The Kongversation: Donkey Kong Universe Discussion

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.

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...

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 experi...

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?