Donkey Kong Country's lead character artist weights in on the Switch 2 version of DK after 30 years of his design being the standard.

Donkey Kong has looked pretty much the same since Rare put out Donkey Kong Country in 1994, but it looks like Mario Kart 9 might be a turning point for the character, as he now resembles his Super Mario Bros.

Mario Kart fans are divided over the huge change to Donkey Kong's design that makes the character look like he does in the new Mario movie.

Former Rare artist Kevin Bayliss has responded to Donkey Kong's redesign seen in the Mario Kart segment of the Switch 2 announcement. As fans quickly spotted, the gorilla has received a bit of a redesign for the next karting game.

In the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal trailer, what appears to be a new Mario Kart game shows off a new design for Donkey Kong that makes him look more like his design from The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

With the reveal of the Switch 2, Nintendo also gave us a brief glimpse at a brand-new Mario Kart game; something that many of us were hoping for after the last mainline entry launched over ten years ago.

Donkey Kong’s new look arrives the same day that Nintendo is launching Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, a Switch re-release of the original Wii game. That release, notably overshadowed by the Switch 2 unveiling, makes the contrast a little more stark.

The newly unveiled Mario Kart 9 game for Nintendo Switch 2 sports the first sign of the Donkey Kong redesign from the movie.

You'll have to put a lot of work into Donkey Kong Country Returns HD to unlock its secret world, but it's worth the effort if full completion is your goal.