There was a separate forum post that sorta touched on this about 10 months ago, but I think that there's a better solution than was briefly suggested and there are certainly better ways to approach the concept.

Originally the person who started that previous forum post had suggested splitting the leaderboard(s?) entirely, but I think that would just be very strange and messy for the DK JR page as a whole. I do, however, think that this could be a great and simple opportunity to expand the leaderboard options without compromising the already established leaderboards and times. I'm currently practicing to properly and consistently perform the stage 3 glitch on my PRG1 version of the game to assist my times on the current leaderboard, but I also think it could be beneficial to have a separate Glitchless category, perhaps for both Game A and Game B.

It would be a fun way to push the limits of the "intended" gameplay for people who want another leaderboard to develop. Plus, it could also give players like me something to work on in the meantime when we need a break from practicing glitches that are more difficult to execute on our version of the game. I also just think a Glitchless category would be a good way to improve the depth of the DK JR speedrun page on this site and give more options for how top runners can play. I've developed quite a fondness for this game in the last month or two and I'd love to see more people participate and possibly discover the page.

And with that lengthy post, this concludes my official proposal for a Glitchless ( Game A ) category and/or a Glitchless ( Game B )category. Sorry, it's a lot to read, but I'm curious to see what others might think about this idea.

I like the idea, other games have a glitchless percent category. So I don't think it would be outrageous. Plus, you wouldn't be invalidating any of the previous runs.

Absolutely, it could even be in an extra Misc tab if the mods don't want it to be a main focus, which is understandable. I've been enjoying getting my times down in the two existing categories lately but I definitely think it would be fun having another (more level playing field) leaderboard or two to develop.

Emulation is fairly accessible, but only if you have a decent computer to run it on, and not everybody has/can afford that. I mean, I'm mostly a Switch console player so I ended up using one of the computers at my university's library to do runs on an emulator and stream them since I only have a Chromebook at my place. Just makes sense to me to have Glitchless as an option, especially for people who don't have a way to do runs on a PRG0 version of the game.

I like the idea, as it's no different than most games with glitches running Any% versus 100%, this would basically be the 100% version of Donkey Kong Jr. I've recently done something similar with Tecmo Super Bowl: the strategy for most categories is simply "kill the clock as fast as possible", and while it's a fun idea, it's not realistic football. So I made a category requiring 49 points and winning, so people who want to play more "as intended" have that opportunity now.

You could even add a Misc category for "High Score" like the old arcades. Just go until you die, highest score gets the best times for accuracy purposes. (Since SRC will always favor times over any other metric)

Thanks for the comment! LOVE what you did with the Tecmo Super Bowl categories, just checked it out myself. Amazing how fleshed out the page can feel even with a smaller playerbase. Makes things more interesting and encourages competition in different areas. They've been pretty quiet on it since I posted this forum originally, but I hope the mods for JR actually consider a new category. It could even be two ( for Game A and Game B ) but I don't wanna push my luck, one new leaderboard I would be perfectly happy with.

Until then I guess I'll keep working at my current DK and DK JR times and hope for the best. Love seeing this sort of input from the community! <3

Bonus Idea: 100% could also include collecting all of the fruit! That would certainly change up the paths people take enough to warrant a new category.