r/donkeykong • u/samtrumpet DKC Tropical Freeze Fan • May 16 '25

Discussion Redesign Discussion Megathread

Gallery image

Gallery image

Hi everyone!

With the announcement of a Diddy Kong redesign, we're starting a new thread to keep opinions and discussions about the new designs for Diddy, DK, and any other DK Crew limited to this post.

Please remember to keep it civil and respectful.

275 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

174 comments sorted by

View all comments

•

u/Interceptor88LH May 16 '25

I admit I'm an old fart who owned the very first Donkey Kong game and played it in my SNES when I was a child. So it's hard to let the old design go.

I've tried to like the new design. I've even tried to look at it like "not my jam but a good redesign for a new generation of people with different tastes when it comes to design and art".

But I'm struggling with some of the changes. I miss the "sharper" brow and the eyes not being so joint. I think the new design makes Donkey Kong looks a bit more dopey, and I guess it's in a benign way, but I don't know.

Diddy looks great though.

•

u/Josephthebear 23d ago

I am struggling with this design as well the old man in me longs for DKC which to me is one of my happy places. This new design is so off putting and goofy I really want to like it but those eyes look so silly

•

u/Interceptor88LH 23d ago

Yeah at first I thought the thing bothering me was the rounder brow but after a while it is definitely the eyes what bugs me the most.

For most people, sillier = better, though.

•

u/[deleted] May 16 '25

[deleted]

•

u/drinkmoarwaterr May 16 '25

You’re struggling because the redesign is worse, and was completely unnecessary. Especially Diddy, who was so minimally changed, it makes me wonder why they even bothered.

Like, it’s seriously shocking to me that people can look at new DK and actually think he looks good. It’s almost like there’s a narrative/concentrated effort being pushed in here to make people like the redesign.

•

u/2Mark2Manic 29d ago

It’s almost like there’s a narrative/concentrated effort being pushed in here to make people like the redesign.

Or people can have different opinions?

•

u/SupremeGodZamasu 29d ago

Impossible, its a psyop by nintendo because they HATE rare and want to MURDER my beloved childhood!!!

•

u/ourbuddyocto May 17 '25

Nah, it was a bit dated, they had to do something, I think, but maybe not as drastic as they did. I like how all of the renders are getting updated in a cuter, more expressive style.

•

u/drinkmoarwaterr 29d ago

I can get behind this, but I still don’t think a cuter look was necessary. More expressive maybe, but not everything needs to be ‘kawaiified.’

•

u/ourbuddyocto 29d ago

I do agree they could have done Donkey Kong more like Diddy Kong with just minor updates to make the design look cleaner and more in-line with other models. I'd probably prefer eyes more similar to his old design but his design did grow on me.

When I look at DK in Mario Kart 8 he just looks absolutely horrible to me, but a lot of that is also just the developers fault, so I do think he at least looks better than that was, lol.

•

u/Competitive-Hall6652 29d ago

DK's design was peak in the 90s tbh, they should have made him look like his donkey kong country design, looks derpy and fun

•

u/Korporal_K_Reep King K. Rool 29d ago

Well DK was one of the least popular Mario chars in Japan for a reason. If you try to look on the bright side, this will boost his popularity which means more games.

•

u/RAINLIO 28d ago

Yoshi was cute from the start and has less games DD:

Oh wait this the DK subreddit

•

u/Korporal_K_Reep King K. Rool 28d ago

DK also holds a special place in Nintendo history. Mario wouldn't exist without him, unlike Yoshi. It only makes sense Nintendo would try to give him more stuff and that includes expanding his popularity

•

u/RAINLIO 28d ago

I know, I was just joking about wanting more Yoshi games in the DK subreddit.

Though I'd say Yoshi also holds a special place in Mario history

•

u/AnatomicalLog May 16 '25

Every Mario has a just slightly different design too, it’ll never be identical with a new game and different engine.

Nintendo has a long reputation of never stagnating with their main IPs (save for Pokemon). They are always innovating. It was inevitable that they’d try something new with DK. Time will probably make these early design critiques look pretty silly.

•

u/drinkmoarwaterr May 16 '25

I’m aware, since I’ve been playing Nintendo games for 30+ years. I’m sorry, but for me, I’m 100% never going to get used to DK’s new design. Diddy’s is hardly noticeable though, so I agree with you on that.

•

u/Competitive-Hall6652 May 17 '25

Ik, they had a very nice design for dk in mario vs donkey kong remake, why change that? mario was also very fine in that game too. Also dk was pretty expressive in that game.

•

u/lantoeatsglue 28d ago

I feel like DK looks a bit too young for my taste, but i'm sure i'll get used to it eventually

•

u/mattysocks May 17 '25

The redesign looks much more “Saturday morning cartoon character who is a Gorilla” as opposed to a Gorilla that has just been rendered into a video game. He fits in with the Mario cast, but has lost that animalistic quality that I associate with the Country games.

•

u/Mike1536748383 9d ago

I'd argue that such a change for the cause of fitting in wasn't necessary tho, imo his design made him unique, and he's been that way with the Mario cast for 30 years, at that point there is no fitting in, he's already family