The game is a 3D adventure with strong platforming links, similar to that of Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie. There are a total of five playable characters, each with unique abilities and upgrades. The player starts out with access to Donkey Kong only, then goes on to unlock each of the other four Kongs as part of the gameplay. They are each necessary to defeat character-specific bosses in each level. Each feature length new Kong that is freed can be accessed as playable through tag barrels that are scattered throughout each world. Additionally, each Kong is represented by a color which works alongside the game’s unique collecting system where objects such as bananas and coins can only be collected by the Kong whose color corresponds to the color of that object.