**Donkey Kong Country Returns: Bonus Stages Overview**
In *Donkey Kong Country Returns*, bonus stages provide players with additional challenges and rewards. Here's a structured overview of their distribution and characteristics:
1. **General Distribution of Bonus Stages:**
- Every regular level (with certain exceptions) includes at least one bonus stage, and some feature up to two.
- There are 9 distinct types of bonus stages, one of which includes three different banana patterns.
2. **Number of Bonus Stages:**
- The base game contains 54 regular levels and 62 bonus stages.
- Including World 9, there are 63 regular levels and 71 bonus stages in total.
- Bonus stages outnumber regular levels by 8 in the base game alone.
3. **World-Specific Distribution:**
- **Least Bonus Stages:** Worlds 1 and 4, each with 6 bonus stages.
- **Most Bonus Stages:** World 6, with 10 bonus stages.
4. **Exceptions:**
- All silhouette levels (1-4, 7-1, 8-4) and Level 5-8 lack bonus stages.
- Silhouette levels likely exclude bonus stages to preserve their unique atmosphere.
- Level 5-8, an auto-scrolling stage, avoids bonus stages to maintain its pacing.
- Level 9-9 also has no bonus stage, as it is considered an irregular level.
5. **Missed Opportunity in World 9:**
- World 9 includes 8 distinct types of bonus stages, with one type repeated.
- This is a missed opportunity to feature all 9 types uniquely within this world.