For years, I never was able to 100% DKC. I could do it on DKC2 and DKC3 no problem because they were more clear about the number of bonus stages and do-dads you had to collect. And then one day, I read something that cleared it all up for me. If you have discovered all the bonus levels in a stage, then an exclamation mark will appear after the stage's name on the world map. After that, I then went back into an old DKC save file and saw that sure enough, some stages had exclamation marks and some didn't. So, I started going through all the ones didn't have them and searching them quite thoroughly and I soon found all kinds of bonuses I'd never seen before and 101% the game without a FAQ. I just needed that bit of info.

Now, I don't know how the game has been transitioned through emulation and newer TV screens but playing it on an old square CRT TV, I'm pretty sure you could see any clue as to where a bonus was whether it was a stray banana or special indents in the ground. Still, it's probably been 6 years or more since I last played DKC 1. Maybe I should give it another go around to see. I just remember being so happy at finally completing it when not having a clue of what and where I was missing a bonus.

The ! mark made it less of a headache to go back and find missing bonus areas. Still had to resort to a FAQ to find them all the first time around. 

I never cared about getting a 100% completion on the game, (although one I decided to do so and did it), I just enjoyed playing Donkey Kong Country 1 over and over because I loved it so much.

DKC is one of those games I keep going back to.  "Hey, I haven't played DKC for a while" and then my brothers and I go through it again.  Using a word like "mediocrity" is selling the game short.  When it was released side-scrolling platformers were a dime a dozen.  DKC was one of the better ones.  If DKC is mediocre then what is Kirby?

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Doesn't that one impossible-to-find-without-help bonus-room-within-a-bonus-room exist as an Easter egg of sorts for Nintendo Power subscribers who got the promotional VHS in the mail?

Even though I find DKC 1 to be the weakest of the SNES Donkey Kongs, it's the one I've played the most.  As the review said, the fact it's the most pure platformer of the bunch and bonus stages aren't required to unlock the final levels to get the best ending has me replaying it much more.  I can beat the whole thing in less then 2 hours so whenever I find myself wanting to play a game but not willing to devote a lot of time, it's a good choice.

DKC1 is ruined by those pointless mini-games that interrupt action each time you collect three golden thingies.