To be clear, this entire game is a hazard, so this section will only mention the reoccurring hazards that can be quite painful to encounter. These dangers make you lose a life if you are not careful. Luckily for you, we have made all the mistakes so that you will not have to.
Carnivorous Plantlife
The local plantlife in Donkey Kong Country is aggressive, to put it plainly. These angry fellows are much like the tooth-toting carnivorous plants that sport platforms at their base. The main difference here is that these hungry plants do not help you access routes or gain entry to secret areas. They pretty much just want to devour your entire body whole.
Collapsible Wooden Platforms
These wood-plank platforms start to shiver and shake the second you step your hairy foot upon them. Be sure to take care of your business and make haste before the planks give way and you fall to your doom.
Decaying Vines
These vines at first sight can blend in with the regular structurally sound vines. At a closer look, they can be identified by the brown discoloring at the top of the vine. When you grab onto these vines, you will only have a limited time before they break under your intense weight. This is a grab-and-go situation, so grab hold of the vine and jump to the next before the old vine makes fools of the lot of you.
Electrified Anemones
While they look beautiful in the dark of the ocean, these will shock DK to the core. They hold items beneath them, and at first glance, you may not know how to defeat these anemones. Close by are smaller fish that will glow if you Corkscrew through their school, which will cause the anemone arms to retract finally allow you to access the items below.
Fire Floor
These fire floors can be identified by the hot coals burning just below the surface. The real danger is standing in one spot for too long, as that agitates the earth, allowing flames to come to the surface that will most certainly burn you. Usually there are Water Sacks around; throw them at the ground to extinguish the flames and create a much more safer walkway.
Flaming Falling Totem Poles
These totem poles are intent on crushing the bananas out of you. They have a flaming core with fire that flickers out from the eye and mouth holes. Besides adding to the incredible tension, these are another hazard to keep you on your toes. Quickly jump back or roll forward to avoid a crushing defeat.
Flaming Vines
These vines look like the decaying vines, but they will immediately ignite and burn up rather quickly. Other vines will already be on fire when you approach. Extinguish them before climbing. These vines can also be connected to platforms, making it much simpler to quickly jump to safety. Remember to act swiftly and be light on your feet!
Giant Spiked Nuts
A form of this type of hazard is introduced in the third island and will become a headache-inducing nuisance. These large spiked nuts drop from trees and roll towards you, with the intention of filling you full of holes. They cannot be destroyed by any means, so leap over the obstacles and continue on your way as best you can.
Giant Underwater Fans
The giant fans certainly make traversing through underwater levels difficult. In some instances, the current they produce is too powerful to Kong to swim through on his own. Grab Dixie Kong if you can and use her Ponytail Propeller move to easily pass through the strong currents.
Hanging TNT
This is quite simple really. Touch the dangling cluster of concentrated destruction to go BOOM! Avoid the dangling destruction and live to tell the tale.
Lightning Bolts
When you encounter lightning bolts, they may give you a hard time at first, but they can be avoided quite easily if you follow the pattern. Before the real shock comes from the main bolt, several lesser bolts will strike in quick succession; they are harmless. Use that time to run or roll past the strike zone before the actual bolt rains down on your parade.
Proximity Mines
The mines underwater pack a punch and will begin to time their detonation the closer you get. Some secret areas must be opened by the mines, so you may need to carefully draw near one to time the charge, then quickly swim away before it explodes. Remember that these mines eject pieces of shrapnel that will take a heart away if they come in contact with you, so be careful!
Spiked Floor
Spiked floors can be a real pain in the buttocks—literally. The best way to traverse this hazard is to bring old man Cranky Kong along with you and pogo across the spikes with his cane. This will also help you access the items lying on the spikes and to get to hidden areas to collect Puzzle Pieces.
Tornados
These wind tunnels can either help or hinder your path to the end of the level. At times these tornados can launch you upward to access certain items, but get too close to an edge and the wonder of nature might just launch you like a rag doll.