LogFAQs > #953736552

I'd love to see another Donkey Kong Country game, but I feel like Nintendo needs to really shake up the series the same way original DKC did in 1994 against arcade games. It could be like what Breath of the Wild did to the Zelda series as well.

From a marketing stand point it needs a change. I love the Retro Studios DKC games, but they kind of "Mariofied" the vibes in terms of making them cartoony. Whereas the original DKC felt like a true product of the 90s in design, yet aged well. It was on forefront of technology, soundtrack was very hip, DK had attitude, K Rool was sinister, and world had a semi-realistic charm. The 2D platformer style of it was fresh too. It wasn't copying the big names like Mario, Kirby, Sonic, or Mega Man.

Splatoon basically had a similar impact for the 10s. The first felt super fresh and actually felt like Nintendo was aware of what decade they were in. Donkey Kong still sold good amounts, but lost its relevance in the 00s and 10s. DK64 followed in footsteps of Banjo-Kazooie thus lost it's uniqueness. Now it's only remembered for being a 3D collectathon taken too far. Then it was given back to Nintendo EAD and Jungle Beat happened. I for one loved it, but in end it was remembered for being a gimmick one off game. Retro Studios came in and did the series justice, although focusing too much on nostalgia at least for making new fans.

Along the way Donkey Kong lost that certain grasp it had in the mid 90s when Nintendo was supporting as one of the 3 pillars alongside Mario and Zelda. Hell, it had a cartoon series. That right there shows you how much Nintendo were investing into DK.

So my idea is make a DK game made for the 2020s in spirit without becoming this aged artifact in design and themes. The younger crowd growing up on Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite, Five Nights, etc... are not interested in Donkey Kong. I'm not saying make DK into this crafting battle royale game, but Nintendo needs to recapture the imagination of DK. BotW had Nintendo really studying wrpg and open world games which paid off in the end.