The first Puzzle Piece of this level is right near the start. Move left into some ruins and jump up to claim it for your collection. Once you have it, head right to pick up and throw the DK Barrel so you can get Diddy Kong to join you.
Continue to the right until you reach a large round DK platform. Pound it to make some ruins fall into place and create a series of platforms. Jump your way up to the top platform, then jump to the ledge on the left to find a cave. Inside is a bonus room. There are two moving stone platforms with a small, stationary platform in between the two. Clear out the two groups of bananas down low by jumping up from the lower platform; then jump to the middle platform to reach the top platform. Quickly collect the bananas and the balloon up high. Next, grab the two coins—one on either side of the room—to reveal the Puzzle Piece. Pick it up to exit the room; then head across the upper platforms and into a mine. Pound on some wooden planks to drop into a shaft.
At the bottom of the shaft, jump into a barrel that shoots you into a mine cart. As you race along the track, you will catch up to three Mole Guards in carts of their own. You can jump up and land on them to knock them off the track, or you can just jump over them. In order to get the K KONG letter, you must jump onto the third Mole Guard. As soon as you hit him, jump up to grab the block. Be careful, since there is a break in the track that you will immediately have to jump over as soon as you land.
Keep traveling down the track, jumping over Mole Guards and gaps in the track. When you see a second track come down from above, don’t jump onto it, even to knock out a Mole Guard. Stay on the lower track until you pick up the Puzzle Piece at the end, then quickly jump to the higher track so you don’t fall down and have to start the level over again.
Right where the track starts to drop down again, jump into the air to get the O KONG letter. This requires good timing.
The track will take you down under a rock overhang. You don’t need to crouch here, since there is plenty of clearance. However, get ready to jump and pick up a Puzzle Piece where the track falls away for a section.
When the track pulls you into the foreground and up close, you must be quick on the jumps, since you can’t see objects too far in advance. After moving through a row of bananas, jump up to get a bunch and then be ready to immediately jump again to get a Puzzle Piece. To be on the safe side, you may want to skip the bunch altogether and just get the Puzzle Piece.
If you want to get this balloon, you must jump onto the higher track in the area after the checkpoint. Jump over Flaming Tiki Buzzes to stay up high and grab the balloon as it rises into the sky.
This block is tough to get. The track ends here, and you must jump to a higher track. The key is to wait until the last possible moment, when you are just about to run off the track, and then jump so the wheels of your cart touch the N KONG letter as you fly by.
Follow the track to its end before jumping to solid ground across a gap. Pick up the G KONG letter. As you continue along the ground, be ready to jump onto another set of tracks when they appear. Jump across gaps to reach the Slot-Machine Barrel and complete the level.