3DS DK Jungle

DK Jungle is the first race course in the Special Cup of Mario Kart 7 and takes place on Donkey Kong Island. The course is based on Donkey Kong Country Returns. Some elements and enemies of this game make their appearance in this course, like Tiki Goons, Screaming Pillars, Frogoons, and DK's Tree House. The course's music is a rearrangement of "DK Island Swing" from Donkey Kong Country.

Course layout
The track passes through a thick jungle, where some DK Barrels appear. Exiting into a clearing, drivers bounce on a large, red flower from Donkey Kong Country Returns, and land in a path near waterfalls and a lake. The track then makes a left hand turn, past DK's Tree House, and some Tiki Goons that move across the track. The track reenters the canopy, passing by multiple Frogoons, before traveling across a chasm and entering the Golden Temple. After a right turn and a left-hand U-turn, racers drive past the gold banana, then glide over a lake flanked by several Screaming Pillars. These Pillars scream every once in a while, shooting out air to blow back hang-gliding players. Finally they land and make a left turn back to the finish line. Also in the background of the course is Tiki Pilot's airship-like craft from Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Shortcuts

 * Right before the jumps over the chasm, there is a secret Glide Ramp to the left side of the track.
 * An extremely difficult glider shortcut can be performed after the temple section. By swooping down to gain speed, going back up, and then using a Mushroom, it is possible to skip the entire split paths section and land just before the finish line.
 * A respawn shortcut can be performed in the temple by using a a speed boost (a Mushroom or a Super Mini-Turbo) to jump off the corner of the right turn and respawn in front of the Glide Ramp at the temple exit.

Mario Kart 8 / Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
DK Jungle returns in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as the final course in the Banana Cup. The track map is rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Some objects are changed and replaced; the Barrel at the right of the start is now on the left, and the mud near the beginning of the track is absent. The starting banner has also been replaced. Regular Screaming Pillars have been replaced by their big variant, which exhale smoke while they are screaming, and the Tiki Goons have had their movement speed severely reduced. A number of lit torches have been added inside the Golden Temple. The only change made to the track layout is that the U-turn inside the Golden Temple is now slanted upward and acts as an anti-gravity section, making it the only course in the Banana Cup to have anti-gravity. Consequently, there is now a drop-off at the Golden Banana allowing drivers to do an aerial trick. The first left turn before the finish line also has a gap in it.

Unlike other retro courses, the music remains the same as the original, like Wii Grumble Volcano and  3DS Neo Bowser City, but with slightly enhanced bit depth.

Notably, the course feature in the foreground of the course's icon (in this case, DK's Tree House), differs from the other courses in the base game as it is positioned on the left side (right side in Mirror Mode). When accounting for DLC courses and the battle courses from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it is still one of only four courses to do so, the others being GBA Cheese Land, Wild Woods, and  3DS Neo Bowser City.

Staff ghost
The staff ghost for this track is Donkey Kong on the Varmint, with a time of 2:26.900. In Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 200cc, the staff ghost is Yellow Yoshi with a time of 1:46.758.

Mario Kart 8
Mario Kart Facebook page: ''Ancient temples. Troublemaking tikis. And bananas galore! Come race on the DK Jungle course in Mario Kart 8 for Wii U to take in all the exotic and high-octane sights.''

Mario Kart 8 Original Soundtrack liner notes
"This is an arrangement of the main Donkey Kong theme music. I hope you can experience the atmosphere of listening to a big band number. This course also has really nice scenery - we've basically remastered the course from Mario Kart 7. It's more fun than a barrel of monkeys!"

Trivia

 * Ever since Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, in addition to increasing in tempo, the final lap music on every course in the series increases by one tone with the exception of this course, which increases by two tones.
 * This course, along with Rock Rock Mountain and Cheep Cheep Lagoon, was playable in demo versions of Mario Kart 7.
 * This course and are the only courses to be in both the Special Cup and Banana Cup. Coincidentally, they are both the first course of the Special Cup in their respective game and appear in the Banana Cup in Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
 * As of the New Year's 2022 Tour, this is the only course in Mario Kart 7's Special Cup to not appear in Mario Kart Tour.