The player controls Donkey Kong through various side-scrolling levels as he collects bananas, swings on vines, chains combos, rides animals, and defeats enemies and bosses.

Koizumi conceived a game that used the DK Bongos instead of a standard gamepad to control the player character, and applied lessons he had learned from previous projects during development.

Because the tone differed from previous Donkey Kong games, the team excluded most of the franchise's existing elements and characters.

Nintendo EAD Tokyo went on to develop the critically acclaimed Super Mario Galaxy (2007), which refined concepts that were introduced in Jungle Beat.

It features a simple plot: Donkey Kong sets out on a journey to defeat a series of evil kings attempting to conquer the jungle.

Division heads Yoshiaki Koizumi and Takao Shimizu—who had previously led development on Nintendo's Super Mario Sunshine (2002)—respectively served as director and producer.

[5] Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka also served as producers,[6] while Sunshine programmer Koichi Hayashida was the assistant director and contributed to some level design.

[9] The Jungle Beat concept originated at Nintendo EAD's primary office in Kyoto, shortly before staff moved to Tokyo to form the new division, when Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto suggested that Koizumi and Shimizu develop a new Donkey Kong game.

[5] Using the DK Bongos presented some challenges; since the controller restricted the player's movements, EAD Tokyo had to conceive new game mechanics as a workaround.

[5] The developers chose to change the camera angle when Donkey Kong encounters an enemy—altering the control scheme as a result—to keep his abilities and the action varied.

[12] EAD Tokyo prioritized simplicity;[13] Shimizu said that because contemporary video games took considerable time to complete and lost appeal if an individual had to stop playing, Jungle Beat's levels were designed to take between five and ten minutes without any shortcuts.

[15] Like he did on The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002), sound programmer Masafumi Kawamura attempted to synchronize the music with the gameplay, like when Donkey Kong jumps.

[17] EAD Tokyo aimed to release Jungle Beat during Japan's 2004–2005 winter season, which presented a considerable challenge.

[13] During a showing at the Nintendo World event in November 2004, Koizumi and the team carefully observed player feedback and used it to polish the game shortly before its release.

[26] To promote the North American release, Nintendo sent 20 individuals dressed up as apes to participate in the 20th Los Angeles Marathon, which took place on March 6.

The individuals wore Jungle Beat-branded clothing, carried DK Bongos, and chanted the game's title as they ran.

[27] Jungle Beat was released when Donkey Kong had mostly been relegated to spin-offs and supporting roles in other Nintendo franchises, following Microsoft's acquisition of Rare.

[8] In a 2007 interview with MTV, Nintendo of America writer Nate Bihldorff said that he was "still pissed that not enough people bought Jungle Beat".

[28] MTV noted that the DK Bongos were introduced before instrument-controlled games like Guitar Hero became popular, suggesting audiences were apprehensive towards the concept.

To accommodate the more traditional control scheme, the level designs were altered to include more obstacles, and players do not have to collect crests to progress.

[32][33] It also replaces the banana-based health meter with a more traditional life system, adds a boss rush mode, and supports widescreen television displays.

IGN praised the GameCube version's graphics, saying that "DK's fur makes StarFox Adventures models look primitive".

[57] The Sydney Morning Herald gave it four stars out of five, praising the graphics, environments and gameplay, but complained of the game's short length.