Seeing as the original Donkey Kong Country games for the SNES have a special place in my heart, it’s odd that I’ve never actually ranked any of the levels before.  And so I spent two afternoons replaying the very first game from 1994 for the purposes of some nostalgic research.  Keep in mind that when I say “best”, that doesn’t exclude difficult levels.  This list is all about the levels that I found to be the most fun or unique, and sometimes, that might include stages that gave me a bit of a challenge.  Some of the levels posted below just might surprise you…

5: Orang-utan Gang – I just love the sunset in this one, and to my knowledge, it’s the only real level (excluding bonus stages) where you get to ride on Expresso the ostrich.  Getting to basically fly over the whole stage and avoid those barrel-chucking orangutans is quite a treat!

4: Tree Top Town – The setting in Tree Top Town was really cool, the way we’re traversing this little village way up in the trees.  Honestly, it would be as fun a place to live as it would dangerous.  Plus, it’s probably the most fun of the barrel levels…because it’s pretty easy. 

3: Stop & Go Station – This level used to frighten me as a duckling, what with the invincible Rock Krocs zooming about.  There is definitely something unnatural about these guys…but fortunately, they will temporarily curl up and become inactive when you hit the Stop barrels strewn about the level.  In the past, I would always just take the shortcut to skip straight to the end.  Nowadays, I find this stage to be a fun test of skill early in the game. 

2: Mine Cart Madness – Naturally, a mine cart level needed to be in this list, but after replaying the game, I was reminded that the first stage of this nature, Mine Cart Carnage, is not particularly fun.  A much later variation, Mine Cart Madness, however, is actually a pretty fun and fast-paced little diversion.  The whole time, you’re switching carts in what would be an undeniably unsafe workplace for any miners who used to work here.  And best of all, there are no oncoming Kremlings trying to crash into you!

1: Blackout Basement – You’re all probably going to think I have really odd taste in levels.  But yes, I have always counted Blackout Basement as my favorite level in the game, as it’s a unique challenge where you must deal with the lights going out every few seconds.  I just find it very satisfying to bounce across a whole row of Kremlings in the dark!

Now it’s your turn, dear readers, to share your favorite Donkey Kong Country levels!  Just leave your thoughts in the comments below!

Image (© Nintendo, Rare) downloaded from Wikipedia.