Why the time is right for a New Donkey Kong Country

An article by Jomingo

---

There is always speculation that the DK series will have a return to it's DKC roots sometime soon. Why not? Stranger things have happened. New Donkey Kong Country, if you haven't guessed, is the fictional title that I will be using to refer to any manifestation of such a game. Now, let me explain what exactly I am thinking of when I imagine such a game. First of all, it could be a Donkey Kong Country 4-like sequel obviously with new locations and characters. Or perhaps it is just a sort of new imagining with a very close style to the DKC trilogy. Either way, I think it is likely to happen, the following list sets out to prove it.

. . .

Well, first off, retro-revivals are all the rage in this day and age. For instance, there's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wario Land: Shake it, Bonk: Brink of Extinction, Sonic in Project Needlemouse, Earthworm Jim HD, Bionic Commando Rearmed, Contra Rebirth, Megaman 9 (and 10), and A Boy and his Blob. That's a lot of classic platform styled game revivals. So naturally, Donkey Kong Country seems likely.

. . .

The fact that the trilogy has sold so well on the Virtual Console shows that people are still eager to play classic DKC game play. The trilogy also sold remarkably well on it's Game Boy advance remakes. Unfortunately, games like KoS and JC did not sell well. This shows that people aren't buying DKC for the name, they actually want Donkey Kong Country. Sure, you could say they just want a sidescroller, as evidenced by Jungle Beat's critical success, but regardless it still makes it more likely that they'll be a New Donkey Kong Country.

. . .

Next, Nintendo cares just about as little as possible about the series. They will let almost any developer take a crack at it. All it will take is for one developer to come along who really wants a New Donkey Kong Country and they are almost guaranteed the rights to make it.


So at this point it's just a waiting game. Please, don't look at this as some optimistic outlook on the current bleak state of the series; I'm merely stating what is likely to happen. So while I'm sure some of you got New Super Mario Bros. Wii for Christmas just remember while you're playing it that we'll have the same treatment before too long.

- by Jomingo -

---

This article was written by a DKC Atlas Forum staff member. All opinions expressed within this article are those of the writer, and are not necessarily shared by DKC Atlas, or the DKC gaming community.