I've had some free time to go through my final checklist:
Not much had to be changed, there are only a couple of minor fixes compared to the latest release candidate RC3.
The boot screen message is delayed for half a second to give CRTs time to sync.
PAL colors for the title rainbow effect have been slightly altered.
ADSR sound curves of the intermission tune have been improved a little (should avoid some clicking noises).
Fixed a bug where Mario would accidentally jump at the start of a stage.
And with that I am happy to present the first "official" release 1.0
D.K.VCS_1.0_170304_NTSC.bin
D.K.VCS_1.0_170304_PAL60.bin
So, I guess that's it. In case further bugs are found, I'm still going to do service releases. Also a Pauline version is planned. Other than that I'm moving on to new projects. I've been talking to Al about a cart release, but that's all that can be said at this point. Of course all this would not have been possible without the help and support of many people. Particularly, I would like to thank LS_Dracon for coming up with the initial inspiration and many suggestions that lead to making this game. Also, I'd like to thank Omegamatrix, tep392, Thomas Jentzsch, iesposta, Kosmic Stardust, raindog, roland p, cd-w, PacManPlus, roryjr, pac_man_fan, MeneerJansen, Turbo-Torch, VectorGamer, Random Terrain, save2600, KAZ, and Arenafoot for all their help.
Last but not not least many thanks to stephena for Stella, and Albert for AtariAge.
See you in the next game!