Super Smash Brothers Melee
Donkey Kong FAQ
Last Update: November 30'th
Version 1.2
Made by: JurassicRabbit
[email protected]


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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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I. Version History
II. Introduction
III. Explanation of Moves
IV. Break the Targets
V. Multi Man Melees (COMPLETED
VI. Strategies
VII. Special Thanks
VIII. Contact Info
IX Legal Stuff



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VERSION HISTORY
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Version 1.2 updated 11/30/02
Fixed a bunch of typos and stuff. I just came back and started reading this
again, and i realized that this faq has ALOT of mistakes in it. I did my best
to try and get rid of some of these typos. This will probably be my last
update. So yeah. Enjoy it. And i STILL have the only DK faq on this board. Come
on people, i know there's more DK lovers than me =P.


Version 1.1 updated 1/11/02
Added tips sent in by people who E-Mailed me talking about how DK's headbutt
could also be used as a spike and that the spinning kong can knock people away
instead of multiple hits if they get hit when the move starts.


Version 1.0 updated 1/6/02:
Welcome to the first version of my very first FAQ. Completed Introduction
including the history of DK and basic overview of his character in SSB:M,
completed move list with ratings and explanations of each move. Also this is
the first version so don't mail me for every single grammar mistake I make.



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INTRODUCTION
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Hello and welcome to my first FAQ. My goal of writing this FAQ is to help
people become better players with Donkey Kong, who is in my opinion, the most
misunderstood character in the game (and to give me something to do so I don't
die of boredom).

I'm gonna skip most of the history of Donkey Kong since you all probably know
who he is already. But for those who were born yesterday, Donkey Kong is
Nintendo's prime ape who got his start in the game bearing his own name. DK was
a rival of Mario for a while, but over the years DK and Mario sorta patched
things up, and DK started appearing in such games as Mario Kart 64 (I think it
was Donkey Kong Junior who was in the SNES version, correct me if I'm wrong.),
all of the 3 Mario Party games, and of course Super Smash Brothers. DK was also
made over by Rare and starred in Donkey Kong Country and had an important role
in Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3.

Anyways, in Super Smash Brothers Melee, DK is one of the strongest, if not the
strongest character in the game. But of course DK's monstrous strength comes at
a price... speed. While DK is not the slowest character in the game (I believe
that title goes to Gannondorf), he simply cannot match up in 1 on 1 matches
against fast people like Shiek, Fox, or Captain Falcon (assuming that the
players that use them are good of course.). DK's power truly shines in his
ability to take out multiple characters at once in 4 player games.


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MOVES
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Like I said before what DK's moves lack in speed, they make up in sheer power.
All of DK's smash attacks have their own special uses, and are all needed to
become a great DK player. And if you don't know how to do a smash attack, (and
if you don't you probably shouldn't use DK as he has a steep learning curve)
all you have to do is SMASH the control stick and hit A simultaneously in the
direction you desire.  Smash attacks can also be charged if you hold down the A
button. Charged smash attacks will become more powerful and will knock your
opponent farther than normal. Note that learning how to charge your smash
attacks and timing them to hit your opponent is VITAL to becoming a good DK
player. And now the moves.


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BASIC ATTACKS
*********************

A: DK just does a quick jab. If you hit the A button twice fast he will do an
extra uppercut for a nice little one two punch. If you ever to play a 1 on 1
with DK this is a good move to use to get some quick damage in or to get the
opponent off your back for a second.  The rating I gave this is for when the
attack is used twice, delivering the one two punch.
RATING: ***


TILT forward A: DK lets out a huge backhand smack that is relatively fast and
strong. As with the standing A button move this is a pretty fast (well fast
compared to his other moves.) move that will help you get people off of you if
your getting hammered on.
RATING: ***


TILT up A: I like this move because it looks like he is swatting down a fly.
But this is actually a pretty good move. If an opponent is above you and you
don't have enough time to use the SMASH up A move this is a good alternative to
keep them up in the air so u can use the SMASH up and A.
RATING: ****


TILT down A: DK just does a little sweep with his hand. I haven't really found
any kind of use for this as it hardly does any damage or knock them up in the
air.
RATING: *


*********************
SMASH ATTACKS
*********************
Now this is where it starts to get good. Like I said before, you're going to
have to learn to charge these moves if you really want to use them effectively.

SMASH forward A: DK reaches back really far with both hands then just thrusts
them forward with huge force. This is one of DK's most powerful moves and can
be used as an effective edge guarder to knock people into oblivion when their
coming back from the east and west sides of the arena. My main use of this move
is to sneak up on people in their own little battles and just use this to knock
all of them flying.
RATING: ****

SMASH down A: Hehe... I like this move a lot. DK raises his arms high in the
air only to bring them down to the ground on both sides of him knocking anyone
on either side soaring into the air. I have 3 main uses for this move, first is
to start an air combo, second  as a clear out move when there are a bunch of
people near you and you want to get rid of them, and third, well this is a
pretty long one so ill include it in the strategy section.
RATING: *****


SMASH up A: One of my friends most feared move when I'm DK, his SMASH up A, AKA
the clap. Catch an opponent in this move and their going to be in the air for a
while. But anyways the name I gave it is pretty self explanatory, DK basically
does a huge hand clap above his head which can do some serious damage and send
them flying into the air. This is probably my least used smash attack of DK's
because it's a little hard to hit people with. However, sometimes this move can
be used in conjunction with DK's TILT up and A to start a decent air combo.
RATING: ***


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SPECIAL MOVES
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B: Giant Punch: Ok heres the deal, this move is the pride and joy of DK. If I
ever see you playing Smash Bros Melee and your using DK and this is NOT CHARGED
I will smack you on the back of your head. To use this move, first hit B to
charge this baby up and DK will start winding up his arm like a wind up toy.
When its fully charged DK will stop winding up, start flashing, and have smoke
coming out of him. When DK is flashing hit B again and DK will do a Giant punch
that can do up to 30 damage. DO NOT WASTE THIS PUNCH! I can't stress this
enough. If you're going to use this make sure that it will be worthwhile. Miss
or hit be sure to charge this up again. Since I can write a whole other FAQ
about the giant punch ill stop here and continue a little more in the strategy
section.
RATING: ******* 7 out of 5 stars


Down B: Ground Pound: For most people this is the only reason why they used DK,
because this move can kill the wire frames in the multi man melees in one
pound, and you can keep doing it as long as you keep hitting B. But when not in
multi man melees this move can be a very useful weapon in your arsenal. Like so
many other of DK's moves, the ground pounds main purpose is to get people off
of you for a little. But this move can also be used to send people in the air
to get a little combo in.
RATING: ****


Up B: Spinning Kong: A decent comeback maneuver and can be used to rack up some
damage. This move was greatly improved from the original now that it does
multiple hits for each time one of DK's hands hits them. For those that don't
know, DK start to twirl around like a helicopter with his arms acting as the
blades of the helicopter propelling himself forward with very little vertical
lift for this move. Overall it serves as a decent comeback but not much for
anything else.
RATING: ***

---------------------
Sent in by Jac4211
---------------------
"...If your touching somone as soon as you start up the kong copter, DK will
send them flying quite a ways instead of getting in multiple hits."

Well its something that i hadnt done before, but the rating will stay the same
since it really doesn't send them that far or deal much damage. But thanks
anyways for the tip Jac.


Forward B: Headbutt: The Headbutt is not one of my most used moves. What it
does is DK pulls his head back and then of course smashes it forward in to the
enemy. If it hits then the enemy will be knocked into the ground for a few
seconds unable to move. Now some of you may be saying "Wow that's great, if
they can't move can't you use your giant punch on them without worry?" and the
answer is yes, you can. However, the main purpose of the giant punch is to get
a KO, not just to increase the percentage of the opponent, and if their stuck
in the ground you cant send them anywhere.
RATING: ***

----------------------
Sent in by many people
----------------------
Well i feel like a dummy for not knowing this before but it seems that DK's
headbutt can also be used as a spike (a move that sends your opponent straight
down to the pit below) i added an extra star to the move because of this. And
thanks to everyone who sent in this tip whom i will mention in the credits
section.

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AERIAL MOVES
*********************
Jump+A: DK does a short version of the Spinning Kong but only spins around once
dealing decent damage to anyone that gets hit by it. The reason why this move
gets 3 stars is because it can deal some fast damage and can hit in about any
direction.
RATING: ***


Jump Forward A: In the original Super Smash Brothers, this used to be one of my
favorite moves. Not only was it fast but it spiked them really fast down to
their doom. However in Melee, all of the spikes were toned down a bit and given
a little charge time before they actually hit. This one was no exception. What
DK does in this move is put his hands over his head like he's about to swing a
hammer, then slams them down and depending  on where he hit the opponent will
send them straight ahead or straight down. But again this move is a little too
slow to pull off to be considered effective.
RATING: ***


Jump Down A: Another move in the original that I had liked a lot that was
slowed down a lot was this move. However this is still a pretty effective move
that can kill people at high percentages even when their on the ground. Just
don't use this move as a spike, if you want to use a spike use DK's forward A
move, this way you don't accidentally kill yourself by making your self fall
faster.
RATING: ***


Jump Up A: DK does an Aerial Headbutt that can be used to get some easy and
quick damage dealt to your foe in the air. What I usually use this for, is in
stages like dreamland where there are multiple platforms, get up to the highest
one, throw them in the air so that u see them in the little bubble showing that
they are almost gone, then just use this attack to give them the extra push
they need to send them to the great beyond.
RATING: ****

*********************
THROWS
*********************
Grab+A: DK does a little chop to the neck that deals around 1 to 4 damage I
believe. Looks kind of funny but not that useful.
RATING: *


Grab Forward: The famous Piggyback ride throw from the original returns! And
this time you can choose the direction you want to throw them. For this throw
DK grabs his opponent slams them down on the floor and carries them wherever
you want to go. The length of which you can carry them depends on 2 things:
their percentage and the amount they wiggle the control stick and hit the
buttons. A lot of people liked this throw because if the percentage was high
enough you can just jump off the edge with the opponent on your back and just
kill yourself and them at the same time. While I do agree its pretty funny
watching your friends go "NOOOOOOOO" when your jumping off the edge with them
on your back, its not the smartest idea.
RATING: ***


Grab Backwards: I love this throw  : ). This was my favorite throw in the
original and is my second favorite in Melee (sorry but Mewtwo's up throw just
kicks too much ass.). What's good about this throw? Well first of all its
extremely fast and wont get interrupted by other people trying to steal your
kill, its one of the most powerful throws in the game, and I love the way he
looks like he's doing it so effortlessly. Anyways not much to explain on this
one. All DK does here grab them and just chuck them the opposite way he's
facing with one arm.
RATING: *****


Grab Up: Ehhhh this throws alright. Good to use with the TILT up A swat for
some quick damage. But other than that not very useful. All he does is tosses
them over his head and up into the air.
RATING: **


Grab Down: I see no use for this throw at all, other than doing some cheap 7
damage or so. DK grabs them and pretty much just rams their face into the
ground.
RATING: *




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BREAK THE TARGETS
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Coming Soon

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MULTI MAN MELEE
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Heh looks like I got my work cut out for me here. DK is the absolute best
character to use for most of the multi man melees, just like Yoshi is the
absolute best for the home run contest, and its all because of one move yup you
got it the ground pound.

10 MAN MELEE: please if you need help beating the 10 man melee I suggest you go
out and get a genesis or something and get a game like Barney's Hide and Seek.
Just like all the other multi man melees find a nice place to stand and just
ground pound till there all gone.

100 MAN MELEE: don't let the name fool you, it wont take you more than 4
minutes to kill 100 people. Again  use the ground pound until you cant do it
any more or until you kill 100 wire frames.

3 MINUTE MELEE: This should take you about as long as it took to do the 100 man
melee, so don't worry about it and just keep pounding!

15 MINUTE MELEE: Now this is the part where you might want to find another
strategy. Unless of course your willing to sit down for 15 minutes watching the
same animation of DK over and over and over again, while holding down and
pressing B about a million times. The most popular strategy I think is to get
rid of all of the male wire frames because they're mostly the aggressive ones,
then once u have all females go hide in a corner, only hitting them when they
get near you. Female wire frames usually just jump around from platform to
platform and not going after you. The only time a female might attack you is
when they jump on the platform above you and jump down right next to you. At
this point just hit the A button which will send them away and back to their
platform jumping.

ENDLESS MELEE: I don't see why anyone would do this except for the trophy you
get after killing 100 wire frames but use the ground pound strategy again.

CRUEL MELEE: Take the name of this melee seriously, this is truly cruel and
unusual punishment for DK. The enemies are just too tough to get many kills
using the ground pound technique, and the females only technique only works on
timed multi man melees. So what do you do? Well I say use another character
like Roy. Roy's up B attack is fast and can kill them in just about one hit. If
you don't know who Roy is or how to get him please check another FAQ I really
don't want to list the secret characters.



******************************************************************************************GENERAL STRATEGIES ******************************************************************************************
And finally it's the strategies section this is the section where I will try
and share my thoughts on how to use DK effectively.

1. CHARGE THAT PUNCH:  The giant punch is DK's most important move so as soon
as the round starts get a couple of hits in, then retreat to an area away from
people and charge it up. If someone tries to stop you from charging it, either
roll of the way or just let go what u have charged and knock them away from you
and start charging it again.

2. ROLL!!!: Rolling is THE most important dodging maneuver (hold R or L and
press left or right). IMO you cannot be called a smash brothers expert if you
don't roll. This is because it is such a vital skill. If you see someone
running towards you for a running attack, just roll towards them right as they
strike and while they're still recovering from the attack get behind them grab
and throw, or even if they have a REALLY long recovery time give them a giant
punch.

3. EDGE GUARD: Edge guarding is a technique that had quite a controversy back
in the days of the original smash brothers. Edge guarding is when you knock
someone off but they didn't go quite far enough for a kill, you stand by the
edge and when they get close enough hit them again. Since they probably used
their second jump already to get back, they wont be able to use it again, thus
suffering a horrible death. While DK isn't the best edge guarder around (Roy
and Marth deserve that title I believe) his charged forward A smash attack can
make a good weapon for foes trying to get back on the playing field.

4. THE AVENGING APE: For this technique you have to do something which I don't
really promote unless its caused by someone else, dying. As you all probably
know when you die you are invincible for a short amount of time. What I like to
do is look to see who has the highest percentage, stay in the little floaty
thingy and wait till the highest % person  gets in a battle with someone else.
Once this happens drop down and quickly charge up your SMASH down A move and
when you think you have enough power release and watch him go flying. I have
used this technique on many skilled players and it does work. They will be too
busy taking care of the guy their working on and they wont notice you until its
too late.


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1 VS 1 STRATEGIES
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Ok i must admit, DK's not the greatest character to be for 1v1 matches. But if
you find that person who doubts the abilities of DK, heres how to show him whos
boss  : ).

Against Comps:
Note that these strategies are for lvl 9 comps.

EDGE GUARD!!: Edgeguarding for 1v1 is a crucial skill since you dont have to
worry about people hitting you while your waiting for your foe to get close
enough to you so you can nail him. Against people usually your best bet is to
use the foward smash attack, as it has good range and wont have them comming
back at all if you hit them with it. Your other option is to spike them with
the headbutt. This is probably the more dangerous way as sometimes it requires
you to jump off the platform yourself and try to intercept them, which could
lead to a suicide death if your not quick enough to get back on the edge.

USE FAST ATTACKS: Now i know this isnt an area where DK excells in, but the
standing A and TILT foward A can be useful to deal some quick damage and slowly
chip off some percent. Once you get them to about 50 you should start trying to
use your smash moves and throws.

ROLLING THUNDER: Heh you thought I was through talking about the roll didn’t
you? Well think again because in 1 on 1 its is even more important now. Rolling
should be your main way to hit your smash attacks.  Lets say your fighting Link
1v1. As soon as you see him reach back to do his forward smash (a very popular
move for link users), roll behind him and quickly do your downward smash attack
to send him into the air, thus setting him up for an air combo or killing him
if he’s at a high enough percent. Make sure to learn your opponents slow moves,
and when they use them, make them pay for it.

LEARN YOUR OPPONENT: On 1 on 1 DK needs to play the defensive mode and look for
mistakes in the aggressor to take advantage of them. To do this you have to
know which moves of your opponents are slow, if your opponent has good priority
against you, and how light/heavy he/she is (Light= they will go far at a
relatively low percent, Heavy= they need to be pretty high or hit pretty hard
to get off the stage.)


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3-4 PLAYER MATCHES
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TIME BATTLES
Now this is DK’s kind of match. Basically all of the general strategies apply
to this so its not really gonna be that big of a section, but I’ll add what I
can.

SCOUT OUT YOUR VICTIMS: if you see someone who is at over 100 percent put a big
fat target on his head and stick with him until you kill him. Chance are that
other people will be going after him too, so try to keep them at bay and away
from your kill!

GET THOSE ITEMS: Items are your friend, don’t be afraid to use them. The hammer
especially as it can quickly change the tide of the game around in your favor,
just make sure not to jump off the edge with it. If someone else gets the
hammer check the next strategy for help.

HAMMER TIME: So you were a little too slow about reaching the hammer and
someone else got it and is now on a killing rampage. What do you do? Well first
of all don’t be stupid and run towards him trying to hit it out of his hands,
as you will usually be asking for a one way flight to the great beyond. What
you do is stand your ground and wait for him to come to you. As soon as he gets
near you start pounding the ground and knock him in the air. Remember, he wont
begin swinging again until he hit’s the ground and recovers from the landing,
so while hes in the air hit him with an aerial up and A to either knock him
higher, kill him, or make him drop the hammer. Your second option is to give
him a giant punch as he gets near you. This isn’t guarenteed to work but if it
does it will almost surely knock the hammer out of his hands. Your final option
is to lure him to the edge and try to get them to jump off. People with hammers
usually only have 1 thing on their mind, destroy everything that moves. Use
this to your advantage and lure them towards the edge. Right when they get near
you, try and roll behind them. You might get hit in the process, but if you did
it well, they should have walked right off the edge and suffer a humiliating
death.


MORE TO COME



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HOMERUN CONTEST
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Now I actually had my own strategy for this that I was gonna put into this FAQ
but then I got this excellent strategy by Mario 64 Master and it just blows
away mine so ill just give him credit for this part of the FAQ.

Sent in by Mario 64 Master

Homerun Contest Grab the bat and quickly forward B the bag into the ground.
Make a quick transition to doing a down B. Most likely you will get 36% if the
bag pops out, but it's possible to have 45%. If you only get 36 then restart.
Then when it pops out, jump and spike it back down (down A). Land to the left
of it again. headbutt it again, and this time if you do pretty good, you'll get
it up to 116%. If you did it perfect like I did, you'll get 124%. Then hit it
with the bat. Now the problem with DK is that he doesn't hit the bag the
maximum distance unless you hit the bag with the very edge of the bat. To
compensate for that, this is what I do: Before you headbutt the bag for the
first time, walk a bit towards it. That when you do the down A, hit the bag and
fall to the left. That's why you moved towards the bag them, so you didn't have
to move towards it and then back when doing the down A. If both of your feet
are behind the second white line you should be able to get a screech attack and
send the bag over or very near to 1600 feet.



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SPECIAL THANKS
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CJayC for making such an excellent website which has provided for my gaming
needs

Nintendo and HAL for making 2 of my favorite games of all time SSB and SSB:M

Mario 64 Master from the Gamefaqs msg boards for telling me the strategy for
the homerun test

Mister Boo, Jac4211and IncredibleHulkk1 for telling me that DK’s head butt
could also be used as a spike, and that DK’s spinning kong can send someone
flying if they got hit while he was starting up the move.

And my friends Brian and Jared for being my number 1 rivals in this game


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CONTACT INFO
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Please feel free to contact me at [email protected] for any questions or
suggestions you may have on how to make my FAQ better or about something I said
that you don't understand. And please I don't want mail that comes from a 10
year old saying: DUDE UR FAQ SUXORZ WHY DON'T YOU MAKE A FAQ ABOUT SOME GOOD
CHARACTER LIKE (insert character name here). Anyways you get the idea. Also if
you see a typo, or something that just looks stupid, please contact me and tell
me EXACTLY where you found it and i'll try my best to find it and fix it.



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LEGAL STUFF
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Look you know the deal I worked really hard on this FAQ and I don't want to go
around to some website and see my hard work being shown without my permission.
If you really want to put this on your website you MUST E-Mail me first and IF
you get my permission you must give me full credit on it and it must remain
unaltered. Thanks  : )

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