General Donkey Kong Thread

What made the later mini Mario games worse?

Random thought, but what made the "K. Rool and the Kremlings hate bananas and only stole the banana hoard to starve Donkey Kong" school of thought so popular?

Whilst there is some Depending on the Writer at play, the Rareware games all take the stance that K. Rool and Kremlings eat fruits, including bananas.

It is also shown that Donkey Kong has more to eat than just bananas such as melons. In Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, Diddy doesn't worry that they'll starve if they hand over the banana hoard to pay K. Rool's ransom, instead he worries the hoard means too much to DK to give it to K. Rool.

Leigh Loveday's answer on scribes about K. Rool wanting DK's treehouse was also facetious like most answers on Scribes, plus it also stated K. Rool may like bananas.

Edited by Monsund on Sep 14th 2023 at 1:03:44 AM

Call it petty but Mario vs DK being a remake actually softened the blow of not getting a new DKC release. Getting a new entry in the former before the latter would have bugged the heck out of me, but an HD version with some bells and whistles? I can live with that.

Also Peachette should have clearly been Dixie, but even getting both Diddy and Funky was a treat in a and of itself so I can't really complain.

I do think that this Direct has largely confirmed we're not getting a new mainline Country release on the Switch, but given that Natethe Hate and Jeff Grubb have confirmed that Nintendo EAD is working on a Donkey Kong title that isn't Mario vs. DK, I think we're in for one hell of a great game for the Switch 2's first year.

TBH, I'd be more interested in seeing Nintendo do a 3D take on Donkey Kong again.

I don't want a 3D game instead of a new Country. I'd be glad to have both, but DKC never misses and there have only been five of them in thirty years. The well is not dry.

As for the Mario vs. Donkey Kong remake, it looks... fine, but after nearly a decade without a new "real" DK, it's almost more disappointing than getting nothing.

It better have something more than just updated visuals and a pointless co-op mode, otherwise I'll be frustrated they remastered it instead of just releasing it on the GBA NSO app.

DKC expansion coming to Universal Studios Japan in Spring 2024.

Oh hey, a Minecart Madness-inspired ride. I always thought Super Nintendo World should have that if they're going to have anything DK-related.

Edited by Anomalocaris20 on Dec 4th 2023 at 8:39:30 AM

Donkey Kong Country is close to completion in Super Nintendo World Japan (obviously), but it's also currently under construction in Orlando, to be opened with the rest of Super Nintendo World (and the rest of Epic Universe) in 2025. It will probably never come to Universal Studios Hollywood though, on account of the limited space.

It's weird that we have media pages for theme parks but don't have forum pages for discussing them.

DK’s in a weird place. Big appearances is the Mario spin-off titles/Smash, a major part of the billion dollar animated film, and taking a significant place at the Nintendo theme park/s. And yet the closest thing to a new game is a remake next year of 20 year old GBA release where Donkey Kong is the antagonist.

It’s hard think of another IP getting this much spotlight that still hasn’t had an actual new title in nearly a decade.

Edited by BorneAgain on Dec 5th 2023 at 3:28:13 PM

I wonder if there's licensing issues, or if an IP is used in development of one place that it can't be used elsewhere until then. It was odd that Mario games were a bit no show while the movie was being made, then we get multiple Directs filled with Mario content after the movie released. Maybe DK is in that same boat with the movie and now the park.

I can't see Nintendo not thinking DK is a success, like with the fan reaction to Diddy and Funky (FINALLY) getting into Mario Kart 8. I mean, Tropical Freeze sold great on the Switch, and isn't that a port of a port?

A port of a port? No, Tropical Freeze originally released on the Wii U, then the Switch port.

Edited by diddyknux on Dec 5th 2023 at 2:46:11 PM

Oh, thank you. I thought it also ended up on the 3DS.

Returns was ported to the 3DS, you may've been thinking that.

Maybe that's it.

It's odd to finally add Dixie to Mario Kart through Tour, but then NOT carry her over to 8. Much like how they did nothing after the large fan support of K Rool in Smash, Nintendo killed the momentum.

Curse you, Obligatory, you made me have a random dream of Dixie being reavealed as a "Surprise! Thanks for supporting the game!" character for the game!

I do have a habit of ruining people's happiness. Some call it a curse. I call it a tax write-off.

It's a race to see which adds Dixie first, Kart or Smash, but unfortunately Nintendo has a tendency to look at fans and ask "Uhh...could you repeat the question?"

Still, it is nice to see Donkey Kong headline in the title of another game!

Apparently they added a brand-new Donkey Kong section to the eshop, highlighting the arcade and original Country trilogies.

Is it too much to hope that this isn't about Mario vs. Donkey Kong? There's the February Direct coming up, and the 10th anniversary (!!!) of Tropical Freeze...

I'm not seeing such a thing. Just the normal eshop layout and sections.

I'm seeing it on my end.

Worth noting that this year also marks the 30th anniversary of Donkey Kong Country.

I've probably said it before, but one thing I really wanna see in a DK game is a nice Prehistoria. And Dino Domain doesn't count because I didn't get to run and jump in it. Finding out Donkey Kong Country Returns had a planned dino world broke me.

At least Marsupilami: Hoobadventure (a very solid DKC-like if you're in the market) sorta scratched that itch.

Happy 10th anniversary to Tropical Freeze!

*sad trumpet noises*

I saw a comment elsewhere that I think sums up the weird place Donkey Kong is within the core Nintendo model and it's that they always prioritize DK the character... but not really as much the franchise itself. It's such a staggeringly simple idea, but it makes a lot of sense and arguably explains so much of the franchise's history in the last 25 plus years.

DK himself was always around in some fashion and appearances in so many of the Mario spin-offs indicated just how critical he was seen as including in things like Mario Kart and Smash. The Mario vs DK titles had consistent entries, the original arcade game is often highlighted/referenced, even in things like advertising and marketing he's pretty well represented.

It's just that so much of DK's world outside the context of relating to Mario has so often fallen by the wayside because its seemingly not viewed as critical/important to keep as relevant. Diddy managed to pop up in various titles because every Mario/Sonic needs their Luigi/Tails, though even hardly guaranteed consistent appearances> He had 15 years between mainline Mario Kart appearances (and literally got in the last possible DLC of the 8 Deluxe to boot). Dixie Kong's never managed to get any non DKC playable appearances barring Tour (which basically included everyone Mario adjacent under the sun).

The 2000's period might be most illustrative of this. How could Konga and Jungle Beat be the big output of the series with both having few elements from the actual games that were most successful for the brand? Because they had DK in them and that seemed to be enough. The series was basically a springboard to try things at that point and to be fair the reticence by certain development teams to not include elements from the Rare games because they personally didn't create them is understandable. It's just that them being so far removed from even the spirit of the 90s titles in many respects suggests that sort of tonal consistency was simply not really a high priority when it came to the series.

Fascinating to note also is that Western teams seemed to be relied upon for the mainline titles typically expected (and often do) sell best: Rare for the GBA remakes, Retro for DKC Returns & Tropical Freeze, even little studios like Monster Games for re-releases like the Returns 3DS port. Part of that is likely that was simply easier utilizing them for it then various internal teams or an Eastern third party, though the Nintendo EAD release (Jungle Beat) being one that feels almost the most removed from the other mainline games could be suggestive of where No J's specific interest in the franchise was. Also, notable that was a NoA executive specifically in Reggie Fils-Aimé who objected to Donkey Konga & believed it would hurt the brand. It's an objection that could be just indicative of some differing regional views on what the franchise should be.

Finally, I think the last 10 years bear this out to a degree too. No new Donkey Kong games of any type (with even the recent Mario vs DK being a well-done remake) and the biggest highlights being a Switch port of Tropical Freeze, the DK extended cast in the Mario movie, and K Rool in Smash. It all makes a certain sense with the aforementioned focus though. DK himself has not gone anywhere, and the Kongs simply stand out as easier for potential movie spin-offs to Universal than the casts of the Yoshi or Wario subseries do. K Rool getting into Smash thanks to a ballot because fans viewed him as more worthy of Smash than many higher up in Nintendo seemed to really tells the whole story about where certain priorities with the IP really were/are.

Could this change? Possibly. The big push at Super Nintendo World has put characters beyond DK himself in the marketing and there is something prudent in actually making the franchise more of a living and breathing one beyond just featuring Donkey Kong specifically in spin-offs and calling it a day. Time will tell and it remains to be seen if the approach to the franchise will really change.

I think part of it might be pushback to DKC 2 and 3's 'save DK and Diddy' plots when DK was still in the title.