Donkey Kong Country

It has been requested that more images be uploaded for this article. Remove this notice only after the additional image(s) have been added.

This article is about the Super Nintendo Entertainment System game. For other uses of the name "Donkey Kong Country", see Donkey Kong Country (disambiguation).

"DKC" redirects here. For information about Donkey Kong Circus, see Donkey Kong Circus. For Donkey Kong Classics, see Donkey Kong Classics.

Donkey Kong Country
Developer	Rare Ltd.
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Virtual Console (Wii, Wii U, New 3DS), Super NES Classic Edition, Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online
Release date	SNES: November 18, 1994 November 21, 1994 November 26, 1994 1994 Virtual Console (Wii): December 7, 2006 December 8, 2006 December 12, 2006 February 19, 2007 May 26, 2008 Virtual Console (Wii U): October 16, 2014 October 17, 2014 November 26, 2014 February 26, 2015 Virtual Console (New 3DS): March 4, 2016 March 24, 2016 March 24, 2016 March 25, 2016 Super NES Classic Edition: September 29, 2017 September 29, 2017 September 30, 2017 October 5, 2017 Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online: July 15, 2020 July 15, 2020 July 15, 2020 July 15, 2020 July 15, 2020 July 15, 2020
Genre	Platformer
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Kids to Adults (original release) ESRB: - Everyone (Virtual Console release) PEGI: - Three years and older CERO: - All ages
Mode(s)	1–2 players
Media	SNES: Game Pak Wii: Digital download Wii U: Digital download Nintendo Switch: Digital download Nintendo 3DS: Digital download SNES Classic Edition: Built-in
Input	Super NES: SNES Controller Wii: Wii Classic Controller Nintendo GameCube Controller Wii U: Wii U GamePad Wii Classic Controller Wii U Pro Controller Nintendo Switch: Joy-Con Nintendo Switch Pro Controller Nintendo Switch Online SNES Controller Nintendo 3DS: Control pad SNES Classic Edition: SNES Classic Controller Wii Classic Controller

Donkey Kong Country is a platformer game developed by Rare Ltd. and published by Nintendo. It was originally released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. The game served as a reboot of the Donkey Kong franchise, and is both the first and titular installment of the Donkey Kong Country series. The game introduces and stars Donkey Kong, although he is not the same character as the one in the earlier titles, particularly the Donkey Kong series.

Donkey Kong Country is one of the first home console titles to use pre-rendered graphics, which were created via expensive Silicon 3D graphic models. These models were compressed into two-dimensional sprites for the Super Nintendo, allowing for more detailed animations on a 16-bit console and a three-dimensional effect. Donkey Kong Country was a commercial success, and went on to sell about 9.3 million copies worldwide.

With its success, Donkey Kong Country received two direct sequels, both released in 1995, Donkey Kong Land for the Game Boy and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Donkey Kong Land is the first and titular installment of the Donkey Kong Land series while Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is the sequel from within the same series. Nearly every Donkey Kong game since Donkey Kong Country's release has been influenced by it to some degree. Donkey Kong Country received two handheld remakes, including a Game Boy Color version and a Game Boy Advance version, released in 2000 and 2003, respectively. Both remakes feature additional content, such as minigames.

Donkey Kong Country was ported to several Nintendo platforms over the years, although neither of its remakes were ever ported to another console. Donkey Kong Country was ported to the Virtual Console three times, first for the Wii in 2006 (2007 in North America), then for the Wii U in 2014 (2015 in North America), and for the New Nintendo 3DS in 2016. Donkey Kong Country is one of the 21 games included on the Super NES Classic Edition, and was made available on the Nintendo Switch's Super Nintendo Entertainment System - Nintendo Switch Online service on July 15, 2020.

Story

Pages 4–7 of the instruction booklet detail the game's backstory.

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.

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. It seals Diddy inside a barrel and then throws 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.

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 Inc., 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.

Gameplay

It has been requested that this section be rewritten and expanded to include more information.

Gameplay screenshot of the Kongs in the first level, Jungle Hijinxs

Unlike most platforming titles of its time, Donkey Kong Country features a unique "tag team" element, in which both Kongs are on-screen at the same time, although they cannot be controlled individually. Donkey Kong is the "heavy" character, and can defeat almost every enemy easily by himself, either by stomping, rolling, or Hand Slapping them. By comparison, Diddy Kong moves faster, is more agile, jumps higher, and has a Cartwheel ability that allows for more distance than Donkey Kong's rolling ability, especially by cartwheeling off a ledge. Diddy is weaker than Donkey Kong, making it harder for him to defeat certain enemies, such as Army, Klump, and Krusha. Both Kongs can roll into se

In single player, each Kong only takes one hit from any enemy or obstacle before the player loses that Kong. If there are two Kongs in play, the injured Kong runs off-screen and the other Kong takes over. If a Kong does not have their partner with them, they lose an extra life, and instead of running off-screen, their injury animation is shown. While both Kongs are present, the player can easily switch between them by pressing "SELECT." If only one Kong is active and they find a DK Barrel, they can break it open to rescue the other Kong. If both Kongs fall down into a pit, they lose an extra life.

In multiplayer, player one controls Donkey Kong and player two controls Diddy Kong. Like single player mode, a save file must be specifically created for this mode. The first player controls Donkey Kong, and once defeated, player two must press a button to continue while playing as Diddy. This also works vice versa. In multiplayer mode, the game keeps a score for both players based on how many levels that they have completed. Whoever completes the most levels "wins" in the end.

Modes

In the "Select a Game" screen, 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, two of which are a multiplayer mode.

• 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.

Characters

Playable characters

• Donkey Kong: he is the grandson of Cranky Kong, a famous hero and a 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.

Allies

Throughout their journey, Donkey and Diddy Kong are assisted by three different Kongs:

• Cranky Kong: he is Donkey Kong's grandfather, and originally appeared as the main antagonist of Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong 3. 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 jokes that break the fourth wall. 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.
• Funky Kong: he makes his first appearance halfway through Kongo Jungle at Funky's Flights. He freely lets the Kongs use his Jumbo Barrel, which allows them to quickly travel between worlds and areas that they have already visited or completed.
• Candy Kong: she runs Candy's Save Point, where the player can save their game progress

Animal Friends

Artwork of Enguarde

Aside from Cranky, Funky, and Candy, there are a few Animal Friends who aid Donkey and Diddy Kong in their adventure. Each Animal Friend is imprisoned within an Animal Crate with their symbol on it, and has to be freed before they can be used. There are five different Animal Friends:

• Rambi: 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.
• Enguarde: 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: 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.
• Expresso: 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.
• Squawks: 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.

Enemies

Artwork of Kritter, a basic footsoldier in the Kremling army

Artwork of Zinger, a pestering wasp 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, several of them being Kremlings.

• Armys
• Bitesizes
• Chomps
• Chomps Jrs.
• Clambos
• Croctopuses
• Gnawtys
• Klaptraps
• Klumps
• Krashes
• Kritters
• Krushas
• Manky Kongs
• Millstone Gnawtys
• Mincers
• Mini-Neckys
• Neckys
• Rockkrocs
• Slippas
• Squidges
• Zingers

Bosses

The background of the typical boss arena, 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 a Giant Banana, although this is merely symbolic as they have no gameplay purpose. There are a total of seven bosses:

• Very Gnawty
• Master Necky
• Queen B.
• Really Gnawty
• Dumb Drum
• Master Necky Snr.
• King K. Rool

Items and objects

Artwork of a banana, the most common item

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

• 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.
• 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. The number of extra lives is never saved, so the Kongs always start off with five extra lives, either from resetting the game or after the Game Over screen. If the Kongs manage to bounce on eight enemies consecutively, they earn an extra life, and each additional consecutive attack gives them another extra life.
• K-O-N-G Letters: collecting all four letters during a stage will earn one extra life to the player.
• 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.

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.
• 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. 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Blast 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, a functionality that was given to Warp Barrels in later games.
• 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 only found in the Monkey Mines level 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 levels

The access to Kongo Jungle in the overworld map of Donkey Kong Island

The location of the treehouse in the main Donkey Kong Island 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. The Japanese version removes the icon at Donkey Kong's treehouse.

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. It is possible to leave all cleared stages, except boss stages, by pausing the game and pressing the "Select" button.

On the overworld, an exclamation mark after a level name indicates that all of its Bonus Levels have been found.

Kongo Jungle

• Jungle Hijinxs
• Ropey Rampage
• Reptile Rumble
• Coral Capers
• Barrel Cannon Canyon
• Boss level: Very Gnawty's Lair

Monkey Mines

• Winky's Walkway
• Mine Cart Carnage
• Bouncy Bonanza
• Stop & Go Station
• Millstone Mayhem
• Boss level: Necky's Nuts

Vine Valley

• Vulture Culture
• Tree Top Town
• Forest Frenzy
• Temple Tempest
• Orang-utan Gang
• Clam City
• Boss level: Bumble B Rumble

Gorilla Glacier

• Snow Barrel Blast
• Slipslide Ride
• Ice Age Alley
• Croctopus Chase
• Torchlight Trouble
• Rope Bridge Rumble
• Boss level: Really Gnawty Rampage

Kremkroc Industries Inc.

• Oil Drum Alley
• Trick Track Trek
• Elevator Antics
• Poison Pond
• Mine Cart Madness
• Blackout Basement
• Boss level: Boss Dumb Drum

Chimp Caverns

• Tanked Up Trouble
• Manic Mincers
• Misty Mine
• Loopy Lights
• Platform Perils
• Necky's Revenge

Gang-Plank Galleon

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.

Stage environments

Type	Description	Amount	Music theme(s)
Jungle	Donkey Kong Country starts its first stage deep in the jungle. These stages are linear, and sometimes affected by heavy rainfall.	4	DK Island Swing
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
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	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	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	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	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	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
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
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	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	This is the environment for all the boss battles, in the middle of massive banana piles.	6	Bad Boss Boogie
Ship	This is the battlefield for the last fight with King K. Rool.	1	Gang-Plank Galleon

Version differences

Main article: List of Donkey Kong Country version differences

Regional differences

Main article: List of Donkey Kong Country regional differences

Cheats

There are a few secret codes, most of which can be entered while highlighting the "Erase Game" option on the "Select a Game" screen. If the code inputs are correct, a certain sound effect is played.

• During the opening sequence with Cranky and Donkey Kong, entering a button combination in the order of "Down", "Y", "Down", "Down" and "Y" grants Donkey Kong access to a cave area where he can collect three Animal Tokens of the same type to instantly access its corresponding Token Area. However, it is not possible to leave the area without restarting the game. This is the only cheat that is not entered from the "Select a Game" menu.
• While highlighting "Erase Game," entering the button combination "Down", "A", "R", "B", "Y", "Down", "A" and "Y" opens a Sound Test menu, where the player can hear all music themes. By pressing the "Select" button at the same screen, the player can circle through the songs in certain order.
• While highlighting "Erase Game," entering the button combination "B", "A", "R", "R", "A," and "L" allows the player to start or continue a game file with fifty additional lives.
• While highlighting "Erase Game," entering the button combination "B", "A", "Down", "B", "Up", "Down", "Down", "Y," and "A," makes it so that in Two Player Team mode, the player on standby can press the "Select" or "A" button to swap positions.

Pre-release and unused content

Main article: List of Donkey Kong Country pre-release and unused content

The preview video, Donkey Kong Country: Exposed, consists of some unused content that went unused in the retail release, such as a few instances where binary digits were seen underneath the lives counter, which may have been a debug menu 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 a Rare Scribes page, a giraffe Animal Friend 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.

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 at the CES 1994, guests in the show floor mistook the game footage by a rumored new Nintendo console title due to its graphics. 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 was at the height of its popularity.

Although it won 1994's game of the year by Electronic Gaming Monthly, it was later placed on their list of 10 Most Overrated Games. It has mixed reactions today, but is still well received by fans.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Donkey Kong Country.

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.

Trivia

This trivia section is overly long. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections and articles.

• Although they are green in-game, there is a blue Gnawty depicted on the front cover art for western releases. They would later be depicted as blue in both Donkey Kong 64 and Donkey Kong Country's Game Boy Advance remake.
• This game has an adaptation in the Super Mario-kun manga with some changes. In volume 14, 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.
• In the overworld map of the Donkey Kong Island of Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong's head icon is displayed on his treehouse. In the Japanese version, 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, but this was not introduced until the following game, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. The "A" button was repurposed to make use of the team-up mechanic, as the "Select" button in both games already allows the player to switch between playable Kongs.
• This is the only game in the original Donkey Kong Country trilogy where the "X" button is never used while playing through a level. The button's functionality was added in the two sequels, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, but only to dismount an Animal Friend. In the two sequels, the "A" button is used to perform a super move.
• 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, 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. 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". On it shows that:
  • Expresso could have been an emu 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 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.
• 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, charging with a bayonet, throwing grenades, a rifle, a blunderbuss, hides in a big helmet and charges at the player, uses a throwing knife, a mortar, a jet pack, carries TNT and can either be a suicidal bomber 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.
• 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.
• In the game WarioWare Gold for Nintendo 3DS, one of 5-Volt's microgames is called "Donkey Kong Country." At the beginning of the minigame, Donkey Kong jumps into a Barrel Cannon, and the player must shoot the barrel when it aligns with a line of three bananas.

External links

• Japanese promotional website (www.nintendo.co.jp)
• Instruction booklet on Nintendo of Japan
• Donkey Kong Country on Wikipedia