Jungle Hijinxs (Donkey Kong Country)

Jungle Hijinxs is the first level of Donkey Kong Country and of the first world, Kongo Jungle.

Summary
The level starts outside of DK's Tree House. Donkey Kong can backtrack into treehouse for an Extra Life Balloon, or enter below into his Banana Hoard. The level only has some basic enemies, including Gnawties, Kritters, Klumps, and a single perched Necky. During the latter half, the Kongs can find an Animal Crate with Rambi the Rhino, who helps them with defeating enemies and is required to open the entrances of both Bonus Levels.

As the first level, Jungle Hijinxs is simple and features few pitfalls. The Kongs can also move across the treetops to find some hidden items. When the Kongs reach the end of the level, it gets dark and becomes nighttime. In the original release, the nighttime continues into the next level, Ropey Rampage.

At the start, the Kongs can ride a Steel Keg through to quickly go through most of the level. By jumping from the treetops and then down a gap with a group of bananas forming a down arrow, Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong land on a ground patch, which breaks open to reveal a Steel Keg. By throwing it at DK's Tree House on the left, the Steel Keg ricochets and rolls in the Kongs' direction. They must jump on the Steel Keg, which they can ride until it falls into a gap shortly after the Rambi Crate.

Layout
The level starts when Donkey Kong shoots out of his tree house and then lands onto the ground. If Donkey Kong enters his Banana Hoard, he finds it empty, while if he enters his tree house found higher up, he can nab an Extra Life Balloon to gain an extra life along the way. Donkey Kong must continue a few steps to encounter a Gnawty and Diddy Kong stuck in a DK Barrel on whom he must free. Alternatively, from the treehouse's entrance, the Kongs have the option to hop from several treetops and collect two red balloons and one green balloon. After this, the Kongs must continue along to a raised piece of land with a Kritter on it and a Gnawty underneath it so they can obtain the letter K of the K-O-N-G Letters. Afterwards, the Kongs encounter two Kritters on two raised pieces of land and two Klumps, whom they must defeat to continue along so they can reach the Star Barrel and the letter O next to it.

Next, the Kongs come past another DK Barrel and the letter O to encounter a Necky, who shoots nuts at them as a weapon and along the way. The foe stands on a raised area of land with a few bananas and an Animal Token of Expresso on it. They can hop onto Rambi, found in his crate nearby, who helps them defeat the three Gnawties in their path and find the letter N just ahead. Next, Rambi and the Kongs can either enter a Bonus Level to instantly gain the letter G upon exiting it, or hop onto some ledges acting as stairs so they can climb and jump onto the tree holding the letter G. The Kongs and Rambi can fall down from the treetops to break a barrier to find another Bonus Level which they can enter. They can either enter it to continue along if they finish it, or continue down the path, defeating a Klump, hopping over a ledge, and then going to the level's exit on the way, where Rambi stays. The exit then allows the Kongs to move into the next level.

If the player climbs the hill above the exit sign and jumps off Rambi, he can get a hidden blue Life Balloon.

Trivia

 * In the pre-release version of Donkey Kong Country, Jungle Hijinxs had a nighttime setting.
 * Jungle Hijinxs was originally known as "Jungle Japes", a name which was eventually used for the first level of Donkey Kong 64.
 * The Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance versions of this level both take place during mid-day instead of sunset/dusk, and the sky never changes. This was likely done due to technical limitations or so that players could navigate through the level without losing visibility (the Game Boy Color and original GBA had no backlight to make the screen brighter).
 * The music for Jungle Hijinxs and in later jungle levels, "DK Island Swing," went on to become an iconic theme in the Donkey Kong franchise, and has since been arranged many times in later games, including the Super Smash Bros. series.