You know, I've never looked at Rare DK and thought "Badass". Honestly, I just thought the new model was unfinished since they just opened a whole theme park based on the current design. But, this is Miyamoto we're talking about, so if this is the new design, I wouldn't be shocked to see the theme park get updated once the new design is officially out there and it gets its own game.
@@JustAmiVT also the mario wonder beta footage they showed off had a stylised mario based off the 80/90s box art, that didn't make it into the finished game
Now's probably a good time to draw attention to the fact that Nintendo seems to have never known how to handle DK after the arcade games and DK 94. I mean they handed off the series to a western developer twice (Rare and Retro), had to get Rare to help make the DK model for Mario Kart 64, made Hudson wait for approval before using DK in Mario Party 1 to the point where he doesn't have a portrait in the debug menu, refused to use Diddy in anything Mario-related until Rare was no longer in the picture (to the point that DK Jr. was the original partner for DK in Double Dash), had to get retro to make the DKC level in Mario Kart 7, have still largely refused to use DKC characters in modern Mario games outside of Mario Kart Tour, and when Nintendo makes a DK game in-house, it's usually been Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Donkey Konga, Jungle Climber/King of Swing, or a one-off like Jungle Beat and Barrel Blast. 90% of the time, they literally have no idea what to do with DK without going back to 1981 or giving it to someone else.
I don’t agree with the notion Rare’s DK was meant to be solely badass. Like, that intro you make note of where DK drops in with the boombox is IMMEDIATELY undercut when Cranky throws in a TNT barrel and his eyes bulge out of his head like any number of classic cartoon characters. Plus, he may pound his chest sometimes with the realistic gorilla noises, but his victory animation is him doing double thumbs up and holding his hands over his head, while wearing a rather goofy grin. Plus, the credits scene of DK and Diddy doing slapstick smacking each other around is more Three Stooges than a couple of badasses. And like, in my eyes, Donkey Kong is a balancing act between being goofy and badass. I again will cite the intro for DK since, if we look to Rare’s interpretation for the blueprint, he’s doing that exactly. And Nintendo’s use of the character in later games has also reflected that- Jungle Beat has him beating the snot out of bad guys, looking real tough, but getting to those fights doing a lot of ridiculous things. When he was a Punch Out boss, he looks and sounds intimidating when angry, but also does some goofy stuff. And Returns and Tropical Freeze manage to emphasize his strength and badassery when he lays beat downs on the bosses on drops in to any given stage’s intro, but still give him those silly moments. And that’s not getting into games where he just doesn’t need to be badass, like Mario Kart or Party. It’s just a fun setting, so he just gets to cut loose. If this is a redesign for all future Mario and Donkey Kong games, time will tell if it can sell the badass side. But if he’s just here to have fun and race, it works. Since, to me, it looks like a Mario Wonder style design for DK.
He looks like his old pre-DK Country design. Nintendo and Rare had a disagreement over his design during the development of DK Country, and ended up compromising with a middle ground between Miyamoto's concept and Rare's. That design has been his look ever since, with very little variation. At least until now.
Dat ain't the leader of the bunch. I don't know him well. It looks like they tried to sanitize his silly design that Rare made to make it more kid friendly and I hate it .
Fr, DK is my main in Mario Kart and this honestly ruined my excitment for the game. Idk why nintendo feels the need to change his design, he looked perfectly fine
*Plot twist* : This isn't Donkey Kong's new look, but an optional skin/model you can unlock for him. His "Classic" look. The country version is still in the game, they just decided to tease the older design to hint the new feature and also to see what people think of it... but hey, that's Just a Theory!
People just say "It's the movie design" because it's easier. Same thing when Frank got redesigned in the newer version of dead rising, "Oh it's his beta design" Like no it ain't lmfao
I question people's eyesight sometimes. Before Smash Ultimate came out, people were saying left and right that Samus had her Samus Returns design in it. It does not take more than having functioning eyes to see that's not the case.
I do really like his new design. Boy is built like a brown dome with a red stripe. I do think people are blowing it outta proportion, as I think it much more lines up with his recent 2d promo art (everyone does, in the new trailer, imo) and the 2020 receuitment book design. Which I think makes perfect sense. If internally that's what he oughta look like, then it makes sense that it's now making it to the public. I also want to point out that, he seems pretty expressive now when not giving a pokerface. Now imagine him looking angry or "stubborn!" He'd almost look downright scary with his brow furrowed in this version. He's built like a brick house, which cements his vibe of being this unstoppable beast... when he feels like it. Like a mini kaiju... king kong, anyone?
As for the body, I don't see any problem, but the face... God, no... he has nothing, he's completely... ":)" or ":/", he has no personality, he's just boring, he looks more like a grown-up DK JR than DK III, He looks like a simple, chill, *thoughtless* monkey riding in a comically small kart, not the strong, determined, cool and *charismatic* DK we all know, and that bothers me quite a bit
I don't entirely hate it, but that face looks awful in my opinion. He's lost so much character and just feels like another stock Mario enemy. I think it's mainly the brow. This looks less like DK and more like a big Baby DK (yes, I know that's probably the point).
I have nothing against the new design, but I feel that Nintendo changed it because that was how he looked in the Mario movie, and it’s likely that Nintendo couldn’t handle the raw “Bad Boy Edge” Rare gave to DK when designing him back in the 90’s any longer
This video helped me feel more comfortable with the change. Thank you :) The design we had for the last 30 years came out 2 months before I was born (as young as I look and sound). I still prefer the Rare Design. But yeah the way you put it, it sounds even more wrong to just leave his Rare Design as is but alter his personality. My best friend said a while ago he doesn't like how Donkey Kong sounds in the new Mario Party's he sounds like a grown man vs an animal. Nintendo finally took the next step since Rare got bought out by Microsoft and decided to alter Donkey Kong's design 20 years later after they altered his personality from being an edgy teenager to a dopey brute. Still not too keen on the change but this video made me lighten up my feelings a bit so again thank you!
If this is really the new design of DK moving forwards, why would the theme park have a design they aren't going to use anymore? Many of the characters shown in the few seconds of gameplay we got have incredibly stylized depictions, many of which we haven't seen either in a long time or ever before. It just seems like they are taking a new approach with this game and this game alone, be it with skins or otherwise.
i'm pretty confident this is either simply a skin, or his design for this game only. Nintendo, above most, isn't going to dump millions into two/three seperate theme parks using the old designs if they knew theyre just going to throw them out in a month. the same way disney wasnt going to open an entire toy story themed land if they weren't going to make more movies.
Dunno. They also did this with King Dedede too. He got a new design with new clothes I’m Forgotten Land and I thought it was just that game only. But when Return To Dreamland Deluxe came out, a remake of a game that had his modern design used in smash and such, he had his usual clothes with the new design that I think was meant to seem closer to his 64 design. It may be his new permanent look from now on. Maybe. Maybe they’d re doing this for DK too.
Yeah tbh I'm not huge on Dededee's redesign either and I told myself even after I saw DK's redesign that I like DK's redesign more than Dededee's redesign. Still not a fan of either change but I still accept it for what it is and I know Nintendo is too stubborn they won't make a Sonic Movie change for either Donkey Kong or King Dededee
Ehh... if it was a costume, they wouldn't have led with this redesigned one. That would be like them using Cat Peach instead of Peach here. Keep in mind this is a console reveal for the general public, not a showcase of features for fans. At this point if we get his old look, we'll either get it as an update later on, or they'll quietly add the costume in before launch.
@blueocten this trailer was hastily thrown together in a tisy because the console was leaked, I wouldn't put it past them to use a costume on the character either accidentally or intentionally for easy press. They did the same with revealing the 25 racer slots here. And when the switch was announced they had several trailers for it that revealed games that they hadn't even officially announced yet, revealing things about those titles that wouldn't be fully public info until months later. I sincerely don't think Nintendo would actively be building their second donkey Kong land, using his old design, knowing they were going to change it not long before the land was even open in the US. it's just a lot of typical Nintendo things. It's likely not his permanent or main design going forward, looking at all the factors.
@@potentfrog Honestly, I hope you're right, and Nintendo has changed stuff before like the Goomba designs in the Link's Awakening remake. That being said, this feels a bit more deliberate to me... But who knows, I guess we'll see in April.
I love how people are judging this design and we see it for like 5 seconds max. I wanna see how animated he comes off as, and I feel like small tweaks like this arent enough to make or break shit.
I mean they changed Donkey Kong's design to stay as the Donkey Kong Country version because it worked. The original Donkey Kong design was never really an icon outside of the arcade sprites in my opinion. If he didn't wear his DK tie which the DKC version popularized more prominently than Donkey Kong 94, you would just see some cheeky gorilla that... might be Donkey Kong. I also don't really think that his more dopey himbo personality compared to DKC heroic himbo Donkey Kong has been a jarring issue. I mean games like Mario Party and Mario Kart 64 started him being a little goofy just from the sheer position of "monkey playing human game" and his little emotes played into it. I don't like Raccoon Donkey Kong and he sticks out way worse because of how drastic he has changed while I can look through my bad eye and clock 1 to 1 Mario, Bowser, Toad, and so on. Maybe they got tired of trying new fur on DK when he looked like chocolate garbage in Mario Golf Super Rush but this ain't it.
I completely agree. I think it's likely that this all came down to Nintendo not knowing what to do with DK (basically ever) and Miyamoto's design being pushed again because he's "the father of Donkey Kong".
Nintendo has been experimenting with a lot of designs lately, Link, Samus, and now Donkey Kong. Don't know if I like the redesign, I definitely think BotW Link and Dread Samus worked a lot better as a redesign, but I still find it interesting that they are doing this now.
alternative idea that just came to mind as you were saying "WHEN pal-ing around with the Mario characters": this is the new spin-off DK. think of it like how they do for King Boo for whatever reason. he looks a fair bit more intimidating in his source game, but the version that appears in spin-offs is just your usual goofy looking Boo wearing a crown. now DK has this goofier look for the next Mario Kart. FINAL idea, this is just gonna be the new design for Switch 2 and onward and thats why we didnt suddenly start seeing it before this reveal. its not in Mario Party Jamboree for example.
I love the original 1994 Rarewave Donkey Kong model design better, but that new Donkey Kong Design looks exactly like illumination's from 2023 The Super Mario Bros Movie.
after like 10-15 years of Nintendo playing it hyper safe with how their character have to look I'm all for Nintendo letting the devs take stylistic swings. I'd rather have divisive imperfect change rather than just the stick to the same forever.
I agree! I think experimentation is important to try and keep things interesting and unique in the long run. And if I ever want to experience older design Dk, I can play the old games. Either way, as long as they try something new, I'll be happy. For better or worse haha.
I like this new design! It's very expressive. I've honestly always disliked the way his brow area was originally designed and it took me such a long time to come around to him as a character.
7:01 - I think it would cool be if a team like Mercury Steam or someone with their style took a Crack at DK. I think their approach would make for a cool new look.
I like the new design because it looks so much like his design from the film. However i love the design he has had since DKC first came out. It will be cool if Nintendo uses his Mario Kart 9 look for his appearance in Mario games (like Mario Party and the sports games) but use his DKC design for any Donkey Kong Country game or any other DK game.
Never have I looked at any Donkey Kong design and thought it was cool per se, more like goofy, funny, maybe sometimes badass. But most of the time it’s goofy. I like this new design, I’m not crazy about it but it’s better than staying stagnant forever, better or worse at least it’s trying something.
Yeah I have no idea why so many people think it's based on the movie. It's like people forget what he looked like pre-Rare or some of the more recent 2d art they've made of him
I do wonder if they do costumes if they do a costume for dk for his dkc design (this isn’t the first time they had 2 different designs for character in mk as link in dx has his skyward sword and botw designs
Mario and Luigi are also noticeably stubbier/rounder in the footage we've seen (not unlike their sprites in MK64), so my guess is that this is Nintendo taking a new stylistic approach to this entry in the series, with DK probably getting the most drastic change. After the stylistic choices in Mario Wonder were such a hit, it wouldn't be surprising to see Nintendo take this approach in a lot of future Mario titles.
Since they are using more "Wonder-esque" versions of Mario and Luigi, I wonder if they were trying to bring all the other non-Wonder characters in line with that aesthetic?
Insightful video. I haven't played many DK games and was unaware of the changes he's gone through in terms of characterization. I'm ambivalent toward the design change but interested in seeing how Nintendo handles the DK game(s) we're likely getting soon
I think it's really simple. We (people born before 2000) are not anymore the target audience and it's fine. I really like the new Mario & Luigi designs tho.
They didn't move forward with the newer design for the DKC area in Universal Japan. DK's brow always had that sharp bend that doesn't ever seem to undo itself like it is in the Switch 2 Mario Kart trailer.
I think this new DK redesign just helps confirm even further that 3D Donkey Kong game is real. If Nintendo is internally developing it then it makes sense they would redesign him like this and not use the Rare design. Plus Miyamoto has said they've been wanting DK to come back in a big way
If Nintendo is making a new Donkey Kong game like the rumors suggest, it'll be the first "first party' Donkey Kong game in a long while that they've done. (was jungle beat the last one?) If this Donkey Kong game is more in line with the original arcade or the Gameboy's DK94. this new look would make sense to me.
I like the new design. He's just a silly guy. Personally, that silliness is always what I associated DK with, way more than him being cool. Like, yea, in DKC1 he's the hip new DK compared to Cranky, but he's also a big goof who does slapstick with his buddy Diddy, likes to dance, and goes on an adventure to save his bananas.
What freaks me out about DK in Mario Party is that he constantly switches between having teeth and not having teeth. This is such an odd design decision. Maybe he is supposed to look less menacing this way. Or is this a cultural thing in Japan?
Great video. Yeah, DK has changed alot over the years. From Miyamotos original design to the Rare days end even more in the 2000s. And I gotta admit I've never really liked any of the changes they've made to him since the Rare days. The goofy Scooby Doo voice, the new aestethics in the Return series, the absence of so many of the classic Country characters in his games. Still I've played and enjoyed most of the DK games made during this time. Konga, Jungle Beat, King of Swing, Returns, Tropical Freeze.. Despite none of those games going for the same style and not capturing what made DKC so special, atleast they've mostly been great games, and DK is still (mostly) the same character. And I always use DK or Diddy in the Mario spinoff-games. Sadly, this new redesign might be a bit too much for me.. An even more goofy, honky-dory version of Donkey Kong, looking even more simple and generic. I don't like it at all.
I don't think it had anything to do with the movie per se; I think like with Wonder they saw the opportunity to stylize the models to better resemble the 2D art by Kotabe/Nakaue and I don't think that's a a bad idea in the slightest. That said, in the case of DK, the new design fine but it's missing some specific qualities I liked about the previous model; I don't really care for the dark brown fur and I miss the more aggressive looking eyes, which gave DK a more powerful and determined look.
Does DK have this design in the DK country at Universal? I know Miyamoto's involved in that a lot, so perhaps Miyamoto wanted them to head back to his old DK design
My main issue with this is that it creates an unnecessary division between the Mario and DK series when there wasn't one before while also being far too drastic of a change to the face to comfortably fit alongside his past depictions in other Mario series. This includes the Entirety of the Mario Party, Sports, Kart, and VS. DK series. If they had made the distinction earlier during like the GameCube or Wii eras, it could have been "okay" since then there would only be like 10-20 Mario titles with the design at most. Nowadays we probably have close to 100 or more games with the old DK, most of them Mario games. And none of this even takes into account what would need to be changed for Diddy and other DKC characters to fit with this new design in Mario spinoffs.
I think the simplest fix would be to call the new design "classic DK", but that would still leave us with the confusion of the rest of the entire Mario series not fitting with this change.
@@blueoctenI see it as his character design getting refined like all the other Mario characters. New Donkey Kong looks like he's only got one brain cell bouncing around and I love him.
@@AluminumFusion22 Honestly I don't hate the design. On its own, it's good. It's just a bit drastic of a change for a character which looked largely the same for 30 years. I also still like the old design and just hope it won't be completely discarded.
Keep in mind, the character appeared largely in the background of a trailer for two seconds. Maybe we could just wait till we get a better look at him before jumping to conclusions. I remember when Wind Waker was announced and Link was redesigned, and the uproar that erupted based on a few blurry photographs of a video.
@Snrndnbfbdbfb I *do* hate it. His old design was silly and a character I grew up with. I'm not 5 years old, and even if I was I don't need every character to look like a plush toy that wants to hold me hand.
Rare did not create Donkey Kong Shigeru Miyamoto did. Rare does not own Donkey Kong, Nintendo does. Rare has had nothing to do with Donkey Kong for decades now. Nintendo should not have to stay loyal to a redesign from a company that they are no longer affiliated with. I love Rare's redesign but Rare and Nintendo have nothing to do with each other now. I think even after 20 years some fans are having a hard time accepting that.
Personally DK looked alwaus best in Jungle Beat imo. But yeah, not putting much stock in this being his look in everything going forward. Kinda just figured this is this game's style alone. Movie inspired, that heavily wanked Mario kart so it's returning the favor i guess. Honestly more curious how other Kongs that might be on the roster will look in this game.
Nintendo hates my boy DK lol. Really missing my old Jungle Green N64 console right about now. That was my first console ever, and the game was amazing 🥲
I don't get the question: it was redesigned for the movie - designed by Miyamoto who invented DK back in the 80s. You already know this, so ... what's the point of this video?
![BLACK BAG - Official Trailer [HD] - Only in Theaters March 14](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Du0Xp8WX_7I/mqdefault.jpg)
You know, I've never looked at Rare DK and thought "Badass".
Honestly, I just thought the new model was unfinished since they just opened a whole theme park based on the current design.
But, this is Miyamoto we're talking about, so if this is the new design, I wouldn't be shocked to see the theme park get updated once the new design is officially out there and it gets its own game.
I thought the same thing with the Mario Wonder trailer and that they didn't have Charles Martinet's voicelines finished. We see how that turned out.
@@JustAmiVT also the mario wonder beta footage they showed off had a stylised mario based off the 80/90s box art, that didn't make it into the finished game
Now's probably a good time to draw attention to the fact that Nintendo seems to have never known how to handle DK after the arcade games and DK 94.
I mean they handed off the series to a western developer twice (Rare and Retro), had to get Rare to help make the DK model for Mario Kart 64, made Hudson wait for approval before using DK in Mario Party 1 to the point where he doesn't have a portrait in the debug menu, refused to use Diddy in anything Mario-related until Rare was no longer in the picture (to the point that DK Jr. was the original partner for DK in Double Dash), had to get retro to make the DKC level in Mario Kart 7, have still largely refused to use DKC characters in modern Mario games outside of Mario Kart Tour, and when Nintendo makes a DK game in-house, it's usually been Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Donkey Konga, Jungle Climber/King of Swing, or a one-off like Jungle Beat and Barrel Blast.
90% of the time, they literally have no idea what to do with DK without going back to 1981 or giving it to someone else.
Its funny they released DKC Returns 3D and the new Donkey Kong design on the same day.
I don’t agree with the notion Rare’s DK was meant to be solely badass. Like, that intro you make note of where DK drops in with the boombox is IMMEDIATELY undercut when Cranky throws in a TNT barrel and his eyes bulge out of his head like any number of classic cartoon characters. Plus, he may pound his chest sometimes with the realistic gorilla noises, but his victory animation is him doing double thumbs up and holding his hands over his head, while wearing a rather goofy grin. Plus, the credits scene of DK and Diddy doing slapstick smacking each other around is more Three Stooges than a couple of badasses.
And like, in my eyes, Donkey Kong is a balancing act between being goofy and badass. I again will cite the intro for DK since, if we look to Rare’s interpretation for the blueprint, he’s doing that exactly. And Nintendo’s use of the character in later games has also reflected that- Jungle Beat has him beating the snot out of bad guys, looking real tough, but getting to those fights doing a lot of ridiculous things. When he was a Punch Out boss, he looks and sounds intimidating when angry, but also does some goofy stuff. And Returns and Tropical Freeze manage to emphasize his strength and badassery when he lays beat downs on the bosses on drops in to any given stage’s intro, but still give him those silly moments.
And that’s not getting into games where he just doesn’t need to be badass, like Mario Kart or Party. It’s just a fun setting, so he just gets to cut loose. If this is a redesign for all future Mario and Donkey Kong games, time will tell if it can sell the badass side. But if he’s just here to have fun and race, it works. Since, to me, it looks like a Mario Wonder style design for DK.
He looks like his old pre-DK Country design.
Nintendo and Rare had a disagreement over his design during the development of DK Country, and ended up compromising with a middle ground between Miyamoto's concept and Rare's. That design has been his look ever since, with very little variation. At least until now.
I don't think its inherently bad... But yeah, its kinda goofy looking.
Dat ain't the leader of the bunch. I don't know him well. It looks like they tried to sanitize his silly design that Rare made to make it more kid friendly and I hate it .
Fr, DK is my main in Mario Kart and this honestly ruined my excitment for the game. Idk why nintendo feels the need to change his design, he looked perfectly fine
@@Xile179 He was one of the coolest and funniest looking characters and now he looks like a kid's plush toy
They stripped my boy from any personality he had and changed him back to the 80s generic ape design.
*Plot twist* : This isn't Donkey Kong's new look, but an optional skin/model you can unlock for him. His "Classic" look. The country version is still in the game, they just decided to tease the older design to hint the new feature and also to see what people think of it... but hey, that's Just a Theory!
I am praying to GOD that this is what happens
People just say "It's the movie design" because it's easier.
Same thing when Frank got redesigned in the newer version of dead rising, "Oh it's his beta design"
Like no it ain't lmfao
I question people's eyesight sometimes. Before Smash Ultimate came out, people were saying left and right that Samus had her Samus Returns design in it. It does not take more than having functioning eyes to see that's not the case.
I do really like his new design. Boy is built like a brown dome with a red stripe.
I do think people are blowing it outta proportion, as I think it much more lines up with his recent 2d promo art (everyone does, in the new trailer, imo) and the 2020 receuitment book design.
Which I think makes perfect sense. If internally that's what he oughta look like, then it makes sense that it's now making it to the public.
I also want to point out that, he seems pretty expressive now when not giving a pokerface. Now imagine him looking angry or "stubborn!" He'd almost look downright scary with his brow furrowed in this version. He's built like a brick house, which cements his vibe of being this unstoppable beast... when he feels like it. Like a mini kaiju... king kong, anyone?
@@krimsonkartoffel He objectively looks less expressive and has less personality of the old one lmao, what are you on about?
As for the body, I don't see any problem, but the face... God, no... he has nothing, he's completely... ":)" or ":/", he has no personality, he's just boring, he looks more like a grown-up DK JR than DK III, He looks like a simple, chill, *thoughtless* monkey riding in a comically small kart, not the strong, determined, cool and *charismatic* DK we all know, and that bothers me quite a bit
I don't entirely hate it, but that face looks awful in my opinion. He's lost so much character and just feels like another stock Mario enemy. I think it's mainly the brow. This looks less like DK and more like a big Baby DK (yes, I know that's probably the point).
I think it's just an alternate version, could be like Donkey Kong Junior (which is actually the current Donkey Kong's father)
I have nothing against the new design, but I feel that Nintendo changed it because that was how he looked in the Mario movie, and it’s likely that Nintendo couldn’t handle the raw “Bad Boy Edge” Rare gave to DK when designing him back in the 90’s any longer
This video helped me feel more comfortable with the change. Thank you :)
The design we had for the last 30 years came out 2 months before I was born (as young as I look and sound). I still prefer the Rare Design.
But yeah the way you put it, it sounds even more wrong to just leave his Rare Design as is but alter his personality. My best friend said a while ago he doesn't like how Donkey Kong sounds in the new Mario Party's he sounds like a grown man vs an animal. Nintendo finally took the next step since Rare got bought out by Microsoft and decided to alter Donkey Kong's design 20 years later after they altered his personality from being an edgy teenager to a dopey brute.
Still not too keen on the change but this video made me lighten up my feelings a bit so again thank you!
If this is really the new design of DK moving forwards, why would the theme park have a design they aren't going to use anymore?
Many of the characters shown in the few seconds of gameplay we got have incredibly stylized depictions, many of which we haven't seen either in a long time or ever before. It just seems like they are taking a new approach with this game and this game alone, be it with skins or otherwise.
Agreed
i'm pretty confident this is either simply a skin, or his design for this game only. Nintendo, above most, isn't going to dump millions into two/three seperate theme parks using the old designs if they knew theyre just going to throw them out in a month. the same way disney wasnt going to open an entire toy story themed land if they weren't going to make more movies.
Dunno. They also did this with King Dedede too. He got a new design with new clothes I’m Forgotten Land and I thought it was just that game only. But when Return To Dreamland Deluxe came out, a remake of a game that had his modern design used in smash and such, he had his usual clothes with the new design that I think was meant to seem closer to his 64 design. It may be his new permanent look from now on. Maybe. Maybe they’d re doing this for DK too.
Yeah tbh I'm not huge on Dededee's redesign either and I told myself even after I saw DK's redesign that I like DK's redesign more than Dededee's redesign.
Still not a fan of either change but I still accept it for what it is and I know Nintendo is too stubborn they won't make a Sonic Movie change for either Donkey Kong or King Dededee
Ehh... if it was a costume, they wouldn't have led with this redesigned one. That would be like them using Cat Peach instead of Peach here. Keep in mind this is a console reveal for the general public, not a showcase of features for fans. At this point if we get his old look, we'll either get it as an update later on, or they'll quietly add the costume in before launch.
@blueocten this trailer was hastily thrown together in a tisy because the console was leaked, I wouldn't put it past them to use a costume on the character either accidentally or intentionally for easy press. They did the same with revealing the 25 racer slots here. And when the switch was announced they had several trailers for it that revealed games that they hadn't even officially announced yet, revealing things about those titles that wouldn't be fully public info until months later. I sincerely don't think Nintendo would actively be building their second donkey Kong land, using his old design, knowing they were going to change it not long before the land was even open in the US. it's just a lot of typical Nintendo things. It's likely not his permanent or main design going forward, looking at all the factors.
@@potentfrog Honestly, I hope you're right, and Nintendo has changed stuff before like the Goomba designs in the Link's Awakening remake. That being said, this feels a bit more deliberate to me... But who knows, I guess we'll see in April.
He kind of just looks like a generic gorilla now.
I mean, has he not always looked like a generic gorilla with a tie (At least since the DKC games)?
What sort of gorillas do you know that have one massive eye-socket with two eyes side by side in them?
@@LukeDukeShoot generic doesn’t mean realistic.
He doesn’t look like a character, he looks more like a random enemy or nameless NPC
@@Unowdvalco He doesn’t look like a character, he looks more like a random enemy or nameless NPC.
Just a generic videogame gorilla.
Kinda like a gorilla version of the Ukiki enemies which always just looked like monkeys but Mario.
I love how people are judging this design and we see it for like 5 seconds max. I wanna see how animated he comes off as, and I feel like small tweaks like this arent enough to make or break shit.
I mean they changed Donkey Kong's design to stay as the Donkey Kong Country version because it worked.
The original Donkey Kong design was never really an icon outside of the arcade sprites in my opinion. If he didn't wear his DK tie which the DKC version popularized more prominently than Donkey Kong 94, you would just see some cheeky gorilla that... might be Donkey Kong.
I also don't really think that his more dopey himbo personality compared to DKC heroic himbo Donkey Kong has been a jarring issue. I mean games like Mario Party and Mario Kart 64 started him being a little goofy just from the sheer position of "monkey playing human game" and his little emotes played into it.
I don't like Raccoon Donkey Kong and he sticks out way worse because of how drastic he has changed while I can look through my bad eye and clock 1 to 1 Mario, Bowser, Toad, and so on. Maybe they got tired of trying new fur on DK when he looked like chocolate garbage in Mario Golf Super Rush but this ain't it.
I completely agree. I think it's likely that this all came down to Nintendo not knowing what to do with DK (basically ever) and Miyamoto's design being pushed again because he's "the father of Donkey Kong".
It is by FAR my favorite Donkey Kong design EVER!!! He looks hilarious and chunky!
It honestly reminds me of his original sprite from the arcade game!
Nintendo has been experimenting with a lot of designs lately, Link, Samus, and now Donkey Kong.
Don't know if I like the redesign, I definitely think BotW Link and Dread Samus worked a lot better as a redesign, but I still find it interesting that they are doing this now.
I love both designs. I just love how huggable he looks
alternative idea that just came to mind as you were saying "WHEN pal-ing around with the Mario characters":
this is the new spin-off DK. think of it like how they do for King Boo for whatever reason.
he looks a fair bit more intimidating in his source game, but the version that appears in spin-offs
is just your usual goofy looking Boo wearing a crown.
now DK has this goofier look for the next Mario Kart.
FINAL idea, this is just gonna be the new design for Switch 2 and onward and thats why we didnt suddenly
start seeing it before this reveal.
its not in Mario Party Jamboree for example.
He look chunky. Like a Chunky Kong.
And then there’s Chunky
He’s dead
Chunky is alive and well
He's there in the Super Mario Movie, alive.
Dang kids now don’t know peak late-2010s Nintendo RUclips anymore
I love the original 1994 Rarewave Donkey Kong model design better, but that new Donkey Kong Design looks exactly like illumination's from 2023 The Super Mario Bros Movie.
The new design is nice. It's more like a mix of his retro and Rare look rolled into one
No, the brows are not always like that. later in the trailer you can see them frowning.
Imagine they make a new Mario vs Donkey Kong with that design of DK?
I didn’t even realize he changed to look more broad. (He looks more like the original sprite art.)
after like 10-15 years of Nintendo playing it hyper safe with how their character have to look I'm all for Nintendo letting the devs take stylistic swings.
I'd rather have divisive imperfect change rather than just the stick to the same forever.
I agree! I think experimentation is important to try and keep things interesting and unique in the long run.
And if I ever want to experience older design Dk, I can play the old games. Either way, as long as they try something new, I'll be happy.
For better or worse haha.
I actually don’t mind it. Call back to the retro DK
I like this new design! It's very expressive. I've honestly always disliked the way his brow area was originally designed and it took me such a long time to come around to him as a character.
I quite like it that the characters keep evolving and changing over time. Don’t mind the change at all.
I like Smash Bros' interpretation of DK best. He (and Bowser) are like feral beasts. No goofy howls or anything.
We Can't really go on with a 3 second clip of him that is so compressed. We can't really Judge the designs just yet, not until they do a full trailer
7:01 - I think it would cool be if a team like Mercury Steam or someone with their style took a Crack at DK. I think their approach would make for a cool new look.
I like the new design because it looks so much like his design from the film. However i love the design he has had since DKC first came out. It will be cool if Nintendo uses his Mario Kart 9 look for his appearance in Mario games (like Mario Party and the sports games) but use his DKC design for any Donkey Kong Country game or any other DK game.
Never have I looked at any Donkey Kong design and thought it was cool per se, more like goofy, funny, maybe sometimes badass. But most of the time it’s goofy. I like this new design, I’m not crazy about it but it’s better than staying stagnant forever, better or worse at least it’s trying something.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't think it's based on the movie. That just seems like a very un-Nintendo thing to do.
Yeah I have no idea why so many people think it's based on the movie. It's like people forget what he looked like pre-Rare or some of the more recent 2d art they've made of him
What's Diddy going to look like? That's what I want to know.
They could just retire him. He is a Rare character at the end of the day.
I do wonder if they do costumes if they do a costume for dk for his dkc design (this isn’t the first time they had 2 different designs for character in mk as link in dx has his skyward sword and botw designs
I prefer the new design btw i just think it would be a cool costume
Mario and Luigi are also noticeably stubbier/rounder in the footage we've seen (not unlike their sprites in MK64), so my guess is that this is Nintendo taking a new stylistic approach to this entry in the series, with DK probably getting the most drastic change. After the stylistic choices in Mario Wonder were such a hit, it wouldn't be surprising to see Nintendo take this approach in a lot of future Mario titles.
Since they are using more "Wonder-esque" versions of Mario and Luigi, I wonder if they were trying to bring all the other non-Wonder characters in line with that aesthetic?
Insightful video. I haven't played many DK games and was unaware of the changes he's gone through in terms of characterization. I'm ambivalent toward the design change but interested in seeing how Nintendo handles the DK game(s) we're likely getting soon
I think it's really simple. We (people born before 2000) are not anymore the target audience and it's fine.
I really like the new Mario & Luigi designs tho.
They didn't move forward with the newer design for the DKC area in Universal Japan. DK's brow always had that sharp bend that doesn't ever seem to undo itself like it is in the Switch 2 Mario Kart trailer.
Honestly? I kinda dig it. It's also a strong sign that the DK IP is still very much alive and I hope we'll see a new game soon. :)
I think this new DK redesign just helps confirm even further that 3D Donkey Kong game is real. If Nintendo is internally developing it then it makes sense they would redesign him like this and not use the Rare design. Plus Miyamoto has said they've been wanting DK to come back in a big way
Next were gonna find out Seth Rogan will voice him in the games.
He looks so cute, I want to hug him (without him crushing me ofc X>)
If Nintendo is making a new Donkey Kong game like the rumors suggest, it'll be the first "first party' Donkey Kong game in a long while that they've done. (was jungle beat the last one?) If this Donkey Kong game is more in line with the original arcade or the Gameboy's DK94. this new look would make sense to me.
I like the new design. He's just a silly guy. Personally, that silliness is always what I associated DK with, way more than him being cool. Like, yea, in DKC1 he's the hip new DK compared to Cranky, but he's also a big goof who does slapstick with his buddy Diddy, likes to dance, and goes on an adventure to save his bananas.
What freaks me out about DK in Mario Party is that he constantly switches between having teeth and not having teeth. This is such an odd design decision. Maybe he is supposed to look less menacing this way. Or is this a cultural thing in Japan?
Great video. Yeah, DK has changed alot over the years. From Miyamotos original design to the Rare days end even more in the 2000s. And I gotta admit I've never really liked any of the changes they've made to him since the Rare days. The goofy Scooby Doo voice, the new aestethics in the Return series, the absence of so many of the classic Country characters in his games.
Still I've played and enjoyed most of the DK games made during this time. Konga, Jungle Beat, King of Swing, Returns, Tropical Freeze.. Despite none of those games going for the same style and not capturing what made DKC so special, atleast they've mostly been great games, and DK is still (mostly) the same character. And I always use DK or Diddy in the Mario spinoff-games.
Sadly, this new redesign might be a bit too much for me.. An even more goofy, honky-dory version of Donkey Kong, looking even more simple and generic. I don't like it at all.
I don't think it had anything to do with the movie per se; I think like with Wonder they saw the opportunity to stylize the models to better resemble the 2D art by Kotabe/Nakaue and I don't think that's a a bad idea in the slightest. That said, in the case of DK, the new design fine but it's missing some specific qualities I liked about the previous model; I don't really care for the dark brown fur and I miss the more aggressive looking eyes, which gave DK a more powerful and determined look.
def prefer the ‘cooler’ design
Does DK have this design in the DK country at Universal? I know Miyamoto's involved in that a lot, so perhaps Miyamoto wanted them to head back to his old DK design
Probably an unlock able skin,like streetfighter color changes? Isn't that dk .jr?
My main issue with this is that it creates an unnecessary division between the Mario and DK series when there wasn't one before while also being far too drastic of a change to the face to comfortably fit alongside his past depictions in other Mario series. This includes the Entirety of the Mario Party, Sports, Kart, and VS. DK series. If they had made the distinction earlier during like the GameCube or Wii eras, it could have been "okay" since then there would only be like 10-20 Mario titles with the design at most. Nowadays we probably have close to 100 or more games with the old DK, most of them Mario games.
And none of this even takes into account what would need to be changed for Diddy and other DKC characters to fit with this new design in Mario spinoffs.
I think the simplest fix would be to call the new design "classic DK", but that would still leave us with the confusion of the rest of the entire Mario series not fitting with this change.
@@blueoctenI see it as his character design getting refined like all the other Mario characters. New Donkey Kong looks like he's only got one brain cell bouncing around and I love him.
@@AluminumFusion22 Honestly I don't hate the design. On its own, it's good. It's just a bit drastic of a change for a character which looked largely the same for 30 years. I also still like the old design and just hope it won't be completely discarded.
#NotMyDK
Lool leave DK alone. He looks very chubby and cute now. I like him 😊🤗
Keep in mind, the character appeared largely in the background of a trailer for two seconds. Maybe we could just wait till we get a better look at him before jumping to conclusions.
I remember when Wind Waker was announced and Link was redesigned, and the uproar that erupted based on a few blurry photographs of a video.
Movie Donkey Kong needs to be removed and put back to normal Donkey Kong right now.
I really like the new design, it sucks to see people hating on it :/
Yeah, it reminds me a lot of the game boy redesign for DK
@Snrndnbfbdbfb I *do* hate it. His old design was silly and a character I grew up with. I'm not 5 years old, and even if I was I don't need every character to look like a plush toy that wants to hold me hand.
It's just one of those noisy things that'll completely disappear after the game actually comes out
@@JsYTA No, I will complain about this until they redesign him again. DKCountry fan for life
Yeah, his redesign looks so goofy in a good way.
Watching this after the dunkey video works really good.
DKC Donkey Kong and kremlings
Rare did not create Donkey Kong Shigeru Miyamoto did. Rare does not own Donkey Kong, Nintendo does. Rare has had nothing to do with Donkey Kong for decades now. Nintendo should not have to stay loyal to a redesign from a company that they are no longer affiliated with. I love Rare's redesign but Rare and Nintendo have nothing to do with each other now. I think even after 20 years some fans are having a hard time accepting that.
It kinda looks like donkey kong jr
Heaven forbid DK be cool, right? Big dumb ape is waaaaay better. -_-
Personally DK looked alwaus best in Jungle Beat imo. But yeah, not putting much stock in this being his look in everything going forward. Kinda just figured this is this game's style alone. Movie inspired, that heavily wanked Mario kart so it's returning the favor i guess.
Honestly more curious how other Kongs that might be on the roster will look in this game.
Nintendo hates my boy DK lol. Really missing my old Jungle Green N64 console right about now. That was my first console ever, and the game was amazing 🥲
It looks like its not finalized
I dig it.
what
Bro! Its just a skin its new in the new mk there are now skins
It’s not there are multiple images from future Nintendo products shown with this new design
@@BrightShadðwlike what (don’t say the calendar)
I don't get the question: it was redesigned for the movie - designed by Miyamoto who invented DK back in the 80s. You already know this, so ... what's the point of this video?
@@_sparrowhawk The point is that the new design sucks and ruins what the DK character has been for decades
JJJ
first
you will be the last
@Emeraldakafunnygamerguy BOT GET OUT
@Emeraldakafunnygamerguy SAY CONGRAST LIKE A NORMAL PERSON AND GET A JOB