Donkey Kong Country

スーパードンキーコング (Sūpā Donkī Kongu)SNES, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, Wii +31994

  1. JP1994
  2. NA1994
  3. EU1994
  4. RU—

In Japan Donkey Kong Country was released as Super Donkey Kong (スーパードンキーコング), and its Game Boy Color port there was called Donkey Kong 2001. The easiest legal way to play the SNES original today is the SNES library of Nintendo Switch Online.

Donkey Kong Country was developed by the British studio Rare and published by Nintendo in November 1994. It reached the UK on November 18, North America on November 21 and Japan, as Super Donkey Kong, on November 26. Development took about 18 months on an estimated budget of US$1 million.

The look came from Tim Stamper's idea of using pre-rendered graphics, inspired by Mortal Kombat. Rare bought Silicon Graphics workstations, reportedly about £80,000 each, to render 3D models, which its ACM technique then turned into SNES sprites. Most of the soundtrack is by David Wise, with seven tracks by Eveline Novakovic and Funky Kong's theme by Robin Beanland.

The game later appeared on Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance and several Virtual Console services. In 1995 it won the first Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Video Game, and in Japan it is described as the fourth best-selling Super Famicom game.12

Names and releases

RegionTitle on the boxPlatformDatePublisherSrc
NA Donkey Kong Country SNES Nov 21, 1994 Nintendo 1
NA Donkey Kong CountryWikipedia infobox gives 20 November, body text 4 November Game Boy Color November 2000 Nintendo 1
NA Donkey Kong Country Game Boy Advance Jun 9, 2003 Nintendo 1
EU Donkey Kong CountryUnited Kingdom SNES Nov 18, 1994 Nintendo 3
EU Donkey Kong CountryContinental Europe; language select with English, French and German SNES Nov 24, 1994 Nintendo 1
JP スーパードンキーコング SNES Nov 26, 1994 Nintendo 1
KR Donkey Kong Country SNES Nov 26, 1994 Hyundai 3
BR Donkey Kong Country SNES December 1994 Playtronic 3
EU Donkey Kong Country Game Boy Color Nov 17, 2000 Nintendo 1
JP ドンキーコング2001 Game Boy Color Jan 21, 2001 Nintendo 1
AU Donkey Kong Country Game Boy Advance Jun 4, 2003 Nintendo 1
EU Donkey Kong Country Game Boy Advance Jun 6, 2003 Nintendo 1
JP —Japanese title of the GBA version not stated in the sources checked Game Boy Advance Dec 12, 2003 Nintendo 1
EU Donkey Kong CountryVirtual Console (also Japan December 2006, NA February 2007); delisted September 2012 Wii December 2006 Nintendo 1
WW Donkey Kong CountryVirtual Console Wii U February 2015 Nintendo 1
WW Donkey Kong CountryNew Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console Nintendo 3DS March 2016 Nintendo 1
WW Donkey Kong CountryNintendo Switch Online (SNES library) Switch Jul 15, 2020 Nintendo 4

Also known as: スーパードンキーコング JP2Super Donkey Kong JP1ドンキーコング2001 JP2Donkey Kong Country Competition Cartridge NA1

Box art by region

  • Donkey Kong Country box art, North America release
    NA Donkey Kong Country
  • Donkey Kong Country box art, Europe release
    EU Donkey Kong Country
  • スーパードンキーコング box art, Japan release
    JP スーパードンキーコング

Box art © its publishers, shown to identify each release. Scans: libretro-thumbnails.

Version differences

  • GameplaySNES (JP)

    The Japanese Super Donkey Kong is easier: many levels have extra DK Barrels or fewer enemies, King K. Rool moves more slowly, and the title screen was redrawn to match the Japanese box art.5

  • Bug fixSNES (NA) v1.1SNES (NA) v1.2SNES (EU) v1.1

    Later US revisions fixed several glitches, such as an animal-swap trick and mine-cart and warp bugs, and gave Mini-Neckys collision. The European v1.1 received the bug fixes but not these gameplay changes.5

  • TextSNES (EU)

    European cartridges have a language menu with English, French and German. The German text is complete, while the French option displays garbage graphics.3

All differences (6)

Translations

  • English Official

    Rare / Nintendo1994SNES · originalReleased · complete

    The game was written in English by Rare, a British studio.1

  • German Official

    Rare / Nintendo1994SNES · English versionReleased · complete

    European cartridges include a complete German option in the language menu.3

  • French Official

    Rare / Nintendo1994SNES · English versionReleased · partial

    French can be selected on European cartridges, but it displays garbage graphics.3

  • Japanese Official

    Nintendo1994SNES · English versionReleased · complete

    Japanese text for Super Donkey Kong; Kensuke Tanabe traveled to Rare's base in Twycross to work on the localization.6

Where to play legally today

  • Nintendo Switch Online Subscription

    Donkey Kong Country

    SNES version

    Checked: 2026-10-134nintendo.com

Reception

Donkey Kong Country sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, about six million in its first holiday season and 9.3 million overall, making it the third-best-selling SNES game. The GBC and GBA ports added 2.19 and 1.82 million. It won EGM's Game of the Year, though later retrospectives have been more divided about its pre-rendered visuals.1

Sources

  1. 1en.wikipedia.org
  2. 2ja.wikipedia.org
  3. 3tcrf.net
  4. 4en.wikipedia.org
  5. 5tcrf.net
  6. 6es.wikipedia.org
  7. 7ja.wikipedia.org

Checked: 2026-10-13Text reviewed: 2026-10-13

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