Donkey Kong Country/Controls

Basic Controls

SNES	GBC	GBA	Function
D-Pad	D-Pad	D-Pad	Menus SNES: D-Pad (Up) and D-Pad (Down) scroll through selections. GBC: D-Pad (Left and Right) scroll through selections. GBA: D-Pad scrolls through selections. Map Screen Move your character. In-game Move your character. On ground: D-Pad (Down) ducks. Underwater: D-Pad (Down) dives faster.
A	None	L	Menus and Map Screen SNES: Make a selection. In-game Get off your animal buddy. Switch from Donkey Kong to Diddy and vice versa. Switch between players in two player team mode (SNES).
B	A	A	Menus and Map Screen SNES: Make a selection. In-game Jump (this will also mount your animal buddy if you land on them). Swim upward.
X	None	None	Menus and Map Screen Make a selection.
Y	B	B or R*	Menus SNES: Make a selection. GBC and GBA: Cancel a selection. Map Screen SNES: Make a selection. In-game Press to roll or cartwheel. Hold down to run. Press to pick up a barrel, release to throw. Hold down to climb vines faster. Press while holding D-Pad (Down) to perform Donkey Kong's hand slap.
start	start	start	Menus Make a selection. Map Screen SNES and GBC: Make a selection. GBA: Open up map menu. In-game Pause.
select	select	select	Menus SNES: Make a selection. Map Screen GBA: Quit game. In-game Get off your animal buddy (GBC and GBA). Switch from Donkey Kong to Diddy and vice versa. Switch between players in two player team mode (SNES). Press after pausing to exit a level you have previously finished.
L R	None	None	No function.

In-game combinations

SNES	GBC	GBA	Effect
D-Pad (Down) + Y	D-Pad (Down) + B	D-Pad (Down) + B / R*	Performs Donkey Kong hand slap attack, which defeats most ground enemies and reveals hidden bananas.
Y + B	B + A	B / R* + A	If done over a gap, performs a midair jump, effectively allowing your character to jump much farther than before.
start + select	start + select	start + select	L Quits a previously completed level.

* _{In the Game Boy Advance version, B is recommended over R because R is used for other functions in the rest of the trilogy.}