Donkey Kong 64

Major General Tricks

Swim through vertical walls (STVW)

1. Swim up to the wall you're trying to glitch through.
2. Press and hold the C-up button. In most cases, you will want to orient yourself so that you are perpendicular to the wall.
3. While holding the C-up button, press and hold the A button.
4. Release the C-up button. Hopefully, you will go through the wall.

The glitch doesn't work on all walls, and there are walls where you can get through in some spots, but not others. Some walls, such as the outside walls of the sunken ships in Gloomy Galleon, are more resilient to the technique than others, but you can still get through them if you continue to hold A after leaving first-person view. Just keep swimming. Video

Swim through shores

1. While swimming, approach a section of land that lets you walk up without jumping (such as a shore).
2. Face the "shore" and dive.
3. As soon as you dive, press B rapidly. You will slowly advance through the shore.
4. After a while, stop pressing B and you will be inside the shore.

Note that if you stop pressing B too soon, you might pop out of the shore. If you continue to press B, sometimes the reverse occurs and you will pop into the shore, which is usually a good indication that you can stop pressing B. Video (#3)

C-up glitch

1. Walk to the very edge of a vertical wall.
2. Walk forward and press C-up the instant you start to fall off the edge. Don't release C-up until you hit the ground.
3. If done correctly, you will be inside the wall.

You will have better luck if the angle between the direction you are facing and the wall is small before you fall off. That way, only some of your momentum is directed away from the wall. You may find it helpful to press C-up before pressing forward; there is a small window of time in which you can move after pressing C-up. There are some walls that you can fall into, but which you cannot advance into without being pushed onto the platform you just fell off of. This is because your feet are too close to the platform above you and the game pushes you up. Video

Getting past boss doors

The C-up glitch can be used on the bottom or top steps in the Troff 'n' Scoff rooms to fight the bosses without collecting regular bananas. You do not have to fight the bosses with the kongs the game wants you to use, although the game exhibits some strange behavior if you don't. For example, if you fight Mad Jack with DK, he will sometimes pop out of his box, then get right back in and keep jumping around. Video

Climbing up slippery slopes

You can climb short slippery slopes by running toward them and attacking (e.g. with Diddy's cartwheel or Tiny's roll) at the base. For longer slopes, the following methods are more useful:

Method 1

Only Tiny can use this method.

1. As soon as you land on a slippery slope, perform Tiny's standing combo.
2. Jump immediately and use Pony Tail Twirl to get up as high as you can.
3. Repeat.

You may find that there seems to be an invisible wall blocking Tiny's progress while she is using Pony Tail Twirl. If this is the case, try moving diagonally. Instead of doing Tiny's standing combo, you can do her kickjump (Z+B). Video

Method 2

Everyone can use this method, but difficulty and effectiveness vary, and it doesn't work on all slopes. You need to be able to slide off the slope along most of its length, or at least most of the portion you are climbing (see the video if this is confusing).

1. Crouch below a slope and backflip onto it. Do NOT release Z until you are done with the trick.
2. Jump off and land where you started.
3. Backflip up again, this time landing so that you will slide off.
4. After sliding off, backflip again and land a little higher up, making sure you will once again slide off.
5. Repeat.

The first backflip is necessary because otherwise, you will not be able to crouch while sliding. The biggest problem with this method, aside from the need to be able to slide off the slope, is that you will often long jump instead of backflipping due to momentum left over from the slide off the slope, which usually means that you need to start the trick over. One remedy is to wait a moment before backflipping after you slide off the slope, but this loses height. Because of this problem, this trick is difficult to do with DK, whose backflip has the worst height of anyone's and has a delay before it starts. Gaining any height at all with DK can be difficult. One thing that can help is to start the backflip before you actually fall off the slippery slope; you generally won't have enough momentum to long jump, and you'll be able to jump as soon as you fall off if you time it right. Video (#1)

Method 3

Everyone can use this method, but its use is very limited. Normally, if you are on a slippery slope and you jump, you'll gain a large chunk of backward momentum, preventing you from moving up the slope. If you're right next to a wall, however, the wall sometimes prevents you from gaining backward momentum, allowing you to continue up the slope. To take advantage of this, simply jump a little ways up a slippery slope next to a wall, wait until you start to slide back, and jump again. Video

Moonkick

Find a fairly steep, but non-slippery slope. Run up it with DK and jump. Just before you land, press B to perform an aerial attack and keep pressing B rapidly to kick as soon as you land. If you did it correctly, you'll gain massive height and distance. Video

The trick works by somehow adding the vertical boost from an aerial attack to the vertical and horizontal boost from a kick. If you try it on ground that isn't steep enough, the aerial attack's upward boost will prevent you from landing soon enough; your landing must interrupt the aerial attack in order for the trick to work. This is why a fairly steep slope is required. If the slope is steep enough, but not long enough to run up it, you can try jumping from below and then using an aerial attack. Video

Unlocking Kongs

If you use various glitches to reach the Creepy Castle boss fight without unlocking all kongs, you can unlock the remaining ones by using the special tag barrel in the boss fight. It will automatically give you the next kong in line, even if you haven't unlocked them. After you get the kong you want, select Exit Level. The kong won't function normally yet, though; if you save at this point, they will not be unlocked. To unlock them permanently, simply jump into a tag barrel. The game will then behave more or less as if you had unlocked the kong normally. For example, the KONG puzzle in Angry Aztec will be solved once you unlock Tiny using this glitch, even if you never solved it. This glitch can probably also be done with the K. Rool battle. Video (#2)

Funky Weapons Glitch

This glitch is an offshoot of the Intro Story glitch, which is described in more detail on David Wonn's site. Do the following:

1. With the game off, plug in a second controller. Turn the game on and delete the file in slot 1.
2. Go to the cutscenes section of the Mystery Menu. Start the Intro Story cutscene, but press A as soon as the screen turns blue. If you timed it right, you'll be back on the Mystery Menu with no music. As soon as the black DK logo clears the screen, start a stopwatch.
3. Go to the Options menu and turn off cutscenes.
4. View the high scores for the Rambi minigame. When the stopwatch gets to 49 seconds, press A and B simultaneously. The screen will change, but you'll immediately be brought back to the high scores page.
5. Go back to the main menu and go into Kong Battle. Select Monkey Smash, press Start on the second controller, and press A on the first controller. You should immediately be brought to the results screen, although you might not see it if you press A quickly enough.
6. Go back to the Mystery Menu and play the Intro Story (just press A repeatedly once you get to the Mystery Menu). This time, though, don't press A when the screen turns blue; press it either before or after. The music should be back.
7. Go to Adventure mode. You'll notice that slot 1 already has some time on it; this is a consequence of the glitch. Start the file.

This glitch gives you all of Funky's weapons, Homing Ammo, Sniper Sight, and Simian Slam. Cranky will act like you don't have Simian Slam, though, so you'll still need to get it in order to buy necessary upgrades. On the other hand, Funky won't sell you things you already have; he'll only sell you the Ammo Belts. Which upgrades you receive from the glitch is probably related to step 5 above, where you enter multiplayer mode. In multiplayer, you have a weapon, Homing Ammo, Sniper Sight, and Simian Slam--precisely what the glitch gives you in Adventure mode. Video (#1)

Minor General Tricks

• Moontail: With Diddy, do a regular jump. Just before you hit the ground, hit A as if you were doing a double jump. Immediately after hitting A, hit B. If you did the trick properly, Diddy will do a double jump, but he'll also do his standing attack in the air. Since you can cancel a standing attack with a jump, you can jump during your jump. Add in an aerial attack at the peak of the second jump and you'll get more height than a backflip. For some reason, the trick is much easier to do if you have the camera and have at least one Crystal Coconut. If you don't, you must release A before you press B. Video
• Aerial attacks: Using aerial attacks can lengthen your jump. Doing so usually gives you more distance and maneuverability than long jumping. Video (#4)
• Slowing down: If you're running and want to do a high jump (Z+A), you'll have to slow down first; otherwise, you'll do a long jump. The best way to do so is to release the control stick before you crouch. If you crouch and then release the control stick, you will slide for quite a while.
• Midair jumping: You can jump in midair after performing certain attacks that continue after you leave a ledge. Anyone's running attack works, along with DK's roll and Tiny's kick-jump (Z+B). By using this technique, you can cover long distances. With DK, for example, you can do a running attack, a jump, and then an aerial attack. Video (#4)
• Chunky rock glitch: Chunky can get out of bounds in many places as follows: pick up a rock, face away from a wall, jump toward the wall, and quickly press Z to drop the rock. Pick it up to get forced into the wall a little bit. Keep jumping, putting the rock down, and picking it up until you get through. Video (#3)
• Fast orange throwing: If you enter first-person mode, you can throw oranges much more quickly than you could otherwise.
• Orange dive: Find a place where you can fall off an edge into water. Run toward the water and throw an orange. You'll start swimming underwater without needing to dive. Video (#6)
• Pulling out weapons: Hold Z and press C-left twice in quick succession. This is the fastest and easiest way to pull out your weapon and go into first-person mode, a common task. You can use the same button combo to leave first-person mode and put away your shooter.
• Shooting switches: When possible, shoot switches without going into first-person mode.
• Pounding switches: After pounding a switch, press B to start a standing attack and then press A to jump. This will let you start moving more quickly than you could if you let the Simian Slam animation finish.
• Canceling fall damage: If you crouch just before falling and stay crouched until you're at a certain height, you'll avoid the "splat" animation and you won't take damage. This limits your horizontal speed, though. Another method that lets you retain your speed but doesn't work with the largest falls is to use an aerial attack any time before your character starts flailing to reset the "distance fallen" counter.
• Jumping off of trees: If you jump near the top of a tree, you can get to the top sooner than if you had climbed up all the way.
• Sniper range boost: If you have Sniper Sight, you can hit targets that are farther away even if you don't zoom in.

Movement Techniques

The kongs each have ways to increase their speed on land:

• DK: Rolling constantly is the fastest form of movement. Over distances too short for a roll, doing a kick (running attack) is better than running.
• Diddy: Long jumping is slightly faster than running.
• Lanky: Long jumping is slightly faster than running. Orangstand is NOT faster than running. Orangstand Sprint is.
• Tiny: Doing kickjumps (Z+B) repeatedly is faster than running.
• Chunky: Long jumping is slightly faster than running.

For the kongs who gain speed by long jumping, be aware that you can't change direction during a long jump. If you're in an area where you need to change direction often, long jumping may not be the best choice.

While swimming on the surface of water, you can hold B to speed up. While swimming underwater, hold A. It's faster to swim underwater than to swim on the surface, but it's not worth the time it takes to dive and surface if you're only swimming a short distance.

The Upgrade System

A few features of the upgrade system are very important for speed running:

• You cannot buy any upgrades from Cranky until you've completed the training barrels and he's given you Simian Slam.
• Upgrades are always offered in order, and you can't buy later upgrades until you've bought all the earlier ones. For example, because Strong Kong comes before Gorilla Grab, you must buy Strong Kong before you can buy Gorilla Grab. The orders in which the items of each vendor are offered are as follows.
  • Cranky: The order of his upgrades depends on the kong.
    • DK: Baboon Blast, Strong Kong, Gorilla Grab, Super Simian Slam, Super Duper Simian Slam
    • Diddy: Chimpy Charge, Rocketbarrel Boost, Simian Spring, Super Simian Slam, Super Duper Simian Slam
    • Lanky: Orangstand, Baboon Balloon, Super Simian Slam, Orangstand Sprint, Super Duper Simian Slam
    • Tiny: Mini Monkey, Pony Tail Twirl, Super Simian Slam, Monkeyport, Super Duper Simian Slam
    • Chunky: Hunky Chunky, Primate Punch, Super Simian Slam, Gorilla Gone, Super Duper Simian Slam
  • Funky: Basic weapon, Ammo Belt 1, Homing Ammo, Ammo Belt 2, Sniper
  • Candy: Basic instrument (and second melon), Upgrade 1 (instrument capacity), Third Melon (and instrument capacity upgrade), Upgrade 2 (instrument capacity)

Entering Levels Early

There are two factors that go into entering levels early: getting into the lobby and getting past B. Locker once you are in the lobby. Although there is no single trick that will get you past B. Locker in every lobby, there are several general methods that work in most lobbies:

• The Lanky glitch: Walk up to B. Locker, face the portal, and do Lanky's standing combo. Chunky's Primate Punch also works if you position yourself properly. Video (#5)
• The DK trick: Do DK's kickjump (running attack) while you're on B. Locker's left side, then move toward him. You should land partially inside him. You can then do a standing combo and reach the portal. Video
• Orange boosting: Use an orange to knock yourself partially inside B. Locker. Then use a standing combo to reach the portal. This isn't needed in most lobbies thanks to the DK trick, but it's still necessary in the Frantic Factory lobby. Video

If you select "Exit Level" after getting past B. Locker, you will appear inside B. Locker and will be able to walk right back into the level. This allows you to get to the beginning of a level quickly even if B. Locker is still in the lobby.

Jungle Japes

• Getting into lobby: Use swim through shores to get inside DK's island, then jump into the loading zone. The Golden Banana is not there until you talk to K. Lumsy. Video
• Getting past B. Locker:
  • The DK trick works here, although it is harder to do than it is in other lobbies. Video
  • With DK, use an orange to knock yourself closer to B. Locker, then use a standing combo to reach the portal. Video
  • The Lanky glitch works here, in case you want to come back after freeing Lanky.
• After leaving the lobby, you can walk out of the rock.

Angry Aztec

• Getting into lobby: With Diddy, use a moontail to get on top of the door frame next to the lobby entrance. Use the C-up glitch to get inside the left corner; make sure you hold C-up until you land or else you may be pushed out of the door. Run forward and start a Chimpy Charge just before you fall off; if you timed it correctly, you'll fall off, but you'll lose height very slowly. After letting Diddy run forward a bit, jump and do an aerial attack to get to the loading zone. Video
• Getting past B. Locker:
  • The DK trick works here. Video
  • With DK, use an orange to knock yourself closer to B. Locker, then use a standing combo to reach the portal. Video
  • The Lanky glitch works here, although you won't have Lanky until you've already gotten past B. Locker in the first place.
• The door to the lobby is solid on both sides. If you leave the lobby, you'll be stuck in a cutscene as your kong tries to walk through the door (regardless of which kong you use). Thus, you must open the lobby normally in a single-segment run.

Frantic Factory

• Getting into lobby:
  • With DK: Use a moonkick on a slope near the banana fairy island (but on K. Rool's island) and facing the propellers to reach the platform with DK's Golden Banana. Then kickjump to the walkway and continue as usual. The metal door in front of the lobby is not solid. Video (#2)
  • With Diddy: Use a moontail while standing on the platform that K. Lumsy normally raises. You'll be able to grab onto the walkway. Video
  • With Tiny:
    • With Monkeyport: Simply use the Monkeyport pad to get above the lobby entrance and then jump down.
    • With Pony Tail Twirl: With Tiny, jump on top of Lanky's switch on K. Lumsy's island. Backflip up to the slippery slope above you, then climb up it. Once you get to the top, use Pony Tail Twirl to reach the walkway that wraps around K. Rool's island. You can now walk up to the lobby. Video
• Getting past B. Locker: There are two methods. Both of them use Lanky.
  • With Lanky, use an orange to knock yourself closer to B. Locker, then use a standing combo to reach the portal. Video
  • With Lanky, long jump into B. Locker and use a standing combo. Video (#4)

Gloomy Galleon

• Getting into lobby: There is a part of K. Rool's island near the tag barrel where many walls meet. By positioning yourself properly, you can swim right through it. You can then enter the Gloomy Galleon lobby. Video (#2)
• Getting past B. Locker:
  • The Lanky glitch works here.
  • The DK trick works here. Video
  • Any kong can enter the level by using the C-up glitch on the wall to B. Locker's left, then walking around B. Locker and into the portal. Video (#3)
• After leaving the lobby, you can get past the gate by using STVW. Video (#4)

Fungi Forest

• Getting into lobby: With Chunky, stack the boulders in front of the Angry Aztec lobby. Tag DK and use the boulders to reach the top of the Aztec lobby. Use a moonkick to get to the ear of DK's island. Use another moonkick and go clockwise to get to a non-slippery slope, then use another moonkick to get to yet another non-slippery slope. Use one final moonkick to get to the slippery slope near the ledge with Diddy's Golden Banana, then jump off the slope to that ledge. Kickjump to the lobby. Video
• Getting past B. Locker:
  • The Lanky glitch works here.
  • The DK trick works here. Video

Crystal Caves

• Getting into lobby:
  • With Pony Tail Twirl: Go to the Angry Aztec lobby entrance, then walk clockwise around the island until you get to the giant boulder blocking access to the Crystal Caves lobby. Orient yourself so you are perpendicular to one of the ledges underneath the rock (see the video for clarification). Then use Pony Tail Twirl to grab the ledge. If you did it correctly, you will be able to move yourself around until you find the right spot to pull yourself up and through the rock. There are spots where you cannot move from side to side once you have grabbed on. You can sometimes get out of those spots by pulling yourself up and then falling slightly to the side. Video
  • Without Pony Tail Twirl: With DK, use a moonkick on the slope below the boulder and grab onto the far left side of the ledge. You can then pull yourself through the boulder. Video
  • If you can get to the entrance of the Fungi Forest lobby, you can simply jump down to the boulder and pull yourself through.
• Getting past B. Locker:
  • The Lanky glitch works here.
  • The DK trick works here. Be careful not to fall down while doing it, though. Video
• After leaving the lobby, you can jump right out of the rock.

Creepy Castle

• Getting past B. Locker:
  • The Lanky glitch works here.
  • The DK trick works here. Stand on the woodwork on the right side of the stairs, then kickjump toward the portal. You'll want to land on the top step. Video
  • With Chunky, use the rock glitch to get out of bounds, then backflip into the portal. Video (#3)
  • With Diddy, use the C-up glitch on the bottom step of the stairs near the portal. Drop down a little and jump back up so that you're level with the main floor of the lobby, but still out of bounds (see here). Then backflip up and walk into the portal. Video (#8)

Hideout Helm

• Getting into lobby:
  • With Tiny: Jump onto the small projection from the wall near the upper Monkeyport pad. Jump in the direction of the tag barrel and use Pony Tail Twirl to get to the slippery clope. Climb it and go to the other side of K. Rool's face (the left side). Find a spot near the eye where you can jump without gaining much height. Hold forward while jumping into this spot and you will hopefully fall through. You can then fall into the Hideout Helm lobby. Video
  • With Diddy: Remove the rock closest to the Angry Aztec lobby with Chunky, then play the trombone with Lanky to make a Rocketbarrel appear near the Fungi Forest lobby. Get it and fly to the right side of K. Rool's head, then charge toward the island to land near the Monkeyport pad. Video Go around to the other side of K. Rool's head and use a backflip to get up to the slippery slope, then climb it. Continue as you would with Tiny. Video (#1)
• Getting past B. Locker: With Diddy or Tiny, go to one of the corners near the lobby entrance and backflip into it to get out of bounds. Then simply walk around the room and behind B. Locker. Video (#1)

K. Rool's Ship

The keys from Frantic Factory and Hideout Helm are the only ones required to make K. Rool's ship appear.

Properties of Out-of-Bounds Areas

The out-of-bounds (OoB) areas in Donkey Kong 64 have several unusual properties. An important one is that if you go too far OoB, the game will think you died and send you back to the entrance of either the level or the room, depending on what room you're in.

The properties of this empty space OoB depend on how you get OoB. If you come from land (e.g. by using the C-up glitch), there will be a floor at the same height as the land you came from. You can jump and the floor will still be there. This is most easily observed in the Troff 'n' Scoff room: use the C-up glitch to get out of bounds (as decribed here) from different heights and you'll see that you aren't always at the same height when you're OoB. If you jump to a higher level while you're OoB without going back in bounds, the height you can walk at will change. The reason you can walk in midair is related to the fact that there is no floor or water below you except for the floor below the level, which doesn't work like other floors (on a related note, there seems to be a floor below every room without bottomless pits. In rooms with bottomless pits, the killzone is above the floor). As soon as there is a normal floor or normal water below you, you will fall. A good place to try this is in Hideout Helm. Get OoB in the room with the Crown door (see this page) and carefully make your way to the Blast-o-Matic room. You will be far above the ground. As soon as you go back in bounds, you'll fall down.

If you get OoB from water (e.g. by using STVW), there will be water that extends downward from the elevation of the water you came from. Try this by first using STVW to get outside the pool near the entrance of Creepy Castle, then using it to get outside the pool next to the upper tunnel entrance. In addition to seeing that the surface of the "water" is not always at the same height just because you are in the same place, you'll notice that you can swim in midair even when you are in bounds. This is because the water in empty space doesn't depend on their being no floor or water underneath you, unlike the land in empty space. If you jump, the water will be gone. Also, if you enter a real body of water, the level of the fake water will change to the level of the water you entered.

101% Requirements

The game tracks the following items for computing the total percentage:

• Golden Bananas
• Battle Crowns
• Banana fairies
• Banana Medals
• Keys
• Nintendo Coin
• Rareware Coin

Because of the method used to compute percentage, you don't actually need to collect all of these items. For example, in Joe Wiewel's 101% run, he has 101% before he actually gets the last Golden Banana. It is not known if the items in the above list are weighted equally or how many can be skipped. It is also not known if DK's extra Golden Banana counts toward the final percentage.