Rambi the Rhinoceros is a long-time recurring Animal Buddy from the Donkey Kong series.
Powers & Abilities
Strengths
Rambi can defeat nearly every enemy in the game, such as Awks, Frogoons, Hopgoons and so on. He is also capable of running through rocks, walls and blocks to get puzzle pieces and find hidden areas.
Weaknesses
Rambi is vulnerable to fire, so he cannot attack fire-flinging enemies, he cannot defeat enemies like Flaming Tiki Buzzes, Flaming Tiki Zings, Tiki Bombers and Tiki Torches. If he gets touched by fire, he will run away and Donkey Kong or Diddy will lose a heart. You can catch Rambi again if you jump on his back.
History
Donkey Kong Country
Rambi is considered one of the more useful buddies due to his incredible power to literally rampage through a level, destroying "any" enemy in his way, including the feared Zingers. Any enemy who goes directly in front of him will be hurt by his horn, or he can simply jump on enemies. Despite the brute strength, he can only endure one hit, as with the other animal buddies, and will try to flee when he gets hurt.
Donkey Kong Land
Rambi reappeared alongside Expresso in the follow up to the Donkey Kong Country game, Donkey Kong Land. He appears in slightly more levels than in Donkey Kong Country. He has not changed much aside from color and detail degrading; he easily rams through enemies and can open up secret bonus levels with his horn.
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Rambi also makes his first appearance in the first level of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. His function is also similar to his Donkey Kong Country debut, though he now has a "super move"[1], allowing his to charge very quickly through any enemy that comes in direct contact. He even has his own theme, "Run Rambi, Run!", on a level named after him: "Rambi Rumble", heard when he is chased by King Zing. The most major change is now that Rambi must use his charge attack to break open secret bonus areas, and the breakable bonus level areas are far less common due to the introduction of Bonus Barrels.
Donkey Kong Land 2
Rambi once again appeared in Donkey Kong Land 2, the semi-sequel to Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. As with his Donkey Kong Land incarnation, he has no major changes aside from color and detail degrading.
Donkey Kong 64
In Donkey Kong 64, he reappears and is exclusive to the levels Jungle Japes and Hideout Helm and can only be played as Donkey Kong via Animal Crate with Rambi's symbol on it. Rambi is also usable in a minigame in the game, unlocked by pictures of a certain number of Banana Fairies.
Donkey Kong Barrel Blast
Rambi is usable in the race track Mt. Dynamite of Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. In this game, the Kongs and Kremlings can ride him via freeing him from an Animal Crate.
Donkey Kong Country Returns
Rambi makes his fifth appearance in Donkey Kong Country Returns. He is found in a large Animal Crate that requires some ground pounding to break. Rambi is known to be very destructive and helpful; he can smash down blocks with his new symbol on them and can charge through hordes of enemies and even break spikes. His weakness is known to be fire. His first level appearance is the third level, Tree Top Bop but must be used in other levels like Temple Topple. In these levels, many crates are spread in the level, usually near checkpoints so the player can ride Rambi once again after losing a Balloon Life. When Diddy Kong controls Rambi he can use his jet pack to make Rambi hover briefly when jumping. Rambi and Squawks are the only animal buddies that appear in this game.
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze
Rambi returns as a ridable Animal Buddy in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze having the same function as in the previous game.
Cancelled Games
Diddy Kong Pilot
Rambi was going to appear as an item in Diddy Kong Pilot and allows the player to become invincible and attack others when touched.
Donkey Kong Racing
Rambis were going to appear in Donkey Kong Racing as rideable creature in the game. They come in various sizes, small, medium, and big. Taj can also be seen riding a Rambi in the trailer.
Gallery
Trivia
- Rambi did not reappear in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! or Donkey Kong Land III. Instead he has been replaced by Ellie the Elephant.
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