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.