Well, it's out there now.
Squawks-eared listeners of the Kongversation podcast, proficient Blunder Bear-level readers of DK Vine on social media, or even the old Cranky Kongs on the DK Vine Forum have all been privy to my declarations that Nintendo EPD is working on the next Donkey Kong game. This information has come from a couple of my trusted sources at Nintendo (hi Dave Throat!) and has been something I've known about for around two years. But because I don't style DK Vine as a rumor-chasing site (or, L.O.G.-forbid, a 'leaker'), it's only really come up casually when my erstwhile giddiness got the best of me. And because Donkey Kong rumors are never the sexiest for Nintendo fans, it's mostly been an under-the-radar, in-the-know thing for the likes of DK Vine's audience and the Kremling Kampaigners. But all of that has changed today, as now the bigger news sites are beginning to carry the story, starting with Nintendo Life.
Rather than simply regurgitate the information in their article, I thought I'd compare and contrast what they're saying against what I've been told, starting with a history lesson on how we got here.
Development of the new Donkey Kong game purportedly began around 2017 or 2018, when Nintendo decided to bring Donkey Kong back internally for the first time since Nintendo EAD's Donkey Kong Jungle Beat... although Jungle Beat was more of a stopgap than a permanent status quo. For most of the last three decades, Donkey Kong has been a Western-developed franchise. Indeed, the modern foundations for the series and much of its lore were created by Rare across its Donkey Kong Country, Land, 64, and Diddy Kong Racing titles.
After Rare was purchased by Microsoft in 2002, they continued developing DK titles by creating remakes for the Donkey Kong Country trilogy on the Game Boy Advance from 2003 to 2005 (a Diddy Kong Racing remake, Diddy Kong Racing DS, would follow in 2007). These came out at the same time that Nintendo was trying out every conceivable direction for Donkey Kong. We had peripheral-fueled party games with Namco's Donkey Konga line. There were Paon's quirky and fanservice-heavy titles like DK: King of Swing and Donkey Kong Barrel Blast. Why, there was even an attempt at seeing if the public would prefer a return to Donkey Kong's villainous, barrel-throwing abductor arcade roots with Mario vs. Donkey Kong. And then there was Jungle Beat. Bongo controls aside, Jungle Beat was almost an attempt at reverse-engineering Donkey Kong Country had it been originated at Nintendo. New characters and an overly bombastic attitude put off those that grew up with Donkey Kong Country, but contrary to then-contemporary reports, it was all done with the best of intentions.
This cold war for Donkey Kong's post-Rare direction had a clear winner: Rare. With their Game Boy Advance trilogy the most consistent sellers of the bunch, Nintendo scuttled Rare's desire to make Donkey Kong Country 4 for the Nintendo DS and decided it should be done by a studio that wasn't owned by the competition. Enter Retro Studios. The Texas-based studio took over in the late 2000s with the development of Donkey Kong Country Returns, becoming the de facto home of Donkey Kong for the next half-decade. Following the release of Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, they moved on to a new project (alongside famed Donkey Kong composer David Wise) that gradually entered development hell. Nintendo ultimately wasn't happy with the game, and even pulled it from their paltry E3 2015 showings at the last minute.
Can you dig it? http://t.co/kvPfmQZwqC
— Retro Studios (@RetroStudios) June 9, 2015
At that same E3, Nintendo announced a partnership with Activision that would see Donkey Kong (and Bowser) join the Skylanders franchise with Skylanders SuperChargers. While a seemingly curious choice at the time, this was partially done to keep Donkey Kong in the limelight while Retro was busy with their next project. And Nintendo wouldn't be waiting for Retro to circle back around to Donkey Kong. Shortly thereafter, a new Donkey Kong game entered development by an outside studio for the Nintendo Switch. While little is known about this project, Nintendo decided to go in an entirely different direction around mid-to-late 2017. Led by Shigeru Miyamoto's desire for the Donkey Kong franchise to come home, and championed by younger EPD devs who grew up with the Super Donkey Kong series (as Donkey Kong Country is known in Japan), the decision was made for Nintendo EPD to take over the DK series. This timeframe also corresponds with when Nintendo's merchandising department split off the Donkey Kong brand from Super Mario, making it a separate entity for the first time in nearly 20 years.
As they were starting over from scratch, more stopgaps were devised. Tropical Freeze was announced for the Nintendo Switch in early 2018, as was the Donkey Kong Adventure DLC for Ubisoft's Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle. But by that point, Donkey Kong was firmly ensconced in his new home in Japan. And that's the abbreviated history of why there hasn't been a new Donkey Kong game since 2014. So Nintendo Life, what do the rumors say?
YouTuber LonelyGoomba has mentioned the rumour in passing on social media and other sources have also discussed it, but Nintendo Life can confirm that it has heard the same rumour from an independent (and very trusted) source, which would appear to lend this report some degree of legitimacy. However, our source claims that the game will be 2D (or 2.5D, if you prefer) and not 3D.
The way this is being phrased makes it sound like this is just the Odyssey team doing Donkey Kong. I've been led to believe that this is a new EPD team that has formed from other teams specifically for the purpose of creating Donkey Kong games.
And sorry to disappoint, but I have no info on the 2D/2.5D vs. 3D debate. Exactly what kind of game it is has never been shared with me, except that it's a platformer of some sort. I've speculated that the absence of information from my sources might indicate it's some sort of hybrid, not exactly Donkey Kong Country but not exactly a full 3D platformer either. But that's just a hypothesis, not an actual leak from my sources.
It's the big ape's 40th anniversary, and while I'm not sure how Nintendo is celebrating the occasion, there is a new 2D DK game being developed by EPD Tokyo. Retro is obviously busy with other things, so Nintendo has taken it upon themselves to bring DK back in as internal series. Don't expect the "Country" moniker to return, as EPD Tokyo are not interested in making a sequel to games they didn't make. Diddy, Cranky and the Kremling Krew should all be returning in this installment. It sounds like this game is launching before the end of the year. An E3 announcement seems very likely."
What I've been told is similar. It probably won't have the Country branding, as outside of some retro-tinged arcade memorabilia, Donkey Kong Country IS the Donkey Kong brand now. The info about Diddy, Cranky, and the Kremlings is all news to me, although it's been implied to me that the new game will carry on the legacy of the Country games in a way that Jungle Beat never did, especially with the enthusiasm of the younger EPD devs and the after-effects of K. Rool performing as well as he did in the Smash Ballot. This isn't 2004 and there's no longer a battle for Donkey Kong's soul. So yes, Diddy is probably a sure thing, and I'd be shocked if K. Rool didn't appear.
Will it show up at E3? Maybe. COVID has slowed down the entire industry, but between 2021 being Donkey Kong's 40th anniversary and us being on the precipice of Donkey Kong Island opening at Universal Studios, this year would be the time to announce it.
If you listen, you can hear it coming. Be sure to listen to us on the Kongversation, as I'll be sharing more details on the rumored EPD Donkey Kong platformer in episodes to come!
Source: Nintendo Life, Lonely Goomba, Zippo, Me, Dave Throat and the Funky Bunch
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