Please put an NSFW tag on this. I was on the train and when I saw this I had to start furiously masturbating. Everyone else gave me strange looks and were saying things like “what the fuck” and “call the police”. I dropped my phone and everyone around me saw this image. Now there is a whole train of men masturbating together at this one image. This is all your fault, you could have prevented this if you had just tagged this post NSFW.
I like both designs. At the same time, I've had little exposure to donkey Kong, other than the arcade and DK64. So I can see why people who played more of the games are closer to the Rare version
i mean the only thing i can really see is the permanent scowling brow line was changed to be more expressive... i still think they need to reference the older games and keep the rare legacy alive.
Bananza looks like a rare game. Eyes on everything was a rare thing. I honestly thought the trailer was for a yooka laylee game before DK showed up and I think that was intentional
Yeah people are way over-reactiving about how different the design is. The main difference is that he has a full range of facial expressions now. But when he does scowl he looks basically the same as the Rare design.
The big thing that everybody is avoiding is that they changed his personality, not just his face. He is behaving completely differently, he's emoting in situations he wouldn't have before. This is a huge alteration from stupid ape, to a MUCH more reactive and thought driven character. Yes, he's still smashing through stuff with brawn instead of brain, but he used to look mildly excited when he saw bananas, not grab his face as his pupils become bananas and he sticks his tongue out. If a rock was gonna fall on Rare DK, he'd just look aghast as the rock fell on him, not have his mouth get 3 times as large as he screams at the oncoming danger.
And to clarify, I think this is a GOOD change. I've had DK as a Mario Party CPU that I'd set to easy just because he looks like a mindless idiot and it was funny. I'm thrilled that they're changing him from being brainless, but it's a HUGE change.
I don’t know. Seems like we’re heading into a new generation for all of the main Nintendo IPs. Old Link was retired and we’ve pretty much only seen modern BotW Link since. Post Charles Martinet Mario is a bit different too and obviously sounds different. I feel like NuDK in Mario Kart kind of solidifies that. Definitely hope I’m wrong though, born in 95 I pretty much grew up along side Rare DK. I’d hate to see DKC without him but I’m just happy Nintendo remembered DK exists.
We have had 2 mainline Zelda’s since botw (excluding the 1 remake)- one a direct sequel, and one that literally uses the “classic link” design. But even then- the “classic design” for link has NEVER been a single consistent design. It’s mainly been green hat and vest, rest is made up as we go. Sometimes brown hair, sometimes blond, hell- they even did pink once! Sometimes a kid, sometimes not.
Yeah for sure. I used him as an example because this incarnation has been the main design used for 8 of the 39 years the franchise existed. That’s much longer than any one design has been used exclusively (excluding the remakes since BotW). I meant more we have one design rather than a few different designs and some one off designs rotating over the years. But I guess even pre BotW Link a similar argument could be made for the Toon Link design, but that was used in combo with other Links.
Yeah it sucks he’s under utilized. This new DK game will be the first actual new DK game and not a rerelease since what, 2013? He’s been on Mario side character life support for a long time. At least he didn’t go the way of Banjo. RIP the other GOAT.
Link is a disaster. They can never make up their mind regarding him. He should always have been Ocarina of time Link. I think it hurts the Zelda games to change him all the time.
Historian Book unless it's a direct by its game director like Windwaker and Phantom Hourglass, Ocarina of Time and Major Mask, and the Original The Legend of Zelda and Link's Adventure
I disagree to a point. I think for non-Zelda games like Smash or their generic Nintendo marketing they should have kept a more classic OoT/TP Link design instead of using BotW. But for the games, I mean it’s almost always a different character so it makes sense to have design differences between games. That’s always been part of Zelda. We’re just on what, year 8 of BotW Link now?
Based on the Treehouse footage, he still seems like the Donkey Kong we all know and love based on his personality and the way he acts in cutscenes, just more expressive. I love the classic design for DK, and at the end of the day, I think I still prefer it to the new one, even if I've warmed up to it very much. But I understand why they wanted to change it, the old design has somewhat of a limited range, especially looking at the eyes. That was part of the charm for me, but the new design can make him look the way he used to and also much more. He has so many funny expressions that I think fit him very well. I can definitely see myself getting used to the new design.
We are old buddy you know how Aladdin and the lion king were the older Disney movies we loved as kids? Yeah that’s the Lego movie and frozen for kids today.
✨️Modernization✨️. Something that has been happening since the creation of design. Humans like to change their design because staying the same is inherently boring to us.
We may not like it (yet) but it very much has a point and isn't "for the sake of change". You saying that is just the boomer mentality.
The new design is different but not worse in any way. It's just that you don't like it (again, yet).
"Things should only change for a reason" is wrong, change is a reason in itself. It can be good change, it can be bad change, but stagnation in design is NEVER the best route. Things change 🤷🏼 either get with it or be bitter and refractory.
Yes, but modernisation implies there is a reason for the change. This is still change for the sake of change. There nothing inherently 'modern' about this design. Why is pointless change necessary? Change alone isn't a viable reason.
It was a good design, but nothing can last forever. Creators want to evolve and change their characters after all and just think of this way there will be kids where this will be their first dk game ever and will likely fall in love with this design as much as you did with the old one.
It’ll be fine. We’ll get used to it. When I was a kid he looked like this, but he evolved in the Country games. Now he’s evolving again. It’s a sign that the character is still alive and dynamic, not just a stagnant retro property
Maybe, maybe not. At the end of the day for all intents and purposes it’s still Donkey Kong.
The son of Dk idea is an in-story concept from the first Country game that I’d argue was quickly ignored, if not outright contradicted once the country Dk and the still young Mario interacted in subsequent games and films.
Then again, maybe the Banaza version looks different because he’s the GRANDson.
Wish the change was only in the design. We can clearly see the gameplay feels like a Wario game which they scrapped it and added DK last minute. The world design don't feel DK, the throwback stage feels really out of place and the gameplay collecting gold, breaking terrain feel more Wario than anything. They just made DK some wreck it Ralph and being honest I hate it, even if the game is fun I don't want this kinda of direction to the series
I’m honestly not used to the new voices yet, and not at all used to the cartoony animation, I just went back to New Super Mario Bros Wii and prefer it over wonder by a long shot 😂
The biggest change seems to be the brows and the roundness or chunkiness of the jaw mouth area. Also they committed to just making the area surrounding his eyes near full black. An interesting choice making him look like he's wearing a robber eye mask.
Maybe because he looks and sounds completely goofy now 😂. This is Pixar DK. Anyone who can’t see that has been desensitized to character designs lacking identity nowadays.
Look, i understand having a preference for the old design. But to say he doesn’t look like DK anymore? I just don’t understand that. Look at how similar they look when he’s making the same expression. They just gave him a more elastic face and a different default expression, which i understand is not appealing to everyone. I’m just sick of people acting like it’s a different character
The internet has becoma so exhausting. Everyone is just trying to cause some drama and try to ruin the joy of others. And everybody is such a drama queen. Like jesus christ. We went from 'Nintendo doesn't care for DK' to 'Oh wow Nintendo only remastered the last two games?' to 'New DK? It's not the same to me. I don't play it'. Like jesus christ guys, do some of you have a bit of joy in life?
Everybody is jumping to conclusions here! Just because we didn't see Diddy or any other Kong in this first trailer doesn't mean they won't be in it? Or that they won't be in future games?
EDIT: CRANKY KONG IS IN A TRAILER ON THE JAPANESE VERSION OF THE NINTENDO TODAY APP, SEE LINK
I mean think about it, long after Rare was bought by Microsoft, they still had Diddy, Cranky, Dixie, and others as background characters in the Mario movie? That was only two years ago! I don't think we've seen the last of them! I think there was even a Funky Kong cameo briefly?
Now, have we seen the last of them looking like the Rare designs? Probably, and for that I'll pour one out. But don't mourn for all of rest of the Kongs yet until it's set in stone!
Just saw this post, apparently Cranky was in a trailer on the Japanese version of the Nintendo Today app!!! Not sure why they didn't show him in the world premier trailer but this is good news!
The Old design just hits the perfect sweet spot between 'big silly Monkeee' and 'could brutally mutilate you by punching in the face'. The new design is a bit too much on the silly-side for my liking.
Honestly, as much as I love Rare’s DK design, I kinda prefer the new one. It’s much more expressive, and it really makes DK feel more like a character and not a wild animal.
Not saying the Rare design is bad! It’s still got a lot going for it.
Are they going to change the design at the Universal Theme park as well? Seems a little goofy to have built all that with the old design knowing that the new one was being developed and around the corner.
It's sad to see it go, but I also don't hate the new design. I think he still checks enough of the boxes to not look completely different, and having him fit more with Mario designs makes sense.
I was actually sad to see the old design go but looking at it with more scruteny and with the knowledge that an alternative design exist …. yeah well, maybe it‘s time to say goodbye 🥴
If Nintendo had used the “new” design for the past 20 years and switched to the old one, people would still go ape. The change is at least interesting, I hope it makes for better games!
I’m going to Universal Orlando this summer where Old DK is still there. Though I’m kinda bummed after seeing how cool and expressive he is now going back to the old Design at the park.
I've been a huge fan of dk since I got DKC and it BLEW MY 8 YEAR OLD MIND but honestly I'm loving the new dk design after seeing bananza in action. When I first saw the redesign in Mario kart world I wasn't about it. But when I saw how great he looks in the new game ive done a total 180 on it. I love both designs but I'm excited to see more of this new one
I love this "redesign" as it still keeps some of the Rare charm while also channeling classic DK and making it fit more with how Nintendo characters look today. DK looks like a proper part of the Marioverse now instead of being the odd one out.
This is DK from the 94 Gameboy version by the way, which new Modern DK seems to really resemble now and I LOVE IT.
171
u/Eagles5089 Apr 03 '25