Our giant ape has moved from the mutant infested jungles to race tracks in Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast, which takes the entire universe of the franchise into high-powered barrel rockets racing.

Donkey Kong and a huge cast of buddies including Diddy, Dixie, Cranky and more are competing in a fast-paced racing adventure. With the Wii remote and nunchuck in hand, the player will be able to steer past the competition, use unique items and attack other racers with zany power ups. The game will include the following modes:

• Grand Prix: Includes races across 12 Cups
• Time Trial: Fly through a level solo and record best times
• Practice: Feel free to race through tracks without the hassle of time limits and opponents
• Candy’s Challenge: 32 quirky challenges ranging from speed runs to item collections
• Multiplayer: Up to four players can duke it out through all of the game’s modes
• Cranky’s Flight School: Perfect tutorial for the amateur racer

During the heat of racing, special moves, items and pick-ups will be available to increase add to the crazy high-octane experience. One such special move can be enabled after picking up 50 bananas that are littered throughout a course. Doing so will activate Wild Move which essentially makes the player travel at an extremely fast speed, giving them the ability to run over other opponents. A neat way to get the bananas is through red Style barrels in which players will go through, follow in-game steps to mimic onscreen Wii remote movements, and will instantaneously be showered with bananas.

Barrel Blast also includes 15 items from offensive weapons (such as Pineapple Launcher and Backwards Barrels) to power-ups (Banana Fairies and Crystal Coconut) which may turn the cards around during a race.

Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast is slated for a North American release on October 8th. We’ll have further updates as the time comes.