Summary
- Donkey Kong's iconic design seems to be receiving a major makeover for the Switch 2.
- Recent footage of an unannounced Mario Kart game for the upcoming console shows the character's apparent redesign.
- The artist behind Donkey Kong's longest-running look supports the changes.
The character designer behind Donkey Kong's longest-running look has shared his feelings over the apparent redesign that the iconic Nintendo character will be seeing on the Switch 2. Donkey Kong has undergone three major transformations since his introduction to the world in 1981, and esteemed character designer Kevin Bayliss is now weighing in on the latest change.
Hired by Rare as lead character artist in 1987, Bayliss is credited with designing the Donkey Kong Country characters, including an overhaul of the title character from his antagonistic 8-bit role to his newer heroic persona on the SNES. That series saw its first installment in 1994, and though minor changes have since occurred to keep up with graphical advances, Bayliss' design stood for 30 years as the standard look for Donkey Kong.
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Another change seems to be on the horizon for the big ape. After months of speculation, Nintendo officially revealed the Switch 2 console in a trailer released earlier in January. While most of that trailer focused on the hardware, it also showed off footage from what appears to be an unreleased Mario Kart game, with a big change to Donkey Kong's design. Although this new design features much rounder, bulkier features and a more pleasant-looking demeanor than his now 30-year-old look, Bayliss seems highly accepting of the change. The designer made his thoughts known in a reaction on Twitter to a fan's video that borrows footage from the live-action Super Mario Bros. Movie from 1993 to detail the changes. "I love it - this is really funny! - Everything changes! - Change is good," the post reads in part.
Iconic Donkey Kong Designer Loves the Character's New Look
After being promoted to art director, Bayliss left Rare in 2005 after more than 17 years with the company. He has been employed with Playtonic, the creator of games like Lil Gator Game and the Yooka-Laylee series, for the past 10 years. However, his classic design archetypes for the Donkey Kong Country characters have stretched into 2025 with the release of Donkey Kong County Returns HD on January 16.
As for the new design for Donkey Kong, it may be an attempt by Nintendo to bridge the gap between its games and movies, forming a more unified multimedia franchise. Several comparisons have been made between the version of Donkey Kong seen in the Switch 2 trailer and the Seth Rogen-voiced character in The Super Mario Bros. Movie from 2023, such as a rounder brow, larger forearms and fists, and more expressive eyes.
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 77 /100 Critics Rec: 71%
- Released
- January 16, 2025
- ESRB
- E for Everyone - Mild fantasy violence
- Developer(s)
- Forever Entertainment
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
WHERE TO PLAY
Help Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong recover their precious banana hoard from the villainous Tiki Tak Tribe! Stomp enemies, blast through barrels, and ride rockets and mine carts (and even Rambi the rhino) in 80 levels across nine worlds.
Play the game as it was first designed for the Wii™ system, or reduce the difficulty for extra hearts and other goodies to make your journey a little easier. This barrel-blasting adventure is visually enhanced in HD for the Nintendo Switch™ system and includes the extra levels from the Nintendo 3DS™ version!
Team up with a friend and take on the whole game as Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong
Pass a Joy-Con™ controller to a buddy and take on the Tiki Tak Tribe as DK and Diddy in two-player local play. Pelt foes with Diddy’s Peanut Popgun and hover using his Barrel Jet, and slam bad guys into submission with DK’s Ground Pound—or just Barrel Roll right through them. Work together to reclaim those bananas by the bunch!
- Multiplayer
- Local Co-Op, Online Co-Op
- Franchise
- Donkey Kong Country
- Number of Players
- 1-2
- Nintendo Switch Release Date
- January 16, 2025
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Switch
- Genre(s)
- Platformer
- How Long To Beat
- 11.5 hours
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
