The Future of DKC

An article by Jomingo

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All the articles I've written thus far have for the most part fallen under the general title of "History of DKC". But today I am writing the first of hopefully many articles about a DKC game that's actually upcoming! This past week saw the unveiling of a brand new game titled "Donkey Kong Country Returns" from the highly respected developer's of the Metroid Prime Trilogy, Retro Studios. Of course, I predicted this almost six months ago, but I digress. The bottom line is Nintendo's hands-down best developer is making a game with Donkey Kong Country in the title. This is big. In fact, it's the biggest news for the series since Rare left Nintendo. This game is not just big news for this site, it's news on every gaming site. The wider world of gaming hasn't payed this close attention to a Donkey Kong game in a decade.

. . .

We have only seen four short levels of this new game, but already I'm looking at the ramifications it may cause. Because The Legend of Zelda has been delayed, DKCR is shaping up to be the only big holiday release on the Wii. It's just like the holiday of 1997 when Banjo Kazooie got delayed leading Diddy Kong Racing to break a preorder world record. This game is marketable as a new co-op platformer in the style of last year's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, which sold 14 million copies. If this thing sells half of that then we will be set.


So what will happen when this game sells well? First of all, we are guaranteed sequels. This game puts DK back in the spotlight again, and that means he'll be there for a while. DK will have moved on from the uncertainty of the past decade; no longer will we wonder whether we will get a new game, it's only a question of when. We are guaranteed at least one game on every Nintendo console, including the 3DS. And most importantly, we are guaranteed their will not be another Donkey Kong Jungle Beat for a long time.

This game is already proving that the characters of the past games, everything that Rare worked to establish, are most certainly "fresh enough for today's audience". They aren't nor will they ever be "superfluous". Diddy Kong has been recognized as one of Nintendo's elite; one of the most important characters in the history of Nintendo. Nothing can undo that; they are no longer trying to reinvent Donkey Kong, they are trying to reintroduce DKC.

In short, we are guaranteed what we've wanted all along.

In a few short months, we will be able to experience the title responsible for the restoration of our franchise first hand. I demand that anyone who cares about DKC to buy the game on day one, and most importantly register it at Club Nintendo and tell them why you like it. Tell them you want more minecarts, barrel cannons, animal buddies, handslaps, and of course, Diddy Kong. DKC is finally back, and everybody has to do their part to ensure DK never again enters a period of uncertainty like the past decade has been. It's been the worst period in the History of DKC. For the first time in this site's short history, I can say that the Future of DKC looks promising.

- by Jomingo -

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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.