The best music in Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country just turned 30 years old a few days ago, and to this day, it’s still my favorite video game ever made.
Perhaps I was primed to love this game from even before it was released. Back in 1994, Nintendo Power magazine subscribers got a treat in the mail when a VHS videotape arrived with this on it:
I watched this 12-minute commercial for the game every single day for months until it came out. Then I actually played the game every single day, also for months.
Donkey Kong Country was groundbreaking in a lot of ways. Its approach to sprite creation through 3D computer modeling & rendering made Super Nintendo graphics that could compete with newer systems. The levels had a sense of place grounded in jungle, forest, snow, cave, and temple environments that felt like they could have been real. The game served as a reboot for Donkey Kong himself as he’d assert his rightful place as one of Nintendo’s flagship mascots.
And then there was the music.
They call it out in that promotional video as a focal area, that Nintendo wanted to make game music that was impactful and memorable enough to put on CD albums.
Well, they accomplished their goal - as this is some of the best, most atmospheric, and most evocative music in video game history - and I did indeed buy the CDs. More recently, I went ahead and bought vinyls of a fan HD restoration as well.
Many have waxed poetic about the music from this game and its sequels. Perhaps the best analysis of them all comes from Liam Triforce in this must-watch video for any video game music lovers:
I’m certainly not eloquent enough to add much to the discussion on top of that, but I can at least offer up a ranking list to celebrate Donkey Kong Country’s 30th birthday. So that’s what I’ll do - my top 30 tracks from the DKC series to celebrate 30 incredible years. It’s on like … well, you know!
30. Cavern Caprice (Donkey Kong Country 3 cave levels)
Just the right amount of creepy for exploring underground caves.
29. Zip Line Shrine (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
Love the classic Donkey Kong Country style beat, the free-flowing rhythm, and the varied instrumentation that nicely complements a level where you’re sliding down vines.
28. Boss Boogie (Donkey Kong Country 3 boss levels)
This is easily my favorite boss theme in the series. The pace is slightly more deliberate than the others and that slow builds tension for these battles.
27. Funky the Main Monkey (Donkey Kong Country 2 Funky Kong airport)
26. Funky’s Fugue (Donkey Kong Country Funky Kong airport)
Funky is awesome, as are his music themes.
25. Nuts & Bolts (Donkey Kong Country 3 factory levels)
So industrial! The guitar always seems to shred when you’re dodging fireballs.
24. Busted Bayou (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
This is the grooviest the series ever gets! I love how many instruments handle the melody as the piece goes on.
23. Klomp’s Romp (Donkey Kong Country 2 ship levels) and Snakey Chantey (Donkey Kong Country 2 special ship level)
Klomp’s Romp is the music from the first level of Donkey Kong Country 2, when you’ve just ventured onto enemy territory to rescue the captured Donkey Kong. As such - it’s just the right mix of foreboding and hopeful, pulling you in with a wary energy. Snakey Chantey remixes this theme - after a brief introduction reminiscent of the final boss battle from the prior game - into an absurdly energetic bop. Both are great.
22. Hot Pursuit (Donkey Kong Country 3 chase levels)
Speaking of energetic bops, this one’s great when you’re being chased by a swarm of bees and running for your life.
21. Bayou Boogie (Donkey Kong Country 2 swamp levels)
We all love how In the Air Tonight this one is.
20. Simian Segue (Donkey Kong Country map)
Finally, a track from the original game makes the list! As videogamedunkey said, why would you put such an amazing music track on the stage select screen?!
19. Horn Top Hop (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
This one starts out with the classic Aquatic Ambience motif and transforms into something so very Bavarian.
18. DK Rap (Donkey Kong 64 intro)
Yes, this was always going to make the list. And it’s good enough that I’ll do the video embed:
17. Grassland Groove (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
What if Hakuna Matata were a video game level? Well, now we know. Perfect music for an all timer platformer level.
16. Jib Jig (Donkey Kong Country 2 ship climbing levels)
I love how they embed the wind and rain elements into this track.
15. High Tide Ride (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
The mine cart levels are legendary in this series, and this is my favorite of all of them. The music dynamically adapts as the level itself changes perspective.
14. Hot Head Bop (Donkey Kong Country 2 volcano levels)
You can feel the heat and almost even smell the lava emanating from this one. Then the piano plays a hopeful message and you keep on going.
13. Windmill Hills (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
You’ve been transported to the Alps!
12. Opening Theme (Donkey Kong Country intro)
It can’t be understated how cool this was back in the day, with the game starting with the original Donkey Kong arcade theme before being transformed, just like the series itself. This one deserves an embed too:
11. Fear Factory (Donkey Kong Country factory levels)
The hypnotic E’s shifting octaves to start this one off set the tone. You have to be on your game to pass these late-game stages, and the music isn’t there to encourage you anymore. It’s there to let you know it’s go time.
10. Treetop Tumble (Donkey Kong Country 3 tree levels)
Easily my favorite track in the third game in the series, largely because of the beautiful flute.
9. Lockjaw’s Locker (Donkey Kong Country 2 water levels) and Irate Eight (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
Water levels in video games historically have more relaxing music in them, from 1985’s Super Mario Bros. all the way to 2011’s Rayman Origins. Not DKC2 though. Lockjaw’s Locker hits you in the face from the jump and makes it clear you’re not in the swimming pool anymore. Irate Eight remixes it - as well as elements of Aquatic Ambience - in a track that builds tension as you encounter a gigantic octopus that chases you.
8. Mangrove Cove (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
Pure joy. Donkey Kong is just so happy to be back on another adventure and this music communicates that.
7. Gangplank Galleon (Donkey Kong Country final boss)
Just epic. The false start as a sailor’s chantey. The tension build. The guitar solo. The battle itself, with a fake ending and fake credits before the third phase. Epic.
6. Aquatic Ambience (Donkey Kong Country water levels)
I’ve already mentioned this one a few times (at #19 and #9) and it finally shows up here. This is arguably the most beloved track in the series’ history, and one of the most remixed. Unlike Lockjaw’s Locker, this is absolutely a relaxing music track that puts you in the right state of mind to swim through shark-infested waters. It’s probably lower on my list than on many others, but only out of respect and admiration for the top 5. Aquatic Ambience is a classic.
5. Flight of the Zinger (Donkey Kong Country 2 beehive levels)
Soon after Donkey Kong Country 2 came out, I’d played Flight of the Bumblebee on the violin and Beethoven’s piano Sonata Pathetique. I’m pretty sure this track inspired both of those choices. It’s probably the most tension-inducing track in the game (with an honorable mention to Bad Bird Rag).
4. Life in the Mines (Donkey Kong Country mine levels)
This track mixes a hauntingly beautiful melody with just the right amount of driving percussion and synth to keep you going. The hardest level in the game features this music, and it fits perfectly.
3. DK Island Swing (Donkey Kong Country jungle levels), Jungle Japes (Donkey Kong 64), and Palm Tree Groove (Donkey Kong Country Returns)
If Aquatic Ambience is the most beloved track in the first Donkey Kong Country game, no question that DK Island Swing - the jungle theme - is the most famous. This, more than any other track, is Donkey Kong himself. The original version is a perfect first level theme and introduction to the series. Donkey Kong 64 remixes it several times in its Jungle Japes level. And then Donkey Kong Country Returns brings it back several times, the most breathtaking being a jazzy piano remix featured during a gorgeous sunset silhouette level. This is Donkey Kong indeed.
2. Northern Hemispheres (Donkey Kong Country snow levels)
Snow Barrel Blast is probably my favorite video gaming level ever. It starts on a snow-capped mountain with a beautiful blue sky. As you traverse the level, you notice some snow on the horizon. Then the sky gets gray. Then the flurries begin, falling behind your character. The snow continues to escalate. You hit the level midpoint, and BOOM, you are right in the middle of the blizzard, and you can barely see anything. All you have is your instincts and your wits as you press on through the elements to finish the stage.
This music track enables that whole story, and it’s powerful enough to get an embed of its own:
1. Stickerbush Symphony (Donkey Kong Country 2 bramble levels), Stickerbush Symphony Returns (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze), and Staff Roll 2 (Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze)
If you’re familiar with the series, you probably knew this was coming. Maybe it’s a chalk pick, but this track simply stands above the rest as one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written.
The original track had a video uploaded to YouTube years ago that served as a “checkpoint” video where people who were overcoming trauma, cancer, and hardship would share their stories, united by this piece’s healing ability. That video was taken down due to a copyright strike, but a similar one has taken its place:
When David Wise - one of the lead composers of Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2 - returned to compose the music in Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, fans of the series wondered if Stickerbush Symphony would make an appearance somewhere in the new title. And it made two. One in an safari level with beautiful African instrumentation, and one with Donkey Kong himself playing the sax in a triumphant credits roll track.
This piece forever lives on. Like Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Country. Happy birthday.