"Nintendo Unveils Donkey Kong Redesign for Switch 2 and Mario Kart 9"

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. For years, even decades, Donkey Kong has maintained the same iconic look across various games such as Mario Kart 8, Mario Tennis, and Donkey Kong Country Returns. However, Nintendo is now introducing a new design that many fans believe draws inspiration from the highly successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Although the revamped Donkey Kong was initially seen only in Mario Kart 9, Nintendo has now unveiled a range of merchandise featuring this new look. As reported by Nintendo Life, user cookiemaster221 shared images of these products on Reddit, commenting, "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. In the Reddit comments, user SmallBlueSlime noted, "They're giving him the Kirby treatment, but backwards. Instead of making him angry, they're making him chill." Other users 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, with one stating, "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 very clearly, this merchandise offers the best look at the redesign yet. Fans can expect a more detailed showcase of Donkey Kong in action during the upcoming Nintendo Direct in April, which will focus on the Nintendo Switch 2.

The console reveal trailer for the Switch 2 provided only a few hints about the new hardware, emphasizing its appearance. It confirmed that the Switch 2 is mostly backwards compatible, features a mysterious new button on the Joy-Cons, and supports a theory about using the controller as a mouse.