On the off-chance a DK stage is shown tonight, I want to revisit my ideas from earlier about what stage the great ape could call home. (Other than Jungle Japes on the 3DS version, I mean!)
And really, I keep thinking the cave world from Returns is where it's at. We heard the rocket-barrel theme in the Smash Direct, a theme that appeared in just about every world in Returns, but memorably so in the cave world, with the shrieking bat chasing you from behind.
IMAGINE: A cave world taking place on the Mole Train -- the series of banana-filled mine-carts that keep attaching and detaching in the boss level, as DK and Diddy worked their way to the hypnotized mole at the front of the train.
Aside from embodying the mine-cart concept that has long been a part of the Country series' DNA (and aside from being a great excuse to include the rollercoaster theme from DKC2), it would be an interesting level with moles on parallel tracks throwing bombs at you, crystal stalactites falling down, and more. It'd look pretty, too, with the overgrown mushrooms in the background, the waterwheels and aqueducts, the underground shantytown, etc.
Whaddaya think?