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

Names

• While in pre-production, a number of possible subtitles for the game were suggested, among them the final title "Diddy's Kong Quest".
• Dixie Kong was initially named "Diddiane" in the pre-production period

Moves/abilities

• A chart posted by designer Gregg Mayles shows that moves such as the Helicopter Twirl and Team Up. were not part of the character's basic moveset, 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.
• Several moves not present in the final game were considered. 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".

Early builds

Rare Witch Project Preview and German strategy guide

Mr. X, an abandoned character from Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. The artwork comes from a German player's 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

Originally, Klaptraps were used instead of Klampons, a similar enemy. Also, Web Woods, one of the game's levels, did not feature any fog, Lava Lagoon had no lava, and the level Mainbrace Mayhem and boss stage Krow's Nest both originally took place during the storm (like in Topsail Trouble) before being changed to windy with a clear sky in the final version. Additionally, Squawks was going to be used in Parrot Chute Panic, but was replaced by a new character, Quawks, in the final version.

Nintendo Power

A preview of the game was featured in the 76th issue, showing a few differences.

• 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.

Additionally, a render of Mr. X is included, though the actual article makes no reference to it.

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  An alternate picture of the Mr. X render.

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  A scan of Mr. X from the German instruction manual.

Unused data

Graphics

One of the unused animations of Diddy Kong.

• Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong have unused sprites: .
• The Zinger, Floatsam and Flitter enemies have various unused colour palletes.

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 plays in the actual game .
• The theme "Stickerbush Symphony" was originally meant to be played in underwater levels, as a sequel to "Aquatic Ambience" from Donkey Kong Country. However, as there weren't any regular underwater levels, the song was almost scrapped, but was later set in bramble levels.