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Donkey Kong Country
DKC
North American boxart of the game Donkey Kong Country for SNES.
Developer(s) Rareware
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Main Development Staff Directors:
Chris Stamper[1]
Tim Stamper[1]

Designer:
Gregg Mayles[2]

Programmer:
Chris Sutherland

Artists:
Adrian Smith
Kevin Bayliss
Mark Stevenson
Steve Mayles

Writers:
Daniel Owsen[3]
Gregg Mayles

Composers:
David Wise
Eveline Fischer[4]
Robin Beanland[5]
Platform(s) Super Family Computer/Super Nintendo Entertainment System,
Game Boy Color,
Game Boy Advance,
Nintendo Wii,
Nintendo Wii U,
Nintendo 3DS,
Nintendo Switch
Release Date(s) Super Famicom/Super NES
UK November 18, 1994
USA November 21, 1994
Europe November 24, 1994
Japan November 26, 1994

Game Boy Color
Europe November 17, 2000
USA November 20, 2000
Japan January 21, 2001

Game Boy Advance
Europe June 6, 2003
USA June 9, 2003
Japan December 12, 2003

Nintendo Wii Virtual Console (SFC/SNES version)
Europe December 8, 2006
Japan December 12, 2006
USA February 19, 2007
South Korea May 26, 2008

Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console (SFC/SNES version)
Europe October 16, 2014
Japan November 26, 2014
USA February 26, 2015

Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console (SFC/SNES version)
Japan March 4, 2016
USA March 24, 2016
Europe March 24, 2016

Nintendo Switch Nintendo Switch Online[6] (SFC/SNES version)
Worldwide July 15, 2020
Genre(s) Platformer
Ratings ESRB: ESRB K-A Kids to Adults
Mode(s) Single player,
Multiplayer (2)
Media(s) SFC/SNES ROM Cartridge[7],
GBC ROM Cartridge,
GBA ROM Cartridge,
Downloadable Media (Nintendo eShop[8])
Input(s) SFC/SNES Controller,
GBC Buttons,
GBA Buttons
"I'll hunt them down through every part of my island, until I have every banana from my hoard back!!"
Donkey Kong in the Donkey Kong Country Instruction Booklet[9]

Donkey Kong Country (スーパードンキーコング, Sūpā Donkī Kongu in Japan) is a platformer game developed by Rareware and was first released for the Super Family Computer/Super Nintendo Entertainment System by Nintendo in 1994. The popular game is credited for its successful spin-off debut of Nintendo's very first game antagonist Donkey Kong from a decade before the game's release, as well as starting a new franchise entirely based around new characters and gameplay. While Rare had made some popular games in the past, such as Battletoads for Famicom/NES, Donkey Kong Country is credited with making them well-known in the industry.

The game is known for being the first game to use pre-rendered sprites[10], creating a three-dimensional effect throughout the game. The graphics were made with expensive Silicon[11] 3D graphic models and compressed into two-dimensional for the SFC/SNES. This allowed them to have more detail in animations, for a 16-bit console[12], which was revolutionary at the time.[13]

The game was very successful, since it sold over 8 million units and spawned a sub-series in the Donkey Kong franchise making several sequels, the Donkey Kong Land trilogy, Donkey Kong Country 2, Donkey Kong Country 3 and Donkey Kong 64. It is often viewed as a cult classic.

The game Donkey Kong Country was also remade by Rare and released for the Game Boy Color (as Donkey Kong 2001 in Japan) and Game Boy Advance (as Super Donkey Kong in Japan) in 2000-2001 and 2003, respectively.

The SFC/SNES version of Donkey Kong Country was re-released on the Virtual Console for Nintendo Wii in Europe on December 8, 2006, in Japan on December 12, 2006, in North America on February 19, 2007, and in South Korea on May 26, 2008. However, the service was discontinued for Wii in January 2019.

The same game version was later re-released on the Virtual Console for Nintendo Wii U in Europe on October 16, 2014, in Japan on November 26, 2014, and in North America on February 26, 2015. The game was also available on the Virtual Console for Nintendo 3DS in Japan on March 4, 2016, and in North America and Europe on March 24, 2016.

The SFC/SNES version of the game was re-released again on the Nintendo Switch exclusively through the online subscription service Nintendo Switch Online[6] worldwide on July 15, 2020.

Years later, this sub-series would be taken over by Retro Studios, alongside Monster Games[14], and they have so far made the game sequels Donkey Kong Country Returns, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

In 1995, a specialized competition variant named Donkey Kong Country Competition Cartridge was manufactured for use in various video game tournaments held throughout 1995. After that, the few existing cartridges were sold in a Nintendo Power subscriber catalogue, and the carts have since become a collector's item.

Story

The beginning is based on the Donkey Kong Country Instruction Booklet[15]. It would be later used as the Game Boy Advance version's opening. The opening can be viewed here.

On a dark and stormy night in Donkey Kong Island, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong's nephew has taken the weighty responsibility of guarding DK's precious banana hoard for one night, as a part of his "hero training". DK entrusts Diddy with protecting the hoard until midnight, when he would be relieved, while DK himself goes to sleep as he is tired.

DiddyguardBananasCountryAdvance

Diddy Kong hearing some mysterious noise while guarding the banana hoard at night in Donkey Kong Country for GBA.

Everything seems to go smoothly in the hoard until Diddy hears some noises. Diddy hears some voices outside and gets scared, asking who's there. King K. Rool, who had commanded his Kremling minions to steal the bananas. Two ropes drop from above and suddenly two Kritters appear. Diddy cartwheels them both easily, but then a Krusha (Klump in the instruction booklet) comes in as backup. As Diddy is not strong enough to defeat Krusha by himself, he is overpowered and defeated by the Kremling. The lizars seal Diddy inside a barrel and then throw it in the bushes.

Donkey's grandfather, Cranky Kong, rushes inside the treehouse to tell Donkey Kong to wake up so he may tell him what happened. He then tells Donkey to check his Banana Cave. Donkey Kong is infuriated, exclaiming that the Kremlings will pay for stealing his banana hoard and kidnapping his little buddy. Donkey goes on to say that he will hunt every corner of the island for his bananas back.

DonkeyKongCountryendingscreen

Revisiting the Banana Cave in the stage Jungle Hijinxs after completing the game once as seen in the SFC/SNES version.

After eventually finding Diddy and releasing him from the barrel, the Kongs' quest would take them all over Donkey Kong Island. They travel through Kongo Jungle, the ruins of the Monkey Mines, the forests of Vine Valley, the snowy tundra of Gorilla Glacier, the polluted area of Kremkroc Industries, and finally, the Chimp Caverns. After that, Donkey and Diddy Kong face King K. Rool on the ship Gang-Plank Galleon.

Once King K. Rool is defeated, Cranky asks DK to check his banana hoard as he is in for a big surprise. Once Donkey and Diddy Kong go into their Banana Cave, all of their bananas are seen returned.

Overview

General Gameplay

DKDiddyHighFive

Artwork of Donkey and Diddy Kong.

CartwheelDiddy

Artwork of Diddy Kong cartwheeling.

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong work together in the adventure to get their bananas back. The gameplay in the game introduces a unique "tag team" element into play, unseen in most platformer games such as Super Mario World, which was popular at the time. For example, if one Kong was to be harmed, he would run away, and was out of play until a DK Barrel was found and broken apart. Once both are defeated or if any Kong falls into a pit, a single life is lost.

Diddy and Donkey Kong follow each other throughout the adventure, with their own unique attributes. Diddy can move slightly faster, can climb and swim faster, can cartwheel, can jump higher and farther, and hold barrels like a shield. Diddy is considered the best to use to get Bonus Rooms and other goodies to be found. Though Diddy cannot handle some enemies by himself, namely Krusha (unless he uses a barrel to defeat the enemy). Additionally, his cartwheel can also defeat Klump. Donkey Kong runs a little slower, and his rolling does not go as far as Diddy's cartwheel, though Donkey Kong has his own special move called "Hand Slap", which can defeat regular enemies instantly and produce bananas. The optional move can also reveal hidden items on rugged pieces of horizontal surfaces. By jumping on, Donkey can defeat some enemies an unarmed Diddy could not, such as Krusha. Both Kongs can use their roll attacks to defeat multiple enemies in succession, while keeping momentum. It is also possible to roll into pits and jump at any moment during the move. This optional move, dubbed "Roll-Jump", allows the player to safely collect items inside pits and jump across longer distances.

Modes

In the "Select a Game" screen of the SFC/SNES version of Donkey Kong Country, the player can choose between three game files or erase game files. After the player picking a new game file, the game has three main modes.

  • Single Player: where one player controls both Donkey and Diddy Kong in the quest.
  • Two Player Team: where player one controls Donkey Kong and player two controls Diddy Kong. Both can tag each other throughout a playthrough, but only the current main player can make inputs in the game and change positions. If one character is defeated, the game will pause and wait for the other player to continue on by pressing the "Y" or "B" button, and they can summon the other character with a DK Barrel. By losing one extra life, positions will change automatically even if both characters are not present. Completing a stage will not change the positions of characters. Also, the game will keep track of the amount of completed stages by each character.
  • Two Player Contest: same as the two player team, except each player controls a Kong duo of different colored clothes by taking turns per stages. The player one controls two characters dressing red, and the player two controls two characters in yellow. Completing a stage or losing one extra life will change players' turns. This mode is a contest to see who can complete the game first.

The later versions of Donkey Kong Country added new options and modes.

  • Game Boy Color version:
    • Adventure: the main game mode, where the player can choose and manage three game files.
      • Candy's Challenge: a minigame present in each world where certain challenge has to be completed to get a Banana Coin. There are only six challenges in the Adventure mode and after completed, they cannot be played again.
    • Bonus: mode where the player can play minigames, access the game's hi-scores and check Banana Coins collected in the Adventure mode.
      • Funky Fishing: a free fishing minigame where the Kongs have to fish for certain types of fish or items.
      • Crosshair Cranky: a free minigame where the player must shoot at Kremlings or provide a safe path for Animal Buddies. After accessing it, variations of minigame are located over some small islands at the western side of the overworld map of the Donkey Kong Island. Completing all six minigames unlocks the option Make Banner in the Print menu.
        • Kremlings and Kongs: the player must shoot at fifty Kremlings while avoiding to shoot at Donkey and Diddy Kong.
        • Barrel O' Kremlings: the requirements for clearing the minigame is to shoot at one hundred of Kremlings appearing from a circle of barrels.
        • Kremling Krackdown: the objetive is to shoot at seventy Kremlings before all banana bunches are stolen by them.
        • Buddies Beware: the player must shoot coconuts at holes providing a safe path for twenty-five Animal Buddies.
        • Wanted: the minigame is cleared by the player shooting at seventy Kremlings displaying specific colors and appearing from a circle of barrels.
        • Galleon Gunner: the objetive is to shoot at some cannons for thirty-six times, before any of them fires at the screen.
    • Print: option where the player can access the Sticker Book with eighteen unlockable stickers, and use the Game Boy Printer[16] add-on to print these stickers. After unlocked, the Make Banner option allows the player to create a banner sporting a message.
    • Options: where the player can manage music and sound effects in the game. It is also possible to desactivate DK Barrels and Star Barrels in the Adventure mode after completing the game once with a rate of at least eighty-one percent (by completing every stage, every Bonus Room, and getting all six Banana Coins at Candy Kong's Challenges in the Adventure mode).
      • Star Barrels On/Off and DK Barrels On/Off: disabling Star Barrels and/or DK Barrels in the Options menu can be considered a hard mode. Completing the game after desactivating these barrels, not necessarily in the same playthrough, will raise the completion rate percentage. And the stickers of the Sticker Book can only be found inside some stages during specific difficulty conditions.
SelectCountryAdvance

The mode selection screen of the Game Boy Advance version.

  • Game Boy Advance version:
    • Start: the main mode where the player can manage game files and change language in the game. After picking a file, the player must choose between the modes 1 Player, 2 Player Team or 1 Player Hero, and input a name by using until three letters.
      • 1 Player: very similar to Single Player in the SFC/SNES version, one player controls both Donkey and Diddy Kong in the main game.
      • 2 Player Team: similar to Two Player Team in the SFC/SNES version. However, after one of the playable characters is harmed or they change places, the game will pause and prompt the player to press the "Start" button to continue, probably waiting for the current player to pass the GBA handheld away to the next one. Completing a stage will not change the positions of characters, but losing one extra life will change positions even if both characters are not present. The game will also register the number of completed stages by each character, including boss stages. It is possible to decrease one character's counter by replaying and completing a cleared stage using the opposite character.
      • 1 Player Hero: where the player can only play as Diddy Kong wearing yellow clothes, with no Star Barrels and DK Barrels are replaced by Vine Barrels. This mode is unlocked by completing the game once with a rate of ninety percent, at least.
    • DK Attack: a mode where the player has to get to the end of the stage under fifty-nine seconds. Extra seconds can be collected, and points are earned by collecting items and defeating enemies in succession. The player will always start stages only with Donkey Kong, but they can summon Diddy Kong by finding and throwing DK Barrels. If the last Kong is harmed, the player will lose twenty seconds, but they will be able to continue on. The player will fail instantly by falling into pits. A rank from "D" through "S" will be given for the final score in a completed stage. Every stage in the game can be played, except boss stages. Bonus Rooms are still accessible, and it is possible to restart or quit stages by pausing the game.
    • Extras: option where the player can play minigames from the main mode. It is possible to play the minigames in single player or multiplayer by using a Game Link Cable[17] with another GBA system.
      • Funky's Fishing: a fishing minigame very similar to the one in the Game Boy Color version. The minigame is unlocked after it is played at any of Funky Kong's locations in the main game mode. In each world location, collecting certain number of fish or items within the time limit will earn the Kongs a Photograph for the Scrapbook.
      • Candy's Dance Studio: a rhythm minigame[18], where the player must use good timing to press the command prompts at the top of the screen. Each music of the minigame is unlocked after it is played at specific Candy Kong's locations in the main game mode. In each world location, by hitting button prompts with very good timing and moving the cursor to the zone next to the "Perfect" on the gauge at the bottom of the screen, the heroes will get a Photograph for the Scrapbook.

Characters

Kong Family

In the game, Donkey and Diddy Kong are assisted in their perilous quest by a few members of the Kong Family.

  • Donkey Kong: he is the grandson of Cranky Kong, a famous hero and the current leader of the Kong Family. Donkey Kong is the first playable character in the game. He possesses great strength, being capable of defeat strong enemies by himself. Donkey can also execute roll attack and hand slap moves.
  • Diddy Kong: he is the best friend and sidekick of Donkey Kong. Diddy Kong is the second playable character in the game Donkey Kong Country. He wants to become a hero like Donkey Kong. Despite being a weaker character, Diddy can move faster, and jump higher when compared to Donkey Kong. He can also use a cartwheel move in order to defeat regular enemies in the game.
Cranky

Artwork of Cranky Kong.

  • Cranky Kong: he is Donkey Kong's grandfather, and antagonist from the original Donkey Kong game. Cranky is the first Kong ally seen in Donkey Kong Country. The old primate comments about how he likes the games from his time better and makes fourth wall[19]-breaking jokes. He can also give hints of stages in the current world to the Kongs when they drop by his cabin. Cranky narrates and congratulates the Kongs in the ending of the game. In the Game Boy Advance version, his cabin is renamed Cranky's Hut, and he also appears to give commentary after defeating the bosses.
  • Funky Kong: he makes his first appearance halfway through Kongo Jungle, in the Funky's Flights in the SFC/SNES and Game Boy Color versions of the game, and Funky's Fishing in the Game Boy Advance version. He freely lets the Kongs use his Jumbo Barrel in the rest of the worlds. The Jumbo Barrel allows them to quickly jump to the overworld map and navigate worlds the heroes have finished (otherwise done by defeating the boss stage) or simply navigate the area faster, with Funky Kong's unique song theme. In the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance versions, he also hosts a fishing minigame.
  • Candy Kong: she allows the player to save their progress at her save point, Candy's Save Point, in the SFC/SNES version. Getting to her point is often viewed as a big accomplishment due to the fact that getting to her location is usually far in a world. In the Game Boy Color version, she is present in the Candy's Challenge, where she offers a challenge for a Banana Coin. In the Game Boy Advance version, she can be meet in the Candy's Dance Studio, where hosts a dancing rhythm minigame[18].

Animal Buddies

The Kong Family are not the only ones to aid Donkey and Diddy Kong in their quest, the wildlife also help. Each Animal Buddy is prisoner in a crate with their symbol on it.

  • Rambi the Rhinoceros: is first found halfway through the first stage in the game. He is capable on rampaging through Kremlings and other enemies, and opening entrances to Bonus Rooms in walls by using only his powerful horn.
EnguardeArtworkCountry

Artwork of Enguarde the Swordfish.

  • Enguarde the Swordfish: is exclusively found in underwater stages. Enguarde is a swordfish with a large bill. With it, he can defeat practically any underwater enemy (with a few exceptions), while the Kongs cannot. Enguarde also allows the Kongs to swim faster and not sinking in the water.
  • Winky the Frog: has a very high jumping ability, nearly three times higher than the normal Kongs'. With this ability, he can reach Bonus Rooms or simply avoid foes. He can defeat most enemies by jumping on them, including Zingers.
  • Squawks the Parrot: is the only non-rideable Animal Buddy in the game, and he only appears once in the Gorilla Glacier stage Torchlight Trouble. There, he carries a bright lamp to illuminate the way forward in the otherwise dark stage. Squawks returns in the game's sequels with more important roles.
  • Expresso the Ostrich: is the tallest and fastest Animal Buddy. With his height, he can completely avoid small foes, commonly the Klaptraps. Expresso has no means of attack, but can glide good distances to find secret Barrel Cannons to Bonus Rooms.

Enemies

KritterDKC

Artwork of Kritter, foot soldiers in the Kremling army.

ZingerDKC

Artwork of Zinger, a pestering bee-like enemy.

Many enemies, all of whom are grunts under King K. Rool's army, will stand in the Kongs' way. The enemies are very varied in Donkey Kong Country and some, in one shape or another, return in the sequels and a few later games. A majority of these enemies, such as Gnawty and Kritter, are very common, though a few are rare, such as Chomps. The enemies mostly consist of generic, animal-based foes.

Bosses

DKCBossArena

The background of the typical boss arena in the SFC/SNES version. Though the size and length vary per boss stage.

Bosses in this game are found at the end of each world. They are usually enlarged versions of regular enemies. The bosses guard a large portion of Donkey and Diddy Kong's Banana Hoard. In fact, most of the arenas where each boss is fought are comprised of portions of the banana hoard. The player also does not need to go though a whole stage to reach the boss. As soon as they enter the stage, the boss battle will start. Additionally, during regular modes, if the character in the secondary position is missing, a DK Barrel will always break open at the start, summoning the character. After defeating bosses, the Kongs will earn single Giant Bananas, symbolic collectables. The bosses in the game are, in order of appearance:

Items and Objects

During their adventure, Donkey and Diddy Kong will run in a variety of collectables and other usable items. There are a variety of items.

BananaDKC

Artwork of a banana, the most common item in the game.

  • Banana: the most common collectable in the game. Inside stages, they sometimes indicate which path to follow and can also hint locations of secrets. By collecting 100 bananas, the player will earn one extra life.
  • Banana Bunch: each banana bunch contains ten bananas. In the GBC version, green banana bunches indicate the location of stickers.
  • Extra Life Balloons: are colored balloons shaped after Donkey Kong's face and they represent the player's extra lives. There are three types of extra life balloons to collect. The red balloon grants one single extra life; the green one, two extra lives; and the blue one, three extra lives. By losing all extra lives during the main game, the game will send the player to the Game Over screen, and they will need to restart from the beginning or use a saved game file to continue the game, if there is one. In the SFC/SNES and GBC versions, the number of extra lives is never saved in the game files. The player will always start or continue a game with only five extra lives. This issue is not present in the GBA version, where the player can continue a previously saved game with their current number of extra lives. If the player is able to make the main characters to bounce on eight enemies consecutively in the SFC/SNES version, they will earn an extra life, and each additional consecutive attacks will generate single extra lives. In the GBA version, the same exploit will reward the player with only a single extra life for bouncing on each series of seven enemies consecutively.
  • K-O-N-G Letters: collecting all four letters during a stage will earn one extra life to the player. In the GBA version, it is possible to view the collected K-O-N-G Letters during a stage by pausing the game, except if all four letters are already collected.
  • Tires: are used by the Kongs to bounce and reach high places. Most of the tires in the game are half-buried in the ground. However, in some occasions, it is possible to find tires to push around the stage and use them to reach items and Barrel Cannons to Bonus Rooms.
  • Animal Tokens: during a stage, collecting three of the same type of animal tokens will send the player to a special Bonus Room. There, the player will be able to control the Animal Buddy of the token and collect small animal tokens within a time limit. After the time limit is up, the total of small tokens collected is counted, and the player will receive one extra life for each 100 tokens. After the special Bonus Room, the player will immediately return to the beginning of the stage or checkpoint in the Star Barrel.
  • Mine Carts: are vehicles used by the Kongs to move over tracks in some mine stages. Careful timing is necessary to jump over pits, and avoid obstacles and enemies on the tracks.
  • Stickers: are exclusive unlockables in the Sticker Book of the Print menu in the GBC version. There is a total of eighteen stickers, being found buried in the ground nearby green Banana Bunches. The stickers are revealed by falling from high heights or hand slapping the ground in their locations. Stickers must be collected in the first game playthrough, and during harder playthroughs with Star Barrels and/or DK Barrels desactivated. They also have effect in the completion rate percentage of the game.
  • Photographs: are exclusive collectable items to the Scrapbook of the GBA version. There is a total of fifty-two photographs to collect. They are hidden in some stages, they are earned by defeating some enemy types in specific ways or completing the required tasks in the minigames Funky's Fishing and Candy's Dance Studio in each respective location. The Scrapbook can be accessed in the menu revealed by pressing the "Start" button in the game maps. The photographs contain official artwork of characters from the game. These items are necessary to increase the completion rate percentage.

Barrels

The concept of barrel throwing is re-imagined in Donkey Kong Country. Much different from the initial Donkey Kong concept, as now barrels are not only a weapon, but also serve many other useful purposes:

  • Wooden Barrels: are basic, symbol-less barrels that can be thrown and rolled. They a basic weapon against enemies, including stronger foes imune to jump attacks, such as Zingers and gray Krushas. These barrels can be used in walls to reveal secret entrances to Bonus Rooms. Wooden barrels are the basis for other barrels.
  • DK Barrels: they can be throw to summon a defeated Kong. They can also be used as weapons or to reveal Bonus Rooms like wooden barrels. However, in comparison to wooden barrels, they are more fragile barrels, breaking upon contact with anything. In the regular modes, when visiting a boss stage with a single Kong, the game will give automatically a DK Barrel to the player. In the GBC version, after breaking a DK Barrel, an icon will appear at the bottom left of the screen, allowing to change between Donkey and Diddy Kong. It is due to the GBC's hardware limitations of showing only one playable character on the screen at a time. After completing the game once, DK Barrels can be also desactivated in the Options menu, allowing to play the Adventure mode in harder difficulty. Homever, the player will always start or continue a stage with both playable Kongs at their disposal. In the 1 Player Hero mode of the GBA version, DK Barrels are replaced by Vine Barrels.
  • Vine Barrels: are a type of wooden barrel. The most notable difference is the fact that they break upon contact with anything, even the ground.
  • Steel Kegs: can be thrown and they roll on the ground and also bounce against walls. If the Kongs are able to catch them and jump over them, the primates will move along the steel kegs.
  • TNT Barrels: are rare, powerful barrels full of explosive TNT[20]. After they are throw, they will create a short wave of fire, defeating all enemies nearby. If the player picks a TNT barrel up, and put it back on the ground peacefully, the barrel will explode after a few seconds.
StarBarrel

Artwork of a Star Barrel.

  • Star Barrels: are the game's checkpoints. The player must jump towards the barrel to break it and activate the checkpoint. The latest checkpoint will keep activated even if the player exits the current stage. Star Barrels will also keep the current K-O-N-G Letters collected by the player before they hit the barrels. In the GBC version, Star Barrels can be desactivated in the Options menu after completing the game once. In the 1 Player Hero mode of the GBA version, there are no Star Barrels.
  • Barrel Cannons: are the only mean of transportation in some stages sections. After the Kongs get inside a Barrel Cannon, the player must make a input to launch the primates. Most of the regular Barrel Cannons will move, demanding good timing from the player to progress, and avoid enemies nearby and/or fall into pits.
  • Autofire Barrels: Barrel Cannons that fire almost immediately upon the Kongs landing inside. These barrels are also used to reach some Bonus Rooms. Some invisible Autofire Barrels can warp the Kongs towards the end of stages.
  • Bonus Barrels: replace some Autofire Barrels in the GBA version, sending the primates to Bonus Rooms.
  • Warp Barrels: replace some Autofire Barrels in the GBA version, shooting the heroes to areas near the exit of stages. Some new invisible Warp Barrels were added in the same version.
  • Funky Barrel or Jumbo Barrel: is an airplane shaped-barrel that is the main way of transportation provided by Funky Kong in the Funky's Flights/Funky's Fishing. It is the only way to get out the current world without defeating the boss.
  • Stop & Go Barrels: are encountered exclusively in the Monkey Mines stage Stop & Go Station. Touching these barrels will temporarily turn all of the lights red and keep Rockkrocs, indestructive enemies, from moving and harming the primates in the stage.
  • On & Off Barrels: are used temporarily to turn on the lights only in the Chimp Caverns stage Loopy Lights.
  • Fuel Barrels: are a one-time usage barrel collected to keep platforms on limited fuel moving. In most of the cases, the Kongs must avoid to miss these barrels or the moving platform will fall down and drop the primates inside a pit, losing one extra life.

Worlds and Stages

Kongo Jungle Overworld

The access to Kongo Jungle in the overworld map of the Donkey Kong Island as seen in the SNES version.

In the European and North American versions of the game for SNES, the location of the treehouse in the overworld map, marked by a Donkey Kong icon and placed just before the world Kongo Jungle, cannot be accessed. Donkey Kong is shown to start off his journey by leaving this area and heading to Kongo Jungle.

Each world in the game contains a single location related to Cranky, Funky and Candy Kong, respectively. Uncleared stages and worlds are marked by a Kremling icon in the maps. Cleared stages are marked by the icon of the current main character reaching the exit of the stages once.

Cleared worlds are marked by the icon of the current main character beating the respective boss stages in the worlds once. In the SFC/SNES and GBC versions, it is possible to leave all cleared stages, except boss stages, by pausing the game and pressing the "Select" button. In the GBA version, the player can also leave cleared boss stages by using the same method.

In the SFC/SNES and GBA versions, an exclamation mark after the name of a stage (and a world, in the GBA version) indicates all Bonus Rooms in the area have been found. In the GBC version, finding all Bonus Rooms inside a stage and clearing it is indicated by a red font at its name in the world map. Many stages have been swapped around in positions in the GBA version starting from the world Vine Valley.

Kongo Jungle

Kongo Jungle GBA

Kongo Jungle as seen in the GBA version.

Monkey Mines

Monkey Mines GBA

Monkey Mines as seen in the GBA version.

Vine Valley

Vine Valley GBA

Vine Valley as seen in the GBA version.

Gorilla Glacier

Gorilla Glacier GBA

Gorilla Glacier as seen in the GBA version.

Kremkroc Industries Inc.

KremkrocIndustriesAdvance

Kremkroc Industries Inc. as seen in the GBA version.

Chimp Caverns

Chimp Caverns

Chimp Caverns as seen in the GBA version.

Gang-Plank Galleon

Gangplamk Galleon

Gang-Plank Galleon as seen in the GBA version.

This pirate ship is not a world, but the stage of the final boss battle against King K. Rool in the game. The ship can actually be seen approaching closer and closer each time a world is complete until it is finally accessible after beating Chimp Caverns. It is less evident in the GBA version due to how the screen in the overworld map of the Donkey Kong Island is zoomed in.

Shooting Minigames (Game Boy Color version only)

In the GBC version of Donkey Kong Country, there are new small islands at the western side of the overworld map of the Donkey Kong Island hosting variations of the minigame Crosshair Cranky. These locations are only accessible by the player picking the Crosshair Cranky option in the Bonus menu of the game, and they are unlocked in similar way to stages from the Adventure mode, where the player must clear a minigame once in order to move to the next one.

  • Kremlings and Kongs
  • Barrel O' Kremlings
  • Kremling Krackdown
  • Buddies Beware
  • Wanted
  • Galleon Gunner

Stage Environments

Image Type Description Amount Music theme(s)
Jungle DKC Jungle Donkey Kong Country starts it's first stage deep in the jungle. These stages are linear, and sometimes affected by heavy rainfall. 4 DK Island Swing
Cave DKC Cave Cave stages often feature narrow and cramped spaces, with numerous enemies lurking in the dark of the caves. These stages are mainly linear but also feature a few vertical segments. Cave stages are also among the most common stage environments. Some caves are very dark, so the Kongs must rely on an Animal Buddy to reveal the path for them. 6 Cave Dweller Concert
Corals DKC Coral reef These underwater stages feature both horizontal and vertical segments to progress through and are the only stages to include the Animal Buddy Enguarde the Swordfish. One coral reef stage was also polluted by the Kremlings. 4 Aquatic Ambience
Walkway DKC Walkway Walkway stages are set in a dark underground environment. Much wildlife and numerous Kremlings lurk in the dark, but luckily there are a few old lamps here which reveal the path. These stages also feature countless pits. 5 Life in the Mines / Mine Cart Madness
Mineshaft DKC Mineshaft These forgotten underground mineshafts often feature minecart sections. Some, however, are completely traversed by the Kongs themselves. Dangerous enemies have made their home here, most notably Rockkrocs. 4 Misty Menace / Mine Cart Madness
Ruins DKC Ruins Here in these ancient ruins lie difficult platforming challenges and Gnawties chasing the Kongs in millstones. The ruins have been built by the Kremlings at one point, as evident by the Kremling head statues scattered throughout these ruins. 2 Voices of the Temple
Forest DKC Forest A typical forest environment inhabited by numerous Neckies. Forest stages are linear and usually require tight platforming skills, and good control over Barrel Cannons. 2 Forest Frenzy
Treetops DKC Treetops Throughout the treetops are scattered many thin platforms which the Kongs have to traverse. Although the place seems abandoned, the Kremlings and countless other species still roam these treetops to give the Kongs a hard time. 2 Treetop Rock
Snowy Mountain DKC Snow-capped mountains The slippery terrain and the difficult weather conditions make it harder for the Kongs to be aware of their surroundings. Snowfall is common in these stages. 2 Northern Hemispheres
Icy Cave DKC Frozen Cave This one-time environment offers difficult platforming with long ropes. The slippery ground makes traversing the stage even harder. 1 Ice Cave Chant
Factory DKC Factory These large factories were built by the Kremlings, and many oil drums lie in these stages. On one occasion, the light turns off regularly. 2 Fear Factory
Boss Arena DKC Boss arena This is the environment for all the boss battles, in the middle of massive banana piles. 6 Bad Boss Boogie
Ship Deck DKC Ship This is the battlefield for the last fight with King K. Rool. 1 Gang-Plank Galleon

Version Differences

See also: Donkey Kong Country/Version differences

Regional Differences

See also: Donkey Kong Country/Regional differences

Differences between SFC/SNES, GBC and GBA versions

Game Boy Color

The game was remade to the Game Boy Color in 2000-2001. Differences include:

  • The starting cutscene from the SFC/SNES version where Cranky Kong plays a phonograph[21] and Donkey Kong drops a boombox[22] is missing in the GBC version.
  • Three alternate title screens featuring special artworks are shown: the first being underwater, the second being in the jungle and the third in a mining area.
  • The rotating menu selection screen is based on the one from the game Donkey Kong 64.
  • Two minigames have been added in the Bonus menu: Funky hosts a fishing game known as Funky Fishing (which would be later reappear in the Game Boy Advance version) and Cranky oversees a shooting game called Crosshair Cranky.
  • There is also a Sticker Book in the Printer menu. Through the three difficulty modes, the player can find Stickers inside stages nearby green Banana Bunches and unlock a total of eighteen of them. These same stickers depict special artworks, and they can be printed by using a Game Boy Printer[16] add-on.
  • Despite no being separated between two halves, the world maps sport very similar designs to the ones from the SFC/SNES version, with most of the stage locations keeping the same order. However, a few supporting Kong services have swapped places.
  • Candy now runs Challenge stalls where certain challenges have to be completed to get single special Banana Coins, also added in this game version.
  • The gameplay physics are similar to the ones from the SFC/SNES version. However, the main characters are capable of jumping slightly higher, especially following a roll move, and momentum for defeating multiple enemies by using roll attacks is longer.
    • Donkey Kong's Hand Slap move is still present in this version, being capable of defeating regular enemies when used nearby them, but it no longer generates single bananas from enemies. The same move must be used nearby green Banana Bunches inside stages in order to uncover Stickers for the Sticker Book.
  • Much like Donkey Kong Land series games, only one playable Kong appears on the screen at a time.
  • The main characters do not ride the Animal Buddies, rather, the primates transform into them after bouncing on Animal Crates. After they taking damage once, the current main playable Kong will reappear in their place. The same can also be accomplished by the player pressing the "Select" button as an Animal Buddy. And, by leaving the screen and returning to the same locations of Animal Crates, the player can use them multiple times to turn the heroes into Animal Buddies again.
  • Unlike the SFC/SNES version, DK Barrels in the air or underwater will not break when touched even if one of the main characters in the secondary position is already present.
  • In the GBC version, most of the land enemies have pre-determined patrol routines. Unlike the SFC/SNES and GBA versions, they rarely wander off their locations across environments of stages, including not falling off platforms nor into pits.
  • The game automatically saves after the player clearing any single stage. But the game files do not keep track of the current number of extra lives. After loading any files, the number always returns to five. The same also happens to collected Animal Tokens, with the numbers of each type returning to zero.
  • The exploit of earning extra lives by bouncing on consecutive enemies is no longer present in this game version.
  • Finding all Bonus Rooms inside a stage and clearing it, and completing a Candy's Challenge are indicated by a red font at their names in the world maps.
  • Over half of the music themes from the game Donkey Kong Land was reused.
  • The Monkey Mines stage Winky's Walkway is extended, containing more enemies, and Star Barrel and some K-O-N-G Letters being placed further in it. The same stage also contains a single Mini-Necky, enemy which would only debut in later stages of the SFC/SNES and GBA versions.
  • The Autofire Barrel used as warp point to the final section is removed from the Monkey Mines stage Mine Cart Carnage.
  • The stages Stop & Go Station, Misty Mine, and Loopy Lights now play the song theme Mine Cart Madness instead of Misty Menace, despite the fact these stages are not mine cart stages.
  • In the GBC version, the enemies Millstone Gnawties are orange/red and ride on smaller stone wheels when compared to the SFC/SNES and GBA versions. And instead of riding on the interior of the wheels, these variants of Gnawties ride on the top of them.
  • Unlike the SFC/SNES and GBA versions, variants of Croctopuses appearing only in the Gorilla Glacier stage Croctopus Chase are not visually distinct from their regular counterparts.
  • There is no alcove containing an Animal Crate for Enguarde the Swordfish in the Gorilla Glacier stage Croctopus Chase of this version.
  • A second Animal Crate for Expresso the Ostrich no longer can be found inside the first Bonus Room of the Gorilla Glacier stage Ice Age Alley, unlike the SFC/SNES and GBA versions.
  • The world Kremkroc Industries Inc. is now called just Kremkroc Industries in this game version.
  • Unlike the SFC/SNES and GBA versions, a single regular Krusha is no longer present at the final section of the Kremkroc Industries stage Trick Track Trek.
  • A new stage called Necky Nutmare has been added to the world Chimp Caverns, being located between the stages Misty Mine and Loopy Lights. The same stage also features stronger variants of Krushas earlier, and, unlike the SFC/SNES and GBA versions, it is an additional one to a single location in the game to do that.
  • The credits cutscene can be seen showing various screenshots instead of it taking place inside the Donkey and Diddy Kong's Treehouse, like in the SFC/SNES version.
  • Clearing the main game at certain percentage rates unlocks options in the Options menu of turning off DK Barrels and Star Barrels, respectively, during the Adventure mode, creating new difficulty modes.

Game Boy Advance

Donkey Kong Country Gameboy Advance print ad NickMag June july 2003

Print advertisement for the GBA version of Donkey Kong Country in the Nickelodeon Magazine[23], in 2003.

Another remake of Donkey Kong Country was made for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. The changes for this one include:

  • The starting cutscene from the SFC/SNES version where Cranky Kong plays a phonograph and Donkey Kong drops a boombox is also not present in the GBA version.
  • After starting a new game file, an opening cutscene based on the story in the instruction booklet has been added.[15]
  • All the maps have been completely redesigned. They are no longer divided between two halves, like in the SFC/SNES version, but the maps are now very large, being impossible to see them entirely through the screen by usual means.
    • In the SFC/SNES version, paths between locations in the maps are marked by tiny stone circles. In the GBA version, the paths are marked by banana peels. Also in the GBA version, when moving between locations in the maps, it is possible to quickly change directions.
    • In most of the world maps, the progression across locations is made completely linear, when compared to the SFC/SNES version.
    • Unlike the SFC/SNES version, it is possible to change one character icon of cleared stage and world by replaying and completing the stage and boss stage, respectively, with the opposite character.
  • The map screens have a hidden menu prompted by the "Start" button. From this menu, the game can be saved at any time, the Funky Barrel can be summoned after meeting Funky Kong once in any world, and the player can access a Scrapbook and stages stats of found Bonus Rooms and collected K-O-N-G Letters.
  • In the maps, it is possible to quit and save the game by pressing the "Select" button.
  • Candy hosts a dancing rhythm minigame[18] at Candy's Dance Studio, replacing the Candy's Save Point. The game can be saved any time in the maps or when exiting the game.
  • Unlike the SFC/SNES and GBC versions, saving the game will save the number of extra lives the player currently has. However, only in the SFC/SNES and GBC versions, it is possible to the player to collect more than ninety-nine extra lives, even if the maximum counter only shows ninety-nine.
    • In this version, the game files also keep track of the current number of each type of Animal Tokens collected by the player. It is unlike the SFC/SNES and GBC versions, where the numbers of tokens always reset to zero after loading files.
  • It is still possible for the player to earn extra lives by bouncing on consecutive enemies. However, in this game version, the exploit only rewards single extra lives for consecutive attacks on each group of seven enemies, and also unlike the SFC/SNES version, additional single bounces do not generate more lives.
  • A Scrapbook was added, in which the player had to collect fifty-two hidden Photographs throughout the game in order to add pictures to it.
  • Finding all Bonus Rooms inside a stage or a world, and collecting Photographs in a location of the Candy's Dance Studio or Funky's Fishing is indicated by an exclamation mark after their names in the map.
  • Unlike the SFC/SNES version, it is possible to exit all cleared stages, including boss stages, by pausing the game and pressing the "Select" button.
  • When compared to the SFC/SNES version, the game physics are slightly different in the GBA version.
  • In-game graphics and some sound quality were scaled down.
  • Unlike the SFC/SNES version, the screen does not stay locked in position during some stage sections, making hidden alcoves easier to spot in the GBA version.
  • The K-O-N-G Letters now possess similar designs to the ones seen in the game sequels Donkey Kong Country 2 and Donkey Kong Country 3, being bigger and displaying spinning animations.
  • The music is the same but was rearranged due to GBA's hardware limitations.
  • The game has more voices and sound effects reused from Donkey Kong 64.
  • Similar to the GBC version, DK Barrels in the air or underwater no longer break if both main characters are present.
  • Bonus Rooms can be accessed multiple times in the same playthrough of a stage. The Bonus Rooms are also preceded by a screen of artwork and text showing the main objective in the room, feature used in the two direct sequels of the SFC/SNES versions.
  • The Autofire Barrels that send Kongs to Bonus Rooms were replaced by the Bonus Barrels used in the SFC/SNES version sequels. These Bonus Barrels now just teleport the heroes to Bonus Rooms, the barrels do not shoot them anymore.
  • The Autofire Barrels that warp Kongs through stages were replaced by the Warp Barrels used in the sequels. Some new invisible Warp Barrels were also added to the GBA version.
    • In similar way to some Bonus Barrels, the Warp Barrels never shoot the primates, the barrels just teleport the Kongs. And the Warp Barrels do not send the heroes directly to their destination. First, they must walk across a small room with the word "Warp" written by bananas.
  • The DK Attack, a time and score mode, has been added.
  • A new unlockable mode called 1 Player Hero, also known as "Hero Mode", has been added. In this mode, the player controls a yellow-clad Diddy Kong and they will never encounter DK Barrels or Star Barrels inside stages.
  • The following Kong now sticks more closely with the leading Kong, as well as riding with him on an Animal Buddy at the same time or standing over rolling Steel Kegs.
  • In the Monkey Mines stage Stop & Go Station, the Rockkrocs can now be defeated by using Donkey Kong's Hand Slap move.
  • Starting from the world Vine Valley onwards, a few of the stages have been placed in a different order. For instance, Temple Tempest became the sixth stage in Vine Valley, rather than the fourth.
  • Squawks' crate in the Gorilla Glacier stage Torchlight Trouble is missing. The Animal Buddy automatically appears at the beginning of the stage.
  • Some enemies have new different colors, such as Kritters and Zingers.
  • Some bosses were made stronger with different attack patterns: Queen B. can summon Zinger minions to surround her, Really Gnawty can make stalactites fall, Dumb Drum requires a TNT Barrel to be thrown at it, and the battle against Master Necky Snr. is against both him and Master Necky simultaneously.
    • Very Gnawty and Really Gnawty swapped color schemes: Very Gnawty now has brown fur, and Really Gnawty has green fur.
  • After defeating each boss, a giant banana will drop. In the SFC/SNES version, it had a Nintendo logo on it, but the logo was removed in the GBA version.
  • Previously, the credits cutscene took place in Donkey and Diddy Kong's Treehouse in the SFC/SNES version. In the GBA version, it now takes place on the Gang-Plank Galleon.

Cheat Codes

  • In the SFC/SNES version of Donkey Kong Country, there are some secret codes. If the code inputs are correct, the player will hear certain sound effect.
    • During the starting cutscene with Cranky and Donkey Kong, by pressing "Down", "Y", "Down", "Down" and "Y" buttons in that order, the player will access a cave where Donkey Kong can collect three Animal Tokens of the same type and test all special Bonus Rooms with Animal Buddies. However, it is impossible to leave the area without restarting the game.
    • By highlighting "Erase Game" at the selection screen of game files, and pressing "Down", "A", "R", "B", "Y", "Down", "A" and "Y" buttons in that order, the player will access the sound test where they can hear all song themes from the game. By pressing the "Select" button at the same screen, the player can circle through the songs in certain order.
    • By highlighting "Erase Game" at the selection screen of game files, and pressing "B", "A", "R", "R", "A" and "L" buttons in that order, the player can start or continue a game file with fifty extra lives.
    • By highlighting "Erase Game" at the selection screen of game files, and pressing "B", "A", "Down", "B", "Up", "Down", "Down", "Y" and "A" buttons in that order, during the Two Player Team mode, the player following the current main player will be allowed to press the "Select" or "A" button to change character positions at any time.
  • In the GBA version of Donkey Kong Country, there are also similar secret codes. All inputs must be done at the selection screen of game files. If the code inputs are correct, the player will hear somebody say "Not Bad".
    • By holding "Select" and pressing "B", "Up", "B", "B" and "A" buttons in that order and loading a saved game file, the player will access a cave where Donkey Kong can collect three Animal Tokens of the same type and play all special Bonus Rooms with Animal Buddies once. It is possible to leave the area by using the exit on the right side of the cave, and the extra lives earned can be used in the same game file of the main mode.
    • By holding "Select", then pressing "B", "A", "L", "L", "A" and "Down" buttons in that order, the player will access the Sound Player where they can hear all song themes from the game.
    • By holding "Select", then pressing "B", "A", "R", "R", "A" and "L" buttons in that order, the player can start or continue a game file with fifty extra lives. If the player tries to continue a game file already having more than fifty extra lives, they will lose all extra lives beyond fifty.

Beta Elements

The preview video, Donkey Kong Country Exposed[24], contains a few beta elements that never made it into the final game, such as a few instances where binary digits were seen underneath the lives counter, which may have been a debug menu[25] of some sort. Also, in this build, it was possible to exceed one hundred bananas, whereas in the final game, the banana counter would reset once it reaches that number. Lastly, Donkey Kong was unable to defeat the regular Krusha by jumping on him. Unlike the final, Krusha will laugh after Donkey Kong does so, as he would if Diddy had done that. This also applies to Klump.

In an old Scribes page on the Rareware website, a giraffe Animal Buddy was mentioned to appear in Donkey Kong Country. This giraffe character was dropped for unknown reasons, though one of his mentioned abilities was that he would allow Donkey Kong to crawl up his neck and reach high items and secrets.[citation needed]
Giraffes, however, did appear in cutscenes and level backgrounds from the later games Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D.

There are unused sprites in this game, such as a Puftup, who would later appear in the game Donkey Kong Country 2, and a jungle plant (see gallery right below). Donkey and Diddy Kong also have unused sprites. Additional letters similar to the K-O-N-G Letters appear in some Bonus Rooms, though not all letters in the alphabet are used, and the game appears to have the entire alphabet left in the game's coding. Slippa has unused sprites as well. Croctopus has an unused sprite, likely a defeated animation, and a thunderbolt. Cranky Kong apparently was able to walk in a beta version (later used in the Game Boy Advance remake).

Reaction and Sales

When Donkey Kong Country was unveiled in the CES[26] 1994, guests in the show floor mistook the game footage by a rumored new Nintendo console title due to its graphics.[27] At the time of its release, Donkey Kong Country was extremely acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. Praise went to its graphics, music, and overall fun and addictive gameplay.

Sales were more than expected, since the game was released at the peak of the 16-bit era, when the Sega Genesis[28] was at the height of its popularity, and the SFC/SNES witnessed its rise.[13] The game had a successful first day at the stores, and sold 8.5 million copies worldwide, second on the SFC/SNES to the game Super Mario World. To date, it is the best selling Donkey Kong game and the best seller by Rare.[citation needed] Although it won 1994's game of the year by EGM[29], it was later placed on their list of 10 Most Overrated Games[30]. It has mixed reactions today, but is still well received by fans.

Gallery

Logos and Boxarts

Kongs

Animal Buddies

Bosses

Game Screens

Videos

Original Soundtrack

Donkey_kong_country_snes_ost

Donkey kong country snes ost

Donkey kong country snes music

See Also

  • Donkey Kong Country, a short comic adaptation of the game of the same name, first released on the German Club Nintendo magazine in 1995.
  • DK Jamz, Donkey Kong Country's official game soundtrack album, first released on March 1, 1995.
  • Donkey Kong Country, a French animated series based on the games Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2, first aired on television in 1996.
  • Donkey Kong Country, a novel adaptation of the game.

Trivia

  • The Gnawty enemy is pictured as blue on the North American boxart for SNES while they were green in-game. They eventually became blue in the game Donkey Kong 64 and the GBA version of the game Donkey Kong Country.
  • This game has an adaptation in the Super Mario-Kun manga[32] with some changes. In the volume 14 of the manga, Mario and Yoshi land in the Donkey Kong Country world by mistake, and Cranky Kong asks them help Donkey and Diddy in their task to find the bananas and stop King K. Rool.
  • Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Land are Donkey Kong's only playable appearances until Donkey Kong 64, despite both games' sequels bearing the Donkey Kong name.
  • This game marks the only playable appearance of Winky the Frog (outside of cameos and remakes). Expresso was in Donkey Kong Land and technically playable in a minigame in the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country 2.
  • Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2 are the only games where the playable characters do not talk at all. This only accounts for the SFC/SNES versions.
  • In the overworld map of the Donkey Kong Island of Donkey Kong Country for SNES, Donkey Kong's head icon is displayed on his treehouse. In the Japanese version for Super Famicom, this is not the case. Also, the text is shown in yellow.
  • In the Japanese boxart of Super Donkey Kong for Super Famicom, the official artwork shows Donkey Kong carrying Diddy Kong, implying a Team-Up mechanic, even though that command does not exist in this game like it does in the two direct sequels (see Boxarts and Logos in the Gallery section above). The "A" button in the SFC/SNES version of this game was used for switching positions between two Kongs, the same as using the "Select" button in all three Donkey Kong Country games for SFC/SNES.
  • This is the only game in the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy where the "X" button is never used while playing through a stage in the SFC/SNES version. That button's functionality was added on in the following two SFC/SNES games, but only used to dismount Animal Buddies. Originally, in this game the player would use the "A" button to dismount an Animal Buddy until that command was shifted to the "X" button in the SFC/SNES direct sequels whilst the "A" button introduced the ability to charge an Animal Buddy's special move, a command not present in this game.
  • An earlier pitch deck, a conceptual book for the game, proposed by Rare to Nintendo was called "Donkey Kong vs Super Wario". As confirmed by Gregg Mayles[2], the lead designer of Donkey Kong Country, some pages of the book depict Mario creating a time machine, and Wario using a gun to turn the hero into stone in order to rule the "Nintendo Land". After witnessing the events, a bird would fly off to meet and inform Donkey Kong about them, starting the adventure with the gorilla as the hero.[33][34] However, Nintendo would ask Rare to replace the antagonist for new original characters, later leading to the creation of King K. Rool and the Kremlings.
  • According to Gregg Mayles, there was originally going to be a "Cranky Kong Mode" where Cranky Kong would be playable, however this was scrapped.
  • On August 10, 2018, Gregg Mayles tweeted an early naming sheet of when Donkey Kong Country was originally going to be called Monkey Mayhem, it had four categories: "DK FAMILY", "GOOD GUYS (Animal Buddies)", "KREMLINGS", and "BADDIES".[35] On it shows that:
    • Expresso could have been an emu[36] instead an ostrich.
    • Two Animal Buddies that got dumped named "Hooter the Owl" and "Miney the Mole".
      • Not mentioned why the two Animal Buddies got dumped, but for Hooter, it possibly to avoid copyright from the restaurant establishment called Hooters[37] for their logo is an owl. For right beside the dumped Animal Buddy name have this: "(Hope we can use this one!)".
    • Four dumped Kremlings named "Kloak (Kremling Magician)", "Krumble (Statue Kremling)", "Klanger (Green Kremling)", and "Krocbot (Robot Kremling)".
      • The Kremling in the list named Kloak would be later used for Donkey Kong Country 2, but instead of being a magician he would be a pirate ghost Kremling in a coat, though he still has magician-like traits, as he can magically summon objects to throw at the Kongs.
      • Though the dumped robot Kremling named Krocbot was never used again in any of the later Donkey Kong Country games. In Donkey Kong 64, there is a robot Kremling that resembles a wind-up toy whose name is similar to Krocbot and that would be Krobot.
    • Slippa originally was named "Mr. Hister".
    • Puftups and Shuris was originally going to appear as enemies in this game first instead of Donkey Kong Country 2.
    • There was originally going to be two fish enemies named "Bloop (Fish 1)" and "Gloop (Fish 2)" but got dropped and replaced by Bitesize and Chomps Jr.
    • Squidge was originally named "Mr. Squidge".
    • Clambo was originally named "Ms. Clamity".
    • Four dropped baddies named "Fizzle (Fireball)", "Veedub (Nasty Beetle)", "Frozone (Yeti (Iceman))", "Mobo (Eel (Moray))".
    • King K. Rool was named "Kommander K. Rool (Chief Kremling)" on the list (a name he used in the fake credits cutscene of the final game).
  • On August 13, 2018, Gregg Mayles tweeted a very early concept of King K. Rool who was named "Krudd" and was going to be more serious and tough-looking, alongside that tweet, Greg showed concept art of other Kremlings such as Krash, another Krash named "Kaptain Krash", and "Korporal Krizzle". Also Gregg mentioned the game was going to be more military themed.[38]
  • On August 21, 2018, Gregg Mayles tweeted two early concept/idea sheets of a Kremling named "Kremling Soldier" who would have been doing various military themed attacks like using a bazooka[39], charging with a bayonet[40], throwing grenades[41], a rifle[42], a blunderbuss[43], hides in a big helmet and charges at the player, uses a throwing knife[44], a mortar[45], a jet pack[46], carries TNT[20] and can either be a suicidal bomber[47] by walking with it until it explodes or throws it. He hides in the background and leaps at the player, uses a huge shield, out of nowhere falls on the player, grabs the player and following up with a push, a throw, or drop the player, either down a pit, or use a laser guided gun on the player. Of course all of it was dropped from the game, but some of the ideas do appear in later games. In the tweet, Gregg states the Kremlings were going to be more serious and military themed than they eventually turned out, later he questions himself on what he was thinking.[48]
  • In the SNES version of the game Donkey Kong Country, there is a glitch in single player mode where if Diddy Kong clears a stage and then Donkey Kong clears it again afterwards, Donkey's head icon does not appear over the location.[citation needed]
  • In the game WarioWare Gold for Nintendo 3DS, one of the 5-Volt's microgames is called "Donkey Kong Country"[49]. At the beginning of the minigame, Donkey Kong will jump into a Barrel Cannon, and the player must shoot the barrel when it aligns with a line of three bananas.

External Links


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Stamper brothers on Wikipedia
  2. 2.0 2.1 Gregg Mayles on Wikipedia
  3. Daniel Owsen on Wikipedia
  4. Eveline Fischer on Wikipedia
  5. Robin Beanland on Wikipedia
  6. 6.0 6.1 Nintendo Switch Online on Wikipedia
  7. ROM cartridge on Wikipedia
  8. Nintendo eShop on Wikipedia
  9. Donkey Kong Country Instruction Booklet, page 6 on Nintendo Japan
  10. Pre-rendering on Wikipedia
  11. Silicon Graphics on Wikipedia
  12. Donkey Kong Country Instruction Booklet, page 32 on Nintendo Japan
  13. 13.0 13.1 How Donkey Kong Country Changed the Video Game Industry on DK Vine
  14. Monster Games on Wikipedia
  15. 15.0 15.1 Donkey Kong Country Instruction Booklet, pages 4-7 on Nintendo Japan
  16. 16.0 16.1 Game Boy Printer on Wikipedia
  17. Game Link Cable on Wikipedia
  18. 18.0 18.1 18.2 Rhythm game on Wikipedia
  19. Fourth wall on Wikipedia
  20. 20.0 20.1 TNT on Wikipedia
  21. Phonograph on Wikipedia
  22. 22.0 22.1 Boombox on Wikipedia
  23. Nickelodeon Magazine on Wikipedia
  24. Donkey Kong Country Exposed: The Making of Donkey Kong Country on YouTube
  25. Debug menu on Wikipedia
  26. Consumer Electronics Show on Wikipedia
  27. The Donkey Kong Country 25th Anniversary Interview Documentary on YouTube
  28. Sega Genesis on Wikipedia
  29. Electronic Gaming Monthly on Wikipedia
  30. 10 Most Overrated Games on 1UP (saved on Wayback Machine)
  31. Girder on Wikipedia
  32. Manga on Wikipedia
  33. Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on September 26, 2019)
  34. How Wario Almost Replaced King K. Rool in Donkey Kong Country on YouTube
  35. Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on August 10, 2018)
  36. Emu on Wikipedia
  37. Hooters on Wikipedia
  38. Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on August 13, 2018)
  39. Bazooka on Wikipedia
  40. Bayonet on Wikipedia
  41. Grenade on Wikipedia
  42. Rifle on Wikipedia
  43. Blunderbuss on Wikipedia
  44. Throwing knife on Wikipedia
  45. Mortar on Wikipedia
  46. Jet pack on Wikipedia
  47. Suicide attack on Wikipedia
  48. Gregg Mayles on Twitter (retrieved on August 21, 2018)
  49. WarioWare Gold - All Nintendo Microgames on YouTube
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