To Fellow DK Fans - The Future of the Jungle King?

[gannondorf4ever]

Well, as a huge DKC fan, and fan of the lovable gorilla and his friends overall, I began thinking about what has happened to DK over the years. his greatest moments were, arguably, his debut as a platformer in DKC1, and in DK64. Diddy Kong was a major component in all of these games as well, and earned a name for himself as a major gaming star.

In the past few years, DK has been neglected much worse than almost any gaming star. He was reduced to bongo-banging ape in Donkey Konga, whther or not it was fun, it doesnt matter. Donkey Konga 2 followed suit.

Dk Jungle Beat was..well, I guess you could call it a platformer, but really, the only character who was important in that game was DK, and various other apes that before had nothing to do with DK's history. K. Rool was not the major villain of that game, and all of the good elements of past DK games were forgotten. Diddy didnt show up either, which was a shock to me.

In various DK hand-held games, those elements game back, but werent as fantastic as they once were. DK Jungle Climber brought Diddy and K. Rool back into the Mix (Diddy appeared many times before that, in Mario spin-off games and such)

I did not play Jungle Climber, so I cannot say what it was, but I know it was not nearly as great as pre-2001 DK games, and I dont even know whether or not it was a platformer.

Now, Shigeru Miyamoto, who now I dislike because of his hatred of the DKC series, is now in charge (I believe) of the DK series' future after Rare's (bless those geniuses) departure from Nintendo. Given his dislike of DK64 and the DKC series, will we ever see a game of that premise, and quality again in DK's lifespan?

a Dk game was released in the fall that featured many DK characters we all remember, including Lanky Kong. Unfortunately, it was a racing game, which, (I did not play this either, though I do need to try it) did not sell well, and will not encourage Nintendo to produce more DK games, or if they do, it wont encourage them enough to put alot of effort into it.

This brings me to the end of Part one of my DK rant: Will DK's series ever return to the basics? Dk and his friends vs. K. Rool and his bannana stealing crocs? Or will we just see more and more DK spinoffs and other games that vary greatly from the way it used to be.

And saying "Well, things change, it wont go back to the basics, ever" is not a good arguement. Look at Mario and Zelda. Theyre still the same. Why cant DK be as they were? (Yes, I know Miyamoto did not produce DKC, but can he at ;least see how much fans loved them?)

Now for part 2. Dk's future in Smash.

The next Smash game will not be headed by Sakurai, who seems to be the only person who loves how Dk used to be (Look at the moveset and style he gave Diddy, Cartwheel + DKC jump + DK64 weapons)

Now the next Smash will probably be headed by, can you guess? Miyamoto. doubt me? I wouldnt.


Now, Miyamoto will of course put Dk back in, because I believe the original DK was his creation... but what about Diddy? Diddy first debuted in Dkc, the series Miyamoto dislikes. So either he wont put Diddy in, or hell change his moveset because it reflects that series, or hell be lazy (I hope so) and not care about that.

This is also bad news for K. rool lovers, as there seems to be no chance of him being in with Miyamoto heading the next smash.


Does anyone else share my feelings, does anyone else share the same concerns? or can anyone put my mind at ease about DK? I'd prefer that my favorite video gaming icon does not get shafted by Nintendo..but maybe theres no hope.

[Frown]

I don't think we shuld worry about DK in SSB4. They just finished Brawl.

[gannondorf4ever]

I don't think we shuld worry about DK in SSB4. They just finished Brawl.

Well, admittedly, that wasnt the point of the read really, it has to do with DK's future as a whole.

Which does include SSB4.

[eggs-on-toast]

Well, me personally, can see DK making a DKC style return or a great platformer return. It's pretty obious that big DK fans (like me) just want a great monkey platformer. I can see it coming back after the not so great success of the bongo's and racing and Nintendo will want a big improvement to make big(ger) bucks. I can see DK making a grand return, and can see the previous few games maybe being a testing stage.

But this is all just my opinion.

Oh and BTW, I can't see DK getting shafted in Brawl, he is a big Nintendo charcter still, and the only big change in his moveset i can see hapening is his cocunut gun being brought in. But I hate the fact he got the boot as a PC in the Mario party series.

[gannondorf4ever]

Well, me personally, can see DK making a DKC style return or a great platformer return. It's pretty obious that big DK fans (like me) just want a great monkey platformer. I can see it coming back after the not so great success of the bongo's and racing and Nintendo will want a big improvement to make big(ger) bucks. I can see DK making a grand return, and can see the previous few games maybe being a testing stage.

But this is all just my opinion.

Oh and BTW, I can't see DK getting shafted in Brawl, he is a big Nintendo charcter still, and the only big change in his moveset i can see hapening is his cocunut gun being brought in. But I hate the fact he got the boot as a PC in the Mario party series.


Me too, I hate that he wasnt playable in any Mario Party after 4... bah, why Nintendo/Hudson? Why?

Dk > Toad/Toadette, Waluigi, Daisy, the list goes on..

[the_Capt_Falcon_Master]

i would love to see another dkc game, especially on the wii. When was the last time dk had a legit 3d game (was it really all the way back to dk64?)

[gannondorf4ever]

i would love to see another dkc game, especially on the wii. When was the last time dk had a legit 3d game (was it really all the way back to dk64?)

Unfortunately yeah, its been almost 10 years... :(

[TheSpoon]

Coming from someone who has played DKC1-3 and DK64, I am too starving for another epic DK adventure. I'd love for Nintendo to take the franchise more seriously and put together something. Here's to hoping.

[hippochinfat!!]

Who cares if Diddy or K. rool didn't show up in jungle beat? It was AMAZING. By far my favourite DK game.

I'm a huge DK game and I'll admit the newer games, while fun, aren't as good as DKC and DK64. Not counting DK:JB of course.

About Miyamoto leading the next smash...hell no. It won't happen. We all know in the end Sakurai will come back. Or some super cool guy like me. Y'know. Also, you're acting like Miyamoto would totally ignore the fans.

[Ca$hoholic]

Donkey kong jungle climber is totally amazing!
Cranky kong, k.rool, Funky kong, Dixie (only in vs mode) & Candy kong = instant win, all the same enemies, only thing different is that way you play the game...
But i would call it, and must say that this is the closest thing we have to DKC 4

That alian banana is awesome too xD

[Dr. Stark]

They'll never make DK as good as the fast characters in smash.

But that's ok with me. I'll still fight with him and win more times than I'll lose.

[SmashBro99]

I want another DK64 experience.

[the_Capt_Falcon_Master]

*starts to pray for a good dk64 style wii game*

[Krytha]

Im so mad at Nintendo that I can't write a better post than this.

[Dust319]

Your points are logical, and I agree that the real "DK" experience was the SNES DKC games (not the biggest fan of DK64 myself though).

However, I believe that in an interview shortly after LoZ:TP, Miyamoto stated that Phantom Hourglass may be the last Legend of Zelda to feature "traditional" Zelda gameplay. An example of this is Link's Crossbow training. Sure it's only a promo for the Wii Zapper, but it shows that Nintendo is looking at taking that series in a very different direction as well.

Somehow, I believe that in keeping with their family friendly, casual game theme with the Wii, we may be seeing some drastic changes in how alot of Nintendo's favorite characters are presented, Donkey Kong included.

As far as "Smash 4" goes, I think we'll have to wait and see on that. Miyamoto has never done a fighting title before, so it's possible that Nintendo would give Smash to someone else, or hire a third party to direct it.

[JhMS]

Yeah,it looks like Miyamoto hates the saga(well,the Country saga).
Im praying for a new 3D adventure Wii game,with the old characters and enemies.
Lets hope.

PS:Call me crazy,but I would pick Kojima to direct SSB4.

[Nokonoko]

In the past few years, DK has been neglected much worse than almost any gaming star. He was reduced to bongo-banging ape in Donkey Konga, whther or not it was fun, it doesnt matter. Donkey Konga 2 followed suit.

Dk Jungle Beat was..well, I guess you could call it a platformer, but really, the only character who was important in that game was DK, and various other apes that before had nothing to do with DK's history. K. Rool was not the major villain of that game, and all of the good elements of past DK games were forgotten. Diddy didnt show up either, which was a shock to me.

[…]

Now, Shigeru Miyamoto, who now I dislike because of his hatred of the DKC series, is now in charge (I believe) of the DK series' future after Rare's (bless those geniuses) departure from Nintendo. Given his dislike of DK64 and the DKC series, will we ever see a game of that premise, and quality again in DK's lifespan?
Really, now. Miyamoto hate is not going to help, and only shows that you don’t know the facts. Try actually reading some interviews before you go around pretending to be an ultimate fan.

Miyamoto had nothing to do with the abominations that were the stupid bongo-pounding games. Namco made the Konga series, while the Nintendo-developed Jungle Beat series was headed by Takao Shimizu — Miyamoto had no involvement.

It might do you good to remember that it was Miyamoto who designed the DK we know now, tie and all, at Rare’s request.

We’ve always known that Nintendo, in general, isn’t too positive about the Rare continuity that says that the DK of the present is an adult DK Jr, the son of old DK who is now called “Cranky Kong”. Yet in an interview with some of the designers for the J.B. series, they openly said that they thought the Rare characters and enemies were “boring”, so they designed their own.

Yes, Nintendo is at fault.

No, Miyamoto has nothing to do with it.

And I enjoyed Jungle Climber very much. It wasn’t a traditional platformer, but it had the kind of innovation we expected from Rare, and you were collecting DK, KONG, and Banana Coins just like in the old days. You really should give it a try, because Paon (who developed King of Swing and Jungle Climber) are staying true to DK’s Rare roots.

a Dk game was released in the fall that featured many DK characters we all remember, including Lanky Kong. Unfortunately, it was a racing game, which, (I did not play this either, though I do need to try it) did not sell well, and will not encourage Nintendo to produce more DK games, or if they do, it wont encourage them enough to put alot of effort into it.
Apparently, critics didn’t receive it well. It actually hasn’t been released in Australia yet, but I will consider buying it when it does.

This brings me to the end of Part one of my DK rant: Will DK's series ever return to the basics? Dk and his friends vs. K. Rool and his bannana stealing crocs? Or will we just see more and more DK spinoffs and other games that vary greatly from the way it used to be.
If it happens, it’ll be Paon who make the game. So I suggest you support them by buying Jungle Climber instead of just aimlessly spouting diatribe.

And saying "Well, things change, it wont go back to the basics, ever" is not a good arguement. Look at Mario and Zelda. Theyre still the same. Why cant DK be as they were? (Yes, I know Miyamoto did not produce DKC, but can he at ;least see how much fans loved them?)
Yeah, because Mayomoto owns Nintendo and controls every single first-, second-, and hell, third-party game released for Nintendo consoles. Pfft.

The next Smash game will not be headed by Sakurai, who seems to be the only person who loves how Dk used to be (Look at the moveset and style he gave Diddy, Cartwheel + DKC jump + DK64 weapons)
Note that a trophy description for DK in Mêlée suggested that he was the original DK, rather than Cranky Kong’s son, completely ignoring the Rare continuity. And DK doing a DK Country-style roll for a dash attack would be far more effective than the silly kick they had DK do. Though to the game’s credit, Diddy and Dixie did appear as trophies.

I don’t really understand why DK is no longer a playable character in Mario Party games. You are right in praising Smash Bros. for being true to Rare, though.

Now, Miyamoto will of course put Dk back in, because I believe the original DK was his creation... but what about Diddy? Diddy first debuted in Dkc, the series Miyamoto dislikes. So either he wont put Diddy in, or hell change his moveset because it reflects that series, or hell be lazy (I hope so) and not care about that.
I do recall Miyamoto bitterly saying that he felt the only reason the Country games were so popular in the West was because of an obsession for graphics. However, everyone has off days, and I somehow doubt that he hates the DK Country games as much as you seem to think he does. I also don’t see any proof suggesting Miyamoto will be head developer of the next Smash game. They’ve been second-party games thus far, and Miyamoto only works in the Nintendo E.A.D. department, as a head producer (but not for any recent DK games).

Relax already. DK will be fine, as long as Paon sticks around.

[hippochinfat!!]

Your points are logical, and I agree that the real "DK" experience was the SNES DKC games (not the biggest fan of DK64 myself though).

However, I believe that in an interview shortly after LoZ:TP, Miyamoto stated that Phantom Hourglass may be the last Legend of Zelda to feature "traditional" Zelda gameplay. An example of this is Link's Crossbow training. Sure it's only a promo for the Wii Zapper, but it shows that Nintendo is looking at taking that series in a very different direction as well.

Somehow, I believe that in keeping with their family friendly, casual game theme with the Wii, we may be seeing some drastic changes in how alot of Nintendo's favorite characters are presented, Donkey Kong included.

As far as "Smash 4" goes, I think we'll have to wait and see on that. Miyamoto has never done a fighting title before, so it's possible that Nintendo would give Smash to someone else, or hire a third party to direct it.

You're probaly getting that from this really stupid blog from a while had alot of fake info. It said brawl would have alternate costumes and no clones at that there is going to be a brand new Zelda designed for Wii that will come out 2009 and it will be very different from the other Zelda games.

So don't worry the next Zelda won't be totally different or anything.

[gannondorf4ever]

@ Nokonoko, Yes, I did find out that I was a bit mis-informed after posting, having learned that Miyamoto did infact produce the DKC games and Rare designed them. Maybe he will realize the fans love them, and bring back a DKC/DK64 style experience.

And Well, I suppose yes, Smash is second party, so if Sakurai doesnt head the next one (Which Im actually starting to think he might after things he said in rcent interviews) it may not be Miyamoto... lets hope not, afterall, he wanted to have Brawl only use the Wiimote....

And lets HOPE that Phantom Hourglass was not the last traditional Zelda title... PLEASE....

I dont want Zelda to travel the direction DK has.... Not Zelda too....

[Luigi player]

I really share your DK feelings there. I absolutely LOVED the DKC games and DK64, but that was my last game. I didn't even know there were more games than those, but even if I did, I don't like those bongo games. I want a platformer like DK64, with better graphics, more and other levels and other fun new things. Like 2 player adventure or something. That would be amazing. 1 player games aren't really that fun for me.

I played jungle climber once, but it's really annoying how the climbing works and the graphics really suck.

A DK Wii game would be too awesome...


And about Brawl:
Well, I hope DK and Diddy will stay somewhat the same. I love DKs new look and Diddy looks awesome too. The DKC look is just too awesome and I hope it won't be changed...
And I really hope for K. Rool... or at least Dixie :/

[gannondorf4ever]

I really share your DK feelings there. I absolutely LOVED the DKC games and DK64, but that was my last game. I didn't even know there were more games than those, but even if I did, I don't like those bongo games. I want a platformer like DK64, with better graphics, more and other levels and other fun new things. Like 2 player adventure or something. That would be amazing. 1 player games aren't really that fun for me.

I played jungle climber once, but it's really annoying how the climbing works and the graphics really suck.

A DK Wii game would be too awesome...


And about Brawl:
Well, I hope DK and Diddy will stay somewhat the same. I love DKs new look and Diddy looks awesome too. The DKC look is just too awesome and I hope it won't be changed...
And I really hope for K. Rool... or at least Dixie :/

I agree with you.

And to those who think it, I DO NOT hate Miyamoto. I just greatly dislike the direction he's allowed DK to go, (Could say the exact same for Starfox lol) and hope he realizes that the real fans would love DKC/DK64 style games back (Well, I assume most of you do anyway..)

But I suppose all we can do now is hope.

[LittleKey]

I never beat DK64, but I should. That was a great game, and it was a symbol for the quality of the DK games. Oh, and Noko, you're right, DK should have the roll instead of that stupid kick thing.

[Shonenbat Ness]

Meh, that roll attack seemed pretty stupid to me...

I'm fine with the kick.

[Nokonoko]

nd to those who think it, I DO NOT hate Miyamoto. I just greatly dislike the direction he's allowed DK to go
To reiterate what I’ve already said: Miyamoto has had no involvement with the DK games Nintendo has developed in recent times. He was not the producer of any of them. You can blame Nintendo, but not him. Not at all.

If anything, blame Rare: it was their choice to leave Nintendo, and in the process they left their own franchise to be neglected. DK’s Rare glory days, as we knew them, ended because of Rare’s actions. Not Miyamoto’s.

[gannondorf4ever]

To reiterate what I’ve already said: Miyamoto has had no involvement with the DK games Nintendo has developed in recent times. He was not the producer of any of them. You can blame Nintendo, but not him. Not at all.

If anything, blame Rare: it was their choice to leave Nintendo, and in the process they left their own franchise to be neglected. DK’s Rare glory days, as we knew them, ended because of Rare’s actions. Not Miyamoto’s.

True. he had no involvement. It just upsets me that he's allowed it to get this way. It was his creation, and it has been so utterly neglected (it doesnt matter if Jungle Climber and DKJB were good, it's such a tremendous change from DK's past. Mario hasnt changed. Zelda may or may not be changing, why should his 3rd most popular creation be tossed away? He allowed it to drift to 3rd Party companies (Just as he did Starfox) so in a way, it is his fault.

I dont need to blame Rare, Miyamoto had alot of involvement in the creation of the DKC games and Dk64, which makes me wonder why he dislikes it, sigh..

[gannondorf4ever]

Ack, triple post, **** my computer...

[gannondorf4ever]

Accidental Triple post, move along. :)

[Nokonoko]

It just upsets me that he's allowed it to get this way. It was his creation, and it has been so utterly neglected (it doesnt matter if Jungle Climber and DKJB were good, it's such a tremendous change from DK's past.
I said Jungle Climber was good. It’s the second of Paon’s games, which are shaping up to be extremely good. Jungle Beat was one of those horrendous bongo games, right?

Mario hasnt changed. Zelda may or may not be changing, why should his 3rd most popular creation be tossed away?
Zelda’s been following the same format, yes, but always with unique spins. Wind Waker is a classic example of not pandering to the fanbase and still making a brilliant game. Go and buy Jungle Climber.

As for Mario — are you sure? We’ve seen stuff like Super Princess Peach, not to mention the excellent RPG-style Paper Mario series (except for the Wii one <__<).

And once again, he had no say in his “third-most popular creation” being tossed away. Did it get tossed away? DK was still there in the recent Namco- and Nintendo-developed games — it was all the Rare characters and enemies that were discarded. Not by Paon, though.

He allowed it to drift to 3rd Party companies (Just as he did Starfox) so in a way, it is his fault.
Allowed it to “drift”? Of course he did! If it weren’t for Rare coming along, there wouldn’t have been a DK Country! Also … you’re thinking of second-party companies. ;)

I dont need to blame Rare, Miyamoto had alot of involvement in the creation of the DKC games and Dk64, which makes me wonder why he dislikes it, sigh..
Um. How much involvement did he have, exactly? He designed the new DK … but Rare designed Diddy … and all the enemies … and made the entire game. Since, you know, Miyamoto was in the wrong country to be involved hands-on.

And please provide a link that proves Miyamoto actively dislikes the DK Country series, kthx. I somehow doubt it’s true. I know he expressed frustration that people were obsessing over the games not for their gameplay, but just for their amazing graphics — he is an artist by trade, but making the game look nice to the extent Rare went to almost ended up killing the project. It simply wouldn’t have appealed to his sensibilities at the time: up until that point, gameplay had always been the focus of developers.

Look, all you can do is support Paon and hope that their next platformer is more traditional. If you played Jungle Climber for just a few minutes, you’d see that the DK Country spirit is living on.

Now, can we all MOVE ON as DK fans?

[gannondorf4ever]

Well, that does make me more optimistic. Myabe the company that made Jungle Climber, being that it was only their second game, will change the style of their DK games, assuming this was a test, and bring it back to an eve more DKC-style game. (This is all assuming they have the rights to the DK games now, or at least the right to create them.)

I now have more hope for the future.

And yes, I should try Jungle Climber, if it's as great as some have said.

[volbound1700]

Agree with DKC games need to come back... they were awesome.

Disagree with Miyamoto being bad for Smash. I think he would be better then Sakurai. However, Sakurai will do next one. Read IGN interview, he hints at it.

[volbound1700]

Gameplay of DKC was awsome as well and the music for first one was great. Zelda may change because Twilight Princess did so bad. Mario is nothing like the originals, however, Galaxy tried to appeal to old schools. To many racing stupid animals and trying to find stars, in the past it use to be avoid obstacles and get to the end.

Miyamoto gave us: LoZ, AoL, Mario Bros, SMB, SMB2, SMB3, SMW, Donkey Kong and many more creations. This guy would be awesome with DKC, Brawl, or any game. He is probably the greatest video game creator of all-time.

[Testament27]

i feel exactly as you guys do. when rare left they took a piece of dk with them, and nintendo has been trying to fill that void in vain.

DKC series for snes was not only the height of the kong franchise, but platforming game types as well. Just llike sonic, oh how the mighty have fallen