memorable moments of the game, as well as the incredible soundtrack and memorable voice acting, before we process what it was like loving a critically divisive game that marked the end of the Rare/Nintendo partnership.

We give our quick thoughts on the official addition of Diddy Kong (and Pauline) in the latest update to Mario Strikers: Battle League!

The second part of our Star Fox Adventures retrospective goes in-depth into the characters, story, and lore of this forgotten corner of the Lylat System. Who are the Krazoa? What happened with Andross on Krystal's home planet? Which Dinosaurs are the most racist? We leave no WarpStone left unturned!

While both buzzed on the alcohols, Hyle and Jeff give their GROUNDBREAKING thoughts on the Super Mario Bros. Movie teaser trailer, which did not have Donkey or Cranky Kong in it. It didn't even have any ass in it, which is what most of our listeners pony up to the bar for here at the Coyote Ugly. But anyway, it's a kid's movie and we're adults with some serious opinions.

In the first Kongversation "Game Pitch" episode, Hyle, Jeff, and Dustin lay out their unified vision for a new Donkey Kong-related title that would propel a once-forgotten supporting character with renewed cultural cache to unimagined heights: Swanky Kong's Pizza Buffet!

We kick off our Spotlight series on Star Fox Adventures by beginning in 1997 with the launch of both Diddy Kong Racing and Star Fox 64, explaining how the follow-up projects to both would run parallel, intersect, and finally merge to become a single project under Rare... their last console game for Nintendo.

Do you remember the 24th of September? Yes, the day when our Earth was blown away by the wind into the fire of change. The day when Rare was purchased by Microsoft. On the 20th anniversary, the Kongversation reflects on the highs, lows, and ultimate acceptance of Rare leaving Nintendo... and how despite the odds, the Donkey Kong Universe has persevered.

At the conclusion of Stinky Ape Summer, Chris Allcock of Rare fame returns to the Kongversation to discuss what went into writing "Sea of Thieves: Heart of Fire," the newest novel set in Rare's universe!

The oft-rumored Nintendo Direct that we've simultaneously longed for and feared for the past three months finally happened this past week. The Kongversation discusses the return of Diddy Kong, Pierce Brosnan, the 1 vs. 3 Mini-Game Tree, and hand-wringing about the future of Donkey Kong!

Hyle and Cameron discuss the new Sea of Thieves novel, "Sea of Thieves: Heart of Fire" by Chris Allcock! The second full-length novel set in the shared Rare universe is an emotional nautical parable about overcoming trauma, finding where you belong, skeletons being kooky, and a DILF with a mustache who makes the shipwrights go weak in their hulls.

Was destroying Crocodile Isle a mistake? Not from an in-universe perspective, as we're sure Diddy is still haunted by the nightmares of that fateful day. We're asking if incinerating the Kremling homeland gave us decades worth of plot fallout at the expense of one of the most interesting locations in the Donkey Kong Universe!

Beloved Kongversation co-host Joe Mudd returns to the show to help us round out our multi-year discussion on Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair! We talk about some of the highlights from the last areas of Playtonic's masterpiece, the stress of the Impossible Lair itself, and break down both twist-filled endings!

We can't put a pin in our Kongversations about Fangamer's RareRacers products. Not when there are TWO pins to discuss!

With both excitement and criticism around Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass, two of DK Vine's resident Mario Kart Tour players, Hyle and Cameron, take a look at the interesting interplay between the two concurrent Mario Kart titles. Does upscaling a mobile game's tracks to double a celebrated console game's content really work?

Take a trip back in time 25 years to a curious three months in Donkey Kong Universe fandom... before the Donkey Kong Universe was even conceptualized! When Banjo-Kazooie and Conker's Quest were first announced instead of Donkey Kong's big Nintendo 64 game, there were hurt and confused feelings. But could there somehow be a connection between the three? We know how the story ended, but this is the seldom-remembered prologue!

Hyle and Malik bid fair winds to Stinky Ape Summer 2024 with a LIVE Talk Like a Pirate Day episode! First broadcast on https://twitch.tv/dkvine, it's a discussion on every single pirate Kremling from off of Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Land 2. Why are the Kremling Kuthroats the best video game antagonists in history?

Stretching from March 10th to the first week of August, Sea of Thieves' Season Six was a long period full of murder, mayhem, ghost houses, disco tornadoes, and methodical shaming of Hyle and Jeff's work and self-esteem. Catch up on what you've missed in Rare's ongoing omni-prequel!

It's also finally here! Altermentality joins Hyle once more for yet another much-delayed discussion on Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, this time for the Donkey Kong Adventure DLC! But more than just DLC, it's actually a lovingly-crafted Donkey Kong game that, in this vast desert of Kongtent, any DK fan thirsty for some Kong juice would be wise (or Kirkhope) to lap up!

It's finally here! Altermentality joins Hyle for a much-delayed discussion on Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle! In the first of two episodes, we recap the long history of Mario RPGs and how they led us to Kingdom Battle. We then chat about how the base game struck us, specifically as Donkey Kong and Rare fans!

Have you ever wondered how Donkey Kong lives? No, no. I mean, have you ever REALLY WONDERED how this tie-wearing, banana-hoarding gorilla spends his days when he's not adventuring or racing Mario? The Kongversation takes a comprehensive four-hour tour of each of Donkey Kong's treehouses and the homes that are often said to belong to him but probably don't. Think of it as the ultimate Airbnb experience!

It's the return of Mario Strikers! But where's Diddy? Where are the Kritter goalies? Where's the rest of the content? The Kongversation analyzes Battle League from the perspective of the bewildered Donkey Kong fan!

In the second special Tribunal episode this season, Hyle and Cameron reinvestigate the case of the 2013 reboot of Killer Instinct. We've questioned whether it's part of the shared universe of Donkey Kong in the past, but the results were inconclusive. So what's changed now? And how exactly does it connect to Banjo-Kazooie, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, and the Xbox One hoverboarding game Bleeding Edge?

Well, this is weird. Hyle and Josh "The Geek Critique" Wallen imagine a fantasy E3 where almost everything breaks DK Vine's way. A week full of DKU announcements and surprises across the entire spectrum of studios and franchises. Escape from the dreary world to a fantasy haunted spider hotel where your E3 wishes actually come true!

A weekend of rumors snowballing like some sort of ursine mammal transformed on the ice side of a volcanic island lead to... disappointment! What else? Hyle and Jeff talk about Bear Hikes, bears taking a hike, and the genuinely exciting Sea of Thieves update announced at today's Xbox presentation!

Welcome to the E3 of the mind. With no official show this year but the potential for game announcements, DK Vine's "Not E3" 2022 will combine the thrills of gaming's annual event with the uncertainty of every other time of the year. On this live kickoff episode, we speculate what may be shown DKU-wise from Rare, Nintendo, and Playtonic!

Is Donkey Kong's beloved rhinoceros companion named after Bambi or Rambo? This is about the only thing we DON'T discuss in this episode that delves into the ins, the outs, and the outs made ins by Rambi smashing through walls!

Super Mario Party Jamboree was playable at PAX West, which coincided with the announcement that Pauline would be making her Mario Party debut in the game. Coincidentally, DK Vine's resident Pauline simp was on hand to give us some show floor first impressions!

What makes the level names of the Donkey Kong Country and Land series so memorable? Hyle and Matt have a lovely little chat about the poetry of the map screen, including our favorites and some memorable interpretations across multiple languages!

I'm the key figure in an ongoing government charade, the plot to conceal the truth about the existence of extraterrestrials in the Donkey Kong Universe. It's a global conspiracy, actually, with key players in the highest levels of power, that reaches down into the lives of every monkey, bear, and squirrel on this planet. So, of course, no one believes me. I'm an annoyance to my superiors, a joke to my peers. They call me Spooky, Spooky Hyle, who played Donkey Kong Country when he was just a kid and who now chases after little green men with a Pro Controller, shouting to the heavens or to anyone who will listen that the fix is in, that the sky is falling, and when it hits it's gonna be the shit-storm of all time.

Did Donkey Konga hurt the public's perception of Donkey Kong in the West? That's the claim that former Nintendo of America COO Reggie Fils-Aimé has made, so it's time for DK Vine to partner with the Geek Critique to look back on the most divisive time in DK fandom! Josh Wallen is in the co-host chair!