Donkey Kong 99

In 1994, after the critical success of Rare's Donkey Kong Country, Sega gained interest in the Donkey Kong IP and formed a small team of around 6-8 people for the purpose of working on a demonstration game to present to Rare. Sega actually did this multiple times in the early 90's, but that's another story. The product of this team was a game they called Donkey Kong 99. It used sprites ripped from Donkey Kong Country, but had original level design and had gameplay quite different (but definitely not a step up from) Donkey Kong Country. Some important things to note were a lack of checkpoints, one-hit-deaths (always) and you could never have Ditty as a follower or play as him. The game was shown to some higher-ups at rare, showing what Sega could do with the IP in a short amount of time (which makes me wonder what this would have been had they obtained the rights), and they also offered quite a great sum of money for the rights to Donkey Kong. Unfortunately for Sega, rare declined, and this game was to be in the vaults rotting eternally.

The boss of world 1.

The first world was entirely set on dock-like structures. It had standard enemies of the DK series, like the generic animals (Gnawties, Neckies, Slippas etc.) and the Kremlings (Kritters, Klumps etc.) There were standard game obstacles, like death pits and tricky platforms. Something strange about this game was that every enemy, upon being killed, had one of two horrible screeches. One of them sounded like a slowed down record scratch of sorts, and the other was a more generic "Eee!" screech. When I first played it definitely startled me, and prompted me to turn down my volume. Not much was to be missed anyways, the music was very bland and generic sounding. The boss of the world was a large Zinger (the bee enemies from Donkey Kong Country), and it was very standard. He would swoop down to hit you, and you had to throw barrels at him to damage him. Something strange that applied to every boss in the game was that they have these writhing death animations. As Donkey Kong stands in front of them cheering, you see them struggling on the ground until the screen instantly cuts to the next level.
World 2 was much the same, and, really, all of the worlds were very similar. World 2 took place in what appeared to be some
sort of old factory or maybe a castle, with wooden structures inside it. It introduced a few new enemies, like little monkeys that throw nuts or rocks at you (I couldn't really tell), and had new obstacles, such as some trap doors that you had to jump over. The trap doors were interesting because their functionality wasn't to simply kill you, you actually fell through them, and if one was above you and you were on the ground you could jump through it. This lead to some clever level design that I think demonstrated the skill of the designers working on this project. The boss of this world was a

large Gnawty, and, similarly to the first world, it was quite a standard fight. All he would do is jump in a large arc towards you, then sit on the ground for a moment. Your period to attack him was of course when he was on the ground after jumping. The bosses in this game really seemed to drag on, and most of their challenge was in tiring you so you would mess up. And, of course, this boss had a writhing death animation too.
World 3 was a bit of a jarring change of scenery. It appeared to be a factory, highly advanced compared to the previous two worlds. Something to take note of is that none of the worlds so far have been natural; everything was man-made. This applies to the next world too, but the next world has a bit of a twist on this. This world is much of the same: platforming, tricky enemy placements, frustrating segments that take a lot of time, etc, etc. I was getting pretty tired of the game at some points, making the repetitions of playing the same level over and over again even worse. A lot of coffee aided me through the night I spent playing this game in that dingy little office. I remember my eyes starting to hurt quite a bit, staring
at that little screen. I'm getting sidetracked, but I'll keep that in to hold integrity. Anyways, the boss of this world was an apparently massive Necky, seeing as only its head poked in through the side of the screen and that alone was larger than Donkey Kong. It would pop out randomly from the left or right of the screen, and throw a giant coconut at you. After (or before, really) jumping over that obstacle, if he was in reach, you would jump on the giant Necky's head to do damage to him. This boss was honestly annoying, because the collision detection of the platforms as off in some spots. I still must give this game the highest praise even with the negative things I have said about it though, for reasons I'll reveal later relating to its thematic qualities.
World 4 is interesting in scenery. It appears to take inspiration from
Mayan architecture, and, with that, makes it different from the previous two worlds. The previous worlds seemed to show a progress in time, the first one being some simple docks, the second being a factory or castle with some complexity to it, and the third one being a modern-looking factory. This world, though, is ancient looking, but still man-made. The enemies and conventions of this world are the same as all of the others, but the scenery really pulled me in. At the time that I was playing this world, I was getting really tired, and the immersive scenery made me imagine I was in the game at times when I would start nodding off. I know I have shown some signs of delirium in my descriptions of my time playing this game, but I feel the need to stress that I am perfectly sound in mentality. I was just playing this game in an exhausted state that I don't feel the need to explain as I shouldn't have to share my personal information. Anyways, the boss of this world was an exact repeat of the boss from World 2. It was kind of disappointing after having such captivating design and imagery, but oh well.
World 5 really brought it home with what I had been suspecting as the theme of this game. This world was even more of a change than World 4 had been from the rest of the worlds. This was the only world that was fully natural, taking place in a snowy, semi-woodland area. The previous world was looking back in the past at simpler times, where man's deviation from the world was far less, but this world looks back at a time before man had walked the Earth. Compared to every other world, this world had an appearance that was like the Garden of Eden compared to the world after Eve had ate the forbidden fruit. This world was, of course, challenging, seeing as it was actually the final one (further adding to the theme that I will explain soon), but visually it was completely serene
compared to the other worlds. This world, gameplay-wise, had flaws, though. There were segments with barrels that required some odd platform manipulation, and a lot of collision problems with the platforms themselves. Other than that, though, as you would expect this world was more of the same as seen in previous world. I feel that this project was made more for artistic purposes than the purpose of simple, fun entertainment. That makes this quite an ambitious project, and it's understandable that Rare rejected the offer Sega made. The final boss was K. Rool, as you would expect, although him being in a snowy area like this makes no sense to me. I suppose it's because based on the original game, Donkey Kong Country, he represents a symbol of finality. When you beat him, this is the ending you get:

 Yes, that screen with some odd, off key music playing is all you get as an ending. This, on the surface level, appears to be a very disappointing ending, but in my hours of theorizing and study, I realized it's completely genius.
This entire game is about man bringing destruction to this world due to its own careless progress. Donkey Kong symbolizes man, perhaps reenacting some of the things it did by killing off many animals only harmful to its own goal, and perhaps looking back through its own history. The game starts on some simple docks, which I believe are supposed to show the developments of early humanity. They really do no harm to the surrounding natural world, the most harm being done is to some trees (which would regrow in due time) and some animals. Then, the second world, which could be a couple thousand years later, shows some sort of factory/castle. This shows a great progression in man's creations, and, also shows massive deviation from Earth's original form. There was also a far greater number of animals killed in this world than the first. Then, comes World 3. This world was a completely industrial factory, showing the ultimate deviation from Earth and nature. Man's progress went on too far, carelessly ignoring the needs of the animals and nature. Then, after this world, what occurs could be called a flashback. World 4. This world is depicted as some sort of temple, constructed with beautiful architecture in relative harmony with nature. This shows man's progress used in a way that isn't harmful, and in a way that has perfect balance. This reminds man (man being Donkey Kong) that things could have continued in this path, and perhaps World 3 would have looked a lot different if so was done. But it was too late. World 5 is sort of a snap to the present, contrary to what I stated about it being a time before man. Its snowiness is meant to represent the polar ice caps, and, this world being the last, how man's carelessness combined with their properties and existence will lead to man's own downfall, along with most of the rest of nature. Donkey Kong (man) killing K. Rool signifies the complete downfall. Then, the ending screen.
The ending screen shows Diddy Kong, who I will say symbolizes man's future, or younger generations, looking back at Donkey Kong, who is man's past, what brought man to this point. Their surroundings symbolize what Earth was to become: practically nothing. They are standing in a barren void, the ground being a bland shade of tan. This is the world after Man goes too far and ends it all. And the younger generations are suffering due to this, looking back on their past with sorrow.

I can see how Rare rejected Sega's offer easily, but in a way it saddens me due to how fascinating the ideas of this small team were.