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StarTopic Donkey Kong Community |ST| No Country For Old Kongs

We just gotta wait a little while longer
vqN89E.gif
 
I expected a classic series game ever since there were rumors that it was an internal Nintendo studio. But mini Mario...

Hopefully we get a Jr redesign and have him added to MK8 at least.
 
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A MvsDK would be disappointing (unless... unless it is DK94 3) but it's only a matter of time before a proper DK game is announced.
Enpsty said:
If you actually thought that a new mainline DK would release for the old Switch especially after the announcement of Mario Wonder then you must be delusional.
Mario Wonder and Mario RPG are the last big games for Switch. Time to face it.
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I thought the last big game was TotK. We know everything else is from C teams.
 
A medium to high budget Mario vs Donkey Kong would actually be amazing, especially if it has the new DK design from the movie and brings back Jr/Stanley. The problem would be if it's like MvDK2 or the sequels.

A MvDK3 that combines elements of DK94 and MvDK for GBA would also be perfectly timed with a reveal of Pauline and Jr for MK8.

Assuming Dk64 comes to NSO at some point, the only other thing I'd want is a definitive DKCR port before switch is finished.
 
Enpsty said:
If you actually thought that a new mainline DK would release for the old Switch especially after the announcement of Mario Wonder then you must be delusional.
Mario Wonder and Mario RPG are the last big games for Switch. Time to face it.
Click to expand...
Bad comment. UnYeah'd
 
Enpsty said:
If you actually thought that a new mainline DK would release for the old Switch especially after the announcement of Mario Wonder then you must be delusional.
Mario Wonder and Mario RPG are the last big games for Switch. Time to face it.
Click to expand...
Interesting choice for a first post in this thread
 
Enpsty said:
If you actually thought that a new mainline DK would release for the old Switch especially after the announcement of Mario Wonder then you must be delusional.
Mario Wonder and Mario RPG are the last big games for Switch. Time to face it.
Click to expand...
I disagree on the second part but I can see DK missing the Switch ship now.
 
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I think the release of Mario Wonder this late into the Switch lifecycle pretty much tells us anything can come to Switch at this point, if a Killer App like Wonder releases probably less than a year before the new console is out, then surely DK could come afterwards. But there's no indicator one is coming sadly after Pyoro's clarification.
 
Luke88 said:
I think the release of Mario Wonder this late into the Switch lifecycle pretty much tells us anything can come to Switch at this point, if a Killer App like Wonder releases probably less than a year before the new console is out, then surely DK could come afterwards. But there's no indicator one is coming sadly after Pyoro's clarification.
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If people don't consider a classic DK game to be a DK game, there probably won't be one for quite some time. I haven't paid too much attention but my impression was the long-rumored DK game would be classic series for years.
 
Brock Reiher said:
If people don't consider a classic DK game to be a DK game, there probably won't be one for quite some time. I haven't paid too much attention but my impression was the long-rumored DK game would be classic series for years.
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If that's the case, then DK as a brand has truly been merged with the Mario brand. Would explain the theme park, movie appearance, and Mario branding on the Legos.

I'm depressed.

Though, last bit of copium... NST develops the MvDK games, not EPD. So we'll see, I guess.
 
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Brock Reiher said:
This I would assume is the rumored Mario vs DK game. EPD's made Mario Odyssey which has both Mario and tons of classic DK references.
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NTS makes Mario vs. Donkey Kong; they are small eShop titles;
I don't see correlation if they intend to revitalize the brand
 
CyberWolfJV said:
NTS makes Mario vs. Donkey Kong; they are small eShop titles;
I don't see correlation if they intend to revitalize the brand
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Mario vs Donkey Kong is a sequel to Donkey Kong, a game made by EAD for the Game Boy. No reason this can't be the series coming home for a medium to big budget title.
 
Hibby said:
If that's the case, then DK as a brand has truly been merged with the Mario brand. Would explain the theme park, movie appearance, and Mario branding on the Legos.

I'm depressed.

Though, last bit of copium... NST develops the MvDK games, not EPD. So we'll see, I guess.
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Why would it be Nintendo EPD and not NST?
 
I don't see why a Mario vs DK would in any way prevent a proper DK game.

Switch is not dead yet, NST and EPD Tokyo are different teams, there is absolutely nothing from MvsDK in the theme park, which is based on the Country games (mainly Returns).

They absolutely can release a Mario vs DK in the near future, maybe digital only, and a mainline DK in mid 2033.

EDIT: Obviously wanted to say mid 2024 lol
 
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Not saying anything is off the table, but Nintendos last in house big DK game was Jungle Beat, which while wasn't that similar to anything Rare did, was even less related to the arcade stuff. Plus the parm being DKC themed gives the vibe that that's the 'status quo' for DK as a whole, while the arcade era lives on through Mario VS DK as its own spin off/sub series of both
 
Dante Kong said:
Not saying anything is off the table, but Nintendos last in house big DK game was Jungle Beat, which while wasn't that similar to anything Rare did, was even less related to the arcade stuff. Plus the parm being DKC themed gives the vibe that that's the 'status quo' for DK as a whole, while the arcade era lives on through Mario VS DK as its own spin off/sub series of both
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Correct me if I'm wrong but the rumors I heard theorized the in house DK game was made by the Odyssey team, and Odyssey is a gigantic love letter to the classic Donkey Kong games. Miyamoto also made a point that the new DK design for the movie is inspired by the arcade games, and despite some Country decoration DK's relationship with Mario in the movie is very Mario vs Donkey Kong.

I would only call the Mini-focused games a spinoff, the original Mario vs Donkey Kong is as much a spinoff of the classic series as Donkey Kong 94 is.
 
Pretty sure the rumour has always been that it was a young team at EPD taking inspiration from Donkey Kong Country/Super Donkey Kong working on it. No point in being selective about which parts of the rumour we believe in.
 
Dardan Sandiego said:
Pretty sure the rumour has always been that it was a young team at EPD taking inspiration from Donkey Kong Country/Super Donkey Kong working on it. No point in being selective about which parts of the rumour we believe in.
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Yeah, I don't necessarily see this rumor as contradictory with another Mario vs. Donkey Kong game, those were still being released alongside the Retro games.

But it nonetheless speaks to how badly the DKC brand has been managed up until now.
 
I don't find the idea of the EPD game being a smaller Mario vs Donkey Kong game all that convincing. EPD is really not in the business of making smaller brand-specific games anymore, they still do small experimental games of course! But they're generally either new IP, or series that were always kind of small to begin with (like Captain Toad). When series like Pikmin are now being given the time and budget of an A list Nintendo franchise, I don't think there's any reason to believe we'd get something like Mario vs. Donkey Kong or even something on the level of Jungle Beat. Nintendo just doesn't 'waste' resources like EPD like that anymore. No reason to do that when you can make a big grand return DK game.
 
Dardan Sandiego said:
Pretty sure the rumour has always been that it was a young team at EPD taking inspiration from Donkey Kong Country/Super Donkey Kong working on it. No point in being selective about which parts of the rumour we believe in.
Click to expand...
If that's the case then I'm mistaken. This is the first I'm hearing about that aspect.

A Mario vs DK doesn't have to be small though. The first game in the series was one of the most ambitious game on the Game Boy. The whole initial hook is fooling you into thinking it's a small port before expanding the world. If EPD is returning to Donkey Kong proper for the first time in 30 years they may be looking to do the same.
 
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Mekanos said:
Yeah, I don't necessarily see this rumor as contradictory with another Mario vs. Donkey Kong game, those were still being released alongside the Retro games.

But it nonetheless speaks to how badly the DKC brand has been managed up until now.
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Yeah, they definitely screwed up here. Possibly their biggest marketing/branding blunder. At the very least Nintendo seems to be aware of people's love for the character and series. The Tropical Freeze port was pretty successful and surprisingly leggy. I also don't think they'd feature him this prominently in the movie and the parks if they didn't have any plans for DK. I've resigned to the next mainline DK potentially skipping the Switch 1 and long-term that's maybe better for the series but it'd still be disappointing, especially given the dearth of other DK content.
 
yeah, this was pretty frustrating. I don’t blame Pyoro cause they probably don’t know, but this whole DK game thing is such a big deal (look at the likes/retweet numbers on Twitter) and this MvsDK thing will definitely feel tone-deaf to many DK fans
 
Brock Reiher said:
Correct me if I'm wrong but the rumors I heard theorized the in house DK game was made by the Odyssey team, and Odyssey is a gigantic love letter to the classic Donkey Kong games. Miyamoto also made a point that the new DK design for the movie is inspired by the arcade games, and despite some Country decoration DK's relationship with Mario in the movie is very Mario vs Donkey Kong.

I would only call the Mini-focused games a spinoff, the original Mario vs Donkey Kong is as much a spinoff of the classic series as Donkey Kong 94 is.
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None of what you said is necessary wrong but as mentioned there is some word going around for a while that the devs behind the next main DK are very much inspired by the DKC trilogy. Though to be fair I've only heard that bit mentioned on dk Vines podcast, and through Professor Chops on his original post here that gained a lot of attention back in March. Also, as much as New Donk is a reference to the arcade games, there are many references to the country games on store and street signs, so I wouldn't say New Donk is indicative of where the DK series is going.
 
Let's stick to the facts:
  • We know they are building the DK theme park right now, and it's clearly inspired by DKC Returns, with its own aesthetic setting the area a part from everything else Mario-related;
  • Donkey and Cranky had a huge role in the Mario Movie, and other DKC characters made a cameo appearance;
  • The "Donkey Kong" brand is featured prominently on the merchandise, alongside the "Super Mario" brand. This is not the case for "Yoshi" or "Luigi's Mansion";
  • Nintendo EPD Tokyo recruited for two projects -- a 3D game (very likely the next 3D Mario game) and a 2D game;
  • @MetalLord reported some weeks ago that NST recently finished their project (by looking at some LinkedIn profiles, I suppose);
  • NST and EPD Tokyo recently worked together for Bowser's Fury and the new levels in Captain Toad Switch.

The way I see it, Nintendo is clearly rebuilding the Donkey Kong brand. It would be very very stupid not to release a game with the theme park. Granted, they could just release a Return Hagi port and call it a day. After all, they planed to release 3D World Switch concurrently with the opening of Mario's park.

But there's the real possibility than the 2D Tokyo project is a DK game -- 2D Mario and 2D Yoshi are developed or supervised in Kyoto, and Wario Land doesn't seem to get much love (though I would love a new Wario Land, do not get me wrong) and it would probably by produced by Sakamoto or Tanabe's team anyway. DK is the only series left, unless it is a new IP. This reasoning is further corroborated the rumors, but even without them it makes logical sense.

A NST-developed Mario vs. DK doesn't change that. They could release a Mario vs. DK now, reinvigorating the interest in DK as a Mario-related character, and than a proper 2D DK game in mid 2023, concurrently with the theme park. Unless... Unless this Mario vs. DK game is also EPD Tokyo 2D game. This is a possibility. After all, all the recent NST games were co-productions with EPD Tokyo. On the bright side, this would be a very high-profile return of the Mario vs. DK series, a reboot for all the intent and purpose, probably ditching the Lemmings gameplay and returning to the DK94 roots. On the other hand... No new DK game in the short terms, and we'll probably just get Returns for the theme park.

Again, that's a possibility. But I believe the NST game and the EPD Tokyo game are two different projects, so we'll get both Mario vs. DK (hopefully with a DK94-inspired gameplay) and 2D DK. It doesn't make any sense to promote DK as its own sub-brand with its own visual identity only to release a Mario spin-off and a port, IMHO.
 
Gingerbread Man said:
Let's stick to the facts:
  • We know they are building the DK theme park right now, and it's clearly inspired by DKC Returns, with its own aesthetic setting the area a part from everything else Mario-related;
  • Donkey and Cranky had a huge role in the Mario Movie, and other DKC characters made a cameo appearance;
  • The "Donkey Kong" brand is featured prominently on the merchandise, alongside the "Super Mario" brand. This is not the case for "Yoshi" or "Luigi's Mansion";
  • Nintendo EPD Tokyo recruited for two projects -- a 3D game (very likely the next 3D Mario game) and a 2D game;
  • @MetalLord reported some weeks ago that NST recently finished their project (by looking at some LinkedIn profiles, I suppose);
  • NST and EPD Tokyo recently worked together for Bowser's Fury and the new levels in Captain Toad Switch.

The way I see it, Nintendo is clearly rebuilding the Donkey Kong brand. It would be very very stupid not to release a game with the theme park. Granted, they could just release a Return Hagi port and call it a day. After all, they planed to release 3D World Switch concurrently with the opening of Mario's park.

But there's the real possibility than the 2D Tokyo project is a DK game -- 2D Mario and 2D Yoshi are developed or supervised in Kyoto, and Wario Land doesn't seem to get much love (though I would love a new Wario Land, do not get me wrong) and it would probably by produced by Sakamoto or Tanabe's team anyway. DK is the only series left, unless it is a new IP. This reasoning is further corroborated the rumors, but even without them it makes logical sense.

A NST-developed Mario vs. DK doesn't change that. They could release a Mario vs. DK now, reinvigorating the interest in DK as a Mario-related character, and than a proper 2D DK game in mid 2023, concurrently with the theme park. Unless... Unless this Mario vs. DK game is also EPD Tokyo 2D game. This is a possibility. After all, all the recent NST games were co-productions with EPD Tokyo. On the bright side, this would be a very high-profile return of the Mario vs. DK series, a reboot for all the intent and purpose, probably ditching the Lemmings gameplay and returning to the DK94 roots. On the other hand... No new DK game in the short terms, and we'll probably just get Returns for the theme park.

Again, that's a possibility. But I believe the NST game and the EPD Tokyo game are two different projects, so we'll get both Mario vs. DK (hopefully with a DK94-inspired gameplay) and 2D DK. It doesn't make any sense to promote DK as its own sub-brand with its own visual identity only to release a Mario spin-off and a port, IMHO.
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would love to see DKCR DX to both tie into the theme park and also give us all DKC on switch
 
Gingerbread Man said:
Let's stick to the facts:
  • We know they are building the DK theme park right now, and it's clearly inspired by DKC Returns, with its own aesthetic setting the area a part from everything else Mario-related;
  • Donkey and Cranky had a huge role in the Mario Movie, and other DKC characters made a cameo appearance;
  • The "Donkey Kong" brand is featured prominently on the merchandise, alongside the "Super Mario" brand. This is not the case for "Yoshi" or "Luigi's Mansion";
  • Nintendo EPD Tokyo recruited for two projects -- a 3D game (very likely the next 3D Mario game) and a 2D game;
  • @MetalLord reported some weeks ago that NST recently finished their project (by looking at some LinkedIn profiles, I suppose);
  • NST and EPD Tokyo recently worked together for Bowser's Fury and the new levels in Captain Toad Switch.

The way I see it, Nintendo is clearly rebuilding the Donkey Kong brand. It would be very very stupid not to release a game with the theme park. Granted, they could just release a Return Hagi port and call it a day. After all, they planed to release 3D World Switch concurrently with the opening of Mario's park.

But there's the real possibility than the 2D Tokyo project is a DK game -- 2D Mario and 2D Yoshi are developed or supervised in Kyoto, and Wario Land doesn't seem to get much love (though I would love a new Wario Land, do not get me wrong) and it would probably by produced by Sakamoto or Tanabe's team anyway. DK is the only series left, unless it is a new IP. This reasoning is further corroborated the rumors, but even without them it makes logical sense.

A NST-developed Mario vs. DK doesn't change that. They could release a Mario vs. DK now, reinvigorating the interest in DK as a Mario-related character, and than a proper 2D DK game in mid 2023, concurrently with the theme park. Unless... Unless this Mario vs. DK game is also EPD Tokyo 2D game. This is a possibility. After all, all the recent NST games were co-productions with EPD Tokyo. On the bright side, this would be a very high-profile return of the Mario vs. DK series, a reboot for all the intent and purpose, probably ditching the Lemmings gameplay and returning to the DK94 roots. On the other hand... No new DK game in the short terms, and we'll probably just get Returns for the theme park.

Again, that's a possibility. But I believe the NST game and the EPD Tokyo game are two different projects, so we'll get both Mario vs. DK (hopefully with a DK94-inspired gameplay) and 2D DK. It doesn't make any sense to promote DK as its own sub-brand with its own visual identity only to release a Mario spin-off and a port, IMHO.
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I also think this title is gonna an evolution/next step of the Mario vs Donkey Kong games, rather than another iteration of the lemmings style of games.
 
Consider the following:
  • The last game came out in 2016 for Wii U/3DS, a time when Mario games were very by-the-numbers
  • The touch-focused Mini gameplay won't be easy to pull off on Switch: it's less ergonomic than a Gamepad/3DS and moving a cursor using the D-Pad or gyro controls in docked mode sounds uncomfortable
  • Switch-era Mario spinoffs saw increases in scope and presentation (even things like Golf and Tennis), and another "mission pack sequel" title for a dormant series isn't going to fly today, even if it's low-budget
  • Switch-era Mario spinoffs also pander to older fans in some way (e.g., Odyssey's return to sandbox style gameplay); a return to DK94's format, or something similar to it, is very possible
    • EDIT: even if the next game is "Lemmings-lite", it's bound to be a step up from Tipping Stars (which was a glorified HTML/JS tech demo using a framework barely used by NST anymore)
  • Thanks to the movie, Miyamoto wants Mario and DK to be less "separate"
  • Also thanks to the movie, more eyes are on DK in general (and his rivalry with Mario was a major highlight of the film)
Given all of this and the 7-year gap, a new Mario vs. DK game could cook. Especially if EPD (or a post-Bowser's Fury/Captain Toad NST) is doing the cooking.

...though I've been wrong before.
 
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Mr. Scallion said:
  • Switch-era Mario spinoffs saw increases in scope and presentation (even things like Golf and Tennis), and another "mission pack sequel" title for a dormant series isn't going to fly today, even if it's low-budget
  • Switch-era Mario spinoffs also pander to older fans in some way (e.g., Odyssey's return to sandbox style gameplay); a return to DK94's format, or something similar to it, is very possible
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Not really... One could argue that the Switch era SpinOffs for Mario are the all time low for the series, besides maybe Mario Party (which was a step up from 9 and 10, but just a tad).

I could give you Mario Tennis Aces being an improvement over Ultra Smash, but.. you know, even the Virtual Boy game was better than Ultra Smash, so it's a low bar.

And again, I don't think there's any reason to believe this is an EPD project, when the series was always NST pet franchise.
 
Mr. Scallion said:
Consider the following:
  • The last game came out in 2016 for Wii U/3DS, a time when Mario games were very by-the-numbers
  • The touch-focused Mini gameplay won't be easy to pull off on Switch: it's less ergonomic than a Gamepad/3DS and moving a cursor using the D-Pad or gyro controls in docked mode sounds uncomfortable
  • Switch-era Mario spinoffs saw increases in scope and presentation (even things like Golf and Tennis), and another "mission pack sequel" title for a dormant series isn't going to fly today, even if it's low-budget
  • Switch-era Mario spinoffs also pander to older fans in some way (e.g., Odyssey's return to sandbox style gameplay); a return to DK94's format, or something similar to it, is very possible
  • Thanks to the movie, Miyamoto wants Mario and DK to be less "separate"
  • Also thanks to the movie, more eyes are on DK in general (and his rivalry with Mario was a major highlight of the film)
Given all of this and the 7-year gap, a new Mario vs. DK game could cook. Especially if EPD is doing the cooking.
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Doesn't matter, it's still not going to fill the niche left by the DKC/DKC-adjacent games. I'm still going to want that game even if this turns out good.
 
CyberWolfJV said:
Not really... One could argue that the Switch era SpinOffs for Mario are the all time low for the series, besides maybe Mario Party (which was a step up from 9 and 10, but just a tad).

I could give you Mario Tennis Aces being an improvement over Ultra Smash, but.. you know, even the Virtual Boy game was better than Ultra Smash, so it's a low bar.

And again, I don't think there's any reason to believe this is an EPD project, when the series was always NST pet franchise.
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Like I said earlier, it's been practically seven years since the last game. I can't see it being just another iteration of what we been having, considering the time frame. Other spinoffs like Mario Strikers making its return was always gonna turn out the way the way it did unfortunately and that's because of Nintendo's awful thought process behind these sports/party games. That's why I personally didn't want that series to return in this current climate of Nintendo.
 
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Dardan Sandiego said:
Yeah, they definitely screwed up here. Possibly their biggest marketing/branding blunder. At the very least Nintendo seems to be aware of people's love for the character and series. The Tropical Freeze port was pretty successful and surprisingly leggy. I also don't think they'd feature him this prominently in the movie and the parks if they didn't have any plans for DK. I've resigned to the next mainline DK potentially skipping the Switch 1 and long-term that's maybe better for the series but it'd still be disappointing, especially given the dearth of other DK content.
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The frustrating part is that this is not the first time they do this. Back during the buyout Nintendo tried a bunch of different things (Jungle Beat, Konga, spin-offs), yet the thing that outsold them all were the GBA remakes of the SNES trilogy. Nintendo knows that what people want are the Country platformers, yet they don’t have a dedicated studio working on them, instead just giving the brand to whomever is available at the time. It’s a huge missed opportunity.
 
Admittedly, Mario vs DK would be odd to bring back. The series kind of burned itself out, with the most recent installment being some weird amiibo spin-off.

I honestly think a Captain Toad sequel would be a more interesting use of NST's time, but maybe this is a small-scale project (if it even exists).
 
As a young lad I actually quite liked the Miniland Mayhem game, even got 100%, but I got very burnt out by the end of it and avoided any of the other Minis/lemming-like games for the rest of time. Captain Toad was an absolute gem though. Give me more of that, NST!
 
Mr. Scallion said:
Won't fill that niche alone, yes.

A true new DKC is what we all want, but I think a really good MvsDK that's a love letter to the arcade games and the Country games and mashes them together in a fun combination would matter a lot.
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Obvious route to take would be a Mario vs DK where instead of the twist being "there are more than four levels", the twist is "it's actually Mario and DK vs K Rool"
 
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