Donkey Kong's Old Look Isn't Dead Quite Yet

With the release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie in 2023, Nintendo introduced a more playful and expressive Donkey Kong that differed from the Rare-created version of the character that lasted for almost three decades. Then, this year has seen the redesigned Donkey Kong not only featured in Mario Kart World, but also a brand-new adventure with Donkey Kong Bananza. That said, Donkey Kong's old look hasn't been barreled up for good.

On Instagram, Nintendo of America shared a new photo (the third one below) of Shigeru Miyamoto posing with the Rare-designed Donkey Kong at Super Nintendo World in Universal Orlando. The brand-new theme park just opened to the public. As such, one might expect the Donkey Kong costume to sport the character's refreshed look, but that's not the case.

One major reason for the old look might be because Super Nintendo World features a Donkey Kong Country section. Donkey Kong Country is the 1994 SNES game in which Rare crafted its take on the iconic character. So, it makes sense a theme park based on that world features the same version of Donkey Kong. Nintendo also released Donkey Kong Country Returns HD earlier this year for Switch.

Interestingly, Miyamoto chatted about Donkey Kong's evolution earlier this week with IGN. "And going back to the design that Rare came up with, we re-evaluated; what can we do with the design to make it more expressive? And then when it comes to the movie, we decided to move forward with this new-generation Donkey Kong design," explained Miyamoto.

The old Donkey Kong can be seen in person at Super Nintendo World in Universal Orlando. Meanwhile, the new Donkey Kong will be featured in Mario Kart World when it launches June 5, alongside Switch 2. Donkey Kong Bananza is then set to release July 17.