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And now it’s time for some REAL SNOW. And some more Nintendo! And primates! That’s right, today’s ice level is Snow Barrel Blast, from Donkey Kong Country!

Snow Barrel Blast delivers what it promises. It has snow. It has barrels. It has blasting. What more could you want? Donkey Kong Country introduced barrels that, if entered, could launch a character like a cannon. The game had quite a few areas where several of these barrels  hung over bottomless pits; the idea being that you had to blast from one to the other in order to get across. This stage had quite a few of the standard enemies around these barrels. Vultures called Neckys and wasps called Zingers were common. There was even the slippery ice floor! But the big feature here was the snow. The blizzard doesn’t start off until partway through the stage, and even then it begins as a light snow in the background. As you progress, the snowfall gets closer and more intense, until the screen is covered in a huge snowstorm. The storm can be disorienting at first, and new players might find it difficult to launch from barrel to barrel under these circumstances.  With enough practice, this stage can be easily conquered.

And today’s wallpaper! If you like snow, barrels, and/or blasting, this is the wallpaper for you. The full version’s here!

Haha! MUSIC! Northern Hemispheres is the song it plays during Snow Barrel Blast. It has that lonely, cold atmosphere to it, which is perfect for traveling through a blizzard.

HahaHA! REMIX! Chekan Winter is a remix of Northern Hemispheres, by Prophecy. It’s a pretty liberal interpretation of the song but it’s cool and trance-y. It’s actually part of an album called Kong in Concert, which remixed every track in Donkey Kong Country. It’s one of the earliest OC Remix albums and it’s still great!