Kongo Falls

Face off against your foes atop a raft stuck at the edge of a waterfall. How well you utilize the rock jutting out at the bottom right can be the difference between victory or defeat! Kongo Falls (, Raft and Waterfall), previously referred to as Kongo Jungle (, Kongo Jungle), is one of three Donkey Kong stages in Super Smash Bros. Melee. This stage is played in All-Star Mode when the player faces and any of his teammates. It returns in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with numerous aesthetic updates. In Ultimate, is fought here for his unlock battle.

Stage overview
The main fighting area of the stage is a raft stuck on the edge of a waterfall. The raft's bottom is fairly flat but has gentle curves that change as combatants run and jump on it. On either side is a vertical post with two platforms attached to the middle and top of each one. The posts themselves are always perpendicular to the raft, so when the raft moves a little, the post can change its position and thus change both platform angles on the posts. There is also a rock on which a character can stand on. It protrudes from the waterfall's edge on the right side.

Below the raft is a spinning barrel moving back and forth. If a player's fighter gets caught in it, the player can push any button to launch out their fighter in the direction the barrel's arrow faces. The barrel also fires out fighters who are in it for too long. The arrow sometimes stops while pointing to the bottom. Characters can get caught in it for too long, causing them to be eventually fired downward and KOed. The barrel occasionally stops and spins in place.

This stage also features a Donkey Kong series enemy, Klaptrap. If a character touches one, they will fly off to their death at middle to high percentage (unless shielded or air dodged). Klaptraps occasionally get caught in the barrel cannon, where they still KO the player if he or she touches them, effectively rendering the cannon unusable. There are logs that occasionally roll down the waterfall and stop before collapsing momentarily. They give characters a narrow platform to escape to for a few seconds before plummeting to the bottom of the waterfall. Crates can also come down the waterfall, and will deal 8% damage and weak knockback to players it hits.

When stage hazards are turned off in Ultimate, the barrel and Klaptrap are removed. In addition, the raft remains completely still when stood on.

When the player fights the false in The Great Maze, the stage resembles Kongo Jungle (except the colors and background are different).

Ω form and Battlefield form
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the Ω form and Battlefield form are set on a completely flat version of the normal form's main bottom raft on top of a large rock. The main platform is also resized and reshaped to match and, respectively. The rock is absent in both forms and Klaptraps and large logs no longer occasionally appear. The three soft platforms of the Battlefield form are flat versions of the ones in the regular form.

Hazards off
When stage hazards are turned off, the barrel and Klaptrap are removed. In addition, the raft remains completely still when stood on.

Origin


This stage is loosely based on the area from .; however, Kongo Jungle does not feature a raging river. In the background of this stage is, which appears on the world map for Kongo Jungle and in the beginning of the first level:.

At the time of Melees release, ' was the only game in the Donkey Kong'' series to feature a waterfall. The waterfall in the stage, however, is also a much lighter shade of blue.

Donkey Kong Country also features s that the player can shoot out of, and they can be found moving either up and down, left and right, or diagonally. There are also stationary Barrel Cannons that rotate around. In  there are Arrow Barrels that fire at whichever direction it is pointing at. This stage features an Arrow Barrel; however, it moves horizontally while rotating.

Klaptraps are a common enemy in Donkey Kong Country, and oftentimes are blue or purple; they crawl around and clamp their jaws. In this stage, they occasionally appear as a stage hazard by snapping their jaws at fighters as they come down the river.

Tournament legality
Kongo Jungle is usually banned in tournaments, primarily because the rock at the right of the screen creates an overabundance of camping. Klaptraps are also considered to be too dangerous and powerful for a stage hazard. The ledges are also notorious for their inconsistency with horizontal recovery routes, often leading to SDs.

However, it is legal under a unique ruleset called "Rishi's Jungle Jam", founded by Rishi. This is primarily a Melee ruleset, with 3 stocks, 5 minutes. It also features a single item: a Starman set to very low as a nuclear option to prevent rock camping. It generally isn't considered to be a serious ruleset, rather seen as satire. Despite this, it has been adopted as a popular side event at major tournaments such as Shine 2019 and, with great success, to the extent that it has also been adapted for Ultimate majors such as 2GG: Kongo Saga as a side event.

King of the Rock
King of the Rock is a gameplay variant described in Melee's instruction booklet. It suggests that players begin a one-minute timed match and compete to see who is standing on the lower-right rock platform when the timer expires. As the rock is very small and hard to land on, the battle will be quite messy. Computer players will not understand the goal, but will still go to where the fighting is, so they could feasibly participate.

Description in the Instruction Booklet
Play a MELEE on the KONGO JUNGLE stage and set the time to one minute. Position all players on the rock on the right side of the stage, then fight for control of the rock. The player in control when the time runs out wins the match.

Update history
 3.1.0
 * Kongo Falls's revival platforms locations have been changed.

Trivia

 * Kongo Jungle is the first stage in the  series to have fully vocalized music for its background track.
 * The platforms sway from side to side a tiny bit. The only effect it has on players is that it could be slightly harder to land on them.
 * Crates and logs float down the river. The latter gets stuck in the water unlike the former. Logs stick on either the left or right side of the stage. The stage's crates do not contain any items.
 * Every once in a while, a Klaptrap which gets stuck in the barrel will be shot onto the stage, dealing 30% damage and often KOing every fighter in the center of the stage. However, it can be countered.
 * Klaptrap cannot be summoned from an Assist Trophy in this stage, due to already being a stage hazard, but can still be summoned on the stage's Battlefield and Omega forms. Color TV-Game 15 can only be summoned on the Battlefield and Omega forms, while Dr. Kawashima cannot be summoned here at all. Additionally, Metagross and Marshadow can only be summoned from a Poké Ball on the Battlefield and Omega forms, the latter likely due to its shadow not showing up well on the logs on the stage's Normal form.
 * When playing as, he will stand on the porch of the treehouse. Up to three additional Trainers can stand atop the rocks in the river.