List of Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest pre-release and unused content

This is a list of pre-release and unused content for the game Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.

Early ideas

 * According to a series of concepts posted by designer Gregg Mayles, it was suggested that Cranky Kong be a playable character, either teaming up with or as a rival to Donkey Kong. It was suggested that his moves would use his cane, as well as possibly his beard. This also suggests that, at that point in development, Diddy Kong was not planned to be the starring character. It was also suggested that players could play as Cranky as well as Funky Kong and Candy Kong in certain levels.
 * A "banana-fueled vehicle" was suggested at one point.
 * A cloud stage was proposed in which players would move around inside the clouds, and would have to continuously jump to avoid sinking through.
 * A proposed easter egg for the Monkey Museum would have been a cheat code for the SNES version of .
 * For underwater swamp levels it was suggested that swimming be slower than normal. Players would have to find Enguarde to move at a more regular speed.

Names

 * While in pre-production, a number of possible subtitles for the game were suggested, among them the final title "Diddy's Kong Quest".
 * During pre-production, Dixie Kong had many name suggestions, including "Dinky" (which was later considered for Kiddy Kong and used as his Japanese name) and "Diddiane".

Moves/abilities

 * A chart posted by Gregg Mayles shows that moves such as the Helicopter Twirl and team up were not part of the characters' basic movesets, but rather would need to be unlocked by defeating bosses.
 * The chart also mentions hidden upgraded versions of the Cartwheel and Helicopter Spin which would spin twice instead of once, as well as similar power-ups for the Animal Friends.
 * The document also makes mention of planned abilities not present in the final game. These included charged-up versions of the Cartwheel/Helicopter Spin, the ability to execute the previously-mentioned attacks while in the air, and a "sommersault bomb" where the Kongs would "roll up in a ball [and] sommersault down vertically to hit enemies [and] smash objects".

Rare Witch Project Preview and German strategy guide
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 simply dubbed "Mr. X". Mr. X was an early version of the enemy Kackle, a ghostly Kremling that appears in the level Haunted Hall and chases the Kongs throughout the level in the final version of the game. Mr. X was a phantasmagoric white Kremling with red eyes, wearing a large black jacket covered in army medals. He also possessed two small hooks for hands. Despite his status as a cut character, Mr. X somehow managed to be included in the official German player's guide, which cryptically states that he is a character that no one has known or has seen.

Flight of Fantasy preview
Klampons were originally Klaptraps, who were likely used as a placeholder. Web Woods did not feature any fog and Lava Lagoon did not have any lava. Mainbrace Mayhem and the boss level Krow's Nest originally took place during a storm (like in Topsail Trouble) but was changed to a cloudy blue sky in the final version. Additionally, Squawks was used in Parrot Chute Panic before being replaced by Quawks.

Nintendo Power
A preview of the game was featured in the 76th issue, showing a few differences. Additionally, a render of Mr. X is included, though the actual article makes no reference to it.
 * Ropes are said to appear in Crocodile Cauldron.
 * Several locations and characters have different, presumably placeholder names. Gloomy Gulch is "The Haunted Forest", Krem Quay is "The Swamp", Krazy Kremland is "Kremland Amusement Park", K. Rool's Keep is "K. Rool's Castle", Kannon is "Klumpa" and Kruncha is "Krusha". Kremkoins are also referred to as "coins of the Krelm", though this may be an error on Nintendo Power's end.
 * A K appears in a screenshot, showing that the K-O-N-G Letters were featured in earlier builds of the game.

Graphics

 * Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong have unused sprites, which shows them walking gloomily.
 * The Zinger, Flotsam and Flitter enemies have various unused color palettes.

Levels

 * An Action Replay code warps the player to an unfinished level similar to Web Woods whenever the player attempts to enter any level.

Music

 * There are three music tracks (one death theme and two victory themes) meant to be used during the two battles against Kaptain K. Rool. However, due to a programming error, none of these play in the actual game.
 * The theme "Stickerbush Symphony" was originally meant to be played in underwater levels, as a follow-up to "Aquatic Ambience" from Donkey Kong Country. However, as there were no regular underwater levels, the song was almost scrapped, but was later set in bramble levels. After being shelved for months, it was implemented only during the final week of development due to a lack of ready alternatives for the level theme.