Proto:Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color)

This page details one or more prototype versions of Donkey Kong Country (Game Boy Color).

This page or section details content from the September 2020 Nintendo Leak. Check the September 2020 Nintendo Leak category for more pages also sourced from this material.

A kiosk demo of the Game Boy Color version of Donkey Kong Country was found among the September 9, 2020 lot check leaks. The ROM name is CGBBDYE0.326; the final game uses "BDD" as the first three digits of the product code, not "BDY".

Listed on the official release spreadsheets as "DONKEY KONG COUNTRY (DISPLAY)", with a release date of barely one month before the final release.

General Differences

To do: Check for level differences. Changing the byte at 0xC608 in memory while at the map screen will change which level you warp to. There are more differences listed here.

ROM Header

Proto	Final (US/Europe)	Final (Japan)
DKC DISPLAY	DK COUNTRY	DKC 2001

Main Menu

Only Adventure and Options can be selected.

Options Menu

Proto	Final

• The options menu in the prototype has an extra option with Diddy Kong's head not found in the final game. It has five settings: TITLE 1 through TITLE 5. This might have been used to change the title screen, though there are only 3 title screens and changing it doesn't appear to have any effects.
• The options to toggle DK Barrels and Star Barrels on and off are unlocked by default. In the final game, they must be unlocked by beating the game once.
• Selecting Sound Test doesn't mute the menu music.

Map

Proto	Final

The water on the overworld map screen is slightly different.

Other

Proto	Final

• Sticker packs are much smaller in the prototype. They were likely made larger so as to be more noticeable on the Game Boy Color's small screen.
• The game automatically soft-resets after you defeat Very Gnawty.

Inaccessible Menus

To access these menus, enable the GameShark code while in the Options menu and press B and you'll appear in the menu. Disable the code afterwards so that the menu functions properly.

Bonus

GameShark code: 01026E09

• The Bonus menu is missing the View Items option.

• Selecting either Funky Fishing or Crosshair Cranky will take you to an unfinished version of Funky Fishing. The graphics and sound are very broken, no fish spawn, and the timer never expires. There's also no way to exit without resetting.

• Selecting Hi-Score will take you to an unfinished version of the Galleon Gunner level in Crosshair Cranky. There's no way to win or lose, but you can pause and exit.

Link-Up

GameShark code: 01036E09

• Appears to be identical to the final, though there's no way to start up a linked game.

Print

GameShark code: 01046E09

• Identical to the final game.