Donkey Kong Beta Elements

Also see Mario Beta Elements.

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 reason. The elements that were once in the game but were taken out are called Beta Elements.

Beta Elements
Here is a list of Beta Elements appearing in Donkey Kong 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 it with a poster of Banjo and Kazooie 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 area's 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.

Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie was originally going to have several more levels than the final version did. These levels, Mt. Fire Eyes, Hammerhead Beach and Fungi Forest were cut from the game presumebly due to time constraints. Mt. Fire Eyes is rumored to now be Hailfire Peaks of Banjo-Tooie.

Also, a picture of Donkey Kong was originally supposed to be found in Banjo's House.

Banjo-Tooie
Originally, a demonic-looking version of Bottles the Mole would have been playable by a second-player. This demonic Bottles would have allowed players to possess enemies, although this power was ineffective against bosses.

Banjo-Pilot
Interestingly, Banjo-Pilot was originally not going to be a Banjo game at all. Instead, it was to feature Diddy Kong characters, and be a sequel to Diddy Kong Racing. In this form, the game was to be known as Diddy Kong Pilot.

Known characters in Diddy Kong Pilot were Krunch, Dixie Kong, Diddy Kong, Donkey Kong, King K. Rool, Cranky Kong and a mysterious Kong (who has been said by fans to have possibly bore the name "Bumpkin Kong") in the attire of a stereotypical hillbilly. Later, due to being bought over by Microsoft and surrendering the Donkey Kong rights back to Nintendo, Rare, Ltd. changed the game into its Banjo form.

Also, in a much later stage of production, the game was to have been known as Banjo-Kazoomie. This name was changed, however, possibly to avoid confusion among fans.

Conker's Bad Fur Day
Conker's Bad Fur Day was originally supposed to be entitled "Conker's Quest" and would have been a game made specifically directed at children. The game was given the later title of "Twelve Tails: Conker 64".

Eventually Rare, Ltd. completely revamped the game, making it more adult-orienting and eliminating almost all Conker's Quest/Twelve Tails: Conker 64 material from the final version of the game.

Also, the original ending of Conker's Bad Fur Day was to have a depressed Conker kill himself by shooting his own head.

Conker: Live & Reloaded
Originally Conker: Live & Reloaded was named Conker: Live and Uncut and would have been completely uncensored. Quite ironically, the final product of the game was even more censored then the game it was almost an exact port of, Conker's Bad Fur Day.