Dixie Kong sets out on a mission to find The Lost World after hearing of a contest on the radio. This leaves her baby cousin Kiddy Kong behind with a frustrated Dixie, who decides to take Kiddy along and find The Lost World first!
As in Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!, Dixie takes the lead in this chapter of the Donkey Kong Land series. She can use her hair for gliding and carries barrels over her head, while her partner Kiddy carries barrels in front of him and can jump a bit further by somersaulting over platform edges.
Dixie's journey is aided by special animal friends: Ellie the Elephant shoots water at enemies, Enguarde the Swordfish glides through water with ease, Squawks the Parrot flies and spits eggs, and Squitter the Spider shoots webbing and uses it to create new platforms.
Each level contains hidden Bonus Coins and DK Coins. To complete the game properly, players must find them all to unlock levels of The Lost World. A new feature in this game is a Time Attack mode - once players finish the game, they can attempt to beat the best time for certain levels on their GameBoy.