List of Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! pre-release and unused content

This is a list of pre-release and unused content for the game Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!.

Early ideas

 * Other names voted for Kiddy Kong include Dinky Kong, Baby Kong, Tiny Kong, DJ Kong and Bibby Kong. Out of those names, "Dinky" was reused from a suggestion for the name of Dixie Kong during the development of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, additionally becoming Kiddy's Japanese name, and Tiny Kong was later used for a different character debuting in Donkey Kong 64.
 * Karbine originally was not intended to be an owl; instead, the original design for the enemy depicted a robotic ape with a propeller on the tailbone area. This design can be see on page 33 of the 89th issue of Nintendo Power.

Back cover
Screenshots shown in Nintendo Power and the back cover of North American and PAL versions show that Bazzas originally had proportions closer to a real-life, and had a blue-colored sprite instead of green.

E3 1996 trailer
The game's E3 1996 trailer (whose footage was later featured in a Brazilian commercial) features a few differences from the final build.
 * The game is subtitled "Dixie's Double Trouble" instead of "Dixie Kong's Double Trouble".
 * Graphics (presumably placeholder) from Donkey Kong Country 2. These include Neeks instead of the similar Sneek enemy and Funky Kong's surfboard animation.
 * Different sprites and background palettes for the Brothers Bears.
 * Kiddy Kong has a different idling animation.
 * Kiddy is riding Ellie in a snowscape level, something that cannot be done in the retail version.

Nintendo Player's Guide

 * In the Nintendo Player's Guide for Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, there is a photograph of KAOS's first head flying around Kastle Kaos while his body is hovering with no flames. This does not occur in the retail version.

Early level placement
The November 1996 issue of Nintendo Power swaps Squeals on Wheels and Murky Mill, which the following issue acknowledged as a late change in development.

Unused data
There are unused sprites in the game. They are sprites of Kracka (which were eventually used in the Game Boy Advance version) and unused sprites of Kopter (some of which were eventually used in Donkey Kong Land III).

Game Boy Advance prototype
On January 5, 2022, a prototype of Donkey Kong Country 3 for the Game Boy Advance was released online. Its build date is May 6, 2005, and it is listed as version 0.6. The final North American release is based on this prototype.

Differences

 * There is no health and safety notice upon start-up, and the title screen opened with an iris rather than a fade-in like in the retail version.
 * The copyright year on the title screen is separated by a comma rather than an en dash.
 * The pause menu uses a different, skinnier font. This is also used for the "BEST SCORE" text displayed at Cranky's Dojo and Swanky's Dash.
 * The sound effect that plays when pressing on the mode select menu has not yet been implemented.
 * In the mode select the "Two-Player Team" option does not have a dash in-between.
 * The player is unable to use cheats in this build.
 * The padding in the speech bubbles was slightly widened.
 * Pressing on a selection that is within a speech buble causes the speech bubble to disappear.
 * The sound for when Dixie or Kiddy hit the ground upon losing an extra life does not play. Kiddy's crying sound has not been added yet.
 * The Extras menu is available from the start, and its also lists "Funky's Rentals" as "Funky's Challenge." However, the splash screen for the Funky's Rentals minigame still lists the title as "Funky's Rentals."
 * In the Funky's Rentals minigame, the bullets shot from the boat are white rather than black, making them a lot less visible.
 * The music used in the Funky's Rentals minigame has not yet been implemented, nor do any of the sound effects. The minigames instead play a continuation of the Brothers Bear theme.
 * In Funky's Rentals, "Challenge 2 - Disarm" is also available from the start, although selecting it causes "Challenge 3 - Protect" to be played instead.
 * "Challenge 3 - Protect" becomes available at Funky's Rentals once the Kongs give Funky the patch, though selecting it causes "Challenge 2 - Disarm" to be played instead.
 * If Dixie and Kiddy fail to complete a challenge, Funky simply says, "Challenge failed." If the Kongs complete a challenge, he says, "Challenge complete."
 * Even if Dixie and Kiddy quit the "Disarm" and "Protect" challenges prematurely, Funky still mentions the challenge as being completed.
 * In Funky's Rentals, an X mark or a check mark is not shown next to the challenges in the menu.
 * Dixie moves a lot faster in the Swanky's Dash minigame. Additionally, after the player finishes a Swanky's Dash challenge from the Extras menu, the game prompts them if they would like to save while showing a scene of Cranky at his dojo.
 * In the Cranky's Dojo minigame, the number indicating how many Bristles are remaining is displayed below the Bristles icon at the top-right corner rather than to the right of it.
 * In the main game, if Dixie and Kiddy complete Cranky's Dojo, they receive more valuable rewards, including two Banana Bunches, a Red Balloon, a Green Balloon, a Blue Balloon, and a bear coin.
 * The sound effect for when Dixie begins to carry Kiddy using team up is the same as when Diddy and Dixie use team up in Donkey Kong Country 2's Game Boy Advance release.
 * During team up, Kiddy still has the ability to move around while Dixie is being thrown in midair.
 * An additional sound effect plays for each item that Dixie and Kiddy are rewarded for completing a minigame.
 * Whenever Dixie and Kiddy collect a Bonus Coin, the total number of Bonus Coins (98) is shown alongside the number of Bonus Coins that Dixie and Kiddy have collected. Contrarily, the DK Coin total is still shown in the final release whenever Dixie and Kiddy obtain a DK Coin.
 * Whenever Dixie and Kiddy are in a Brothers Bear location, four black square icons are shown to the bottom-left instead of six. This also occurs if it is displayed at the top-right whereas the retail version shows only five small black square icons.
 * When Dixie and Kiddy are at a No Animal Sign, part of their sprite is overlapped by the No Animal Sign.
 * Barrels and Steel Barrels make a thud sound whenever they appear on screen or spawn.
 * No sound effect plays if a Steel Barrel is thrown against a wall.
 * Even if Dixie and Kiddy rescue a Banana Bird from a secret cave, a completed Level Flag is not shown.
 * In the world maps, Swanky's Dash is a lot smaller and flat.
 * In Murky Mill, Ellie does not make a noise when she gets scared of a Sneek.
 * Ellie cannot use her trunk to pick up a rolling Steel Barrel.
 * The sound of Ellie spitting out a water projectile is different and more static-like. If the game is paused right as Ellie spits one out, an endless loop of the sound effect plays.
 * In Belcha's Barn, when Belcha is defeated, he lands slightly farther away from the edge than in the retail version.
 * Barrel Shield Bust-Up and Springin' Spiders do not have their level order reversed.
 * Brash's Stadium is still titled "Brash's Cabin" on the world map like in the Super Nintendo version.
 * When the Kongs visit Brash after clearing his record in Riverside Race, his animation where he shakes his fists in anger is not shown.
 * The secret cave of Kremwood Forest, Arich's Hoard, does not open on the world map when the Kongs approach it.
 * On the Northern Kremisphere map, the Krem Flag of Krematoa is obscured by the volcano, whereas in the retail version it is placed on top of the volcano.
 * In the Cotton Top Cove map, the opening of the secret cave Bounty Bay is smaller.
 * When exiting a Bonus Level in an underwater level, such as Bazza's Blockade, a dark red and black coloration of the reef background is shown for a few frames.
 * In Rocket Barrel Ride and Tracker Barrel Trek, the waterfall graphic sometimes glitches, which is mostly noticeable when the Kongs exit a Bonus Level or continue from a Star Barrel.
 * In the waterfall levels, whenever a banana is collected, parts of the waterfall briefly become transparent.
 * Parry does not make a shrieking sound when defeated.
 * In Tracker Barrel Trek, there is less collision detection for the letter N, making it harder to acquire.
 * In Stampede Sprint, the Chase theme begins playing right when the level begins, and the Chase theme does not loop, so the level becomes silent when the theme ends.
 * In Stampede Sprint, the Ellie Barrel is placed slightly higher above the ground, making it possible for Dixie to use her Helicopter Spin underneath the Ellie Barrel so that the Kongs can continue the level as themselves.
 * In Stampede Sprint, the three Sneeks who scare Ellie do not appear, but Ellie still reacts as if they were there.

In-game text
Most of the text changes involve fixing grammatical errors.