TheDonkey Kongseries has been in a bit of a limbo for quite some time. Although Donkey Kong still regularly appears as a character in many of Nintendo’s biggest games, such asMario Kart 8 DeluxeandSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, theDonkey Kongfranchise itself has unfortunately been neglected by the company.The last original, mainline game in the series,Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, came out exclusively on the Wii U in 2014.Since then, there’s been little-to-no newDonkey Kongcontent, outside of a few remakes, remasters, and spin-offs.
With Nintendo prioritizing its development efforts on other flagship franchises, it’s not exactly clear what the future of theDonkey Kongseries will look like. Retro Studios, the developer ofthe last fewDonkey Kong Countrygames, is currently working onMetroid Prime 4: Beyond, so it probably won’t have time to return to the series in the near future. Most of the mainlineDonkey Konggames, meanwhile, have already been ported to the Nintendo Switch, so there aren’t that many notable installments in the series left to remaster. Nintendo will probably make a newDonkey Konggame at some point, but whenever that happens, it will likely look a lot different from the franchise’s previous entries, in part due to one recent change.
The Next Donkey Kong Game Will Probably Look Quite Different From its Predecessors
Donkey Kong is Receiving a Redesign in Mario Kart 9
A few weeks ago, Nintendo unceremoniously announced the long-rumored Nintendo Switch 2, and, alongside it, gave fans their first look at the next installment in theMario Kartfranchise.This newMario Kartgame, which has unofficially been referred to asMario Kart 9, appears to have a slightly different art style compared to its predecessor,Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Although the games look fairly similar at first glance, experienced players will notice that many of the playable characters inMario Kart 9have received redesigns. This is especially apparent with Donkey Kong.
InMario Kart 9, Donkey Kong looks a lot sillier and happier compared to his usual character design. Instead of having lowered eyebrows and an angry look on his face, thisnew version of Donkey Konghas rounded, close-set eyes, a bulky build, and a frivolous facial expression. Interestingly,Mario Kart9’s Donkey Kong seems to share more in common with the Donkey Kong fromThe Super Mario Brothers Moviethan it does with his video game counterpart.
Nintendo is Doubling Down on Donkey Kong’s New Look
Donkey Kong’s current and most popular design was created by Rare and character designer Kevin Bayless during the development of 1994’sDonkey Kong Country. However, as iconic as this version of the character is, Nintendo seems to be moving away from it entirely, and not only inMario Kart. Several keen-eyed fans have noticed that some ofNintendo’s newly-releasedDonkey Kongmerchandisefeatures the redesigned version of the character instead of his usual look. Although this may be disappointing for some, it appears that theMario Kart 9version of Donkey Kong is here to stay.
Donkey Kong’s Future Games Will Likely Use His New Character Design from Mario Kart 9
Considering how prolific the character is, there’s a very high chance that Donkey Kong will make an appearance in some other games on the Nintendo Switch 2, in addition toMario Kart 9. Some industry insiders have claimed that Nintendo is working on a new,3DDonkey Konggamefor the console, which, if true, will be the first of its kind since 1999’sDonkey Kong 64. Even if these rumors aren’t legitimate, it’s almost a certainty that the next mainlineDonkey Konginstallment, whatever it ends up being called, will feature the titular ape’s redesign fromMario Kart 9.
Donkey Kong
Donkey Kong is both the name of a video game character and franchise originally created by Shigeru Miyamoto and owned by Nintendo. The franchise is primarily made up of platforming style games, but there have been a number of offshoots and the character has appeared in other video games ranging from Mario Party, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros, and much more.
