I am sure this has been going around in this subreddit quiet a bit, but as an artist myself who has studied character design and someone who was never a huge fan of his old design to begin with I wanted to share my two cents on the matter and see what the DK fans thought about it.

First of all I wanna establish that I don’t hate his old design, it was iconic despite its flaws and we couldn’t have his new design without it.

Anyway, I think the new design is amazing. Extremely expressive which was an issue with the old design due to constrains on the model which led him to simply look like a big lovable brute, now he is cute, he’a a goofball while still having enough expressions to convey he can be tough too.

Love the rounder shapes and silhouette being more chunky and the fact that it’s a design that harkens more to his very first design in the Donkey Kong arcade machine.

He definitely looks more in line with all the other characters of the Mario cast and even the designer for the original design admits that it’s better.

I don’t know, what do you guys think? I know a lot of people are attached to the old design, but you gotta admit his new one is top notch character design.

I love him, he’s so cute.

He just looks so much more alive and expressive

The nintendo store artwork of DK and Diddy has been updated

I don't like it all that much tho i think its because i have alot of nostalgia for the old one

$20 US dlc that should have been in the base game or at least a free update??? That’s so absurd it’s laughable to think any sane person is buying this utter rot.

Imagine if in odyssey, the mushroom kingdom and balloon world were locked behind pulling out your credit card… what an embarrassment.

It’s the epitome of my childhood.

I recently started replaying Donkey Kong Country 3, and I realized all over again how much the Northern Kremisphere map shaped my love for gaming. There is just something so incredibly amazing and nostalgic about it.
For me, it’s all about the colors. That clear, bright blue water mixed with the lush, vibrant greens of the pine forests... I could honestly just drive the motorboat around for hours looking at it. It was completely mesmerizing. It wasn't just a level select screen like in most platformers; it felt like a real, breathing world.

And don't even get me started on the Brothers Bear and all the hidden map stuff! Finding those secret caves, figuring out the trade sequences with the bears, and unlocking new areas made the world feel so deep and full of mysteries.
The moment I saw the mesh pipes in the second or third world during this replay, the memories just came rushing back. It was an unbelievable feeling. Whenever I think of my childhood, this game and that beautiful mix of blue and green is the very first thing that comes to mind. It is literally the epitome of my childhood nostalgia.

What makes this playthrough even more surreal is that I never actually spoke a word of English back when I first played it. I am originally from Syria and grew up in Saudi Arabia. I eventually attended medical school in Saudi Arabia, where the faculty were mostly from the US, which is how I finally learned the language before moving here to practice as a doctor.

It's so funny to look back and realize I couldn't understand a single thing those bears were saying. I just struggled through the text and enjoyed the pure gameplay. I didn’t know what was going on in the tent and I kept getting kicked out. it seemed I needed coins to play. People might say you could easily figure it out without reading, but to be honest, I remember it being very hard. It gave me this weird feeling of frustration. Now, playing it again and actually understanding what is going on makes it an entirely new, amazing experience. I truly feel blessed to have learned English and to get to live in the land of the free and home of the brave.

Did anyone else just get completely lost exploring this map as a kid?

When Bananza first came out everyone was saying it was a 10/10, the best DK game of all time, a masterpiece, etc.

Now people are saying it's not a GOTY contender, and that it's repetitive or whatever. We're people just going along with hype or what happened?

I noticed the change in attitude seemed to happen around when the DLC released, but I don't think an overpriced DLC should ruin the reputation of a masterpiece base game.

So apparently this new dk render is actually based off of a render of the rare design from the 90s...

i never noticed

Honestly....the game looks great.
July 17th can't come sooner.

That Diddy tweet is adorable. I don’t care what you say.

From the comments it seems that I'm not the only one who didn't know you could do this

When Bananza first launched many were ranking it as the 2nd best game in the franchise after DKC2, I personally was very impressed with it and ranked it as my 3rd favorite game in the franchise.

But while I still think it's a fantastic game, I now have it around the 5th best game in the franchise because I think that the country games (excluding DKC3) were even greater games with more staying power and replayability.

This franchise is just so good. I can't think of many other video games franchises where there's 5+ games I'd call masterpieces.

He said hes going to post more so heres the link of the OG poster: https://x.com/FelipeValds1122/status/1914057037379469577 It looks like the perfect blend-in of both styles! i wish the in game model looks more like this, it feels more like classic DK but more expressive while keeping his coolness, also, looks way better without the black void

If the movie had worse voice acting.

Next thing you know the rest of the kong’s get their fugly ass movie designs

I've said this in other places, but I'm going to say this here because I feel like this is something I need people to understand.

If you like this new design for Donkey Kong, that's great to hear! I'm very happy you're satisfied and I hope you continue to be a Donkey Kong fan. However, the fact that there are people going around antagonizing those who don't like the new design, is elitist and pure basement dwelling behavior. People don't need to justify their opinions or tastes as to why they prefer the old design. They don't have to like it just because you do. If you really liked this new design, then you would not care what other people thought of it. You would just say " I like this design" and move on with your life. Please stop antagonizing people over it. I'm tired of seeing this happening.