Donkey Kong Country (SNES)

Donkey Kong Country
Also known as: Super Donkey Kong (JP) Developer: Rare Publisher: Nintendo Platform: SNES This game has a notes page This game has a prerelease article

Donkey Kong Country combines monkeys, bananas, and barrels into one package for the first time in human history.

Free Movement Debug

A simple level debugging tool is left in the game. In this mode, all enemy objects lose their solidity and freeze. The player can use the control pad to move up, down, left, and right freely. Some gravity is still present, but not much. The code 7E053501 will activate this mode. 7E053502 will activate the mode and also remove enemy object graphics from view.

Map Error Checking

The overworld map will display "ERROR" when there is no text string associated with that room ID.

Unused room ID

Of the 255 room IDs in the game, only one remains unused: Room 21. Using the code 7E003E21 on the map screen will transport you there.

This uses the same layout for the Jungle's small bonus room. There are no objects associated with it, so there is no way out. Even stranger, the music played in this room is the same music used for the boss areas.

Unused Bonus Room Layouts

There are a number of bonus room layouts that remain unused in the game. The only way to access them is to modify stage boundaries -- they don't have room IDs.

Jungle

A bonus room with a layout that's unlike anything else in the game. This would have been populated with either a blast barrel or bouncy tires -- as it is, this room has no objects.

A bonus room with 4 item caches, located directly after a bonus room used in the game, a room with 3 item caches. This would probably show up in Orang-Utan Gang, which had 3 bonus rooms like this. It was replaced with either the Animal Token bonus room or the Expresso one.

Caves

This bonus room has a good amount of vertical and horizontal space. Moving platforms or blast barrels would have been used here.

Here's something interesting, these item cache holes don't appear in any other cave area! Graphics for the item cache coverings are in the game, but never used (see below).

Mines

A simple room with a slope in the middle, something that would have been filled with bananas and/or extra lives.

Temple

Room #1	Room #2

Just simple 2 screen rooms. The two rooms are nearly identical, but they each have slightly different layouts for the scenery at the top.

A room similar to this one appears in the final game, but the gap between the two sides is significantly wider.

Forest

Another simple long bonus room that just didn't get used.

Mountains

Room #1	Room #2

Another case of Rare wanting to cover all possible room types, here again are two long bonus rooms that are nearly identical but for scenery.

Crystal Cavern

This is particularly intriguing. A level type that only appears once in the game has three unused bonus room layouts! Rare must have wanted to use this level type more than once, but they ultimately did not.

In what has now become a theme, this 2 screen wide bonus room is never used in-game.

Bonus rooms like these (vertically long with no floor) are always filled with a blast barrel -- one that is constantly spinning, or one that shoots you straight up. We'll never know which one this used.

A first: A bonus room with objects in it! Or at least, the banana groupings are here. This looks like an alternate version of a bonus room that actually appears in the final game. In the final version, you climb down ropes that move you either up or down, and at the end of each rope is a banana bunch. The room here is essentially flipped vertically, so you mainly be climbing up ropes instead of climbing down.

Factory

Room #1	Room #2

Tired of these yet? Yes, it's another pair of 2 screen wide bonus rooms with only minor variations in scenery to differentiate them. The second bonus room is also positioned higher up than the first.

This might not even be a bonus room, but it's grouped with them in the factory layout. No idea what this could have been used for. A barrel roulette?

Unused Object Graphics

Some of these objects' graphics no longer have animation pointers in-game. Codes will be provided if they do, with the graphics for DK being replaced by the appropriate object frame. Note that the value of 7E0D13 must be divisible by 4.

Background Fish

Clownfish

Other fish.

Fish 1: 7E0D1344 to 7E0D1360, 7E0D141D
Fish 2: 7E0D13A0 to 7E0D13BC, 7E0D1424

These were supposed to be used in the underwater levels as scenery, but they don't appear anywhere. Note that these fish don't have the right palettes, as they either don't exist or haven't been found in the ROM yet. The first should look like a Clownfish, no clue on the second fish.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Banana

Old image of a banana that is much thinner than the one used in normal gameplay.

This is found and loaded with the banana and live counter numbers, so this was used for the banana counter before the normal animated banana graphics were put into the game.

Bonus Letters

F: 7E0D1374, 7E0D1419
H: 7E0D137C, 7E0D1419
J: 7E0D1384, 7E0D1419
L: 7E0D138C, 7E0D1419
Q: 7E0D13A0, 7E0D1419
V: 7E0D13B4, 7E0D1419
Z: 7E0D13C4, 7E0D1419
These types of letters are used for bonus rooms, where you'd have to spell something out to get a prize. Graphics for the entire alphabet exist, but the letters seen above aren't used anywhere.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Caves Item Cache

7E0D13B0, 7E0D141D
An item cache covering that would have been used in the second unused caves bonus room.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Dumb Drums

Upside down Dumb Drum: 7E0D134C to 7E0D134F, 7E0D141C
Sideways Dumb Drum: (No pointer, but graphics are stored in ROM)

Both upside down and sideways Dumb Drum graphics exist, but neither are used.

The upside down Dumb Drum is coded in the game! See the next section for details.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Fuel Barrels

2 unit barrel: 7E0D13F4, 7E0D141F
4 unit barrel: 7E0D13FC, 7E0D141F

2 and 4 unit fuel barrels. In the level Tanked Up Trouble, 1, 3, and 5 unit fuel barrels appear, but not 2 or 4.

The 2 unit fuel barrel is coded in the game! See the next section for details.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Jungle Plant

7E0D13CC to 7E0D13D0, 7E0D141B

Strange object that resembles some of the background graphics in the jungle levels.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Lightning Bolt

While the lightning effect is used in Ropey Rampage, the lightning bolt object is not. Using the code 7E1DF304 on any other jungle level will display the bolt. It seems to have been manually disabled from Ropey Rampage before release.

Necky Feather

Feather

7E0D13F8 to 7E0D130C, 7E0D141E to 7E0D141F
Interestingly enough, this object does appear in the GBA port of Donkey Kong Country! There, they spawn after a Necky has been killed. Something similar might have happened in the SNES version.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Nintendo Logo

(No pointer, but graphics are stored in ROM)
A small, wide version of the Nintendo logo that doesn't appear anywhere in the game. This probably would have been displayed in the SNES's pseudo-hires (512 pixels wide) mode.

Odd Letters

(No pointer, but graphics are stored in ROM)
Strange, wide letters that don't appear to have any purpose. These four letters are repeated several times in one chunk of the ROM.

Oil Barrel

Small oil barrel frame. Err, I mean flame.

Small oil barrel: 7E0D133C to 7E0D1340, 7E0D141C
Small flame: 7E0D1350 to 7E0D136C, 7E0D141C

The oil barrels used in the game were originally smaller, the same size as the Dumb Drumbs. Both the flame and the drum grew in size by the final version.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Phonograph Horn

Phonograph Horn

7E0D13F0 to 7E0D130C, 7E0D1412 to 7E0D1413
Spinning Phonograph horn, meant to be used in the game intro after the boombox drops down. The phonograph just disappears in a puff of smoke, so this isn't used.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Puftup

Puftup?!

(No pointer, but graphics are stored in ROM)

It's Puftup from Donkey Kong Country 2! Rare must have planned to include him in the first game. His palette appears in the ROM as well, where it has a blue coloring not seen with the DKC2 version. Only the idle animation exists in the ROM, so either they didn't finish him up or the graphics were overwritten.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Unused Object Subtypes

A sizable number of object variations are unused in game. To see them, go to ROM address 3D962A and change the value from 13B4 to the given object ID.

Dirt Patch

Object ID: AB9A
Item Given: Rambi Token.

Object ID: B79A
Item Given: Expresso Token.

Kritter

Object ID: 919B
Color: Gold
Movement Type: Horizontal + Jumping.
Movement Range: 96 pixels.
Spawn Position: Rightmost point in path.

Object ID: A1A4
Color: Green
Movement Type: Horizontal.
Movement Range: 30 pixels.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Object ID: AFA4
Color: Green
Movement Type: Horizontal.
Movement Range: 300 pixels.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Zinger

Object ID: C99D
Color: Yellow
Movement Type: Vertical.
Movement Range: 140 pixels.
Speed: 4 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: Highest point in path.

Object ID: 37A0
Color: Orange
Movement Type: Horizontal
Movement Range: 100 pixels.
Speed: 7 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Mincer

Object ID: 75B0
Movement Type: Rotation - Counterclockwise.
Movement Range: 110 pixels.
Speed: 1 rotation per 30 frames.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Object ID: C9B2
Movement Type: Horizontal.
Movement Range: 235 pixels.
Speed: 8 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: Highest point in path.

Object ID: 2BB3
Movement Type: Horizontal.
Movement Range: 440 pixels.
Speed: 8 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: Highest point in path.

Gnawty

Object ID: 1DB4
Movement Type: Backwards from spawn point.
Movement Range: Infinite.

Krusha

Object ID: 21B5
Movement Range: 150 pixels.
Spawn Position: 15 pixels right of leftmost point in path.

Object ID: 2FB5
Movement Range: 110 pixels.
Spawn Position: 50 pixels right of leftmost point in path.

Object ID: 4BB5
Movement Range: 70 pixels.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Object ID: 67B5
Movement Range: 200 pixels.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Object ID: 99B5
Movement Range: 40 pixels.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Mini Necky

Object ID: 77B8
Color: Yellow
Movement Type: Vertical - doesn't loop.
Movement Range: 225 pixels.
Spawn Position: Lowest point in path.
Firing Delay: 60 frames.

Object ID: A9B8
Color: Yellow
Movement Type: Vertical - doesn't loop.
Movement Range: 100 pixels.
Spawn Position: 10 pixels up from center of path.
Firing Delay: 45 frames.

Arrow Platform

Object ID: A1BA
Movement Type: Horizontal - Moves right.
Movement Range: 230 pixels.
Speed: 4 pixels per frame.

Object ID: E7BA
Movement Type: Horizontal - Moves right.
Movement Range: 370 pixels.
Speed: 2 pixels per frame.

Object ID: 11BB
Movement Type: Horizontal - Moves right.
Movement Range: 260 pixels.
Speed: 2 pixels per frame.

Object ID: 1FBB
Movement Type: Horizontal - Moves right.
Movement Range: 300 pixels.
Speed: 4 pixels per frame.

Necky (Flying)

Object ID: E1BC
Movement Type: Vertical.
Movement Range: 110 pixels.
Speed: 8 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: 25 points below highest point in path.

Object ID: F3BC
Movement Type: Horizontal.
Movement Range: 160 pixels.
Speed: 8 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: 70 points right of leftmost point in path.

Object ID: 53BD
Movement Type: Horizontal - Backwards from spawn point.
Movement Range: Infinite.
Speed: 4 pixels per frame.

Manky Kong

Object ID: C7BD
Projectile Speed: 3 / 4 pixels per frame (alternates)
Firing Delay: 60 frames.

Object ID: D1BD
Projectile Speed: 4 pixels per frame
Firing Delay: 60 / 45 / 30 / 15 frames (Behavior loops)

Object ID: DBBD
Projectile Speed: 2 / 4 / 2 pixels per frame (Behavior loops)
Firing Delay: 75 / 60 / 75 frames (Behavior loops)

Rope

Object ID: D3BE
Type: Conveyor rope - downward.
Speed: 4 pixels per frame.

Object ID: E1BE
Type: Conveyor rope - downward.
Speed: 2 pixels per frame.

Object ID: 57BF
Type: Hanging rope.
Movement Type: Horizontal.
Movement Range: 300 pixels.
Speed: 5 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Object ID: 65C0
Type: Hanging rope.
Movement Type: Horizontal - Moves right, doesn't loop.
Movement Range: 1150 pixels.
Speed: 5 pixels per frame.

Dumb Drum

Object ID: FDC4
Orientation: Normal. Object Fired: Klaptrap.
Firing Direction: Front and back.
Firing Delay: 75 frames.

Object ID: 07C5
Orientation: Normal. Object Fired: 2 Klaptraps.
Firing Direction: Front.
Firing Delay: 75 frames.

Object ID: 11C5
Orientation: Normal. Object Fired: 2 Armys.
Firing Direction: Front.
Firing Delay: 75 frames.

Object ID: A3C5
Orientation: Upside down. Object Fired: Slippa
Firing Direction: Front.
Firing Delay: 75 frames.

Object ID: ADC5
Orientation: Upside down. Object Fired: Army
Firing Direction: Front.
Firing Delay: 600 frames.

Object ID: B7C5
Orientation: Upside down. Object Fired: Army
Firing Direction: Front.
Firing Delay: 300 frames.

Necky (Firing Nuts)

Object ID: 17C7
Projectiles fired: 5. Projectile directions: Semicircle arc.

Object ID: 2BC7
Projectiles fired: 2. Projectile directions: Backward, downwards.

Blast Barrel

Object ID: 8DCA
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: 55E0
Units: 2 units.

Rockroc

Object ID: 0BE5
Movement Range: 214 pixels.
Speed: 12 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Object ID: 19E5
Movement Range: 40 pixels.
Speed: 12 pixels per frame.
Spawn Position: Center of path.

Unused Animations and Frames

Again, codes will be provided unless the animations / frames don't have pointers.

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong sitting down to scratch his head

7E0D1360 to 7E0D1378, 7E0D1402
The head scratch part of this animation is still used for D.K.'s death animation, but he gets back up to scratch his head instead of sitting down like this.

Donkey Kong striking a manly pose

7E0D130C to 7E0D1338, 7E0D1406
An alternate winning animation for D.K.

Donkey Kong turning while swimming

(No pointer, but graphics are stored in ROM)
D.K. turning while swimming. In the final game there's no animation, you just automatically turn.

Donkey Kong pushing something

(No pointer, but graphics are stored in ROM)
D.K. pushing something. The only object you can push in the game is the tire, and there's no special animation for that.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Barrels

7E0D13C8, 7E0D141B
A continue barrel with the top busted open. Only one animation is used for the continue barrel in-game, and that's the continue barrel spinning. When you hit the continue barrel or spawn from it, the barrel is destroyed, so this animation never gets used.

Normal barrel falling apart

7E0D13D8 to 7E0D13F4, 7E0D141B
A barrel falling apart, intended for your partner showing up in a D.K. barrel. The palette for this barrel is incorrect -- the normal barrel palette is used here. This animation was made at a point when the base barrel graphics were different: note the steel rim appearing on the inside of the barrel.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Queen B

Queen B hit - Used.	Queen B hit - Full.
Queen B hit frames used in-game	Full Queen B hit animation

(No pointer, but graphics are stored in ROM)
Queen B's hit animation has a good number of unused frames that give the animation a much more fluid look.

Rambi

Rambi charging - Used.	Rambi charging - Full.
Rambi charge frames used in-game	Full Rambi charge animation

7E0D1330 to 7E0D134C, 7E0D1427
Rambi actually has more unused frames of his charge animation than used ones! In-game, only 2 frames of animation are used, while he actually has 8 frames dedicated to charging. Donkey Kong Country 2 bumps the charge animation up to 5 frames, using some of the unused frames from Donkey Kong Country, but not all of them.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Slippa

Alternate Slippa death animation

7E0D1354 to 7E0D1364, 7E0D1425
A different version of Slippa's death animation. In-game, Slippa uses the same animation for dying as it does for jumping.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Tire

Alternate tire

Alternate tire half

(No pointer, but graphics are stored in ROM)
Different graphics for the tires used in the game, including the half tire. This actually used the same palette as the normal tire, even though the cream color seen here isn't really visible on the tire used in-game.

(Source: Mattrizzle)

Unused Banana Groups

The following banana groups are defined by the game, but are never used in any stage. To see them in-game, change ROM address 38C1C1 from 48 to the appropriate value.

• 

  Group 22: Two bananas - diagonally down.

• 

  Group 2C: Two rows of three bananas - No spacing.

• 

  Group 42: Three rows of two bananas, spaced 24 pixels apart.

• 

  Group 4A: One row of two bananas, spaced 24 pixels apart.

• 

  Group 4E: Two bananas - diagonally down, spaced 32 pixels apart.

• 

  Group 5E: Forming the word "IN"

• 

  Group 6A: Two rows of five bananas - No spacing.

• 

  Group 7E: Downward arc of five bananas.

• 

  Group A6: Half-circle of seven bananas.

• 

  Group A8: Five bananas - diagonally up.

• 

  Group B2: Half-circle of eight bananas.

• 

  Group B4: Large thin arrow pointing left.

• 

  Group BA: Four bananas heading up at a 30 degree angle.

• 

  Group CC: Large thick arrow pointing left.

• 

  Group D0: Full circle of fifteen bananas.

• 

  Group D6: Two rows of four bananas, spaced 32 pixels apart.

• 

  Group DE: Three rows of four bananas, spaced 32 pixels apart.

• 

  Group EE: Five bananas heading down at a 30 degree angle.

• 

  Group FA: Two rows of five bananas, spaced 32 pixels apart.

• 

  Group FC: Three rows of five bananas, spaced 32 pixels apart.

Unused Palettes

Some objects have alternate palette data in the ROM that is unused in normal play. ROM addresses will be provided for each palette.

Main Palette

Dark version of main palette

Palette address: 3C8E72 to 3C8E8F

A dark version of the palette used for bananas, KONG letters, and the counters. In-game, the normal palette is loaded and is adjusted based on the lighting settings of the current level. So, this is never really needed or loaded.

Croctopus

Palette address: 3C8B66 to 3C8B83

Croctopus palette with brown/yellow markings. The game uses palettes with blue and purple markings, but never this scheme.

Klaptrap

• 

  Green Klaptrap

• 

  Chestnut Klaptrap

• 

  Grey Klaptrap

Green palette address: 3C8788 to 3C87A5
Chestnut palette address: 3C87C4 to 3C87E1
Grey palette address: 3C87E2 to 3C87FF

Klaptrap has 5 palettes in the ROM, only two of which are used -- blue and purple. Like the Kritter and Zinger enemies, Klaptrap was meant to come in a variety of colors.

Tire

Used palette.	Alternate palette.
Tire with bright palette	Tire with alternate bright palette

Palette address: 3C883C to 3C8859

Different version of the bright tire palette, this one with a more yellowish hue.

Unused Dialogue

Cranky has a large number number of lines that never pop up when you visit him. The text data beings at ROM address 3C03C8.

Greetings

Cranky seems to have gone through a personality change during development -- from "nice old man" to "angry old man".

Donkey Boy? Where's Diddy?

Donkey, you young whippersnapper!
Long time no see!

Donkey Boy! It seems
like years since we last met!

It's about time you visited
your frail, old Grandpa!

Hey! Can you spare
your old pappy a banana?

And what have you brought
for your old Grandpa?

Well, you've amazed
your old Grandpa
by getting this far!

So, you've finally come
to get some game play advice
from your old Grandpa!

Diddy boy! Where's Donks?

Diddy, you young pup!
Boy, I can't believe
how much you've grown!

Level Tips

For whatever reason, almost all of Cranky's level tips were removed from gameplay. The only ones that can be seen normally are from the first world, but lines exist for almost every level in the game!

Burn rubber for the
golden rhino
in Bouncy Bonanza.

The bananas in
Stop & Go Station
will put you right!

Avoid Mine Cart Carnage
and jump early
to get the extra life.

Rolling some rubber will
put you on the right road
in Millstone Mayhem.

On Snow Barrel Blast, sometimes
down will not take you out;
it may help you go forward.

On Croctopus Chase, there's a
right way and a wrong way
to get past the barrels.

In Ice Age Alley,
birds of a feather flock
together to get your wings.

Bouncing the Bouncer will 
slide you to success during
Slipside Ride!

The TNT gives you a couple of
real wall to wall blasts
in Torchlight Trouble.

For Elevator Antics, you'll
have to climb higher
than a hornet's nest!

For you Trick Track Trekkers,
the Gnawty twins
gnow a secret!

In Mine Cart Madness,
you're just 3 bounces
away from bonus land.

Once you're in the Poison
Pond, the right way is not
the only way to get the point.

Blackout Basement could give
you a sinking feeling, but
you'll end up sky high!

Let Diddy hold out the TNT
in Manic Mincers.

Take enough rope and
you'll amaze yourself
in the Misty Mine.

The Loopy Lights vulture's
barrel will blow you away.

The Platform Perils vulture
knows it's sometimes better
to come down to earth.

You're in Tanked Up Trouble
if you're all gassed up
and nowhere to go!

In Orang-utan Gang, follow the
last barrel down to discover
a barrel of laughs!

A single banana is
all you need for
a bonus in Tree Top Town.

Get on down with the bananas
and get ready to party
in Temple Tempest!

Beta Script

An early version of the game script can be found in the ROM, starting at address 2DE076. It's largely the same -- only two differences in game dialogue exist. Unfortunately, the top of the script has been overwritten, so any other differences cannot be determined.

Beta	Final
I can't play this game, the colors are all to rich for my poor old eyes!	I can't play this game, the colors are all too rich for my poor old eyes!

Merely a grammatical fix for the final version.

Beta	Final
You can roll over Hister, or just squash him with a jump attack.	You can roll over Slippa, or just squash him with a jump attack.

Apparently Slippa was named Hister before the game was finalized.

Unused Fonts

Four fonts remain unused in the game. The first two of them are loaded with every level but are never actually seen, the latter two are never loaded but can be found in the ROM. The backgrounds of most of these fonts have been left opaque for better visibility.

• 

  Hexadecimal font. This was used for debugging in pre-release versions of the game -- whether or not this debug mode still exists in the game is unknown. The font can be seen in the Donkey Kong Country promotional video below, starting at the 8:26 mark.

• 

  Alphanumeric font with a few symbols mixed in. Probably went with the above font for further debugging.

• 

  Expanded alphanumeric font featuring a greater number of symbols, including a lower case S. This font has no shading at all, the characters are solid white.

• 

  A shaded version of the expanded alphanumeric font. Also includes the right angle bracket missing from the previous font.

• 

  Yet another unused alphanumeric font, different from the previous ones and this time including lowercase.

Donkey Kong Country Promotional Video

Blurry snapshot of the debugging numbers