Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

This page details pre-release information and/or media for Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest.

1995 Trailer#

The 1995 trailer includes an early version of the game. The differences are listed below:

Trailer	Final

• The game's subtitle was originally "Diddy Kong's Quest". It was tweaked to "Diddy's Kong Quest" late in development to create a play on the word "conquest".
• The word "QUEST" appears in the treasure chest.
• The title screen has an animation showing the treasure chest opening to reveal "QUEST". This animation has an effect of letting light out of the chest, brightening up the screen.
• Diddy opens his mouth a little wider in the final game, and his eyes were shifted a bit to look at the Kremlings in the background.
• Kruncha doesn't turn red when jumped on.
• Topsail Trouble and Kreepy Krow have dark blue clouds in their background rather than dark grey. This palette exists, unused, in the final version.
• Either Kreepy Krow uses the level layout and boss AI of Krow's Nest, Krow's Nest uses the palettes of Kreepy Krow, or the bosses are one and the same at this point.
• DK Barrels appear to be breakable even both Kongs are present (as seen in the Hornet Hole footage). This is consistent with Donkey Kong Country, but in the final game, DK Barrels can only be broken when a Kong is missing.

Early Footage#

This needs some investigation. Discuss ideas and findings on the talk page. Specifically: Probably loads more differences.

Watch on YouTubeA VHS tape including upcoming games from 1995 has an extremely early footage of Donkey Kong Country 2 (starts at 5:53 in the video at the right). It seems to include developmental footage that was not supposed to be seen by the consumers.

Parts of this footage was more known to be featured in a 1996 episode of the public-access show Flights of Fantasy (better known under its rerelease title Gaming in the Clinton Years).

Differences include:

• Gangplank Galleon, the first world, still indicates that was not finished (by the Kremling icon), but the player already has access to other worlds, further evidence that this is developmental footage;
• Krem Quay is known as Swamp Quay;
• Gloomy Gulch was spelled “Gluch” by accident;
• Arrows on the world map were originally light red as opposed to white;
• Characters moved a lot slower on the world map and didn't turn it properly, resulting in moving backwards;
• Gangplank Galleon's artwork is extremely early. DK Island is shown on the middle, having no rocks or stones as ground, and missing several elements on the boat itself. It seems level placements were changed too, as it included one on the bottom-left (that turned into Kong Kollege), the Swanky's Bonus Bonanza and Funky's Flights II has icons for Diddy, and a level originally located below the K.ROOL nameplate was moved elsewhere. The world map is scattered with Kremling and Diddy icons, without following any logical order;
• The interior of the ship on ship levels did not have a proper background, and instead used a solid purple color;
• Banana Coins originally had "C" engraved to them;
• Leaving a cave originally made the music restart;
• No animations or voice-clips are present when Teaming-Up, instead causing the other Kong to immediately Team-Up;
• Bananas have no animation and are completely static, and the counter is not present, though collecting bananas do move where they would be;
• A Kutlass' can be seen inside a Zinger, though it's not known if the Kutlass was placed it there or it's unable to turn once it hit a wall;
• There's no animation when entering a cave door;
• In the footage of the ship hold level, Klap-Trap, the four-legged crocodile enemy from Donkey Kong Country, can be seen. They were replaced with a similar baddy, Klampon, for the final version. The level also includes music that were from the first game as well;
• It's not possible to break Animal Buddies boxes yet, and jumping onto them does nothing;
• Swimming in non-underwater stages containing water does not appear to have been implemented yet, as Dixie drops to the floor when jumping into water. In this footage, a number "14" appears on top of the screen, the Kongs freeze, but not water effect, possibly some sort of error code;
• Honey sticking were not implemented yet, as Kongs can simply move freely on them;
• The level where Quawks can be found originally had Squawks. Grabbing him resulted in the same sound as Teaming-Up earlier in the footage, and flying also emits the same sound effect;
• New Kong behaviors not present in the first Donkey Kong Country seem to not have any partner coding, instead defaulting to the partner Kong walking in mid-air to follow the player Kong. These behaviors include hanging from Squawks, climbing ropes, and riding Rattly;
• It looks like it was not possible to turn from a vertical rope to a horizontal one without jumping;
• Rattly appears already out of the box, even though the box is still present. Again, no voices are present and the same sound effect as Squawks happen;
• Topsail Trouble and the Krow boss stage had a much darker background;
• Krow's eggs seem to have a stronger gravity effect;
• Kaboings have no collision, and just stay on the ground.