Donkey Kong Country

Donkey Kong Country is a sidescrolling platform game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System released in 1994. The game stars Donkey Kong, along with his buddy Diddy Kong, as the two travel across Donkey Kong Island to recover their Banana Hoard, stolen by an evil crocodile named King K. Rool and his Kremlings. The game was notable for its innovative use of pre-rendered 3D CGI models converted into sprites, a property which garnered the game much hype and acclaim.

Donkey Kong Country was a massive success, selling over 9 million copies on the SNES alone and single-handedly popularizing the use of pre-rendered sprites in video games. The game was a turning point for the Donkey Kong series, reintroducing it (alongside the 1994 Game Boy game released a few months prior) after a nearly decade-long hiatus and cementing Donkey Kong as a franchise in its own right by introducing Donkey Kong's modern design as well as his supporting cast and enemies, musical cues, and gameplay mechanics that most of the following Donkey Kong games as well as Donkey Kong's appearances in Mario spinoff titles would build upon. The game's success spawned multiple sequels and spinoffs, a 40-episode 3D animated series, a chapter book adaptation, manga adaptations in Mario-related publications such as Kodansha's Super Mario manga and Super Mario-Kun, and many toys and other merchandise.

The game was remade for the Game Boy Color in 2000 and was also remade again for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. The two remakes feature some new Bonus Games, the ability to save in the overworld, and several other new elements. Donkey Kong Country was also released on the Wii's Virtual Console in 2006 and 2007, the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2014, and the New Nintendo 3DS's Virtual Console in 2016. The trilogy was delisted from the Wii Virtual Console in November 2012 for unknown reasons until it was re-released again in Europe and Oceania on October 30, 2014.

Storyline
During a stormy night on Donkey Kong Island, Diddy Kong is told by Donkey Kong to guard his Banana Hoard for his "hero training" until midnight, when Donkey Kong will take over. While watching for predators beneath the darkness, the young monkey becomes attacked by Klump the Kremling (Krusha in the GBA version). The villain traps the monkey inside a DK Barrel, kicks him across the jungle, then steals the Banana Hoard along with the other Kremlings, dropping a fruit trail on the way. Next morning, a loud calling of his name wakes Donkey Kong. Realizing that he has slept through his watch, the big ape quickly exits his tree house, only to find Cranky Kong, who tells him hints about the Kremlings stealing the hoard. Donkey Kong soon realizes that both his Banana Hoard and Diddy Kong are missing and sets out to find them. After finding Diddy in a barrel, both Donkey and Diddy head out to find the stolen Banana Hoard.

On their travels, the two heroes tread through deep jungles, mines, forests, temples, snowy mountains, caves, and several other regions of the island, fighting many enemies and bosses on the way. With assistance from Cranky, Funky, and Candy Kong, the primates eventually reach a large ship known as the Gangplank Galleon, where they meet the Kremling Krew's leader, King K. Rool. The Kongs soon "defeat" the foe, only to find the king to get back up and fight with a new set of attacks. However, the duo manages to bring him down a second time, this time defeating the crocodile once and for all. After King K. Rool's defeat, Cranky Kong congratulates the heroes, who then tells them to check the Banana Hoard. They do so, finding that the bananas have been returned.

In the Game Boy Advance remake of the game, a short cutscene is seen at the beginning of the game when DK's bananas are stolen and after King K. Rool's defeat, where Cranky, Funky, and Candy Kong congratulate the apes on their victory. King K. Rool soon recovers and forces them off the ship, sailing away.

Gameplay
The game introduces the "tag-team" system, where Diddy and Donkey Kong follow each other throughout each level. However, the member in the front of the group is the Kong in play, so the other Kong simply follows behind the other. If the hero in play is injured, he quickly runs off the screen, and the Kong behind him takes his place as the character in play. In cases like this, only one Kong is on the screen at the time, as the other is defeated. If the lone Kong is injured by an enemy, the player loses an extra life and must restart the level from the beginning or by the Star Barrel. Fortunately, any Kong that is missing can be recovered by breaking open a DK Barrel; however, these special barrels do not appear many times in most levels. When a hero is freed from a DK Barrel, he heads to the back of the group behind the Kong in play and is not able to be controlled until the Kong in the lead is injured, or if the player hits to switch characters, in which case Donkey Kong high-fives Diddy and switches places with him, or vice versa.

Only one Kong appears on the screen at a time in the Game Boy Color version of the game, and a DK Barrel appears at the corner of the screen instead when there is more than one Kong in the group. Also, the Kongs do not run off the screen in the Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance remakes as they rather fall off the screen.

Kong Abilities
While both Kongs have different abilities, they have the same basic moves. Both Donkey and Diddy are able to jump, roll (or cartwheel), climb, and swim to pass through levels. The most commonly used basic abilities are the jump and roll moves, which help the heroes cross gaps and defeat enemies. While rolling is often used to pummel into weaker foes, it can also be used as part of the super-jump technique. Both characters can use this move by simply rolling or cartwheeling off a cliff and jumping in mid-air. This gives them both a longer jump to cross wider abysses.

Other than jumping and rolling, the Kongs can also use their climbing and swimming abilities to traverse levels. Climbing can only be done on ropes, which can swing the primates over gaps if they cling onto them. Some ropes are stationary, which means that the Kongs can take advantage of their climbing abilities on them to head up the rope to a higher area. Another move both Kongs can perform is their swimming ability which can only be done inside of the water in the underwater levels.

Both Kongs also have some different abilities, as well as different stats. Diddy is faster and more agile than Donkey Kong; however, he is not as strong as him and has difficulty defeating stronger enemies such as Krushas and Klumps. Donkey Kong is stronger and slower than him, and he also has his own unique move called Hand Slap. The Hand Slap move allows him to defeat enemies and find hidden objects in the ground or on treetops.

Another difference between the two Kongs is how they pick up and throw barrels. When Diddy Kong picks up barrels, he holds them in front of his body, protecting him from any enemies in his way. However, Donkey Kong holds barrels above his head, leaving his whole body vulnerable to enemy attacks. Additionally, Donkey Kong throws his barrels slightly further than Diddy, making Donkey Kong more likely to hit enemies from another distance. If the primates throw a Steel Keg against a wall, they are able to jump on the barrel as it rolls back and balance on it.

Special Areas
The other members of the Kong Family clan in these special areas which assist Donkey and Diddy while they are adventuring.


 * Cranky's Cabin: This area is ran by Cranky Kong, who the heroes meet here to hear him talking about some random hints and random rambling about how the 8-bit era was better than the 16-bit era. There is one cabin in every world.
 * Candy's Save Point: This area is ran by Candy Kong. The Kongs can travel here in any world to save their game for free. In the Game Boy Color remake, this area is replaced by Candy's Challenge where the monkeys have to go through a Bonus Level and collect a golden coin. In the Game Boy Advance remake of the game, the area is replaced by Candy's Dance Studio, where Candy hosts a dance mini-game, which can be won to earn collectibles.
 * Funky's Flights: In this special area, the Kongs can meet Funky Kong and use his Jumbo Barrel to travel to any unlocked world. In the Game Boy Advance remakes, the area is replaced by Funky's Fishing, where Funky hosts a fishing mini-game along with having the Jumbo Barrel. In the game, the Kongs must catch fish while riding on Enguarde to win prizes.

Collectibles and mechanisms
During their adventure, Diddy and Donkey run in a variety of collectibles and objects, some helpful, and some harmful. Many of these objects are listed below.

Barrels
The most common objects in Donkey Kong Country and its series are barrels. Many different barrels appear throughout this game, each having a different purpose and use. Below shows these uses on the barrels.

Levels
Donkey Kong Country features many levels in which the Kongs must successfully complete in order to reach the final boss, including boss levels. The levels are separated into worlds, such as the Kongo Jungle, and each world features five to six levels and one boss stage. Every non-boss level is home to possibly up to five Bonus Levels, which can optionally be found to finish the game 100%, or to simply collect extra goodies such as Banana Bunches. Unlike in the Super Mario series, the player does not have to traverse a whole level to reach the boss. Every level also has its own theme, or "environment." For example, levels such as Barrel Cannon Canyon are marked as "Jungle" levels, as they take place in a jungle.

Note that the following table lists the levels in the original order on the SNES version of the game.

Playable characters
The game features two playable characters who try to return the Banana Hoard. Below are these two characters and a description on them.

Supporting characters
Besides the two playable Kongs, there are also some non-playable apes who help them out in the game's special areas. The table below describes these helpers and names them.

Animal Friends
The supporting Kongs are not the only ones to aid Donkey and Diddy in their quest; the wildlife also help. Each Animal Friend is prisoner in a crate with their likeness on it. The Kongs can only use the Animal Friends in certain levels, meaning that the Kongs leave their helpers once they exit a level. Each buddy has different abilities, as shown below.

Normal enemies
As with all other Donkey Kong platformers, Donkey Kong Country features many different kinds of enemies, who try to defeat the Kongs throughout every level. Below shows the enemies' names, descriptions, and first and last level appearances.

Bosses
A boss is found at the end of every world and guards a portion of Donkey Kong's Banana Hoard. Each boss (excluding King K. Rool) is a bigger version of a generic enemy and requires more work to defeat. Below lists these bosses in order of appearance and gives a brief description on them.

Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Three different versions are known to exist for the North American release. In Trick Track Trek, the moving platform doesn't fall instantly once it reaches the end of the line. Otherwise, it is v1.0. In Coral Capers, there is a gap between the Star Barrel and lower platform. Otherwise, the game is at most v1.1.
 * V1.1
 * V1.2 (Player's Choice)

Game Boy Color
Donkey Kong Country was remade for the Game Boy Color in 2000. It was released in Japan under the title, Donkey Kong 2001 (ドンキーコング2001), and as the name implies, it was released there in 2001. There are still several differences, some of which are because of the Game Boy Color's limited hardware capabilities. Differences include:


 * The GBC version prompts the player to select a language before going to the title screen, in the SNES version the language select menu is found in the file select. Also unlike the SNES version, all of the text will be in the selected language instead of having menus still in English.
 * There are three different title screens.
 * Much like Donkey Kong Land, only one Kong appears at time. The only difference is there is an additional DK Barrel if there are two Kongs, unlike DK Land, which only has one Kong appearing without notice.
 * In the German version, many levels' names were changed to ones that more closely resemble their English names.
 * Sticker Pads are newly collectible photographs hidden in a level of each world. They are viewable from the Sticker Book, and can even be printed from the Game Boy Printer.
 * Due to the graphical limitations, the stormy weather effects in the levels Ropey Rampage and Snow Barrel Blast are not present in this version. Also, perhaps ironically, the misty effect in Misty Mine is not present here.
 * Also due to the graphical limitations, the light in Torchlight Trouble does not have a beam of light, but rather lights up the whole screen.
 * The level Winky's Walkway has been extended with some more enemies and a different layout.
 * In the level Millstone Mayhem, the Gnawties sit on top of the millstones rather than in the middle.
 * A new level called Necky Nutmare has been added in Chimp Caverns.
 * The Kongs do not ride the Animal Friends; rather, they become them when jumping on the Animal Crates containing the friends. When touched by an enemy, the animal will revert to Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong, and cannot transform again unless another crate is found.
 * The Kongs do not travel between levels on the world map along dots in a straight line, but rather following paths in a similar fashion to Donkey Kong Country 2.
 * Two mini-games have been added: Funky hosts a fishing game known as Funky's Fishing (which would be later reprised in the GBA remake) and Cranky hosts a shooting game called Crosshair Cranky.
 * Two additional difficulties have been added: the first one removes DK Barrels and the other removes Star Barrels. After beating the game in the normal difficulty, the player has to replay the game with each new difficulty in the same file to get the 101%.
 * Due to the limited capabilities of the Game Boy Color, most of the music and sound effects from the Super NES version were either severely downgraded or replaced with that of Donkey Kong Land. Its Forest Frenzy track was even entirely newly composed.
 * The Warp Barrel in Mine Cart Carnage was removed.
 * A new file select screen resembling the one from Donkey Kong 64 was implemented.
 * The game saves automatically after completing a level. With this, Candy's Save Point has been replaced by Candy's Challenge where Donkey and Diddy have to collect a golden Banana coin in each challenge of a world.
 * The credits roll while showing various screenshots instead of DK's Tree House.

Game Boy Advance
Another remake of the game was made for the Game Boy Advance in 2003. It is a faithful recreation, even more so than the Game Boy Color version, since the Game Boy Advance's technical capabilities surpass that of the Super NES. Even so, the game features many changes from the original. Some changes in this game include:


 * An intro cutscene is played when the player starts a new file, which is an abridged version of the story from the manual.
 * Similarly, a post-credits scene is shown where King K. Rool forces the celebrating Kongs off his ship with the threat of using the Gangplank Galleon's onboard cannons to blow up Kong Island, with Cranky Kong while swimming back to shore criticizing this as a cheap attempt at setting up for a sequel.
 * Regarding the cutscene, a difference between the cutscene and the manual was who ended up being responsible for subduing Diddy. In the cutscene, it was Krusha. In the manual, it was Klump.
 * A "Time Attack" mode has been added, called DK Attack, where Donkey and Diddy Kong must collect objects and complete the level in a certain amount of time.
 * Rock Krocs can now be defeated by Donkey Kong's hand slap move when they are curled up in a ball when the Stop and Go Barrels turn to the sign "STOP".
 * Some enemies come in more varieties of colors (normal Gnawties are blue, normal Kritters are purple, etc.) The original colors of some of said enemies are briefly featured in the credits.
 * The Warp Barrel in Millstone Mayhem has a different location, while the Warp Barrels in Vulture Culture, Tree Top Town and Slipslide Ride were removed. In contrast, more Warp Barrels where added in the early levels so all levels in Kongo Jungle and Monkey Mines have one. This is a carryover from the sequels, which only have Warp Barrels in all levels from their first two worlds.
 * When the heroes enter a Warp Barrel, they are sent into a short area that contains a group of bananas that spell out the word "WARP." In the original version of the game, as well as in the Game Boy Color version, they are simply sent to the end of the level, and not into this short area.
 * From Vine Valley to Chimp Caverns, the bosses are fought a little differently: Queen B. now has several Zingers surrounding her when she gets hit and turns red, Really Gnawty makes stalactites fall from the ceiling when he jumps really high and far after being hit, Dumb Drum must have TNT Barrels thrown at it after the enemies are defeated, and the battle against Master Necky Snr. is against both him and Master Necky simultaneously.
 * Very Gnawty and Really Gnawty swapped colors, but in accordance to the normal Gnawties' color change, Really Gnawty is now blue instead of grayish-green.
 * Some unused elements from the original that were still kept in its data were used in this remake. Examples include Necky's falling feathers when defeated, Cranky Kong's walking sprites and most of his unused dialogues.
 * After each boss, Cranky Kong comes out and compliments the Kongs on beating the boss while criticizing the bosses.
 * The game can be saved at any time or place, including halfway points in levels. With this, Candy's save areas are replaced with a dance studio, with different theme music. Here, a dancing minigame can be played.
 * After meeting Funky (who also has different music) once, he can be summoned anytime on the world map.
 * From Monkey Mines onward, the maps have been redesigned. The world maps are also zoomed in more.
 * On the world map, the Kongs follow curved pathways between each level rather than in straight lines. The banana peels marking them are also clearer.
 * Starting from Vine Valley onwards, a few of the levels have been placed in a different order; for instance, Temple Tempest has become the sixth level in Vine Valley, rather than the fourth.
 * Some of the level backgrounds are edited:
 * At the end of Jungle Hijinxs, the time of day doesn't change to night, unlike in the original.
 * Likewise, at the end of Ropey Rampage, the tropical storm doesn't end.
 * The walls behind the mine levels' ground areas are hollowed out slightly, as the background can be seen through them.
 * Loopy Lights's background is changed to that of Mine Cart Carnage and Misty Mine.
 * Slipslide Ride's farthest background is now gem-filled, rather than plain purple.
 * Various foreground objects were added to some level environments that lacked them (ex: temple levels with trees in front, beams in mine levels).
 * The credits take place on Gangplank Galleon instead of DK's Tree House.
 * A new mode called "Hero Mode" has been added. In this mode, the player controls a yellow Diddy, who must complete every level without the help of Star Barrels or DK.
 * The game keeps track of the number of lives and bananas the Kongs have when saved, unlike in the original, which puts them back at five lives (six including the zero) and zero bananas every time the game is reset.
 * The Barrel Cannons that send the Kongs to Bonus Areas are replaced by the Bonus Barrels used in the sequels.
 * Bonus Areas now have title cards ("Find the Exit", "Stop the Barrel", etc); this is another carryover from the sequels.
 * The game has more sound effects and character voices, particularly from Donkey Kong 64.
 * K-O-N-G Letters spin around as in later Donkey Kong Country games, instead of always facing the screen; they also no longer sparkle or shimmer. This makes them consistent in the series as opposed to the original where they were different to the ones in the sequels.
 * A scrapbook, similar to the one in the Game Boy Color version, was added; the Kongs have to collect photographs throughout the game in order to add pictures to it.
 * To get 101% Completion, the player now also has to collect all of the K-O-N-G Letters and fill up the scrapbook. In the "Hero Mode", however, the player can get the 101% the same way as in the original.
 * The Two Player Contest option (while starting a new file) was removed. This option was removed in the remakes of its two sequels as well.
 * Very Gnawty appears in DK's Tree House after defeating Really Gnawty. When it realizes Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong has entered the tree house, Very Gnawty runs past them and out of the front door. This can be performed only once per file, however.
 * Queen B is now dizzy upon defeat in addition to moving constantly. In the original, she just occasionally moved.
 * King K. Rool during his boss fight can now make yells as he's charging the Kongs. Originally, the only sound he makes is when he's hit on the head (which was reused from Krusha's defeat sound).

Development
The leadup to Donkey Kong Country's creation started in the summer of 1993. While visiting Rare as a part of a globe-travelling journey to find potential quality games in development, Tony Harman of Nintendo of America saw a Tech Demo showing an animated, computer-rendered boxer punching. Rare was experimenting with 3D animation at the time as they found the then-popular digitization technique too restrictive. Impressed by the demo, Harman lobbied for Nintendo to collaborate with Rare, and, with the help of Genyo Takeda and Shigeru Miyamoto, managed to convince them. Nintendo approached Rare with the mandate to make a game that would have "better graphics than Aladdin" (presumably referring to the popular 1993 Sega Genesis game, which was lauded for its impressive graphics and animation hand-drawn by Disney animators). They recommended that it should star Donkey Kong, as they thought that the character and his universe were less explored than other Nintendo properties and that thus Rare could have greater creative freedom while making the game.

A team of 12 people were assembled for the project, which was the most Rare had assigned for a single game at the time. Gregg Mayles cited Super Mario Bros. 3 as his chief inspiration, saying that he wanted to imitate its structure while also providing smooth and flowing level designs that skilled players could navigate quickly. A team of developers were sent to the nearby Twycross Zoo to observe the movements of real gorillas, but found that it would not suited to the fast-paced platformer they wanted to make. The team created around fifteen different styles of movement for Donkey Kong, including ones based on rabbits and frogs, before arriving at the current animations, based loosely on the movements of horses. The Kremlings originated from another project Rare was developing at the same time (which, according to Rareware employee Gregg Mayles was from a canceled adventure game named Jonny Blastoff and the Kremling Armada .) , but were transplanted into the game as Rare found that they were a good fit for Donkey Kong Country's aesthetic. The developers also wanted the screen to be as "clutter-free" as possible, which lead to the creation of a "buddy" character so that the player could take more than one hit, inspired by the "big Mario returns to little Mario" system of the Super Mario games. Donkey Kong Jr. was first considered for the role, but he was changed into a separate character as Nintendo felt Rare's redesign looked too different.

Rare demoed an early version of the game at Nintendo's headquarters in Kyoto. Reception of the demo was mixed, with Gunpei Yokoi remarking that the game looked "too 3D". However, Shigeru Miyamoto approved of what was done with the project. He and his staff gave advice to Rare on how to improve the game, with one of the results being the implementation of the Hand Slap move a few weeks before completion.

Competition Cartridge
A specialized competition variant featuring an assortment of random levels and a point counter was manufactured for use in various video game tournaments held throughout 1995. After that, the few existing cartridges were sold in a Nintendo Power subscriber catalogue. Due to its rarity, this version is a valuable collector's item.

Reception
At the time of its release, Donkey Kong Country received universal acclaim by critics and audiences, with the game being praised for its visuals, controls and replayability. The massive hype it received due to its innovative use of pre-rendered 3D sprites and subsequent commercial success has been credited with extending the SNES's lifespan and help the system stay relevant in the face of the next-generation and  consoles. The Game Boy Color remake was similarly praised for taking a graphically-impressive title and putting it to the platform in a complete and technically competent form, in contrast to other unsuccessful attempts at directly porting or remaking home console games for handhelds. The game was placed 39th in the 100th issue of Nintendo Power's "100 best Nintendo games of all time" in 1997 and it was rated the 90th best game on a Nintendo system in their top 200 games list in 2006.

Following Rare's acquisition by Microsoft, Donkey Kong Country experienced a period of backlash. Electronic Gaming Monthly placed the game in their top 10 overrated games list (despite the publication previously awarding it the 1994 Game of the Year award), and, in their review of the GBA version, stated that the game did not hold up. Similarly, GameSpy placed it ninth on their list of the top 25 most overrated games of all time. Regardless, the Game Boy Advance and Virtual Console re-releases were still positively received.

Sales
Donkey Kong Country ended up selling more than expected, since the game was released at the peak of the 16-bit era. The game had an extremely successful first day at the stores, and sold 9.3 million copies worldwide, making it the third best selling game on the Super Nintendo, following Super Mario World and Super Mario All-Stars. To date, it is the best selling Donkey Kong game and overall Rare's best selling game.

Game Boy Advance port
The Game Boy Advance port of the game was coded from scratch. The developers extensively playtested the port to make sure the physics and controls were true to the original version, though some deviations were made to improve some mechanics and the level design.

Some of the floppies containing the original graphic assets were lost, while the surviving ones were disorganized and mostly unusable. To remedy this problem, team members ripped the sprites using an emulator. Most of the backgrounds were redone from the ground up to fit the Game Boy Advance's screen resolution, scale, and color palette.

SNES Classic Edition
Donkey Kong Country is one of the 21 titles included on the Super NES Classic Edition.

References to other games

 * Donkey Kong - Cranky Kong is said to be the Donkey Kong from this game who fought Mario in some of his own games. The Oil Drums from the first stage of this game were also featured in Donkey Kong Country at Oil Drum Alley. In addition, the intro of the game has Cranky Kong listening to and operating a phonogram that's playing the theme song for the original Donkey Kong arcade game in a background resembling the iron bars from the original arcade game before Donkey Kong drowns out the music with his boom box and proceeds to knock Cranky Kong out of the area, revealing that the setting is actually within the jungle, further implying Cranky Kong's connection to the original Donkey Kong.

References in later games

 * Donkey Kong Land: The semi-sequel of Donkey Kong Country for the Game Boy, which contains gameplay elements and music remixes from its SNES counterpart.
 * Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest: The direct sequel, which contains many gameplay elements from its predecessor. Also, in the Game Boy Advance remake, Diddy makes a reference to the first game in the intro, stating that he did not want to surrender the Banana Hoard to Kaptain K. Rool after all that he and Donkey Kong went through to get it last time. Additionally, Winky can be seen in the background of Cranky's Monkey Museum.
 * Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!: As with Donkey Kong Country 2, many gameplay elements are reused (including the return of being able to balance the Kongs on Steel Barrels, which is absent in Donkey Kong Country 2).
 * Super Smash Bros. series: Barrel Cannons seen in Donkey Kong Country appear here. Also, Kongo Jungle stages appear in the three games as Congo Jungle in the first Super Smash Bros. game, and Kongo Jungle in Super Smash Bros. Melee and remade in Melee Stages in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The "boss defeated" fanfare is used as Donkey Kong's victory theme in all Super Smash Bros. games.
 * Many of Donkey Kong's various animations from this game (like his crouching, jumping, running and the way he carries barrels) as well as some of his moves like his Hand Slap were used in Super Smash Bros. as part of his moveset. This also happened with Diddy Kong when he was introduced in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
 * Most of Donkey Kong's stages in the Mario Party series, Mario Kart series, Mario Tennis series and other spin offs are based on elements from Donkey Kong Country.
 * Donkey Kong 64: Another installment in the series with many similarities to Donkey Kong Country. It features the entire non-playable Kong cast, as well as another Jungle Hijinxs remix. In the Game Boy Color version, the Select Screen resembles the Donkey Kong 64 one.
 * Donkey Kong Country Returns: Many elements from the original return in this game, including arrangements of the main theme, and characters such as Rambi and Squawks. Some of Cranky Kong's quotes are also reused.
 * Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze: In the level Canopy Chaos, Cranky's record player can be found, which plays the original title theme when the player ground pounds in front of it.
 * Mini Mario & Friends: amiibo Challenge: Barrel Cannons and Auto-Fire Barrels, as well as minecarts, have roles in Mini Donkey Kong and Mini Diddy Kong's stages, respectively. Along with a cover of "DK Island Swing," heard in Mini Donkey Kong's levels, there is also a cover of the Bonus Level theme from Donkey Kong Country, which plays in Mini Diddy Kong's stages.
 * WarioWare Gold: A microgame in 5-Volt's stage based on Donkey Kong Country appears in this game.

Pre-release and unused content
Early previews video show minor differences, such as items in different spots, different level palettes and the Krusha and Klump enemies being invulnerable to attacks they are vulnerable to in the final game.

Unused data still present on the cartridge include several sprites (including one enemy featured in the sequel), enemy palettes swaps and an early script which depicts Cranky Kong as a friendlier character.

Staff
Donkey Kong Country was developed by a team of 12 people, the largest development staff of any Rareware game at that point. Rareware co-founder Tim Stamper was the director while Gregg Mayles served as the designer.

The game had a team of 3 composers working on it. Eveline Fischer composed the tracks "Simian Segue", "Candy's Love Song", "Voices of the Temple", "Forest Frenzy", "Treetop Rock", "Northern Hemispheres" and "Ice Cave Chant". Robin Beanland's sole contribution was the Funky's Flights theme (a holdover from the arcade version of Killer Instinct ). David Wise handled the rest of the soundtrack.

Bonus Level Early Exit
This glitch can only be done in the Game Boy Advance version. The Kongs must go to the first Bonus Level found in Platform Perils and stand underneath the fourth barrel and a little to the right of it. Now, the Kongs have to hit this barrel when the G is not showing up. If they do it right, they will lose the bonus level as usual, but they will end up walking out early, not showing their Mini-Game defeat animation. This can be done with either Donkey Kong or Diddy Kong.

Enguarde Warps Colors
First, the player has to go to Croctopus Chase. Then, after the parts where the Kongs are carried from one place to another by the blast barrels, the Kongs will have to find Enguarde and get on him. Then the player has to go back through the level until the Kongs reach the last blast barrel that the apes were shot from. By simply getting in that barrel and getting fired out, the player can perform four different glitches:


 * 1) The first of these is that Diddy will be walking, not swimming, behind Donkey Kong. The player can get off Enguarde and swim to his side. Then the player must press select. If done correctly, the camera will freeze and Diddy alone will be able to walk around as if it were a land level.
 * 2) While still frozen, the player could jump back on Enguarde. Diddy should turn into a greenish-blue color and hover in mid-air. This allows the player to control Enguarde by himself, which results in the Kongs being left behind if the player continues on through the level.
 * 3) While on Enguarde, the player can press and then  once quickly after. Enguarde should turn into another greenish-blue Diddy that the player will be able to control. If the player touches the other floating Diddy it will turn the player back into Enguarde.
 * 4) While using Enguarde once again, the player needs to press the quickly and repeatedly; it will permanently turn him into a reddish color with either DK or Diddy following behind.

As this new red Enguarde, the player has to have Diddy follow behind him (if Donkey is behind the player, the player will have to press twice and the Kongs should switch). Then, the player has to press and the player then has to press. This results in Enguarde transforming into an oddly colored Donkey Kong that hovers in the air while the player is left controlling the Kongs once again. The player can redo this with DK following behind the player while the player is controlling Enguarde, and a normally colored Diddy should be hovering in the air instead of the oddly colored Donkey Kong.

Candy Kong

 * "Hi, I'm Candy Kong and this is my Save Point!"
 * ''"If you want to save your current game, just jump into my spinning save barrel!
 * "Hello guys, got anything worth saving?"
 * "Wow! You guys really came a long way! Save your game now, while you have the chance!"
 * "Yoo-hoo, Honey Kong! Now's a good time to save where you've gotten to!"
 * "It must have been hard work for you to come all this way! Why not save your game?"
 * "Can I help you monkeys save your game?"
 * "How would you like a quick spin in my save barrel?"
 * "I don't think he is, sugar. Let's get off this manky ship."

Trivia

 * Although the Gnawties seen in-game are gray, the Gnawty on the game's boxart is blue. The species eventually became blue in Donkey Kong 64 and in the Game Boy Advance port of Donkey Kong Country.
 * This game has an adaptation in the Super Mario-Kun manga with some changes. Mario and Yoshi land in the Donkey Kong Country by mistake, and Cranky Kong asks to them help Donkey and Diddy in their task to find the bananas and stop King K. Rool.
 * The Game Boy Advance remake of the game is the only one of the three Donkey Kong Country remakes that does not feature any new bosses.
 * The Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance remakes use some images as originally seen in Donkey Kong 64.