Since his debut Donkey Kong's character design has remained fairly unchanged, but his 'new' look isn't quite as fresh as you might expect. Seemingly taking inspiration from the animated aesthetics of the 2023 Super Mario Bros.

Donkey Kong’s new look arrives the same day that Nintendo is launching Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, a Switch re-release of the original Wii game. That release, notably overshadowed by the Switch 2 unveiling, makes the contrast a little more stark.