KONG Letters

The K-O-N-G Letters (also formatted as KONG Letters or K O N G Letters  ) are items in the Donkey Kong Country series, Donkey Kong Land series, and in DK: Jungle Climber. As stated in the manual: "Find all four letters on a single level to receive an extra life." As their name states, the letters are the gold-lined, gold-lettered K, O, N and G letters found in each level of the games, except boss battles. Some are out in the open, and some are hidden through the stage or in Bonus Areas.

If a Kong manages to collect the entire word "KONG" on any stage, they will get an extra life.

In Donkey Kong Land, K-O-N-G Letters play a completely different role. They must be collected to save game progress. If the heroes are to miss one letter, they will be unable to save their progress. Because of this, they are very important. The level Kong Krazy in the game has multiple sets of K-O-N-G Letters in it; in this level the K-O-N-G Letters can be used as platforms and bridges.

Their role was changed once again in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D. In that game, collecting all K-O-N-G Letters in one world unlocks a Key Temple stage, which contains one of the magical orbs that are required to enter the Golden Temple. While playing the game in Mirror Mode, the letters on the K-O-N-G Letters are flipped as they would appear in a mirror. In this game, K-O-N-G Letters were redesigned to appear more simplistic, resembling plain orange panels with yellow letters.

In Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, they serve the same function as in its predecessor, unlocking a temple level once all of them are collected in a world. Each temple now holds a relic required to unlock the Secret Seclusion. Even though the K-O-N-G Letters retain the same orange coloration as in Donkey Kong Country Returns during normal gameplay, they are blue when playing in Hard Mode.

Trivia

 * In Donkey Kong Country, in some bonus games, other letters exist in K-O-N-G Letter form. All letters except F, J, Q, and Z are used in game.