Nintendo Unveils Donkey Kong Redesign for Switch 2, Mario Kart 9

Nintendo is making a significant shift with Donkey Kong's design, as 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 redesign that fans believe draws inspiration from the successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

While the new look for Donkey Kong has only been showcased in Mario Kart 9 so far, Nintendo has also unveiled a range of merchandise featuring this redesign. As reported by Nintendo Life, Reddit user cookiemaster221 shared images of these products, 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 displays Donkey Kong with a friendlier appearance, most notably with a less furrowed brow, now rounded out. Commenter SmallBlueSlime remarked, "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. One said, "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." On the other hand, a fan in favor of the new look commented, "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 just a few scenes, this is the clearest view fans have had of the redesign. A more detailed look at Donkey Kong in action is expected in April during a Nintendo Switch 2-focused Nintendo Direct.

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