With all the excitement surrounding Donkey Kong’s updated appearance in “Donkey Kong Bananza,” an artist decided to imagine how the iconic character might look if Nintendo had stuck with his previous design for the upcoming Switch 2 game.
Felipe Valdés, sharing their thoughts on X back in April, mentioned, “I’m not a fan of DK’s look in Bananza, so I decided to tweak some of his unusual expressions to make them align more with Rare’s original design.” They invited others to share their opinions on these changes.
The modifications mainly focus on reducing the size of Donkey Kong’s enlarged mouth and giving his soft eyebrows a more defined look.
In Bananza, Donkey Kong is portrayed as a whimsical character full of expressions. However, Valdés’ rendition gives him a more classic, rugged vibe reminiscent of the Donkey Kong Country days. Personally, I find myself leaning toward the old-school flair, though I do respect Nintendo’s creative attempt to inject more humor into Bananza’s animations.
It’s important to recognize that these are just snapshot edits. As appealing as they are, the original Rare design might not have meshed well with the art style Nintendo envisioned for Bananza. While Valdés’ dedication to this project is commendable, creating a video game involves much more complexity than a few artistic edits. Although many of us might prefer Donkey Kong’s classic look, we should still appreciate the hard work the Bananza team has poured into the game. Ultimately, it’s shaping up to be a visual treat.
