Donkey Kong’s new look in Switch 2 Mario Kart approved by former Rare artist

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. He now looks closer to his film design and the retro design by Shigehisa Nakaue, with a cuter looking face.

Bayliss, who redesigned Donkey Kong for the SNES game Donkey Kong Country, responded to a fan video spoofing the new look.

“You can take the KONG out of the Country, but you can’t take the Country out of the Kong! (I love it – this is really funny! – Everything changes! – Change is good!),” wrote Bayliss.

While Donkey Kong is the most obvious example, look closer and all the characters in the Mario Kart clip have a softer, more cartoonish look.

Nintendo similarly redesigned Princess Peach in the box art for Princess Peach: Showtime! to be aligned with the film.

Nintendo announced the Switch 2 last week with a short first-look trailer of the console’s redesign.

It was shown along with a clip of a new Mario Kart game, which fans have been scouring for clues. One theory is the addition of fuel tanks to shake up gameplay.