Gloomy Gulch

Gloomy Gulch is the fifth world in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Land 2. It is a haunted area set in a dark, dilapidated town set between spooky woods, with ghostly inhabitants such as Kloaks. The world takes place between Krazy Kremland and K. Rool's Keep, but in Donkey Kong Land 2, the standalone Klubba's Kiosk appears to the left of it on the Crocodile Isle map.

Compared to its two preceding worlds, Krem Quay and Krazy Kremland, Gloomy Gulch's world map is smaller, with a size around that of the first world, Gangplank Galleon. In the Game Boy Advance remake, every world map was redesigned and extended, including Gloomy Gulch's, whose size rounds out that of previously-larger worlds.

A majority of Gloomy Gulch takes place in spooky woods, but it also features a haunted house with Kackles, nestled in a clearing near the start, and a nearby Zinger hive. One of the wood levels has strong wind gusts, while another is covered in heavy fog. The world boss is Krow's undead spirit, Kreepy Krow, who is located and battled from the top-left corner of the area. In the ending of both games, the entirety of Crocodile Isle, including Gloomy Gulch, sinks in the sea.

Levels
Like the other worlds, the level names for Donkey Kong Land 2 are the same as in Donkey Kong Country 2. The only level to not retain its name is Haunted Hall, which was replaced with a generic rollercoaster stage, Krazy Koaster. Despite its outdoors setting, the world map shows Krazy Koaster on the same location as Haunted Hall (a haunted house).