Animal Token



Animal Tokens are somewhat rare items exclusive to the original Donkey Kong Country. As the name suggests, animal tokens are tokens of the Animal Buddies, and are golden and sparkly. They appeared in random locations in various levels, and to collect one, the player just had to walk on it. It would then float up to the top of the screen, make a noise, and disappear. The token would appear along with any other tokens the Kongs have collected, and if three of the same type were, the Kongs would be teleported to a secret room.

Upon getting three of the same type, a bonus room was accessed. If the Kongs got three of Expresso's tokens, they would go to his bonus area, etc. The bonus area is a timed mini-game where the Kongs would transform into the animal that got the three tokens and would need to collect mini-animal tokens as fast as they can. There is a generous 99 second time limit, though drains fast. For every 100 mini-tokens collected, the player would get a free Extra Life Balloon. Any leftover tokens will not be counted for, and do not carry over to later games. There is also a giant animal token located in a secret area in each bonus area, which will double the player's current score.

These tokens did not make any other appearance aside from Donkey Kong Country, likely because of how easy it is to backtrack to early levels, retrieve old tokens that reappear once a level is exited, and stock up on lives. It was possible to get multiple lives, particularly with Enguarde's game, to ease harder levels.