OK I totally fucked up, I thought it had sold something like 1-1.5 millions.
To be fair, it sold 4 million over the course of like.. 5 years. This isn't to say it's bad, but its legs were quite slow. I really do think both Returns and TF are tainted titles though because of their level of difficulty, if they ever truly go back to DKC formula and lighten them up a bit in difficulty, the series will do very well.OK I totally fucked up, I thought it had sold something like 1-1.5 millions.
4 millions for a 2D platformer no called Mario is fucking lot for full price.
Nintendo should totally have them do nother one
And PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GIVE US DKC RETURNS HD
Totally agree.
There is a reason the first sold a lot and then the sequel sold very little immediately. People were excited for the return of DK, but there was a ton of negative feedback about the difficulty and garbage motion controls. It took them releasing a port with an easy mode on a console bigger than the Wii to even approach a bit over half of that game, that usually indicates people weren't all keen on the last one. It's easy to get people to come back with a return to a popular series, it's not easy to get them to stay and Returns was not it. There is a reason Nintendo didn't keep Retro on them, they aren't a good fit for what normal people want from DKC.
Im not sure the source on that, but I can confirm Dave Throat knew Banjo would be in Smash since early 2018. You can even check during the Grinch Leak someone on DKVine said they think it’s true because they heard about Banjo lol
This is how I feel, but considering how Tokyo had the hiring call for both a 2D and 3D game way back then, I assume the 2D game is DK while 3D is obviously the next Mario.
He could've gotten the entire Ultimate roster right and I still would be 100% skeptical of anyone claiming ''Sakurai called for dibs on reviving K Rool and also an entire content portion for Tropical Freeze was cancelled due to it.''
I'm saying I don't know if Dave Throat is responsible for that rumor/claim, but that he at least is reliable thus far, based on just what I know.
This is incorrect.
The Switch version sold over 4 million copies as of December 2021. It sold similarly to Kirby Star Allies, another 2D platformer that launched in early 2018.
Historically, DK games have also been released late in a console lifespan. Donkey Kong Country (1994), Donkey Kong 64 (1999), Jungle Beat (2004), and Returns (2010) were released roughly two years before the successor of their console appeared on the market.
DK definitely has potential to sell over 10 million. Donkey Kong 64 and Diddy Kong Racing sold 5 million on a console with a quarter of the sales of Switch.
Ok, where is the data then? I was under the impression the Wii game alone sold over 6.5 million, but maybe that figure was wrong. Also, a DK game selling like a Kirby game is not normal either, Kirby up to his 3D game was always vastly smaller in comparison. The DKC trilogy likely outsold a dozen mainline Kirby release.
I meant that you were incorrect to say that Tropical Freeze sold 'much less' on Switch than it did Wii U; in fact it has sold twice as much as it did on Wii U. The DK TF data comes from the CEMA report in 2022 and can easily be spotted on Wikipedia or InstallBase.
I think the question about 2D or 3D has a obvious answer since the 3D one is new Mario game.
Fair enough. TF's combined sales aren't far off Returns on Wii: 6.14 million for TF combined versus 6.5 million for Returns.
What you don't understand is that a port of a game, even one that nobody played, is never going to sell like a new game (mario kart 8 deluxe is a crazy exception)
Nah, Retro DKC games are significantly harder than the SNES trilogy. Especially Returns. TF offset it a bit, but Returns, especially the original Wii version, has to be one of the most difficult games Nintendo has published in the 21st century.
The main reason people think of DKC1 and 2 as "hard" is because of save point starvation, overall they were about average difficulty as far as SNES platformers go. The actual level design is much simpler and less chaotic than the Retro games. I beat those games as a kid without much issue, but Returns and TF are very challenging games all around.
Yep, it's really quite clear why K. Rool was such a hugely requested Smash character even after he became less prominent after the 90s. The Kremlings are cool (kool?), there's really nothing else to it. Big freaky crocodile monsters are distinct and iconic, and it's always come off as asinine that people say they don't want Kremlings back because they're too overused when they haven't been in a Donkey Kong game in over 15 years, and haven't been in a new traditional DK platformer since 1999. Not to mention we're on 9 years of no new Donkey Kong game at all.The real thing holding back DK’s sales potential in the 21st century has been lack of Kremlings. Bring them back and Nintendo can fill a banana horde with the money they will make.
But actually… while I started this comment as a joke, I do think there is some correlation to it. Rare-era DK on the SNES and N64 kind of marketed itself as an “cool / edgy, but unlike Sonic is available on Nintendo” alternative to the more universally welcoming Mario. They really milked cool 90s kid interests and vibes with the franchise. I.e.: The somehow simultaneously dark yet colorful graphics were a selling point, realistic jungle/adventure theme, soundtrack full of bangers (culminating in the DK Rap), Taco Bell and Lunchables cross promotions, Diddy’s jukebox and hip hat, Cranky‘s ornery dialogue, Candy‘s flirtatiousness, Funky Kong’s existence, and K. Rool being marginally more threatening than Bowser, DKR was more chaotic than MK64. The list goes on. Some of these things are present in modern DK, but it’s a different vibe. The difference in player experience between DKC and SMW felt more stark than, say, NSMBU and DKCTF. To me, at least.
Where Mario hit the Disney kid demographic, DK hit the Nickelodeon kid one. And, with nothing but love to post-Rare DK, I do feel like a lot of that specific brand of personality was lost when the Rare breakup happened. I think this “edgy” theming I am referring to has been delivered really well in the Splatoon franchise, so Nintendo can pull it off without Rare. And while a brand new Switch DK is probably going to sell great regardless, a return to its “90s era personality“ (which includes Kremlings) would be a unique feel relative to Nintendo’s other Platformers.
