Last time I wrote about Donkey Kong Bananza, I discovered that DK is an ape and Diddy isn't. The revelation that adjoins this information is that Diddy is dumber and closer to death than DK.

Truly, an evolutionary dead-end.

Speaking of evolutionary dead-ends, Rare's time with the Donkey Kong brand contributed the plurality of character and world details that we associate with "the big ape."

This sounds instantly more accusatory than I intend - I'm not speaking of Rare as the dead-end. I'm talking about many of the so-called "characters" they contributed to the brand.

Lets talk about Manky Kong.

WAIT! GET BACK HERE, I DIDN'T DISMISS YOU!

Manky Kong is an orangutang that Rare created as an enemy for Donkey Kong Country (1994). He went unused for the remainder of Rare's time with the series - presumably because he's undeniably terrible. However he did show up in a few manga and as a sticker in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

I suspect this fact will be unsurprising, but the name "Manky" was, once again, Rare gracing a title from UK slang to one of their creations:

Used to describe an object that is unpleasantly dirty, usually because it is old or has been used a lot
-Cambridge Dictionary

Rare's use of British slang has always felt like it was their way to get one over on whoever was, at that moment, their foreign master (see: Ghoulies, Grabbed by the). In this case however, the oblique naughty reference was not of their own creation.

Nintendo Power published the Player's Guide - the official strategy guide of Donkey Kong Country. They described Manky Kong as follows:

Manky Kong is really mad. Probably because he was never accepted as part of the Kong group. The word "manky" seems to be derived from the words "mangy" and "skanky." It's certainly befitting for such an unsightly ape...

In fact, an issues of Nintendo Power likewise describe Manky Kong as "skanky." Even when they were trying to behave, Rare will always be Rare.

As for the actual episode, it's the 100%er Club Spoilercast for Donkey Kong Bananza. James and Greg have all the collectables and have a lot to say. Below are the chapters and timestamps.

• (00:01:48) Spoiler disclaimer.
• (00:02:43) Character builds, in a DK game?
• (00:10:35) The Layers, and what makes them special.
• (00:37:04) Pauline: Style Icon.
• (00:46:07) Fixing Rare's mistakes, and making new bosses to reuse.
• (00:54:03) The final boss, endgame, and wrap-up.

This episode was edited by James Jones. The "Men of Leisure" theme song was produced exclusively for Radio Free Nintendo by Perry Burkum. Hear more at Perry's SoundCloud. The Radio Free Nintendo logo was produced by Connor Strickland. See what he's up to at his website.

This episode features a number of tracks from Donkey Kong Bananza the ending music is Breaking Through (Heart of Gold). Composer has not yet been announced. Vocals by Jenny Kidd It was selected by James. All rights reserved by Nintendo Co., Ltd.