Version Differences

A large list of version differences

Donkey Kong Country

Japanese/English

• Killing enemies can lag the game for 1 frame.
• J cannot skip fanfare, which results in about 52 seconds lost for all stages versus perfectly timed skips.

• There are slightly different enemy and item locations and timing of enemy movement patterns in many stages between J and U. Most of these have minimal time impact.

• Mini necky clipping does not work in J

VC/SNES/Emu

• VC has faster transitions than SNES/Emu meaning it has less black frames and is faster overall.
• VC(1.0) saves between 720 - 786 frames (12 to 13,1 seconds).

v1.0/v1.1/v1.2

• 1.2 cannot skip fanfare

• The Minecart Madness air roll glitch does not work on 1.2

• VC (not wad inject) is always 1.2 for both U and J versions

Donkey Kong Country 2

Japanese/English

• In J, Bramble Scramble has far less bees in the final bee gauntlet, making this section slightly faster over English versions.
• In J, Haunted Hall has one less bee to jump over, which makes the level easier and ever so slightly faster.

VC/SNES/Emu

• VC has faster transitions than SNES/Emu, meaning it has less black frames and is faster overall.

v1.0/v1.1

• The main difference for speedrunning is that 1.0 cannot use most wrong warps, as they softlock the game.

• Castle Crush skip is done differently in 1.0.

• Bramble Scramble wrong warp is also done differently in 1.0.

• King Zing Sting moves slower in 1.0 making the fight slower overall

• 1.0 has a glitch that allows you to do an infinite amount of jumps by throwing up and jumping at the same time your partner returns to you. There are no practical uses for this in an Any% run.

• 1.0 allows you to take a moving barrel out of bounds. This makes the Fiery Furnace zip in 102% possible.

• VC is always 1.1

Donkey Kong Country 3

Japanese/English

• Which version is faster? Read Djeez's pastebin to find out all notable differences and timings.
• Kaos Karnage - Japanese cannot begin team throw hovering above Kaos after jumping on top of his head, resulting in a much slower fight.

• For reference, a 2-cycle using team throw hovering on English is approximately half a minute faster than an optimal fight on Japanese (assuming no "team up jumps" are performed).

• Rocket Barrel Ride - The last set of Buzzes move differently between versions, allowing English to avoid needing a damage boost or the ledge on the right to get through.
• Tracker Barrel Trek - A set of Buzzes (after the N, before the G) are more easily avoided (with two barrel shots) on Japanese.
• Tearaway Toboggan - The barrel that shoots you towards the flag post at the end shoots you farther on Japanese.
• Pot Hole Panic - The first of the two Booty Birds that appear before the Engarde box is at a lower position on English and can be avoided by flying over, rather than shooting [1].
  • The Booty Bird at the end of the stage is positioned further back on Japanese, and the Kuchuka above its location only exists on English.
• Creepy Caverns - The ghost barrel that shoots you towards the Koin shoots you at a lower trajectory on Japanese, making it much easier to enter the ghost barrel behind the Koin on its first spawn.

• In other words, if the ghost barrel behind the Koin is an optimal spawn, Japanese will reach it much more easily than English.

• Criss Kross Cliffs - Additional red Buzzes exist throughout the stage on Japanese, making team-up throwing to skip sections without taking damage not possible.
• Knautilus - On English, the first electricity spawn during Baron K. Roolenstein's last phase always spawns on the right, and when the game is paused, the electricity spawns will continue moving.

VC/SNES/Emu

• VC has faster transitions than SNES/Emu meaning it has less black frames and is faster overall.

How to recognize what version I have?

Pretty simple; check the back of your cartridge:

• Only Number = 1.0
• Number + A = 1.1
• Number + B = 1.2

Here's an example: 40A