Krematoa

Krematoa (also known as the Lost World) is a large, hidden area in the game Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! Krematoa's name is a pun of the volcanic island Krakatoa.

Set inside a mountain or possibly a dormant volcano, much of Krematoa's terrain consists of cliffs and caverns. However, Krematoa's overall climate is fairly warm, as a forest and a jungle can both be found at different ends of the area. There is also a lake in the center of the island, though there is nothing of interest there until the Kongs explore the rest of the island first.

At first, Krematoa was just a legend, believed to exist only by Blunder. However, as the Kongs progress through the game, Blunder slowly leaks clues as to how they might be able to find it. Krematoa indeed does exist, as it had once stood to the east of Mekanos, but at some point it had sunken to the bottom of a lake. All that was left of the island were four rocks, each pointing in a compass direction.

Once the Kongs get their hands on the Hover Craft or Turbo Ski, they are able to raise Krematoa by driving circles around the four rocks. Once it rises, the Kongs venture inside, only to discover that Boomer had already found his way inside and set up a bomb shelter near the entrance. Because large boulders block the Kongs' path, Boomer offers to blow them up in exchange for Bonus Coins (for which it is necessary to find all Bonus Stages, since the total of Bonus Coins required to open up all stages in Krematoa is equal to the total number of Bonus Coins in the game). As Boomer blows up more and more boulders, the Kongs are able to venture deeper into Krematoa.

Each completed level of Krematoa yields a gear cog which, when used along with the other cogs obtained from the other world levels, starts a machine in Boomer's shack that seems to "summon" the Knautilus, Baron K. Roolenstein's massive submarine, from deep within the central lake, granting the Kongs access to the final boss fight. When this happens, the water of the lake turns red-hot and the surrounding area glows a faint red (which also expands to the levels), although the Kongs can endure swimming across it to reach Knautilus in the Game Boy Advance version. In the Super Nintendo version, a bridge will rise out the lake that the Kongs can use to reach the submarine. The song played in the area is named "Krematoa Koncerto", which is a remixed version of the game's main map theme, "Northern Kremisphere".

Krematoa is the only area in Donkey Kong Country 3 where Kuff 'n' Klouts can be found, appearing in the first three levels, and that does not have a Banana Bird Cave or Swanky's Sideshow.

Trivia

 * After clearing Rocket Rush in the Super Nintendo version, the Kongs can continue down a one-way path back to Boomer's Bomb Shelter. This feature is not present in the Game Boy Advance version, forcing the Kongs to backtrack through Krematoa to reach the entrance.
 * Also after clearing Rocket Rush, and activating Boomer's machine, the lake turns red and is presumably lava, or similar to the hot water in the Donkey Kong Country 2 level Lava Lagoon. Every level in this world is tinted red after this is done, but only in the SNES version.
 * Krematoa is somewhat similar to the Lost World of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. In both of them, the Kongs must pay for entry to each level using an exclusive currency (Kremkoins or Bonus Coins). Also, a lake is found in the center of both worlds, where the final fights of the two games takes place.