Nintendo Goes All In on Donkey Kong Redesign Seen in Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart 9 First Look

Nintendo is making a significant shift with the redesign of Donkey Kong, which was first spotted by fans during the gameplay reveal of Mario Kart 9 at the Nintendo Switch 2 event. Donkey Kong, a character that has maintained the same look across various games like Mario Kart 8, Mario Tennis, and Donkey Kong Country Returns for decades, is now undergoing a transformation that many fans believe draws inspiration from the successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Although the revamped design was initially seen only in Mario Kart 9, Nintendo has now expanded this new look to a range of Donkey Kong merchandise. As reported by Nintendo Life, user cookiemaster221 shared images of these products on Reddit, stating, "History is being rewritten in front of our very eyes."

History is being rewritten in front of our very eyes

byu/cookiemaster221 indonkeykong

The new merchandise showcases Donkey Kong with a more approachable appearance, notably featuring a less furrowed and more rounded brow. Commenter SmallBlueSlime noted, "They're giving him the Kirby treatment, but backwards. Instead of making him angry, they're making him chill." Other fans expressed mixed feelings about the change, with one saying, "They really are dead set on redesigning DK," while another lamented, "I'm gonna miss that eyebrow looking down. Always made DK seem both kind and strong." However, some fans are in favor of the new look, suggesting, "It's alright in my opinion. They probably did it to make him look more goofy and less angry."

Since the brief glimpse in Mario Kart 9, where Donkey Kong appeared in only a few scenes and not in great detail, fans are eagerly awaiting a more extended look at the character in action. This is expected to happen in April during a Nintendo Direct focused on the Switch 2.

The console reveal trailer for the Switch 2 provided only a few hints about the new hardware, focusing primarily on its appearance. It confirmed that the Switch 2 will be mostly backwards compatible, introduced a mysterious new button on the Joy-Cons, and validated a theory about using the controller as a mouse.