LogFAQs > #950436669

One other argument I would give against this being the Donkey Kong motif - you could also make the argument that this is actually SM64's stage motif, not DK - compare the part we're comparing to DK to the Bob-omb Battlefield line. Of course, this could also be an argument for! But since it follows a little stinger of the castle theme, I feel like this is sort of a more likely connection.

The only other time the game evokes an earlier Mario theme that I can think of is Hazy Maze Cave's repurposing of both the underground theme from SMB1 and the airship theme from SMB3, but these have more obvious thematic connections and are a lot less ambiguously used.