my only counter argument against a redesign is that the DK park in super nintendo world is close to open and they still use the original rare design. I just htink if they would change it now, then it would have happened already. I think the dk design in the new mario kart is just made more cartoony for the sake of it.
The parks stuff in general is far behind because planning is so far in advance. The Mario stuff was based on 3D World even though when the park launched in 2021, Mario Odyssey had been out for years.
@@artsyomni And even so, I doubt they'd scrap out the Donkey Kong characters entirely just because of a design change in Mario Kart, ya know? Diddy was in the recent merchandise, Cranky was still one of the major supporting character in the Mario film in addition to the Kong cameos and casual DK Rap reference. We also wouldn't have video marketing on the Classic DK and Switch ports of the Country games. I feel they'd just wanted to make a more generalized DK design while potentially setting up a new DK game that's different from other DK games we're used to seeing, though still familiar ground to it's general legacy
I honestly think they wanted to approach DK with an in-between. Harkening to Classic DK's design while still maintaining the core parts of Rareware's takes with the franchise with a more general vibe.
I think it's more, "We can't make these characters look any more realistic so let's go retro instead." Sort of resetting the design aesthetic to give them more wiggle room in the future.
DK’s hair in smash 4 actually looked good. The switch 1 was not strong enough so they had to make him look worse in Ultimate, but sure there no room for improvement lets go back. We should also make Mario put the red pants on again too.
@@need_dopamine2658 The Switch is more powerful than the Wii U and 3DS. They didn't make him look worse on purpose, they just changed the artstyle of the game.
@@TicTacToeCraft the art style is not different from 4 to ultimate and you can easily google image search or look at highly compressed videos on UA-cam and still see the better fur on wiiu. You sound like a fanboy and if the switch was actually better in every way they would not need to remove graphical effects from the prime 1 remaster. Stop lying
@need_dopamine2658 The art style from 4 to Ultimate has definitely changed. 4 looks more cartoony overall. The DK model in Sm4sh had thicker fur and they probably didn't spent as much time on his design in Ultimate. That's all there is to it. And the Prime 1 remaster has nothing to do with this; I don't know why you're bringing that up. The Switch having more processing power than the Wii U and GameCube is an undeniable fact. I don't know what you're trying to prove.
@ if it’s a undeniable fact where are the lighting and transparency effects in prime 1? What about the graphical issues in Donkey Kong country returns that were not present on the Wii? Why do all of these games with missing graphical effects not seem relevant to you? All of these are ports of or glorified ports of old games. I don’t hate Nintendo and I own more switches than you do, you are a fan boy and kinda a dull one at that.
Perhaps DK in any Mario game will have the more cartoony look, but will retain the old look in any dedicated DK games. It would make sense since the DKC games skew more realistic than your average Mario game.
yeah because they’d leave out DK III, around whom they just built a theme park and released a game, to make room for DK Jr (SNES-era relic) in the trailer
Isn't the current DK already DK Jr? I thought Cranky Kong was the OG DK from the arcade game, and DK was DK Jr. from the DK Jr. arcade game? Doesn't matter, really... Nintendo doesn't care about canon.
@@jwr6796 Current DK is Cranky's grandson, and Cranky is canonically the DK from the Arcade game. Meaning DK Jr. is technically a different character that would be current DK's dad. Though there are probably a ton of weird minutiae that contradict and confirm this idea
The DK subreddit has been having a flame war over this design. Didn't think people were that attached to the Rare look. I like how it's a throwback to the classic look, which the movie also was. It's not one-to-one with the movie design.
I think it makes sense, mario wonder changed how the characters looked, so I can see why something similar would happen for spinoff games, in general it feels like nintendo's trying to go in a more stylized direction with the 3d models
Honestly, I like that way more than say how it was during the "New Super Mario Bros." era where how little they've kinda evolved with the series besides some entries. Letting them feel fresh, yet lively while still familiar for older audiences.
As someone who hadn't seen the new Mario Kart trailer, nor the Mario movie, the fact that no visuals were given for either despite them being the core of the discussion here is... a pretty weird decision?
Rare's Donkey Kong Is Donkey Kong. The Original Was Good And Done The Job, But Rare's Donkey Kong Is What Brought It To The Masses. Been Waiting Since 2000 For A Donkey Kong 64 Remaster Arlo! Still Holding Out Hope 25 Years Later.
I really think it would be actually insane for Nintendo to have opened DK Country at Super Nintendo World knowing they were gonna change designs this soon. I think this is probably gonna be either a case by case thing or just for this game.
its not insane when the park have been planned years ago. theres a reason dkr and 3d world are the basis for it, it has been in plannin gsince 2015, before the construction began..
I don't mind this design for more Mario adjacent spinoffs (e.g. Mario kart, Mario sports games, Mario vs donkey Kong, etc. etc.), but I'd really prefer keeping the old design for any mainline DK games, as well as smash bros.
I believe the reason they said DK’s look changed for the movie was because DK needed to be more emotive. Adding more of his original design helps to make him more cartoony than the more realistic version we’re used to. Plus, (According to Myamoto) movie Peach is more what Peach was always supposed to be. He always envisioned her as a strong woman. How about that…
No Nintendo character has has more design change than Link. He looks different in every game if it's not a sequel. And they're using the "Rare DK" for the amusement park, so it seems odd they'd deliberately move away from it now. And Peach had the biker suit in the movie, so I hope it is just a skin thing. Or, more likely I think, just an early version of the game.
The DK theme park has me absolutely convinced that this retro/movie design isn't going to replace the current design for everything, just a couple of stylized games. Maybe they wanna bring back DK Jr and this way they mesh well. I really wanna see what they do with Diddy.
Planning for the park was probably done well in advance of the plan to redesign DK. It’s the same reason the park was designed based on Mario 3D world despite the fact that when the park opened, Odyssey had already been out for years.
I'm fully convinced this is how DK is gonna look going forward. I don't think every little detail will remain the same. Models are always slightly different across games. But for the most part, this is the future of DK. The park ALSO uses artwork that has since been updated in the last month. Meaning even the 2D art at the park is outdated. DK's design is getting updated, and the park was too far along to change anything about that.
I'm totally fine with the change. It's refreshing. To me, it's a lot like 3D Pokemon. How many times can we look at the same models before they get stale? So many people are upset that Nintendo didn't get weird with Switch 2 hardware (that we're aware of, at least). How about we let them get weird with the SOFTWARE this time around?
The thing is, the goal isn’t to make the characters look like the “64 designs.” It’s more foundational than that. They’re making all the characters look like the designs that Yoichi Kotabe established in the 90s. It’s the same goal as Mario Wonder. And I personally hope the entire series as a whole continues to embrace their more classic designs going forward. I think DK is a special case. Yes, all of the characters in the movie look different from their game models. But they made a point to single out DK because unlike with the other characters, they decided to make a foundational change to the DK’s design, and like Arlo says, that foundation can just be what DK is now going forward. For one, it gives DK more latitude for expression. With his eyebrow ridge permanently stuck in an angry position, it was more limiting.
The movie dk is basically a blend of classic dk and modern rare dk, you can tell cus of the tie and the hair on his head. Its not erasing rares influence at all, just a blend of the non rare elements The movie also had cranky kong, diddy kong, etc so Yeah no this isn't any case of miamoto protectionism lmao
As a Donkey Kong scholar, I don't think the new design is necessarily permanent. In fact, that particular one might even be exclusive to the new Mario Kart. Considering the success of Mario Wonder in 2023, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo is gonna start to experiment with their visual styles a bit more. Because as you bring up, it's not just DK, everyone here looks a little different; Mario's cheeks are a bit chubbier, Luigi's ears are a little bigger, Bowser's face is much more grizzly. That said, I think the 3D promotional renders and stuff will continue using the "Rare DK" design, the same way they're gonna keep using the "NSMB Era" designs (like, I think Nintendo's website is gonna keep using Wii U art). The design changes do seem to be reflected in the 2D art, as seen in the DK 2026 calendar, but the changes are a lot more subtle compared to the different models. Other people in the comments are also rightfully pointing out that they're still opening the DK theme park in Orlando, and it's all based on Returns and Tropical Freeze. The mascot suit for Donkey Kong is the Kev Bayliss design, for God's sake. I think by the time we do see the new DK game roll around, it'll use the old design. Or maybe a completely different one altogether, who knows? Though, even if they did make this design permanent, I can still see him being just as athletic as Country Kong
I say hold judgement until we see new DK's expressiveness. The image going around is of him wide-eyed and hyper-focused, but watching the trailer, there's a brief couple of frames where his brow is down, looking more like what we're used to.
You are right, but Kirby is not a Nintendo game, and Nintendo has nothing to do with its development, they just publish it. Kirby is made by Hal Laboratory: a very loyal partner company to Nintendo with similarly consistent high quality releases. Nintendo doesn’t actually own Hal Lab, so they could do an xbox game if they wanted to, but they don’t.
As some people have already mentioned, I’m not sure if this will be *the* DK going forward, considering that the Universal theme park is using the Rare design, so it’s most likely an art direction thing, at least as far as we know. Also minor correction, but the updated Princess Peach Showtime cover art was used in all regions, including Japan.
@modkip25 It basically boils down to: - bulkier, rounder body - wider face - wider, thinner, more expressive brow It's just the same DK design but bigger and more expressive. His default expression feels a bit too neutral, but he has other reactions where his brow looks more angry, as it used to. I'm hoping other games going forward have the angry brow as default. Bur overall it already allows DK to emote way more than he ever has in the games.
I like that Nintendo is open to having characters look different. Back in the day sprites and models changed widely from game to game yet they remained stagnant for years. I’m happy the characters can be different depending on the game.
My first thought was he looked like movie DK, but he also looks like DK Junior from the Super Mario Kart to me. Grown up? Lol. I think these designs are a one time thing. I can't imagine Nintendo's changing the standard Mario style for the Switch 2 era after so long.
Idk man if they changed it for Mario Wonder, the mainline 2d Mario, and the first Mario game they show off for the new system changed it for Mario Kart... It's probably gonna be changed for other things as well.
almost certain that's new Donkey Kong because its clear that they don't want Donkey Kong to be separate from Mario at this point and they want his visual style to align the Mario world. Also it rules, I love weird kong.
Personally, I think that any design change is good because it keeps things fresh. Mr. Kong has had the same design for such a long time and I'd prefer to see him evolve
My worries about donkey Kong is that people are going to forget about the rareware era because of the designs. Like don't get me wrong, donkey Kong's world was realistic, but the characters that were living in them were still cartoony. While it is nice for donkey Kong himself to be more animated, I feel like some of the charm of the rareware era, the one that put donkey Kong's name in our mouths, is slowly being forgotten. I could be overthinking this, I'm honestly 90% sure I am, but still.
I personally think Nintendo wants to distance themselves away from Rareware's design. It would correspond with their refusal to bring back the Kremlings for their new games and amusement park. Aside from K.Rool in Smash Bros, I think Nintendo wants to clean their brand from all remnants of Rare.
why does it have to be "they refused to bring back the kremlings because they hate rare" not just. they wanted to have new villains instead of doing the same thing over and over
@cat-tn5rt Nintendo has no hesitation bringing back Bowser, Ganon, Ridley quite often for other franchises, yet K. Rool and his Kremlings haven't taken centerstage in a main game since DK 64. The fact there are zero references to the Kremlings in the Nintendo theme park's DK section further implies the company does not want people remembering them.
I can totally see Miyamoto wanting to go with his original design going forward, maybe he can’t accept that Rare’s designs for the kongs are superior. The man is a genius, sure, but from all we know about how he works he can be quite stubborn.
One thing to note, they just opened/are about to open two different DK theme parks on opposite sides of the world, and they’re all based around the Rare designs. Very curious to see where this whole saga goes, but I cannot imagine they are fully removing the Rare designs
I sure hope not. If so, I feel it signals a departure from any potential future entries in the Donkey Kong Country series, which would be a horrible loss.
I remember the last time changed a fairly serious looking character into a more cartoony version of himself, it was also met with backlash. Then the game came out and we were sailing on the ocean.
I have not seen even a single person liking this so far. My girlfriend never had anything to do with DK, and I just showed her the picture. The reaction was priceless. Just real gasp 😂 What did they do to my boy? 😢
I actually really love how all the characters look now especially donkey kong. If this is the new possible artstyle for mario going forward, im actually excited lol
Makes sense, ive been saying luigi looks like his snes mario kart design, if they are making a retro theme in this new game, it'd make sense for this DK to be DK junior since he's the one in snes mario kart.
It would be interesting, since DK Jr. is Rare DK's dad - but we haven't seen him since Super Mario Kart (SNES). Jr. was my first thought, too, when I saw him rather than the current DK.
It does look like an evolution of the N64 renders. I wouldn't mind if that's going to be the Switch 2 era arts style. And DK looks like a lovable, fluffy dork, I love it.
I've been saying as a joke that Miyamoto is erasing Rare's DK one step at a time, but knowing Miyamoto's history and how "silly" he can get about his characters I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually doing that.
My theory for the DK design change is that they'll use the new one for Mario Spinoffs, but they'll still use the Rareware design for the Donkey Kong Country series.
Also worth mentioning I think that the actor costume for the DK area at Nintendo World is still the Rare design that we've had for all these years. If they were changing DK's design across everything to look like movie DK, I doubt they would do that.
I just hope it’s only skin options based on the classic designs, like you said, . Im a big DK fan and this change pisses me off a lot! And no, Miyamoto doesn’t want his baby back, they don’t give a * about DK. Look what they did to him in the movie, they trashed his whole story and personality. I hated the Mario movie because of how Mario and DK looked. Stop romanticizing Nintendo, these changes are all about sales, trying to sell the character to the masses because that’s how people who don’t play games saw him in the movie.
I can't imagine they would make that Donkey Kong suit for Universal and then immediately change the permanent design. Like they didn't even base it on the movie version, it's just straight up modern DK. I think that kind of decision would just be silly
Yo why does Donkey Kong 64 look so good tho? This DK also looks sooooo fuzzy, like that hair moving around in the wind might be crazy during Mario Kart 9
The Rare DK was made for visual spectacle and Nintendo left that part of the business with the GameCube. I hope this isn’t the new DK but throwing out the Western design is very Nintendo
The movie did so well that they are probably gonna have movie characters as new racers to compliment the change of 24 active racers. I have a feeling the DK we know will still be in the game too but they wanted the movie DK in the teaser to get people talking.
I started thinking recently about how they purposely made his Donkey Kong Country design more edgy for release, and how I think the character would have caught on more if he had the more friendly look of the beta renders. I think a mix between the two is great for a modern era tbh!
It also could very well be this just isn’t his final design, something I’m surprised I haven’t really heard anyone else suggest. Could also be a skin! I find the design in the reveal footage to be a little jarring, but it could probably grow on me who knows. I am however all for the Mario/ Luigi redesign that more closely resembles the old box and manual art in say SMB3 & World. Now all we need is red headed princess toadstool lol.
Them changing his look got me feeling nostalgic. I watched the dk vhs tape a few days ago. I know its not good. But I loved it as a kid. I watched it all the time and it was nice going back and watching it again
It could reflect his design in an upcoming game, but I doubt it's a permanent change that'll be seen in all mediums. I'm pretty sure the current DK is here to stay in most stuff, like upcoming Mario Party or Mario Sports games, because we've seen that they still use the current design for Nintendo World's DK Country, and made a whole suit of it, so if for brand recognition alone it's here to stay.
You say he's changed a lot, but he's basically been the same design ever since DKC. I don't know yet if I'm in love with the new look, but I'm down for a little redesign.
I appreciate the DK64 video in the background. It was my favorite N64 game growing up. Wish they did a remake or port on switch. But Rare has the rights. So I just have it on delta on my phone but I’d buy it for my switch
Characters changing their look over time is kind of natural tbh. The characters in Mario Kart 9 all underwent a more rounded cartoony look to them, I guess to differentiate itself from Mario Kart 8's looks (which most people have gotten very used to seeing).
Funny how you brought up that movie DK resembles his classic look, because my first thought when I saw the design wasn’t the movie but DK Junior from SNES Mario Kart. I have a feeling we’ll get skins though (Peach wearing a dress on the bike as potential evidence).
Comedy option: That's DK Jr., the son of the current DK and is going to be the successor. The current Cranky dies and current DK's father takes his place and the current DK fades into obscurity, leaving this DK Jr. to become the new Donkey Kong. Then Miyamoto comes on screen during the Direct that this is revealed on and comments that this has been happening this whole time and just nobody noticed it. After all, in Super Mario Kart for the SNES the monkey was called Donkey Kong Jr. (at the time) and Cranky was the Donkey Kong from the original arcade cabinet. Gorillas only live for like 30-40 years.
I am interested to see how often this design will be used, but yeah because the other characters having a different style than recent main Mario game style it definitely could likely be just a style for him in this game. I kinda like the look for him, I am not a donkey kong game fan though (well I haven’t really played many of the games)
New/movie DK kinda reminds me more of Chunky Kong in the face. Don't think I'm a big fan. I already really dislike how they've changed DK's voice in newer games.
It’s interesting how much people are talking about this, but I never really saw anyone mention how Yoshi’s design in Super Mario Wonder looked more like his original SMW design (which I’m personally hoping they stick with).
Notice how the sunken pit behind DK's eyes grows larger and darker with each passing year. In this, he is much like the rest of us.
the dark abyssal lord within donkey Kong will soon emerge in the new switch 2 game donkey kong: worlds end
Chilling with Diddy 25+ years, you see some things, you experience some things
His eye pits grow larger every time he realizes that there hasn’t been a new DK game in 11 years
Stress line from having your banana hoard stolen year after year.
@@chiquita683😂😂😂 I laughed so hard at the double meaning there lol
my only counter argument against a redesign is that the DK park in super nintendo world is close to open and they still use the original rare design. I just htink if they would change it now, then it would have happened already.
I think the dk design in the new mario kart is just made more cartoony for the sake of it.
The parks stuff in general is far behind because planning is so far in advance. The Mario stuff was based on 3D World even though when the park launched in 2021, Mario Odyssey had been out for years.
@@artsyomni thanks for the input. Absolutely a possibility
yeah, the park is very obviously styled after Country Returns & 3D Land/World respectively. So a minor redesign wouldn't really have any influence
@@artsyomni And even so, I doubt they'd scrap out the Donkey Kong characters entirely just because of a design change in Mario Kart, ya know?
Diddy was in the recent merchandise, Cranky was still one of the major supporting character in the Mario film in addition to the Kong cameos and casual DK Rap reference. We also wouldn't have video marketing on the Classic DK and Switch ports of the Country games.
I feel they'd just wanted to make a more generalized DK design while potentially setting up a new DK game that's different from other DK games we're used to seeing, though still familiar ground to it's general legacy
It's actually Time-Displaced Cranky Kong. You thought they'd stop at a quarter of the roster being babies in MK8
I love this entire sentence, and even the order of the words. "Time-Displaced Cranky Kong", If only, I would cackle like a madman if this happened.
I honestly think they wanted to approach DK with an in-between.
Harkening to Classic DK's design while still maintaining the core parts of Rareware's takes with the franchise with a more general vibe.
yeah, that's what I've been saying. Cranky kong is actually the original donkey kong, it makes a lot of sense for him to be back.
Truly DK’s journey thru time and space….
Donkey Kong the First, Donkey Kong Jr., and Donkey Kong the Third would all be a funny collection of Kongs to have in a Mario Kart game.
I think it's more, "We can't make these characters look any more realistic so let's go retro instead." Sort of resetting the design aesthetic to give them more wiggle room in the future.
DK’s hair in smash 4 actually looked good. The switch 1 was not strong enough so they had to make him look worse in Ultimate, but sure there no room for improvement lets go back. We should also make Mario put the red pants on again too.
@@need_dopamine2658 The Switch is more powerful than the Wii U and 3DS. They didn't make him look worse on purpose, they just changed the artstyle of the game.
@@TicTacToeCraft the art style is not different from 4 to ultimate and you can easily google image search or look at highly compressed videos on UA-cam and still see the better fur on wiiu. You sound like a fanboy and if the switch was actually better in every way they would not need to remove graphical effects from the prime 1 remaster. Stop lying
@need_dopamine2658 The art style from 4 to Ultimate has definitely changed. 4 looks more cartoony overall. The DK model in Sm4sh had thicker fur and they probably didn't spent as much time on his design in Ultimate. That's all there is to it.
And the Prime 1 remaster has nothing to do with this; I don't know why you're bringing that up. The Switch having more processing power than the Wii U and GameCube is an undeniable fact. I don't know what you're trying to prove.
@ if it’s a undeniable fact where are the lighting and transparency effects in prime 1? What about the graphical issues in Donkey Kong country returns that were not present on the Wii? Why do all of these games with missing graphical effects not seem relevant to you? All of these are ports of or glorified ports of old games. I don’t hate Nintendo and I own more switches than you do, you are a fan boy and kinda a dull one at that.
Perhaps DK in any Mario game will have the more cartoony look, but will retain the old look in any dedicated DK games. It would make sense since the DKC games skew more realistic than your average Mario game.
Kinda like Wario in his own games
That's a fantastic idea.
He oughta keep his DKC look in Smash Bros. as well
Can’t wait for all this controversy to boil down to “ that’s actually DK JUNIOR in the trailer and we haven’t realized it” once the game drops
yeah because they’d leave out DK III, around whom they just built a theme park and released a game, to make room for DK Jr (SNES-era relic) in the trailer
Isn't the current DK already DK Jr? I thought Cranky Kong was the OG DK from the arcade game, and DK was DK Jr. from the DK Jr. arcade game?
Doesn't matter, really... Nintendo doesn't care about canon.
@@jwr6796 it’s a very long and complicated family tree I’m not even 100% sure on 💀
@@jwr6796 Current DK is Cranky's grandson, and Cranky is canonically the DK from the Arcade game. Meaning DK Jr. is technically a different character that would be current DK's dad. Though there are probably a ton of weird minutiae that contradict and confirm this idea
@@extremepayne the same theme park they just built using the Rare design?
My first thought seeing DKs new design in MK9 was immediately reminded me of super Mario kart not the movie
Same
lol go get glasses, it looks nothing like SMK.
Yea that was my initial thought too, so that character from the MK9 footage might actually be Donkey Kong Jr. (DK Country DK's father)
Glad I’m not the only one. Movie design honestly looks closer to Rare’s design to me.
@@RuuyGstatic.wikia.nocookie.net/mariokart/images/c/c2/DKJRMK.png/revision/latest?cb=20130602193325
The DK subreddit has been having a flame war over this design. Didn't think people were that attached to the Rare look. I like how it's a throwback to the classic look, which the movie also was. It's not one-to-one with the movie design.
I think it makes sense, mario wonder changed how the characters looked, so I can see why something similar would happen for spinoff games, in general it feels like nintendo's trying to go in a more stylized direction with the 3d models
Honestly, I like that way more than say how it was during the "New Super Mario Bros." era where how little they've kinda evolved with the series besides some entries.
Letting them feel fresh, yet lively while still familiar for older audiences.
And ironically these designs weren't at all reflected in promotionnal material, it's weird.
I really just took it as the next Mario Kart having a more cartoony, bouncy art style.
Prediction for Mario Kart 10 roster: Oops all Funky Kongs!
As someone who hadn't seen the new Mario Kart trailer, nor the Mario movie, the fact that no visuals were given for either despite them being the core of the discussion here is... a pretty weird decision?
Only thing is the thumbnail. Arlo usually just has gameplay but this video would've benefit from a reference.
Rare's Donkey Kong Is Donkey Kong. The Original Was Good And Done The Job, But Rare's Donkey Kong Is What Brought It To The Masses.
Been Waiting Since 2000 For A Donkey Kong 64 Remaster Arlo!
Still Holding Out Hope 25 Years Later.
I love it, it reminds me of the old arcade DK. The character has been due for a design update for awhile, anyway.
I really think it would be actually insane for Nintendo to have opened DK Country at Super Nintendo World knowing they were gonna change designs this soon. I think this is probably gonna be either a case by case thing or just for this game.
its not insane when the park have been planned years ago. theres a reason dkr and 3d world are the basis for it, it has been in plannin gsince 2015, before the construction began..
DK Fans: "No, they're changing his design!"
Link Fans: "First Time?"
tbf link is usually a different character every game
People forget DK on MK8 looks freaking weird with that puppet mouth
I can’t believe we were stuck with that awful model for a decade
Yup, as much as I love DK he looks weird in many of the spin-offs. I also don't really like how he and Diddy look in Smash 4 and Ultimate.
MK8 DK looked like a plastic toy.
@@FJLinkhe looked good in strikers but that’s because next level games is the goat of animation
Whats wrong with puppets 😭😭 poor arlo catching strays
I don't mind this design for more Mario adjacent spinoffs (e.g. Mario kart, Mario sports games, Mario vs donkey Kong, etc. etc.), but I'd really prefer keeping the old design for any mainline DK games, as well as smash bros.
smash's DK is not the same as MK DK though
I believe the reason they said DK’s look changed for the movie was because DK needed to be more emotive. Adding more of his original design helps to make him more cartoony than the more realistic version we’re used to. Plus, (According to Myamoto) movie Peach is more what Peach was always supposed to be. He always envisioned her as a strong woman. How about that…
No Nintendo character has has more design change than Link. He looks different in every game if it's not a sequel.
And they're using the "Rare DK" for the amusement park, so it seems odd they'd deliberately move away from it now.
And Peach had the biker suit in the movie, so I hope it is just a skin thing. Or, more likely I think, just an early version of the game.
The DK theme park has me absolutely convinced that this retro/movie design isn't going to replace the current design for everything, just a couple of stylized games. Maybe they wanna bring back DK Jr and this way they mesh well. I really wanna see what they do with Diddy.
Planning for the park was probably done well in advance of the plan to redesign DK. It’s the same reason the park was designed based on Mario 3D world despite the fact that when the park opened, Odyssey had already been out for years.
I'm fully convinced this is how DK is gonna look going forward.
I don't think every little detail will remain the same. Models are always slightly different across games. But for the most part, this is the future of DK.
The park ALSO uses artwork that has since been updated in the last month. Meaning even the 2D art at the park is outdated.
DK's design is getting updated, and the park was too far along to change anything about that.
14:11 aww shucks
this also opens up the question of if the other donkey kong characters will have this similar design change to fit alongside dk
He is meant to look like his sprite from the original arcade game!!
I'm totally fine with the change. It's refreshing. To me, it's a lot like 3D Pokemon. How many times can we look at the same models before they get stale?
So many people are upset that Nintendo didn't get weird with Switch 2 hardware (that we're aware of, at least). How about we let them get weird with the SOFTWARE this time around?
Reviving the GameCube weirdness let's gooooo
Maybe we're getting a remake of Donkey Kong 94 (gameboy). It has DK and DK Jr. in it with their classic designs while Mario and Pauline looked modern.
11:35 ain’t NOBODY gone through as many redesigns as my boy Link
The thing is, the goal isn’t to make the characters look like the “64 designs.” It’s more foundational than that. They’re making all the characters look like the designs that Yoichi Kotabe established in the 90s. It’s the same goal as Mario Wonder. And I personally hope the entire series as a whole continues to embrace their more classic designs going forward.
I think DK is a special case. Yes, all of the characters in the movie look different from their game models. But they made a point to single out DK because unlike with the other characters, they decided to make a foundational change to the DK’s design, and like Arlo says, that foundation can just be what DK is now going forward. For one, it gives DK more latitude for expression. With his eyebrow ridge permanently stuck in an angry position, it was more limiting.
My hangup with the redesign is that classic DK design is supposed to be Cranky Kong. Not the Country-style DK that we know today.
The movie dk is basically a blend of classic dk and modern rare dk, you can tell cus of the tie and the hair on his head. Its not erasing rares influence at all, just a blend of the non rare elements
The movie also had cranky kong, diddy kong, etc so
Yeah no this isn't any case of miamoto protectionism lmao
As a Donkey Kong scholar, I don't think the new design is necessarily permanent. In fact, that particular one might even be exclusive to the new Mario Kart. Considering the success of Mario Wonder in 2023, I wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo is gonna start to experiment with their visual styles a bit more. Because as you bring up, it's not just DK, everyone here looks a little different; Mario's cheeks are a bit chubbier, Luigi's ears are a little bigger, Bowser's face is much more grizzly. That said, I think the 3D promotional renders and stuff will continue using the "Rare DK" design, the same way they're gonna keep using the "NSMB Era" designs (like, I think Nintendo's website is gonna keep using Wii U art). The design changes do seem to be reflected in the 2D art, as seen in the DK 2026 calendar, but the changes are a lot more subtle compared to the different models. Other people in the comments are also rightfully pointing out that they're still opening the DK theme park in Orlando, and it's all based on Returns and Tropical Freeze. The mascot suit for Donkey Kong is the Kev Bayliss design, for God's sake. I think by the time we do see the new DK game roll around, it'll use the old design. Or maybe a completely different one altogether, who knows? Though, even if they did make this design permanent, I can still see him being just as athletic as Country Kong
I say hold judgement until we see new DK's expressiveness. The image going around is of him wide-eyed and hyper-focused, but watching the trailer, there's a brief couple of frames where his brow is down, looking more like what we're used to.
The same happened with King Dedede in Forgotten Land. Nintendo is going back to older, more cartoony proportions for the characters - and I love it!
You are right, but Kirby is not a Nintendo game, and Nintendo has nothing to do with its development, they just publish it. Kirby is made by Hal Laboratory: a very loyal partner company to Nintendo with similarly consistent high quality releases. Nintendo doesn’t actually own Hal Lab, so they could do an xbox game if they wanted to, but they don’t.
I hate the forgotten land design he is too serious
@@Png_gaming Nintendo owns Kirby alongside hal. youre right its not a developed nintendo game but its still a nintendo game, character and series.
@@simnm8057 And the beak is too small, which I feel limits his expressiveness.
RIP Modern Donkey Kong
1994-2024
I'm of the persuasion that this is his new non-protagonist ally appearance, ready to feature in the next 3D Mario game incoming.
As some people have already mentioned, I’m not sure if this will be *the* DK going forward, considering that the Universal theme park is using the Rare design, so it’s most likely an art direction thing, at least as far as we know.
Also minor correction, but the updated Princess Peach Showtime cover art was used in all regions, including Japan.
I really hope it’s just an alternate skin, it’s a way uglier design than the main contemporary dk design
I literally can't tell, he looks the same to me. What is differrent??
@modkip25 It basically boils down to:
- bulkier, rounder body
- wider face
- wider, thinner, more expressive brow
It's just the same DK design but bigger and more expressive. His default expression feels a bit too neutral, but he has other reactions where his brow looks more angry, as it used to.
I'm hoping other games going forward have the angry brow as default. Bur overall it already allows DK to emote way more than he ever has in the games.
I like that Nintendo is open to having characters look different. Back in the day sprites and models changed widely from game to game yet they remained stagnant for years. I’m happy the characters can be different depending on the game.
I think the design is just how donkey Kong would look if he where in wonder.
My first thought was he looked like movie DK, but he also looks like DK Junior from the Super Mario Kart to me. Grown up? Lol.
I think these designs are a one time thing. I can't imagine Nintendo's changing the standard Mario style for the Switch 2 era after so long.
Idk man if they changed it for Mario Wonder, the mainline 2d Mario, and the first Mario game they show off for the new system changed it for Mario Kart... It's probably gonna be changed for other things as well.
almost certain that's new Donkey Kong because its clear that they don't want Donkey Kong to be separate from Mario at this point and they want his visual style to align the Mario world. Also it rules, I love weird kong.
Personally, I think that any design change is good because it keeps things fresh. Mr. Kong has had the same design for such a long time and I'd prefer to see him evolve
Not sure why people keep comparing him to the movie DK. I just don't see the resemblance. He definitely looks different, but not like movie DK.
I'm excited to see Mario Kart 9 up close! The squash and stretch in the teaser looks amazing!
Its a cutscene not gameplay
@@chiquita683 What evidence do you have for that?
@@mitwhitgaming7722 They themselves said it in the trailer. This is a Cutscene not gameplay reveal.
My worries about donkey Kong is that people are going to forget about the rareware era because of the designs. Like don't get me wrong, donkey Kong's world was realistic, but the characters that were living in them were still cartoony.
While it is nice for donkey Kong himself to be more animated, I feel like some of the charm of the rareware era, the one that put donkey Kong's name in our mouths, is slowly being forgotten.
I could be overthinking this, I'm honestly 90% sure I am, but still.
The DK 2026 calendar also uses this new design. This design is definitely here to stay.
I personally think Nintendo wants to distance themselves away from Rareware's design. It would correspond with their refusal to bring back the Kremlings for their new games and amusement park.
Aside from K.Rool in Smash Bros, I think Nintendo wants to clean their brand from all remnants of Rare.
Which is a tragedy
why does it have to be "they refused to bring back the kremlings because they hate rare" not just. they wanted to have new villains instead of doing the same thing over and over
@cat-tn5rt Nintendo has no hesitation bringing back Bowser, Ganon, Ridley quite often for other franchises, yet K. Rool and his Kremlings haven't taken centerstage in a main game since DK 64.
The fact there are zero references to the Kremlings in the Nintendo theme park's DK section further implies the company does not want people remembering them.
I can totally see Miyamoto wanting to go with his original design going forward, maybe he can’t accept that Rare’s designs for the kongs are superior. The man is a genius, sure, but from all we know about how he works he can be quite stubborn.
miyamoto hsant been involved in nintendo games for a decade outside of being a supervisor here and there in a few games.
I dont think this is the case. Epic Universe is about to open in Orlando over here and they are in their DKC designs. I think this is more of a skin.
One thing to note, they just opened/are about to open two different DK theme parks on opposite sides of the world, and they’re all based around the Rare designs. Very curious to see where this whole saga goes, but I cannot imagine they are fully removing the Rare designs
I sure hope not. If so, I feel it signals a departure from any potential future entries in the Donkey Kong Country series, which would be a horrible loss.
I remember the last time changed a fairly serious looking character into a more cartoony version of himself, it was also met with backlash.
Then the game came out and we were sailing on the ocean.
It’d be sick if they brought him back. Having DK, DK Jr, and Cranky Kong would be amazing
I have not seen even a single person liking this so far.
My girlfriend never had anything to do with DK, and I just showed her the picture. The reaction was priceless. Just real gasp 😂
What did they do to my boy? 😢
I actually really love how all the characters look now especially donkey kong. If this is the new possible artstyle for mario going forward, im actually excited lol
I can’t tell if we should be scared or not with this info
Donkey Kong getting the King Dedede redesign treatment over here.
DK be having too much booger sugar.
I was one of the first few people who came up with the theory that this might be a older adult version of DK Junior
Makes sense, ive been saying luigi looks like his snes mario kart design, if they are making a retro theme in this new game, it'd make sense for this DK to be DK junior since he's the one in snes mario kart.
It’s not. All of the characters they showed were the most standard picks they could use. Why would they include DK jr and not Donkey Kong?
@silvermoon2608 SNES mario kart had DK Jr. Instead of DK, so it's possible that they could do a repeat of that.
It would be interesting, since DK Jr. is Rare DK's dad - but we haven't seen him since Super Mario Kart (SNES). Jr. was my first thought, too, when I saw him rather than the current DK.
Maybe it's Donkey Kong Jr coming back!
It does look like an evolution of the N64 renders. I wouldn't mind if that's going to be the Switch 2 era arts style. And DK looks like a lovable, fluffy dork, I love it.
I've been saying as a joke that Miyamoto is erasing Rare's DK one step at a time, but knowing Miyamoto's history and how "silly" he can get about his characters I wouldn't be surprised if he's actually doing that.
I mean, it wouldn't be Nintendo if they didn't pull a "Nintendo."
Decisions which makes sense to them, and leaving fans confused
I'm surprised everyone is making a big deal of this now - miamito's comments about DKs design change for the Mario movie made this pretty obvious.
My theory for the DK design change is that they'll use the new one for Mario Spinoffs, but they'll still use the Rareware design for the Donkey Kong Country series.
Also worth mentioning I think that the actor costume for the DK area at Nintendo World is still the Rare design that we've had for all these years. If they were changing DK's design across everything to look like movie DK, I doubt they would do that.
11:11 No... DK did not go through more transformations than King Dedede.....
I managed to tune in for the Hype stream, the puppy cam was delightful.
To quote Don Corleone, "Look how they massacred my boy"
I gotta say I LOVE his goofy face in the Mario Kart reveal. I really like his redesign!
I just hope it’s only skin options based on the classic designs, like you said, . Im a big DK fan and this change pisses me off a lot! And no, Miyamoto doesn’t want his baby back, they don’t give a * about DK. Look what they did to him in the movie, they trashed his whole story and personality. I hated the Mario movie because of how Mario and DK looked. Stop romanticizing Nintendo, these changes are all about sales, trying to sell the character to the masses because that’s how people who don’t play games saw him in the movie.
I like seeing all these different art styles, it's kinda cool to experiment
I can't imagine they would make that Donkey Kong suit for Universal and then immediately change the permanent design. Like they didn't even base it on the movie version, it's just straight up modern DK. I think that kind of decision would just be silly
Hol up, *Yoshi* has definitely had the most redesigns of any Mario character. Go back and check his OG design and you'll see how far he's come
Movie DK can get it.
Yo why does Donkey Kong 64 look so good tho? This DK also looks sooooo fuzzy, like that hair moving around in the wind might be crazy during Mario Kart 9
The Rare DK was made for visual spectacle and Nintendo left that part of the business with the GameCube. I hope this isn’t the new DK but throwing out the Western design is very Nintendo
The movie did so well that they are probably gonna have movie characters as new racers to compliment the change of 24 active racers. I have a feeling the DK we know will still be in the game too but they wanted the movie DK in the teaser to get people talking.
I started thinking recently about how they purposely made his Donkey Kong Country design more edgy for release, and how I think the character would have caught on more if he had the more friendly look of the beta renders. I think a mix between the two is great for a modern era tbh!
That switch2 donkey Kong looked like a background reused asset based on Donkey Kong. What I thought at a couple glances.
It also could very well be this just isn’t his final design, something I’m surprised I haven’t really heard anyone else suggest. Could also be a skin! I find the design in the reveal footage to be a little jarring, but it could probably grow on me who knows. I am however all for the Mario/ Luigi redesign that more closely resembles the old box and manual art in say SMB3 & World. Now all we need is red headed princess toadstool lol.
It makes sense that we finally have skins on MK.
Them changing his look got me feeling nostalgic. I watched the dk vhs tape a few days ago. I know its not good. But I loved it as a kid. I watched it all the time and it was nice going back and watching it again
Something about the newer “movie” DK design that I just don’t love. He looks kind of like mentally challenged DK in some ways.
It could reflect his design in an upcoming game, but I doubt it's a permanent change that'll be seen in all mediums. I'm pretty sure the current DK is here to stay in most stuff, like upcoming Mario Party or Mario Sports games, because we've seen that they still use the current design for Nintendo World's DK Country, and made a whole suit of it, so if for brand recognition alone it's here to stay.
I'm trying to listen to Arlo, but that DK Country music slaps so hard.
8:04 Clearly you’re not familiar enough with the RPG spinoffs. Movie Peach is pretty similar to how she’s portrayed in those games.
He's talking about her design lmfao, movie peach had more realistic and longer proportions
@ “Two completely different characters entirely that look largely the same.”
Butternut squash? Yes Please!
You say he's changed a lot, but he's basically been the same design ever since DKC. I don't know yet if I'm in love with the new look, but I'm down for a little redesign.
Arlo clearly hasn't seen King Dedede's changes haha
I appreciate the DK64 video in the background. It was my favorite N64 game growing up. Wish they did a remake or port on switch. But Rare has the rights. So I just have it on delta on my phone but I’d buy it for my switch
Characters changing their look over time is kind of natural tbh. The characters in Mario Kart 9 all underwent a more rounded cartoony look to them, I guess to differentiate itself from Mario Kart 8's looks (which most people have gotten very used to seeing).
Funny how you brought up that movie DK resembles his classic look, because my first thought when I saw the design wasn’t the movie but DK Junior from SNES Mario Kart.
I have a feeling we’ll get skins though (Peach wearing a dress on the bike as potential evidence).
Comedy option: That's DK Jr., the son of the current DK and is going to be the successor. The current Cranky dies and current DK's father takes his place and the current DK fades into obscurity, leaving this DK Jr. to become the new Donkey Kong. Then Miyamoto comes on screen during the Direct that this is revealed on and comments that this has been happening this whole time and just nobody noticed it. After all, in Super Mario Kart for the SNES the monkey was called Donkey Kong Jr. (at the time) and Cranky was the Donkey Kong from the original arcade cabinet. Gorillas only live for like 30-40 years.
Squidward: No Nintendo fans, DK’s design being slightly different in Mario Kart doesn’t mean that his design is changing forever.
I am interested to see how often this design will be used, but yeah because the other characters having a different style than recent main Mario game style it definitely could likely be just a style for him in this game. I kinda like the look for him, I am not a donkey kong game fan though (well I haven’t really played many of the games)
I'm just happy it will have a campaign.
we need to get Robert Kongman on the horn for this
New/movie DK kinda reminds me more of Chunky Kong in the face. Don't think I'm a big fan. I already really dislike how they've changed DK's voice in newer games.
It’s interesting how much people are talking about this, but I never really saw anyone mention how Yoshi’s design in Super Mario Wonder looked more like his original SMW design (which I’m personally hoping they stick with).