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Donkey Kong 64 Guide > Golden Bananas > Crystal Caverns

Easily the most frustrating stage in the game. The bonus rounds here are pure torture, challenging even the best of gamers. Some of the bananas are next to impossible to get, and there's another one of those slides to contend with. As you explore this stage, someone keeps pounding the ceiling, causing stalagtites to come crashing down. Bees bomb you and make you fall off ledges, which requires great amounts of backtracking. Remembering where you're at gets confusing, too. The ice castle is really this stage's only highlight.

Donkey Kong


  • Near Cranky's lab, across a thin wooden plank, Donkey Kong can find a barrel blast stage. When he works through it, he'll find a bonus barrel. If he finishes that, he gets the golden banana.
  • To the left of Candy's Music Shop, you can find a building with a bongo drum pad in front of it. Play the drums, enter, and then kill the bees as you avoid floor traps. One suggestion is to stand in one place and just aim from there so you don't have to keep moving. Just avoid the bombs. A corner is a relatively safe spot.
  • This is about the toughest banana to get in the entire game, and I hate this one so much I can barely stand to write about it. Enter the igloo after playing your instrument. Inside, a spiky whirl waits. It's a maze of sorts. Outside of the maze, two guys walk with big clubs. There are crystals all the way around. The minute you enter the maze, it starts spinning. If you touch the walls, you lose a melon off your life meter. What you have to do is move along with it as it turns. When it first starts, just move to avoid the spikes. As it goes clockwise, walk along with it. Keep doing this to reach the center and the golden banana. I really have nothing more to say. This is 100% dependent on phenomenol reflexes and more luck than any serious gamer would ever care to admit.
  • There's a cabin with a bongo drum pad in front of it. Play the drums and enter, then match the colored tiles so that you win the golden banana.
  • Near the ice castle, out on a ledge high above most of the level, Donkey Kong can find a ledge with a wandering blueprint guardian. Defeat him and take the blueprint to Snide for a golden banana.

Diddy Kong


  • Near Funky's arsenal, Diddy finds a jetpac barrel. Now fly to the bonus barrel just to the left of Funky's Arsenal building (in front of the waterfall).
  • Near the number 5 pad is a guitar pad. Play the music and enter the nearby building. Then you kill the enemies inside to reveal a spring pad that will allow you to reach a jetpac barrel. Fly over the tips of the candles until they are all lit and you will receive a golden banana.
  • Play the guitar to enter the igloo and you'll see six barrels on pads. They each hide a number. You have to lift and throw the barrels in numerical order. Memorize where the numbers lie and this task will be easy. Your reward is the usual one.
  • Remember that big building behind the waterfalls? Go to the sescond level and enter. Be prepared for a challenge (and have lots of weapons). Inside, you start a timer. You have that amount of time to kill every enemy in the room. This is quite difficult. There's also a jetpac to the left. Head to it first, as the timer starts. Jump into it and fly to one of the platforms on the side. Kill the enemy there (you should probably start with one of the weak, green enemies). Now look towards the middle ledge, where four live, explosive barrels wait. Jump towards the edge, pull yourself up, and throw grenades at them. When they are all blown up, head towards the other corners and chuck grenades at the enemies that remain alive. If they all die before time runs out, you get a golden banana. You should have a few seconds left after you do this properly. It's quite a challenge, but shouldn't take more than a few efforts.
  • You can find a number 4 teleporter on the top of a rocky column in the middle of water. Once Tiny has activated the other number 4 teleporter, Diddy should fly to this one and warp to the new room, where a blueprint guardian is hoping for some company. Defeat the foe and take the blueprint you receive to Snide for a golden banana.

Tiny Kong


  • Play the saxophone to enter the igloo. You can use the move the Banana Fairy taught you to kill the monster, then stomp the target. Now you have to stomp it several more times until a golden banana appears. It moves, so you have to time your stomps so you land on it, and you have to anticipate its pattern. This is actually harder than it sounds, but it can be done. When you are done, you will get a golden banana.
  • Near Cranky's Lab Tiny should drop into the water. She can find a wall and a shrink barrel, as well as a passage. Through that passage waits a bonus barrel (and golden banana, of course, if you win).
  • In that building with all the music pads in front of it (near Candy's Music Shop), you can find a room for Tiny. Play the saxophone and enter, then kill all the enemies to get a golden banana.
  • Start using Funky's Arsenal as a marking point. Go towards Diddy's jetpac barrel. Past that is a shrink barrel for Tiny, as well as a small passageway. Enter to find a special room with a teleport. You can teleport to the inside of an igloo, where you'll find a golden banana.
  • Near teleport number 2 is a walkway that leads to a ledge where a blueprint guardian is eagerly anticipating Tiny's arrival. Give him something to remember as you defeat him and take his blueprint away. Snide will give you a golden banana for it, as usual.

Lanky Kong


  • Go to the ice castle, near the start. Stomp a switch and reveal a pad that will allow Lanky to inflate himself. Float up to the upper level of the castle. Now you'll find another pad. Float up again to enter the top portion. There, you'll get to race a bug. You need the sprint move from Cranky if you expect to win. This is another one of the slides like you saw in the Angry Aztec stage, but this time around it's simpler. You can move more quickly most of the way, and remember where there are three slides surrounding a pit that you can't just go straight; you have to veer to the left or right, then loop back to the center before you fall off. Tricky, but possible. Your reward for this challenging race is another golden banana.
  • Also near the castle is a switch Lanky can stomp to enter the lower level. Inside, he finds a foe who wants to play a game. If you want to win the golden banana, stomp tiles to make more of your tiles show faceup when the time runs out. Fairly easy, actually, compared to the other 'bonus games' in this level.
  • Near the number 2 teleporter is a cabin. Lanky can find a pad near the cabin that will allow him to inflate. Once he is on the roof, play the trombone on the music pad to open the door. Enter and prepare for a tough challenge. Kill the enemies by using the technique you learned from the Banana Fairy (hold down the 'B' button). Or just lure them away from the area where you need to focus. Then use the pad, inflate yourself, and float up to the ceiling to find yourself using the handstand sprint. Trip the switch and then race towards the banana that has just appeared. You can do this with little difficulty.
  • Play the trombone outside the igloo on the music pad, then enter and kill the enemies to make a pad appear. Float up to another pad, and float again to find a golden banana.
  • At the other end of the number 5 teleporter, Lanky can find a blueprint guardian. Defeat him for the blueprint, then take it to Snide for a golden banana.

Chunky Kong


  • You can smash down a wall near the start of the level (using the Primate Punch), and enter to find a golden banana.
  • Play your instrument to enter the igloo. Inside is a rabbit in a very bad situation. He's strapped to a barrel, and flames are rapidly approaching. Your job here, unless of course you want to see a dead rabbit, is to punch them all before they get a chance to blow him up. If he lasts past the timer, he'll reward you with a golden banana.
  • Head to the ice castle. Now walk out on a ledge and pick up a boulder. Nearby is a ledge with a switch. Set the boulder down on the red tile. Now you have to find an ice wall near Cranky's Lab. Smash it down and enter to find a barrel that will make you grow larger. As Hunky Chunky, pick up a boulder and set it on a boulder switch to open an area that will allow you to receive a golden banana.
  • There's a building with a bunch of music pads in front of it. One of them is a pad for Chunky. Play the music and enter to find yourself in a room full of spotlights. If you are caught in light, you are the loser. So skirt the edges of the room. When the lights pass, you must dash out and stomp the switch. Go around smashing them until a circular pad appears. Now go to the pad and use it to turn invisible. You can now collect the golden banana...
  • There is a blueprint guardian that Chunky should find. He patrols the top of the big igloo. You have to jump flip up onto the igloo in order to reach him and grab the blueprint, which you return to Snide for a golden banana.

NEXT: Creepy Castle