Summary
- The Nintendo Switch 2’s reveal of Mario Kart 9 gave us a good look at what appears to be a redesign for Donkey Kong.
- Although every character in MK9 looks more cartoony, Donkey Kong’s new look seems to be final.
- The official My Nintendo Store has some new DK items that show his friendlier redesign isn’t a one-time thing.
The official My Nintendo Store has released some new merchandise that adds more evidence that Donkey Kong is getting a big redesign ahead of the Switch 2‘s launch.
Earlier this month, Nintendo finally did what we’d all been waiting for most of 2024 for it to do – officially unveil the Nintendo Switch 2. Beyond a slick new design, magnetic Joy-Cons that everyone thinks will break, and a date to wait for, there wasn’t much to say about the console itself, and most of the discussion has been to do with the next Mario Kart that was teased.
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The Switch 2 trailer is also a Mario Kart trailer, and also a debut of a new Donkey Kong look.
Nintendo showed us just enough of Mario Kart 9 to get the discussion wheels turning, leading fans to completely pick the trailer apart. Aside from the massive track size and potential returning characters, the biggest talking point of the whole thing was surprisingly enough Donkey Kong, who looks very different this time around.
Donkey Kong’s New Look Spotted On The Nintendo Store
While it’s true that all of the characters in Mario Kart 9 have a different, more cartoony art style than they did in MK8, it stands out the most for Donkey Kong, who looks a lot more squished than he ever has. Donkey Kong’s new look seemed to indicate that the ape was going to be getting a proper redesign for the Switch 2’s lifetime, something that’s since been backed up by merch.
As reported by Nintendo Life earlier this week, My Nintendo Store recently added some new Donkey Kong themed items, presumably to go along with the renewed interest in the character thanks to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD. The items are fairly inconspcious and include things like charm straps, calendars, and stickers, but they do have one interesting detail.
A close peek at the new items reveals that Donkey Kong has a subtle new look that is more in line with what we saw in the Mario Kart 9 trailer. While his proportions are all the same, Donkey Kong looks a lot less angry than he did with his Rare design and now has a happy sheen to his eyes.
The differences are made much clearer thanks to a Reddit post by cookiemaster221, who compared one of the new renders to how Donkey Kong used to look. It’s very subtle and minor, but it seems that Nintendo really is making an effort to make DK look different and presumably more family-friendly.
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