Pre-release and unused content

Before a game gets released you might see enemies and places that aren't in the released game, because they are taken out for unknown reasons. The elements that were once in the game but were taken out are called Beta Elements.

Down below are the various (known) elements of games that did not make it into the final cut of said games.

Donkey Kong Country
In an old Scribes page on the Rareware website there was mention of there once being a Giraffe Animal Buddy planned 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.

It is debated whether or not the plans for this Giraffe buddy were actually real though, as Rare could have simply been making a joke at the expense of fan who had made a rather odd request for a Giraffe to appear in an upcoming Donkey Kong game.

Donkey Kong Land
Several creatures and characters who were originally going in this game were abandoned for unknown reasons. These creatures and characters included a somewhat ugly fish enemy named Pucka, an unamed Kong who wore a hat and a what appears to be a baby ram named Ram Bunkshus. All these unused characters were first advertised in an old issue of Nintendo Power magazine, which included pictures of them.

Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
On the Rare Witch Project website once had previews of several upcoming enemies and characters for Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. Among these enemies was a sinister looking character (or perhaps generic enemy) simply dubbed "Mr. X". Mr. X was a white (or perhaps skeletal) Kremling wearing a large black jacket covered in army medals, he also possessed two small hooks for hands.

Mr. X is also in the German player's guide for Donkey Kong Country 2, the player's guide, aside from giving nonsensical information on Mr. X ("No Person Knows it or Saw it Somewhere Already Once.") gives nothing else on this character/enemy.

Donkey Kong Land 2
Donkey Kong Land 2 originally had the sub-title "Diddy's Kong Quest", this was later removed, probably because it would cause people to think the game was an exact port of the game it was based on, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.

Donkey Kong Land 3
Donkey Kong Land 3 originally had the sub-title "The Race Against Time", it was later removed, presumebly due to the fact that the other two installments in the Donkey Kong Land series did not possess, so it would seem slightly pointless to give Donkey Kong Land 3 one.

Donkey Kong 64
Beta-screenshots of Donkey Kong 64 showed that Donkey Kong's Treehouse originally had a shower stall in with a poster of Banjo on it. Also the boss Mad Jack was originally known as "Junk-in-the-Box" and was also drastically different in appearance. Mad Jack/Junk-in-the-Box was also originally a mini-boss fought in the R&D Room in Frantic Factory instead of being a full boss fought at the areas end.

Also, the weapons the Kongs weilded in the early screenshots looked like real-world weapons instead of the wooded, somewhat cartoonish ones seen in the final version of the game. Donkey Kong's Coconut Shooter resembled a double-barreled shotgun while Diddy Kong's Peanut Popguns resembled actual pistols.