Going Ape for DKC

Playing through Donkey Kong Country has me pondering which can be considered the most difficult stage in the game...

Of course the simple answer is that different players will consider certain points to be more challenging than others...

 

As a kid, I hated Stop & Go Station (2-4). Breezed right through it as an adult.
Mine Cart Madness (5-5) also gave me a hard time, as did Trick Track Trek (5-2) and the similarly troublesome Tanked Up Trouble (6-1). I would have also had Blackout Basement (5-6) and Loopy Lights (6-4) on my original list.

Other players seem to have the hardest time with Snow Barrel Blast (4-1); Visibility in the snow storm totally sucks, and it does contain an easy to miss bonus area. Poison Pond (5-4) is another level that causes problems with murky waters, spinning razors and piranhas.

Personally, I was never a fan of Ice Age Alley (4-3), which includes the return of Manky Kong.

Twenty three years later, the cursed Trick Track Trek (5-2) is still on my list. Navigating precise jumps to avoid obstacles while on a moving platform isn't overly difficult, it just requires patience, timing, and a series of perfectly executed jumps.

Manky Kong also guards the access to a bonus barrel and animal token... But most players being relieved to see the exit sign of Trick Track Trek are happy to jump past him and get the hell out of there, likely to only stumble upon one of the best hidden areas if they're returning on a quest to find everything.

Elevator Antics (5-3) caused considerable cursing and swearing, falling into pits and getting killed by Zingers.

Elevator Antics also contains one of the best hidden bonus stages, quite possibly the final one I needed to find back in '94. Up and over a Zinger and off the screen to the right, is a long high ledge as you navigate your character to a door that's completely hidden off screen and above the map, reminiscent of the first warp whistle hidden in the fortress of Super Mario Bros 3.

Oil Drum Alley (5-1) gets a nod for the simple reason that it contains what is possibly the best hidden bonus room in the entire game. There are a number of shady practices at Kemrock Industries Inc. But concealing a bonus room within a bonus room is particularly devious...

The room can only be accessed by deliberately winning a single banana in the previous bonus game, and ignoring the better prizes. The banana turns into a barrel, which can be used to break open the wall to the right... If that's not tricky enough, the bonus game ends and you're returned to the level as soon as the wall is broken... The only way to enter is to jump through the wall while still carrying the barrel.

 There are fluorescent arrows that indicate an enter and exit, but we might just assume that it's just part of the background, simply indicating the exit of the room we're already in. The bonus within a bonus challenges you to spell "DONKEY KONG COUNTRY", where you can earn up to six lives.

Tanked Up Trouble (6-1). Another moving platform along a preset course, this time with a twist - The need to collect fuel barrels. The stage also has an "invisible" unmarked bonus barrel near the start of the level that can only be discovered by accidentally (or intentionally) jumping off the platform into nothingness.

Another stage many consider to be most difficult is Platform Perils (6-5), the game's final "regular" stage, which I certainly wouldn't label easy. A bottomless pit, with a series of small platforms, some of which are occupied by stronger breed of Krusha baddies that can only be killed with barrels. The level contains a considerably difficult to locate bonus stage at the end of the level, underneath the final walkway.

These stages round out my final list in no particular order, because we're splitting monkey hairs at this point.
*Oil Drum Alley (5-1) On the list because of the crafty bonus room hidden within a bonus room.
Trick Track Trek (5-2) Considerably difficult, plus an easily missed bonus barrel at the end.
Elevator Antics (5-3): Troublesome enough, and has bonus room door hidden up above the screen.
Tanked Up Trouble (6-1). Difficult on its own, with an invisible bonus suspended in the void.
Platform Perils (6-5) Another tough level with an easily missed bonus area under the final walkway.