List of Donkey Kong Country pre-release and unused content

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This is a list of pre-release and unused content for the game Donkey Kong Country.

Early iteration

Donkey Kong vs. Super Wario

• During September 2015, Donkey Kong Country designer Gregg Mayles posted many pieces of concept art and early pitches for the game, including a binder named Donkey Kong vs. Super Wario. No other media of the pitch was posted and when asked about its content, Mayles responded "Didn't get much beyond Wario and some kind of time machine as I recall." Eventually, he posted an actual storyboard of it to Twitter, showing Wario stealing a time machine Mario invented and turning him to stone using a "futuristic beam gun" in order to "rule Nintendo Land," with a parrot seeing this and going to Donkey Kong for help. According to Gregg Mayles, this pitch was not pursued because Nintendo wanted the villains to be new characters.
• Mayles posted another pitch titled Donkey Kong and the Golden Bananas, which is more similar to the final game. From the four pages posted on his Twitter, the storyline in the pitch shows Donkey Kong guarding the Golden Banana while relaxing. A lanky blue Kremling named Korporal Krizzle defeats DK and steals the Golden Banana. Grandpa Kong (an early version of Cranky Kong resembling a white-furred DK) finds Donkey Kong and urges him to get back the artifact. Donkey then calls Donkey Kong Junior, whose design is nearly identical to Diddy Kong, albeit without a tail.
• Mayles revealed on August 10th, 2018, that a working title for Donkey Kong Country was Monkey Madness around March 1994.

Early concepts

Diddy Kong's original look

• The SNES version was planned to have an introduction cutscene, showing Diddy being stomped by Krusha while patrolling. Krusha then smashed the wall leading to the Banana Hoard and Kremlings loaded the bananas in carts, followed by Donkey Kong waking up and Cranky explaining to him the bananas have been stolen. A very similar intro would be used in the GBA remake.
• Donkey Kong Jr. was originally meant to be Donkey Kong's sidekick during the concept phase, but Nintendo felt that Rare's redesign was too different and mandated them to either revert to Donkey Kong Jr.'s original appearance or change the name of the character. Rare felt that the design fit Donkey Kong Country's new aesthetic more, leading to Diddy becoming a separate character.
• Several names were then considered for Diddy during Donkey Kong Country's production, including "Diet DK", "DK Lite" and "Titchy Kong". Rare had originally settled on "Dinky Kong", but the name was later dropped due to legal considerations with Dinky Toys. It would later become Kiddy Kong's Japanese name.
• Donkey Kong originally had a helmet light for mine stages, which could be seen on many of the marketing materials. In the final game, Squawks replaces the helmet's intended functionality.
• The concept for the King K. Rool battle is largely similar to that of the final game, except that K. Rool was planned to only endure three hits for each phase of the battle. Additionally, he was originally named “Krudd”.
• Early during the pre-production phase, it was considered to have the Animal Friends trapped in cages, with the player being required to find a Key item to free them.
• Kevin Bayliss originally named the rhinoceros helper RhinoRider and then variations of Rhidocerus before settling on Rambi.
• Some animal helpers that did not make the final cut included a dolphin, an owl (named Hooter) that would give players information, a fox that would reveal secrets, snakes that could be used as vines, a giraffe whose long neck would help the Kongs reach high areas, a flying pig, and a mole named Miney. The giraffe was revealed to a fan that happened to ask about a giraffe in a new game in an old Scribes page on the Rareware website, where it was mentioned that he would allow Donkey Kong to crawl up his neck and reach high items and secrets. The flying pig may have been repurposed into a similar-sounding enemy in Donkey Kong Land.
• Cut Kremlings include a magician Kremling named Kloak (potentially the enemy of the same name which later appears in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest), a statue Kremling named Krumble, a green Kremling named Klanger, and a robot Kremling named Krocbot. Graphics for a robotic Kremling can be found in the game's data, which may be Krocbot.
  • Of note is that "Klanger" is not crossed out on the list and that "Kritter" is referred to as a "little" Kremling (which it is not in the final), suggesting they may have been combined into one for the final.
  • Other cut enemies used in later games include Puftup, Shuri, and Gloop. Other enemy names listed are for a fireball called Fizzle, a fish called Bloop (likely a counterpart for Gloop; of note is that Bitesize and Chomps Jr. are not mentioned), a "nasty beetle" called Veedub, a yeti or iceman called Frozone, and a moray eel called Mobo.
  • Rockkroc was originally known as "Krocrock," keeping with the "K" theme. Slippa was known as "Mr. Hister," Squidge as "Mr. Squidge," and Clambo as "Ms. Clamity." King K. Rool is referred to as "Kommander K. Rool;" this early rank may be referenced in the final, where "Kommander" is listed as his role in the fake "kredits."
• A predecessor to Slippa known as Spitz would have additionally had a hooded variant that spits stunning venom.
• Before Donkey Kong's roll and Diddy Kong's cartwheel, other moves were considered, such as slide and leapfrog moves, but were cut due to not being fluid enough.

Early builds

The preview video, Donkey Kong Country Exposed, also contains a few elements that never made it into the final game, such as a nighttime version of Jungle Hijinxs. There were also a few instances where binary digits were seen underneath the lives counter, which may have been a debug menu of some sort. Also, in this build, it was possible to exceed one hundred bananas, whereas in the final game, the banana counter would reset once it reaches that number. Lastly, Donkey Kong was unable to defeat the regular blue Krusha enemy by jumping on him. Unlike the final, Krusha will laugh after Donkey Kong does so, as he would if Diddy had done that. This also applies to Klump, hinting there might have not been character differences in the early game.

Unused data

Bananas in an arrow shape

There are many unused sprites in this game, such as a Puftup that was later used (with more defined fins) in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, a jungle plant, various poses and animations for Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong (including a pushing sprite, an action not performable in the final game), and a few enemy palette swaps. Also of note is an early Necky that is roughly the size of the Mini-Neckys in the final game, but colored like the adult ones; its animations indicate that it would attack like the ground-based adults in the final, and as such, this may be an early design that both were derived from.

There are a few unused sprites for Puftup, who would later be an enemy in Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. There are also unused sprites for both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. Additional letters similar to the K-O-N-G Letters appear in some bonus rooms, though not all letters in the alphabet are used, and the game appears to have the entire alphabet left in the game's coding. The letters F, H, J, L, Q, V, and Z are never used in the game. Slippa has an unused death animation. There is an unused lightning bolt sprite that was presumably meant for Ropey Rampage, which included a lightning effect. There is an unused animation of Cranky being able to walk, which was later added into the Game Boy Advance remake.

The ROM includes a partial English script, which seems to be from an earlier period of development. Differences include Cranky Kong's dialogue being much friendlier than he is in the final game and the Slippa enemy being named "Hister."

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  Unused sprites of Donkey Kong kicking

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  Unused sprites of Donkey Kong scratching his head

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  Unused sprites of Donkey Kong posing

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  Unused sprites of Donkey Kong pushing

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  Unused sprites of Donkey Kong turning underwater

Unused object subtypes

A sizable number of object variations are unused in game. To see them, the player must go to ROM address 3D962A and change the value from B413 to the given object ID.

Dirt Patch

Object ID	9AAB	9AB7
Item Given	Rambi Token	Expresso Token

Kritter

Object ID	9B91	A4A1	A4AF
Color	Gold	Green	Green
Movement Type	Horizontal + Jumping	Horizontal	Horizontal
Movement Range	96 pixels	30 pixels	300 pixels
Spawn Position	Rightmost point in path	Center of path	Center of path

Zinger

Object ID	9DC9	A037
Color	Yellow	Orange
Movement Type	Vertical	Horizontal
Movement Range	140 pixels	100 pixels
Speed	4 pixels per frame	7 pixels per frame
Spawn Position	Highest point in path	Center of path

Mincer

Object ID	B075	B2C9	B32B
Movement Type	Rotation - Counterclockwise	Horizontal	Horizontal
Movement Range	110 pixels	235 pixels	440 pixels
Speed	1 rotation per 30 frames	8 pixels per frame	8 pixels per frame
Spawn Position	Center of path	Highest point in path	Highest point in path

Gnawty

Object ID	B41D
Movement Type	Backwards from spawn point
Movement Range	Infinite

Krusha

Object ID	B521	B52F	B54B	B567	B599
Movement Range	150 pixels	110 pixels	70 pixels	200 pixels	40 pixels
Spawn Position	15 pixels right of leftmost point in path	50 pixels right of leftmost point in path	Center of path	Center of path	Center of path

Mini Necky

Object ID	B877	B8A9
Color	Yellow	Yellow
Movement Type	Vertical - doesn't loop	Vertical - doesn't loop
Movement Range	225 pixels	100 pixels
Spawn Position	Lowest point in path	10 pixels up from center of path
Firing Delay	60 frames	45 frames

Arrow Platform

Object ID	BAA1	BAE7	BB11	BB1F
Movement Type	Horizontal - Moves right	Horizontal - Moves right	Horizontal - Moves right	Horizontal - Moves right
Movement Range	230 pixels	370 pixels	260 pixels	300 pixels
Speed	4 pixels per frame	2 pixels per frame	2 pixels per frame	4 pixels per frame

Necky (Flying)

Object ID	BCE1	BCF3	BD53
Movement Type	Vertical	Horizontal	Horizontal - Backwards from spawn point
Movement Range	110 pixels	160 pixels	Infinite
Speed	8 pixels per frame	8 pixels per frame	4 pixels per frame
Spawn Position	25 points below highest point in path	70 points right of leftmost point in path

Manky Kong

Object ID	BDC7	BDD1	BDDB
Projectile Speed	3 / 4 pixels per frame (alternates)	4 pixels per frame	2 / 4 / 2 pixels per frame (Behavior loops)
Firing Delay	60 frames	60 / 45 / 30 / 15 frames (Behavior loops)	75 / 60 / 75 frames (Behavior loops)

Rope

Object ID	BED3	BEE1	BF57	C065
Type	Conveyor rope - downward	Conveyor rope - downward	Hanging rope	Hanging rope
Movement Type			Horizontal	Horizontal - Moves right, doesn't loop
Movement Range			300 pixels	1150 pixels
Speed	4 pixels per frame	2 pixels per frame	5 pixels per frame	5 pixels per frame
Spawn Position			Center of path

Dumb Drum

Object ID	C4FD	C507	C511	C5A3	C5AD	C5B7
Orientation	Normal	Normal	Normal	Upside down	Upside down	Upside down
Object Fired	Klaptrap	2 Klaptraps	2 Armys	Slippa	Army	Army
Firing Direction	Front and back	Front	Front	Front	Front	Front
Firing Delay	75 frames	75 frames	75 frames	75 frames	600 frames	300 frames

Necky (Firing Nuts)

Object ID	C717	C72B
Projectiles Fired	5	2
Projectile Directions	Semicircle arc	Backward, downwards

Blast Barrel

Object ID	CA8D
Movement Type	Horizontal
Movement Range	220 pixels
Speed	12 pixels per frame
Spawn Position	55 pixels right of leftmost point in path
Firing Direction	Right
Firing Distance	440 pixels

Fuel Barrel

Object ID	E055
Units	2 units

Rockkroc

Object ID	E50B	E519
Movement Range	214 pixels	40 pixels
Speed	12 pixels per frame	12 pixels per frame
Spawn Position	Center of path	Center of path

Unused title screen

The prototype title screen

The Game Boy Color version originally was going to use a title screen more reminiscent of the SNES original's. This variation of the title screen can be seen in the manual.

Gallery

Concepts and designs

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  Attacks

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  Abilities

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  Animal Buddies

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  Baddie movements

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  Barrel features

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  Barrel locations

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  Bonus games

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  Direction platforms

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  Draft of the story

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  General character and baddie names

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  Keys for animal cages

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  Krash and Krudd

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  Tire features

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  Unused factory level

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  Walkway level features

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  Winky

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  Kritter, bearing a resemblance to Krunch's eventual design

Donkey Kong vs. Super Wario

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  Mario is done with the time machine.

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  Wario contemplates his new future gun.

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  A parrot tells Donkey Kong of what has transpired.

Donkey Kong and the Golden Bananas

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  Front cover

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  Donkey Kong relaxing on his hammock

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  Korporal Krizzle stealing the Golden Banana

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  Grandpa Kong tells Donkey Kong to retrieve the Golden Banana

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  Donkey Kong tells Junior (Diddy Kong) to come with him to recover the Golden Banana

Screenshots

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  Jungle Hijinxs with a nighttime setting. The Barrel and Expresso token are also missing.

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  The binary digits

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  Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong have managed to collect 659 bananas.

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  Klump manages to withstand Donkey Kong's jump attack, as he would have with Diddy's in the final.

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  The Extra Life Balloon is right next to Donkey Kong's treehouse, unlike the final, where it was a few trees further.

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  As with Klump, Donkey Kong is unable to inflict any damage on Krusha by jumping on him.

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  Unused jungle arena where Dumb Drum was once fought

Sprites

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  Cranky's walk animation

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  Puftup

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  Slippa alternate death

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  Rambi full charge

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  A barrel opening up

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  Queen B. full Hit

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Bonus room maps

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