DK Island Swing
- This article is about the jungle level theme from Donkey Kong Country. For the game's world map theme erroneously known as "DK Island Swing" in the Game Boy Advance remake, see Simian Segue.
| "DK Island Swing" | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| "DK Island Swing" in Donkey Kong Country | |||
 Image from Nintendo Music | |||
| Composed by: David Wise | |||
| Genres | Exotica, swing, tribal ambient | ||
| Key | A minor | ||
| First appearance | Donkey Kong Country (1994) | ||
| Latest appearance | Donkey Kong Bananza (2025) | ||
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"DK Island Swing",[1][2] also known as "JUNGLE LEVEL"[1][3] or "Donkey Kong Country Theme",[4] is a musical theme composed by David Wise for Donkey Kong Country, where it plays in all jungle levels: Jungle Hijinxs, Ropey Rampage, Barrel Cannon Canyon, and Orang-Utan Gang. Alongside "Title BGM" from the Family Computer version of Donkey Kong, this theme is often used as a leitmotif for Donkey Kong in subsequent games and other media in the Super Mario franchise.
Composition[edit]
The swing-influenced theme consists of three distinct portions, beginning with a jungle ambiance and a drum beat, followed by the main, upbeat melody, and finally a calmer, slower-tempo melody before looping back to the beginning.
During Donkey Kong Country's development, David Wise was asked to write some demo pieces for a jungle level. He wrote three pieces, under the impression that they would be used just for the tech demo to be sent to Nintendo in Japan. After Wise presented them, he was told to combine them into one piece, which ultimately became the theme heard in the final game.[5]
In composing "DK Island Swing", Wise took influences from a variety of jungle-styled musical pieces and came up with an original theme, while maintaining the familiar elements that make it "sound like a jungle". The composition process took a long time, with Wise first coming up with a melody and working on it for days until he felt it worked for the level and "breathe[d] quite naturally".[5] Partly due to Wise learning to play saxophone at the time of composing the theme, he was also inspired by the sound of the swing band Glenn Miller Orchestra and big band music from around the time of World War II.[6]
History[edit]
This section needs merchandise improvement. Specifically:
- Add LEGO Super Mario information.
Donkey Kong Country series[edit]
Donkey Kong Country[edit]
Donkey Kong Country is the first appearance of "DK Island Swing". Additionally, a slower-paced arrangement of "DK Island Swing" is incorporated into "Mine Cart Madness", the theme used for the Mine Cart levels Mine Cart Carnage and Mine Cart Madness.
The Game Boy Color remake reuses Donkey Kong Land's version of "DK Island Swing" to replace the original game's due to the system's lower-power hardware. Additionally, its new Game Over theme is a slow arrangement of the first few bars of its main melody.
"DK Island Swing" is given a new arrangement for the Game Boy Advance remake of Donkey Kong Country with a slightly slower tempo. In the game's hidden Sound Player, it is erroneously titled "Simian Segue 1".
 Game Over - The arrangement heard in the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country | File info 0:16 |
| Simian Segue 1[7] - The arrangement heard in the Game Boy Advance version of Donkey Kong Country | File info 0:30 |
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest[edit]
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest features two arrangements of "DK Island Swing" arranged by David Wise.
An arrangement of the middle portion of "DK Island Swing" plays in the Bonus Levels. It is titled "Token Tango (Bonus Level)" in the Nintendo Music app.
The theme that plays in all castle levels quotes "DK Island Swing" before the loop. It is titled "Krook's March (Chain Link Chamber)" in the Nintendo Music app.
| Token Tango (Bonus Level) - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest | File info 0:30 |
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble![edit]
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In Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, an arrangement of the first portion of "DK Island Swing" titled "Wrinkly's Save Cave" plays in the area of the same name when Wrinkly Kong is watching television. The opening drum beat is also incorporated into the title theme, "Dixie Beat".
The version for the Game Boy Advance features two new arrangements of "DK Island Swing". The first arrangement is heard in Konveyor Rope Klash and Koindozer Klamber, and features some additions to the main melody. The second arrangement, titled "Chase", is more frantic, and can be heard in the level Stampede Sprint when Ellie is scared by some Sneeks and runs away at high speed shortly into the level, lasting until the Blast Barrel near the end shoots her to the Level Flag. The same arrangement can be heard when Baron K. Roolenstein flees from the Banana Queen at the end of the game, though only that initial section is heard.
| Wrinkly's Save Cave - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! | File info 0:19 |
| Chase - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country 3 | File info 0:30 |
Donkey Kong Country Returns[edit]
- Main article: Jungle Hijinxs (theme)
Donkey Kong Country Returns features three full arrangements of "DK Island Swing". The first, titled "Jungle Hijinxs", is an arrangement of the entire theme, except the third portion's tempo is sped up to match that of the rest of the theme. It plays in the first and third levels of the game, Jungle Hijinxs and Tree Top Bop, respectively.
The second arrangement, titled "King of Cling", is an arrangement exclusively of the third portion of "DK Island Swing", using a flute as its main instrument. It plays in the second and fifth levels of the game, King of Cling and Canopy Cannons, respectively, and later in the Forest levels Clingy Swingy and Springy Spores. In Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, the jungle level in the Cloud world, Crushin' Columns, uses "King of Cling" for its music.
The third arrangement, titled "Palm Tree Groove", is a cool jazz-styled rendition of the main melody that plays in two of the game's silhouette levels, Sunset Shore and Foggy Fumes. However, the music that plays in the third silhouette level, Smokey Peak, is a slightly different version, replacing the piano with an electric organ and incorporating a male chorus throughout the duration of the track as well as an electric organ solo straight after the main melody.
In addition to the three full arrangements of "DK Island Swing", there are also three themes that incorporate "DK Island Swing" into their arrangements. The credits theme, 「エンディングスタッフロール」 (Endingu Staffu Rōru, "Ending Staff Roll"),[8] includes an arrangement of DK Island Swing's main motif. The motif can also be heard at the end of the ending cutscene's music, and its first four notes of "DK Island Swing" can be heard in the music for the Golden Temple entrance, which cannot be heard again after entering the main level.
All arrangements are reused for the same purposes in the Nintendo 3DS port, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, and the Nintendo Switch port, Donkey Kong Country Returns HD.
| Jungle Hijinxs - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country Returns | File info 0:30 |
| King of Cling - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country Returns | File info 0:30 |
| Palm Tree Groove - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country Returns | File info 0:30 |
| Palm Tree Groove (Smokey Peak) - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country Returns | File info 0:30 |
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze[edit]
David Wise returned to compose the soundtrack for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze 20 years after he composed the original "DK Island Swing", which features several arrangements of the theme. There are two full arrangements of "DK Island Swing" included in the game, as well as being included as a part of two other tracks.
The first arrangement is based on the third portion of "DK Island Swing" and plays in Swinger Flinger, Precarious Pendulums, and Platform Problems.
The second arrangement is a jazz rendition of the entire theme, with the third portion's tempo matching the rest of the theme (similar to the Donkey Kong Country Returns arrangement "Jungle Hijinxs"). This arrangement plays in every other temple level: Bopopolis, Spinning Spines, and Slippy Spikes, as well as in the game's E3 2013 trailer. This arrangement is also included in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, where it can be played on the Jungle Hijinxs stage, and in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where it can be played on any Super Smash Bros.-series and Donkey Kong-series stage. Despite not playing in Swinger Flinger in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, the arrangement is titled "Swinger Flinger" in the English version of both Super Smash Bros. games.
Additionally, the motif of "DK Island Swing" is incorporated into the game's credits theme. The scene after the credits where Donkey Kong obtains the seventh mysterious relic plays another arrangement of "DK Island Swing"'s first two bars to end on an A major triad.
| Hidden Kong Temple 1 - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze | File info 0:30 |
| Hidden Kong Temple 2 - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze | File info 0:30 |
| Credits - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze | File info |
Donkey Kong Land / Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color)[edit]
As Donkey Kong Land is a Game Boy title based on Donkey Kong Country, the jungle levels in the game (Jungle Jaunt, Simian Swing, Tire Trail, and Congo Carnage, all of which are located in the first world of the game) use a chiptune arrangement of "DK Island Swing", with the introductory ambiance and third portion of the original cut out, and slight variations to the notes leading up to the main riff.
This arrangement is also included in the Game Boy Color remake of Donkey Kong Country in Jungle Hijinxs, Ropey Rampage, Barrel Cannon Canyon, and Orang-Utan Gang.
| DK Island Swing - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong Land | File info 0:28 |
Donkey Kong 64[edit]
An arrangement of "DK Island Swing" composed by Grant Kirkhope, titled simply "Jungle" in the official soundtrack, can be heard in the first area of Donkey Kong 64, Jungle Japes as well as in secret areas. It uses the opening drum beat and main melody for the first half, while the second half includes variations of the main melody as well as an original melody.
A calmer version of this arrangement also plays past the cave in Jungle Japes, while a slower-tempo, marimba version of the main melody plays inside the cave itself. A horn-heavy, more sinister-sounding arrangement of the main melody also plays in the stormy area of Jungle Japes, a slower woodwind-heavy version plays in certain optional caves, as well as the ship floating around the lighthouse in Gloomy Galleon, and a sped up brass ensemble version plays for the Army Dillo boss fight in that area.
Different arrangements of "DK Island Swing" are also used for the Kongs' transformations. A sped-up variation of the Jungle Japes arrangement plays during Donkey Kong's Strong Kong form, a rock arrangement for Diddy Kong's Rocketbarrel Boost, a light-hearted arrangement for Tiny Kong's Mini-Monkey form, another sped-up arrangement for Lanky Kong's OrangStand Sprint, and a slow-paced, contrabass saxophone arrangement for Chunky Kong's Hunky Chunky form.
Donkey Kong also plays the main melody on his Bongos.
| Jungle - The arrangement heard in Donkey Kong 64 | File info 0:30 |
Diddy Kong Racing series[edit]
Diddy Kong Racing[edit]
In Diddy Kong Racing, an arrangement of "DK Island Swing", titled 「プレイヤーセレクト」 (Pureiyā Serekuto, "Player Select") in the official soundtrack, can be heard on the player select screen when choosing Diddy Kong. This arrangement returns in the game's Nintendo DS remake Diddy Kong Racing DS.
| プレーヤーセレクト - The version of the arrangement when selecting Diddy Kong heard in Diddy Kong Racing | File info 0:11 |
Diddy Kong Racing DS[edit]
Diddy Kong Racing DS has two separate arrangements of "DK Island Swing", one heard while racing at Thunder Cove, and another heard while racing at Meandering Mount. Both of these sound similar to each other and are arranged by David Wise.
Mario Party series[edit]
Mario Party[edit]
The music for DK's Jungle Adventure in Mario Party, titled "Jungle Adventure", incorporates an arrangement of "DK Island Swing"'s motif into the theme's melody.
| Jungle Adventure - The arrangement heard in Mario Party | File info 0:30 |
Mario Party 9[edit]
In Mario Party 9, the drum beat of the first section of the theme plays once before Diddy Kong's and Donkey Kong's minigames in DK's Jungle Ruins.
Mario Party 10[edit]
- "Donkey Kong's Theme" redirects here. For other musical themes associated with and/or named after Donkey Kong, see Category:Donkey Kong's themes.
In Mario Party 10's amiibo Party mode, an arrangement of the theme titled "Donkey Kong's Theme" is played throughout the turn when Donkey Kong's amiibo is being controlled.
| Donkey Kong's Theme | File info 0:30 |
Super Smash Bros. series[edit]
Marking the full theme's first use outside of games centered on Donkey Kong, an arrangement of "DK Island Swing" titled 「コンゴジャングルステージ」(Kongo Janguru Sutēji, "Congo Jungle Stage") in the official soundtrack appears in Super Smash Bros. for the Congo Jungle stage, arranged by HAL Laboratory composer Hirokazu Ando. Unlike the Donkey Kong Country original, the first section of this arrangement lacks any jungle ambiance. The arrangement returns in Super Smash Bros. Melee under the title "Kongo Jungle N64" for the Kongo Jungle stage. It also is included in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS, where it can be played on the Jungle Japes stage, and in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, where it can be played on the Kongo Jungle 64 stage, now retitled simply "Kongo Jungle" in both games. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the arrangement is once again retitled, this time known as "Jungle Level (64)" and can be played on any Super Smash Bros.-series and Donkey Kong-series stage. In for 3DS / Wii U and Ultimate, the first portion of the arrangement is omitted.
A new arrangement of "DK Island Swing" arranged by Shogo Sakai from HAL Laboratory, titled "Jungle Japes", is included in Super Smash Bros. Melee for the stage of the same name. This arrangement has a fast-paced big band swing style similar to the Donkey Kong 64 arrangement "Jungle", but it retains the slower-paced, atmospheric second half of the original "DK Island Swing". Additionally, the introduction has been shortened and leads straight to the main melody, and the final notes of the main melody have been extended. This arrangement returns in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, now titled "Jungle Japes (Melee)", and can also be played on the Jungle Japes stage. The arrangement returns once again in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and can be played on any Super Smash Bros.-series and Donkey Kong-series stage. This arrangement is also included as a selectable track in the Donkey Konga.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl features a new arrangement faithful to the original "DK Island Swing" titled "Jungle Level", the original track's Japanese title. This rendition was arranged by Kentaro Ishizaka from HAL Laboratory. The song can be played on the Rumble Falls stage. It also plays in The Jungle and parts of The Great Maze in the Subspace Emissary, though the first portion omitted. A second arrangement titled "Jungle Level Ver. 2", arranged by Motoi Sakuraba, can also be played in Rumble Falls. This arrangement is a much faster-paced version of "DK Island Swing". Both "Jungle Level" and "Jungle Level Ver. 2" return in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. "Jungle Level" can be played on the Jungle Hijinxs stage, while "Jungle Level Ver. 2" can be played on the Kongo Jungle 64 stage. In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, only "Jungle Level Ver. 2" returns, now renamed "Jungle Level (Brawl)", and can be played on any Super Smash Bros.-series and Donkey Kong-series stage.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS features an arrangement of the Rocket Barrel level theme from Donkey Kong Country Returns, "Gear Getaway", that incorporates the main motif of "DK Island Swing" in the second half. It can be played on the Jungle Japes stage. The arrangement is also included in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, where it can be played on the Jungle Hijinxs stage, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, where it can be played on any Super Smash Bros.-series and Donkey Kong-series stage.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U introduces two new arrangements of "DK Island Swing", both of which were arranged by Bandai Namco composer Hiroyuki Kawada. The first arrangement, "Jungle Level Jazz Style", features jazz and ragtime music and omits the theme's third portion. This arrangement can be played on the Jungle Hijinx stage. The second arrangement, "Jungle Level Tribal Style", takes on a more jungle-styled approach similar to the Donkey Kong Country original and incorporates the entire theme. This arrangement can be played on the Kongo Jungle 64 stage. Both arrangements return in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, now titled "Jungle Level Jazz Style (for 3DS / Wii U)" and "Jungle Level Tribal Style (for 3DS / Wii U)", respectively. They can be played on any Super Smash Bros.-series and Donkey Kong-series stage.
Additionally, when Donkey Kong uses his Final Smash in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U., Konga Beat, an arrangement of "DK Island Swing" can be heard with the final bar repeated.
| Congo Jungle Stage - The arrangement heard in Super Smash Bros. | File info 0:30 |
| Jungle Japes - The arrangement heard in Super Smash Bros. Melee | File info 0:30 |
| Konga Beat - The arrangement heard in Super Smash Bros. Brawl | File info 0:13 |
Donkey Konga series[edit]
| Donkey Kong Country Theme | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game(s) | Donkey Konga  Donkey Konga 2 
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| Cost | 1600 (Konga 1) 4300 (Konga 2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The European release of the original Donkey Konga includes the Super Smash Bros. Melee arrangement of "DK Island Swing" under the name "Donkey Kong Country Theme". It later appears in the Japanese version of Donkey Konga 2 under the name "Super Donkey Kong Theme".
Mario Tennis series[edit]
Mario Power Tennis[edit]
Mario Power Tennis and its Wii port New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis feature three arrangements of "DK Island Swing" by Motoi Sakuraba, all of which play on the DK Jungle Court. The first is a brief arrangement of the main melody that plays during the court's introduction, the second is a fast-paced arrangement that plays during a game point, and the third, is a longer arrangement that plays during exhibition matches.
A version of the DK Jungle Court exhibition theme with higher sound quality titled 「ドンキー ギミックコート ～ドンキージャングルコート」 (Donkī Gimikku Kōto ~Donkī Janguru Kōto, "Donkey Gimmick Court ~Donkey Jungle Court") was featured in the Mario Sports CD: Mario Tennis GC & Mario Golf Family Tour The Best album.
Mario Tennis Open[edit]
Mario Tennis Open features two arrangements of "DK Island Swing" both arranged by Motoi Sakuraba, and both play on the DK Jungle court. The first is an arrangement of the first portion of the theme and plays during the court's introduction.
The second is an upbeat arrangement of the second portion of the theme and plays during the match. Drums are prominent throughout and a piano solo can be heard towards the end.
| DK Jungle Intro - The arrangement heard in Mario Tennis Open | File info 0:30 |
| DK Jungle - The arrangement heard in Mario Tennis Open | File info 0:30 |
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat[edit]
Donkey Kong Jungle Beat and its Wii port New Play Control! Donkey Kong Jungle Beat use an arrangement of "DK Island Swing" by Nintendo composer Mahito Yokota in the game's first level, Dawn Savanna, consisting of the drum beat, main melody, and an extended version of the melody's final notes similar to Super Smash Bros. Melee's arrangement "Jungle Japes" played on the piano. A shortened variation of the theme also plays in the victory fanfare after Donkey Kong defeats a boss.
| Dawn Savanna - Used in Dawn Savanna from Donkey Kong Jungle Beat |