Nintendo is making a significant shift with Donkey Kong's design, as fans noticed during the Mario Kart 9 gameplay reveal at the Nintendo Switch 2 event. For years, Donkey Kong has maintained a consistent look across various games like Mario Kart 8, Mario Tennis, and Donkey Kong Country Returns. However, the new design, which many believe draws inspiration from the successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie, marks a notable change.
The revamped Donkey Kong has so far only been seen in Mario Kart 9, but Nintendo has now expanded this redesign to a new line of merchandise. As reported by Nintendo Life, Reddit user cookiemaster221 shared images of these products, commenting, "History is being rewritten in front of our very eyes."
History is being rewritten in front of our very eyes
byu/cookiemaster221 indonkeykong
The new merchandise showcases Donkey Kong with a more approachable appearance, notably featuring a less furrowed brow. In the Reddit comments, user SmallBlueSlime noted, "They're giving him the Kirby treatment, but backwards. Instead of making him angry, they're making him chill." Other fans expressed mixed feelings about the change, with one saying, "They really are dead set on redesigning DK," while another lamented, "I'm gonna miss that eyebrow looking down. Always made DK seem both kind and strong." However, some fans supported the new look, suggesting, "It's alright in my opinion. They probably did it to make him look more goofy and less angry."
Since the brief glimpse in Mario Kart 9, this is the clearest view fans have had of the redesign. Donkey Kong's new look is expected to be showcased more extensively in April during a Nintendo Direct focused on the Switch 2.
The console reveal trailer for the Switch 2 offered only a few hints about the new hardware, emphasizing its appearance. It confirmed that the Switch 2 is mostly backwards compatible, introduced a mysterious new button on the Joy-Cons, and validated a theory about using the controller as a mouse.
