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Dixie Kong's Barrel Of Support Spirits. Farewell Everyone, Thank You ALL For Making This Thread An Excellent Place For DK Fans!

Mariomaniac45213

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I too was born in 94. I had a hand me down SNES, Genesis, and N64 growing up. I started gaming when I was 3. DKC was one of the first games I remember playing as well as DK64 (didnt play DKC2 or DKC3 until Wii VC). So to me I did experience DK during its hey-dey! Thats why its so hard for me to see how far thr franchise has fallen both during the early 2000's and public perception. I was 8 when Rare was sold to Microsoft and I remember watching it unfold on G4 and even I knew at such a young age that it was gonna be bad news for DK going forward it.

Also Handy Man Handy Man Man that was such a good read. I loved hearing you're experiences with the franchise especially your DK64 experience as I had the exact same experience. I love the Kongs but to me K.Rool and his Kremlings were always the more interesting characters in the franchise to me due to DK64. Thats why it hurt me so much when they were left out of Jungle Beat, Returns, AND Tropical Freeze.
 

Ridley_Prime

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While I didn't own The Crystal Coconut VHS tape, a childhood friend of mine did, and got to rewatch those particular episodes a good amount of times due to that. Still odd to me though that those weren't the first episodes of the show but kinda randomly picked.

Some youtube channels occasionally had all the episodes until they were taken down by copyright, but was able to reliably watch them all on more than one occasion thanks to the show being on the free Tubi TV app. Dixie didn't have as much appearances in it as you would think, but still some good moments.
 

ChunkySlugger72

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Born in 1993 and my very first video game console was the Nintendo 64 with my very first ever video game being "Yoshi Story" that I got back in 1998.

I'll be honest in terms of "Owning" Donkey Kong's games growing up, I can't say that I really owned much or if any, Pretty much my small library of N64 games as a kid were 80-90% Mario and Pokemon.

But I still got my exposure from DK through Mario spinoffs and luckily I had an older relative and some friends with older siblings that had SNES and always played Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country even some Killer Instinct. (Little did I know and realize I was becoming Rareware fan without even knowing it.)

While I knew who Donkey Kong was through Mario, It was still really cool to see him star in his own game in his own jungle world facing against these cool looking crocodiles called the "Kremling Krew". I loved reptiles, lizards and dinosaurs as a kid (Still do) which is why "Yoshi" is my all time favorite Nintendo/video game character so I was immediately drawn to them.

Had another relative that had "Diddy Kong Racing" that I would play regularly with (Krunch was my favorite as a kid, But later became Banjo) and one of my friends had "Donkey Kong 64" which is probably the one DK game that I really loved as a kid, Especially the multiplayer and Chunky Kong was my favorite from the bunch. I got so hooked on the game that I also remember renting it from Blockbuster and then had to go back because I needed the Expansion Pak, Luckily my older sister was there to help me to go and get that fixed.

During the Gamecube era, I was still a big fan of Donkey Kong, But unfortunately my interest in the franchise was starting to go away because of the types of games during that era were nothing like DKC or DK 64, Of course we all know the reason was because Rareware was bought out by Microsoft in 2002, I didn't really realize what was going on at the time seeing as I was just a kid, so I turned my attention more to Mario and Pokemon again while DK sat in the backburner and got my DK fix through Mario spinoffs and Smash.

It wasn't until 2010 when Returns was announced and that Retro Studios was taking over the series that really help revive my interest back in Donkey Kong and Tropical Freeze elevated that even further as I would consider it "The greatest 2D platformer of all time".

Still waiting for a 3rd modern Country game or 3D platformer with King K. Rool and the Kremlings.

And that's pretty much my history with Donkey Kong.
 
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Diddy Kong

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My only hope for a new Donkey Kong game is that it's not another "back to basics" reboot that only acknowledges DKC1.
Bro, I would take a straight remake of the original game at this given point. What about a remake of DKC1, but this time it's a 3D world?

I'm not sure what direction they will go with the brand. All I know is that Retro is probably not sticking around, and maybe will give the platform a try if Nintendo successfully re-establishes the brand.

For all we know, a next game under Nintendo will literally be DK Arcade, but in 3D. A evolved Mario vs Donkey Kong concept, but fleshed out.

To me, a continuation of Jungle Beat wouldn't even be bad. Because am very certain they will add classic Rare elements, even if it's just Diddy, Cranky, Rambi, and maybe K.Rool. They gotta make a start somewhere, and Jungle Beat wasn't a bad game at all.
 

PestilenceSSB

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When there's smoke, there's probably fire. Now, we just have to wait in order to see what this DK fire looks like, assuming it even exists... as long as Nintendo EPD/Retro/whoever the heck is in charge doesn't erase most of Rare's contribution to the franchise, I'm on board as far as characters and world building go. Seeing some love for what Retro, PAON and Nintendo EAD (in Jungle Beat) brought to the table would be great as well.

As a starved DK fan, I'll take anything at this point... but things have changed in such a way that I'm feeling optimistic about the franchise's future for the first time in years. When the Switch era rolled around, some tasty DK-related bread crumbs started to fall. The New Donk City street signs, the Mario and Rabbids DK Expansion, my number one gaming dream coming true and bringing tears to my eyes- I mean, K. Rool coming to Smash, the 2018 split between DK merch and Mario merch (which Hyle discussed multiple times in the Kongversation), Rare's original trilogy coming to NSO, the Nintendo World theme park expansion... this is either a massive pile of coincidences or convincing evidence that something's cooking.

Going forward, my number 1 hope for DK is a steady flow of releases: ideally, we'd get a more ambitious platformer (whether it's 2D or 3D) every 3-5 years (approximately 2 per console generation), as well as a fair share of spinoffs to quench our thirst in the meantime. In my opinion, this would be the optimal way to attract scores of new DK fans, as a neat middle ground between the buyout era (which mostly consisted of spinoffs and ports) and the Retro era (which only consisted of bigger releases, with nothing to hold us over in between).

As for who would be developing it... I'm playing the wait and see game. Nintendo EPD might be our best bet as far as a dedicated DK team goes, but who knows if their creative vision will drastically clash with the fans'... although such a scenario doesn't seem too likely, given the fact that some of the younger devs apparently grew up with Rare's DKC trilogy.

If something is indeed coming, let's hope for the best while simultaneously bracing for the worst.
 
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LiveStudioAudience

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As a slightly older fan who was a kid during the SNES trilogy's heyday, one of the things that's hard to really quantify is not only how big a deal the games were, but that they were stand out titles in an era that seemed filled with them.

I've had people ask me just how I ended up as such a fan of platformers and I've always responded that if you were a young fan at the time, it would have been difficult not to be. From 1991 to 1996 we had Sonic (1, 2, CD, 3, Knuckles), Mario (All Stars, World, Yoshi's Island) and DKC (1, 2, 3), and these are just a few select first party examples. Third party companies were also doing their part all the time, and games that are acknowledged as major (or cult) classics now were coming out with a frequency that is incredible to look at in an era of HD development times and frequent franchise hiatuses.

Yet even with that entire scene being filled with well regarded hits the Country titles still stood out. The 90s console wars narrative has positioned it as Mario vs Sonic, and while the former was the target of Sega's ads and always remained the face of Nintendo it was not his games that helped beat back Sonic and regain the market share in the West. That was Donkey Kong. And the first Country game bears that out, as in an odd way it was Rare's approach to a Sonic esque game. DK had a cooler image than Mario, the graphics were something that could outshine any claims of blast processing, and the sense of momentum with kinetic platforming that the Blue Blur himself could pull off was now being done by one of Nintendo's favorite sons.

Moreover because the shift from 2D to 3D meant the latter would get the focus in graphical evolution, and that the return to the former by various franchises invoked a more colorful and/or surreal aesthetic, the DKC trilogy's mix of cartoony characters with realistic aesthetics in a melodic setting is still fairly rare (forgive the pun) even to this day. The Ori dualogy has gotten a lot of justified praise for its graphics and to me its a series that feels to some degree like its picking up where the SNES games left off.

Its why the trilogy left such an impression on me because even in an era where we were spoiled with so many games of its type, there was something distinctly great and visually meaningful about them.
 
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Justin Little

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So, I have a theory. Nate Drake seems pretty sure a SMO2 is happening, and I wonder if Nintendo EPD is simply just helping out another division. A division entirely dedicated to DK, possibly a new division.

The reason the folks at Resetera think it's 2D is because they were hiring for a 2D action game, but what if they are just helping out with the 2D portions of the game and it's really a 3D platformer.

Boom! I drop the mic, crack the case, and won the internet.
 

RetrogamerMax

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I was born the year DKC3 came out, so I really didn't get to experience the games at the height of their popularity during the 90s. My earliest memory of playing a DKC game was playing DKC1 at my sister's friend's house back in the early 2000s. I also remember renting the Crystal Coconut VHS tape from Blockbuster back then and as a kid, I loved it. I remember I saw K. Rool's trophy in Melee before I even really played any of the games. I knew about DKC before I played Melee, but I didn't really played any of the games all the way until years later when DKCR came out. That was the first time I saw K. Rool and thought his design was really cool and I wanted him all the way back then even though I didn't become a real DKC fan until around DKCR's release. I waited 17 years for K. Rool's inclusion into Smash Bros. and for half of that time, I didn't even really played DKC until DKCR came out. You could say, I was more of a K. Rool fan most of these years than a DKC fan.
 

Ridley_Prime

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I was born in 87, but that's still a good story for those of you born in 94 and such. My first game system experience was the NES with the first Super Mario Bros when I was 4 which my older sister and family had owned, but the SNES was my first real owned system (while the Sega systems I got to experience a good amount with friends) when I was 9 or so. The SNES I had initially gotten for DKC after I moved out of home state in 95 and played the demo at a store and fell instantly in love. Little did I know though that my SNES would come with Super Metroid which also set me as a Metroid and Ridley fan for life.

The 64 I had also gotten a year after it was out, quickly burning through Mario Kart and the first Rare games on the system that are now cult classics. Diddy Kong Racing I especially anticipated later that year of 97, and was even one of the people that got mailed the promotional VHS video for it, back when Nintendo did that kind of marketing before the days of social media. It did not disappoint, with me maining the titular character Diddy whose vehicle speed and stats felt the most balanced, and while the game has aged questionably especially with the lack of any real followups, its adventure mode content remains unrivaled out of any racing game today, at least on Nintendo's end. The password system was also great, and like ending the SNES with DKC3, I wouldn't of had it any other way than ending the N64 experience with DK64, while going into the new millennium.

Like some, I was too young to understand the industry politics at the time that led to the buyout of Rare in 2002, and so was especially confused when the DK brand suddenly changed the way it did, into something I no longer recognized. As such, I shifted back more into Metroid and things when the Prime sub-series rolled around by that time, though I still appreciated the fanservice and contribution with Paon and their DK titles, but it wasn't the same. The anti-Kremling marketing that unfortunately came with DK platforming's return made me more thankful for the Paon era in hindsight, but still. Having that said though, as well as the fan division that came with DKCR, who'd have thought its sequel TF, would become what is largely considered the best or 2nd best in the series?

And with K Rool's return in Smash, things worked out for him too, as I'm sure it will with DK's next game even with not knowing the kind of direction it'll have yet. With how things are shaping up though, it feels oddly optimistic to speculate on; wish I could say as much for Metroid right now given its current questionable status with MP4 and the lack of Switch ports, but am glad to be having this kind of optimism with my other favorite franchise again. Not picky as to what direction they could go either at this point, when both DK and K Rool are back in the public eye.
 
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RetrogamerMax

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No offense to Metroid fans, but I really wish Retro or Nintendo started making DKCR3 first instead of Metroid Prime 4 because I'm inching to see K. Rool and the Kremlings return to the series.
 
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LiveStudioAudience

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It is rather odd that DK and Metroid can seemingly never thrive at the same time.

DK as a character and IP falls by the wayside in the NES/Eary SNES era while Metroid gets momentum via the first game and the Game Boy sequel. Then it gets its Magnum Opus via Super Metroid in1994 before going into hibernation while the Country series and its spinoffs thrive in the rest of the 90s. The aughts come around with Metroid's big renaissance via Prime and the GBA releases while DK falls into less prominence from gimmicky titles or old ports. Finally DKC makes its glorious return the exact same year that the game that kicked off Metroid's dark age is released.

While the late Wii/Wii U era was one rife with questionable development decisions the inability to get any kind of good studio on a major Metroid title once Retro moved onto DKC (with the talented people at Next Level Games doing a Federation Force spinoff no one asked for) has to be one of the most telling signs of franchise mismanagement from that time period
 

Ridley_Prime

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No offense to Metroid fans, but I really wish Retro or Nintendo started making DKCR3 first instead of Metroid Prime 4 because I'm inching to see K. Rool and the Kremlings return to the series.
None taken. It ought to have happened, but again, if they was planning another DK after TF, we probably would've gotten it sometime in the years between TF and when they were brought in to help with MP4. Seems more likely that they just moved on, and whatever they was working on next (which we'll probably never find out) got cancelled with the lack of any decisive leadership. As much resentment as I have for Kensuke Tanabe (not just for "Does K Rool really need to come back?" but also decisions for games of other series like Federation Force which he's more to blame for than Next Level since he directed it), he and Retro kinda complete each other.

Don't remember if it was brought up here when it got discovered and posted, but I take it some of you familiar with Banjo and Blast Corps being accidentally listed for the Wii U virtual console recently? Talking with others got me thinking on the possibility of an N64 library on the Switch or NSO again, and however small the 64 library would be, if it had Diddy Kong Racing among it it'd be great, which is certainly possible with how friendlier Microsoft and Nintendo are now over Rare and things. Particularly, I'd like to see DKR added for the online play functionality it would have if it got put out again now, which after playing the DKC trilogy 2P with people online, would be most welcome. At the very least, 2 to 4 players online.

The DKC trilogy's addition to Switch online was a good consolation prize or way to fill the gap during the 2020 hellscape, but whatever we get next, I think there's likely more in store whether with new releases or re-releases.
 

RetrogamerMax

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As a big fan of both DK and Metroid, and wondered why we couldn't have both in proximity of each other, this year might be it for both.

It's gotten me giddy like :4diddy:!
Or next year. Metroid Prime 4 has been in development since 2017 and Nintendo has restarted the project twice and is still looking for more talent to work on the game. I wouldn't be surprised if we don't hear or see anything about the game in 2021.
 

Doc Monocle

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Dixie Kong coming from a game with which I am very familiar, I should have posted this a long time ago, but I am here now, and I support. Although we don't see her doing THAT many combat moves, it somehow feels like she has limitless moveset potential due to her famous, signature ponytail and the way she uses it in Donkey Kong Country II, and this is forgetting her later appearance in Tropical Freeze ( I have not played it ), which undoubtedly gave her more to work with.

So let us get to business. I cannot resist the temptation to make at least a rudimentary moveset:

Jab (AA): Dixie throws her ponytail in front of her, then snaps her head back to pull it behind her head.
Ftilt: Dixie performs a dropkick by using her ponytail to propel her forward.
Utilt: Dixie launches her self upward with her ponytail on the ground and flip kicks.
Dtilt: Dixie sweeps the ground in front of her with... How did you know?
Dash attack: Dixie performs her signature spinning attack.

Smashes: I am at a loss here except to say... PONYTAIL!

Aerials: Hello again.

Throws: I have only three specific thoughts. 1: She can carry opponents like Donkey Kong, but she moves slower depending on the weight of the carried opponent (Dixie's Double Trouble reference). 2: Her throws, with the exception of up throw, are simply the ways she could throw Diddy or Kiddy when they were partnered. 3: Up throw is her tagging animation from Donkey Kong Country 2.

Neutral Special: Dixie blows a bubble that expands with the amount of timed elapsed that B is held. The bubble pushes opponents away (as ridiculous as that sounds), and holding B too long causes it to pop, obscuring her face for a moment as endlag. If an opponent attacks the bubble, thus causing it to pop, they receive small damage and knockback. (I could not think of a better idea if it seems awful)

Side Special: This move acts as a command grab. Dixie coils her hair around an opponent and violently slams them on the ground. The move is also a tether recovery.

Down Special: Dixie sits down and sips from a juicebox, recovering a quick 3% damage.

Up special: Dixie spins and flails her ponytail once. By tapping B rapidly, you perpetuate the spinning, thereby generating lift. The more rapidly you tap B, the faster she rises, and the stronger the damage output. The move only lifts her to a certain height before descending in a controlled fall while you continue to tap, but it may be continued indefinitely, even as she lands! The crowning trait of this move, in my opinion, is that it can be used as long as you desire, anywhere you desire, and the quickness of startup makes this a go to out of shield option, similarly to Bowser's up special, giving her great defense that is extendable. The only real weaknesses are the blindspot above her head, the tremendous endlag that Bowser's Whirling Fortress would laugh at, and the semi-helpless fall that results if you stop tapping. Fortunately, Dixie has a mechanic that allows you to tap B when you are helplessly falling in order to trigger the move, which is also an attack, so the last weakness is almost void and gives her a powerful asset in battle. As you can tell from the length of the description, this is my favorite idea.

Final Smash: Dixie strums her electric guitar rapidly, as in her debut game end-level animation, encompassing herself with a damaging sphere, and tossing nearby, helpless enemies back and forth with electrical effects. There is a certain misfortune under which the opponent will be knocked out of the attack under the right circumstances, but it will often inflict something in the proximity of a terrifying 95% damage. The attack finishes with a massive shockwave that blows opponents away and causes an additional 24%.
 

~ Valkyrie ~

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So if Dixie get's in, where should she appear in the banner?
Do you mean the mural?

If so, I can see her stick pretty much near Diddy, twirling high above the fighters through her signature asset. :p

Also maybe it's just me - but after the whole "Sephiroth adopts Pichu"-meme-turned-into-accepted-fanon because a daily picture from Sakurai some while back, I hope Dixie's not put through similar ringer, especially if the characters in general wouldn't even get along overall (but get twisted beyond recognition just to cater to whims of the fanbase memes.)

Though maybe I'm overthinking it regarding Dixie, but maybe I'd be little weirded out if whoever she happens to be nearby in the banner is who she gets "paired" (or "shipped") with, much like Isabelle and Cloud was before due their close proximity - same for Sephiroth and Pichu.

God, sometimes I can't help thinking this game's bit of a mess whenever I wonder about the above outside of the Smash's "accepted bubble" of fanficcy/crack-sounding pairings...

:138:



But hey, two new barrel buddies! Welcome aboard.

 
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RetrogamerMax

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Do you mean the mural?

If so, I can see her stick pretty much near Diddy, twirling high above the fighters through her signature asset. :p

Also maybe it's just me - but after the whole "Sephiroth adopts Pichu"-meme-turned-into-accepted-fanon because a daily picture from Sakurai some while back, I hope Dixie's not put through similar ringer, especially if the characters in general wouldn't even get along overall (but get twisted beyond recognition just to cater to whims of the fanbase memes.)

Though maybe I'm overthinking it regarding Dixie, but maybe I'd be little weirded out if whoever she happens to be nearby in the banner is who she gets "paired" (or "shipped") with, much like Isabelle and Cloud was before due their close proximity - same for Sephiroth and Pichu.

God, sometimes I can't help thinking this game's bit of a mess whenever I wonder about the above outside of the Smash's "accepted bubble" of fanficcy/crack-sounding pairings...

:138:



But hey, two new barrel buddies! Welcome aboard.

Yep, the mural.
 

Planet Cool

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So, er, no word on those new DK rumors? Are we keeping it on the DL? If anyone has juicy info, please DM me! I wanna be in the loop.

Remember it was Nintendo that told Retro not to bring him or the Kremlings back and make new villains which in turn led to the Snowmads and Tikis which were more sterile and cutesy.
I wouldn't call the Snowmads "sterile and cutesy." They're every bit as lumpy and goofy-looking as the Kremlings. Some of them are actually pretty intimidating, like Skowl and Bashmaster. The Tikis were a huge disappointment (some of them don't even look like they're supposed to be alive), but Retro really turned it around with the Snowmads, imho.

Anyway what I was getting at was after Rare left K.Rool's next couple appearences (the few that were) his characterization took a massive hit. In King of Swing/Jungle Climber he felt nothing more than just a generic Bowser knock-off. He lacked all of his edge/menace but also lacked his over the top goofiness as well. It wasn't until Ultimate/Sakurai where the King gained all of his personality back. I just fear Nintendo doesn't "get" his character. So he will either be missing again or be so neutered that hes unrecognizable.
King K. Rool is my favorite Nintendo villain and I love how he's portrayed in Ultimate, but I think some of his fans overstate how "deranged" he used to be. He was always a funny, bumbling villain, closer in spirit to King Dedede than Ridley. The only game where he's anything close to menacing is DK64, and that game ends with Funky shooting him in the ass with a giant boot. Granted, stealing medals isn't exactly the highlight of his career, but I don't think it's a betrayal of his character either.

Honestly, I'll be happy enough just to see him in a new DK game. Nintendo would have to do something very drastic to "ruin" the character for me.
 

Diddy Kong

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No offense to Metroid fans, but I really wish Retro or Nintendo started making DKCR3 first instead of Metroid Prime 4 because I'm inching to see K. Rool and the Kremlings return to the series.
It seems the safest approach to me as well honestly. They already have build a perfect engine for a future DKC game with Tropical Freeze. Why they would go for Metroid, despite it often selling worse than DK, from a complete blank state, only to fail and do it all over again is just .... Bad.

Anyway, am a true 90s kid and thus played the trilogy in its full glory. I posted my story about DKC many times here, but there are new faces now so. Donkey Kong was always a family thing for me. First played it at my cousin's and aunts back in the day, as we didn't have a SNES. We borrowed their NES for a while, but I didn't like it too much. As I was a boy who loved animals, and rhinos especially, DKC was a game that blew my mind. I got a SNES for the December holidays in 1994 I think? But I remember screaming for joy when I got it. First game I ever owned was Donkey Kong Land for the Gameboy. Or Tetris? I dunno. I remember that I got interested in games because of Donkey Kong. My cousin and aunt also often called me if I knew secrets of DK64, or how to progress further
 

Ridley_Prime

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And they no doubt had to make a new engine for MP4, so I understand the frustration when they already had a great engine made from DKCTF like you said..

Oh yeah. Often forget, but the Game Boy I had first gotten before the SNES since it was cheaper, and DK Land (the first one) was a good compromise while waiting to be able to have Country eventually. It was distinctly different enough from DKC1 to have its own identity with the different levels and enemies. Same with Donkey Kong Land 3 vs DKC3, but DKL2 was more of a Game Boy port of DKC2 in comparison, which wasn't bad, but if you were looking for something a little more different like the other two, well...

I did repurchase the Land trilogy on the 3DS virtual console too, and the first one particularly was definitely as difficult as I remember, though not for the right reasons I felt, but all Game Boy platformers at the time were excruciatingly brutal like that, so what can I say? I barely beat the first one as a kid, but couldn't bring myself to do so again, try as I might. Even DKL 2 and 3 I was content with just beating casually, without getting all the bonus barrels and reaching the lost world/true final boss.

For some reason I don't remember the Game Boy Color DKC1 being a thing, but it happened apparently. I may have just not gotten it, I don't know. The GBA ports I definitely remember though for some of the extra content they had and enjoyed them, though didn't like the music and small aesthetic changes that came with them, but minor gripe.
 

LiveStudioAudience

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I think the Snowmads stuck the landing as far as being enjoyabe baddies. While not quite as visually fun as the Kremlings, they had some diverse designs, a decently uniform theme, and made for solid boss battles.

To me an ideal sequel would have the novel concept of a three way fight between them, the Kongs, and the Kremlings. Not only is that a rarity among platformers (or even Nintendo titles) it could make for some great set pieces for levels. Imagine a battlefield stage where you have to get through the war machines going off from both sides, bouncing off the heads of Snowmads and Kremlings that are busy fighting each other to initially notice you. A final battle where Lord Frederik and K Rool are active against each other and you, with the final phase dependent on who gets defeated first? There's a lot of potential to be mined from utilizing both.
 
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Justin Little

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So, er, no word on those new DK rumors? Are we keeping it on the DL? If anyone has juicy info, please DM me! I wanna be in the loop.
Someone on Resetera (I think they might have an account on here as well) has been basically repeating what Hyle has been saying for years now. I don't know if they have any more details than he does.

Then you got someone who seems pretty sure it's going to be 2D, and Nintendo might even drop the Country name. https://www.resetera.com/threads/nintendo-general-discussion-ot18-is-anyone-else’s-thread-collecting-dust-trans-rights-are-still-human-rights.341191/page-231#post-55327450

That's all we know right now. ;)
 
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Jurae818

Smash Journeyman
Joined
Oct 27, 2014
Messages
294
.....mind if i quote you on my signature for the rest of the year until FP2 is done? This is spitting facts straighter than than an Arrow, and more people should read this masterpiece.

(although i wouldn't call Snake Nepotism, it's CRONYSM, same thing but with friends and acquaintances instead of family members, Nepotism is for relatives)
Go right ahead.

This talk of a new DK game being a reboot is also something I've feared. I noticed one piece of artwork with Daisy and Wart featured DK with a design that looked closer to the old arcade design.

He appears to be dimwitted here and I know this is a stretch, but this is telling enough for me. One thing I liked about Paon was that they followed DKC DK to the best of their abilities (They even made trophy models for Expresso and Squitter). Their games are to be played alongside a mainline game, just like something like Age of Calamity should be played alongside a mainline Zelda, rather than something that's made to tide people over. That's why Paon's games underperformed, they were good for what they were, but not for what was needed.

I don't trust Nintendo's internal staff to do DK true justice, moreso with the interview on Jungle Beat that more or less stated the older characters weren't 'fresh' enough for today's audiences. The sales for both the GC and Wii games and Returns a year later speaks for itself. Unless they round up a team of people who understand Donkey Kong Country or at least has an affinity towards DKC's elements and characters, the next DK game may be a dud. Returns and Tropical Freeze only dipped their toes in the pool, DKC needs someone who can swim to the deep end and no one at Nintendo has that ambition to do so.
 

Jurae818

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Joined
Oct 27, 2014
Messages
294
^That is from a recruitment book Nintendo put out, possibly for new staff.
Another fear I have of the next DKC game and this also ties into Zelda once more: If a new Donkey Kong game were to pull a Breath of the Wild (Not as in open world, but a soft reboot) akin to what Returns tried, you'll probably see a lot of DK 'fans' pop up after it drops. You think the expand dong and HE memes were bad, that scenario will be even more damaging, especially if the Kremlings DON'T return as the main enemies or if they try to make K. Rool a buddy. Look at how self-contained Breath of the Wild is. Now look at everyone critiquing older Zelda games for not being Breath of the Wild.

Oh wait. They were doing just that after Rare got sold to Microsoft. We may be in for a second Buyout Era.
 

LiveStudioAudience

Smash Master
Joined
Dec 1, 2019
Messages
3,956
Call it misplaced optimism, but while a Nintendo developed DK game may not incorporate a lot of the DKU or not be made with a focus on platforming, I'd be surprised if they did both. They have an eye for innovation yes and a need to reinvent, however the entire shift of the brand has been the inclusion of the older elements. Cranky, Dixie, and Funky have all come back, K Rool's return was hailed in Smash, and they've made a point of specifically highlighting the DKC SNES games for Switch online as well as Dixie getting in Mario Kart Tour. And with the most recent games being under Retro as opposed to a company bought by Microsoft like Rare suggests there's less reasoning to rebrand the IP like Nintendo had in the aughts.

Moreover while its a pity that DK games in general have slowed down, the four most recent releases were the Country titles, either the originals or altered ports. Now that doesn't preclude them from now trying a new type of game now, but its worth noting that the experiments done with Nintendo franchises currently (Paper Mario excepted) are ambitious while not changing the core focus. Mario Odyssey is still platforming with power-ups, just taking the form of taking over enemies/NPCs. Breath of the Wild was still combat and puzzles, just in an open exploratory world with shrines. Luigi's Mansion took some steps forward while still harkening back to the original and Dark Moon.

Basically the attitude of fundamentally altering what the game just for the sake of it ala the Gamecube years is much less prevalent now and the safest path for mass appeal is to include the DKU elements specifically because of their familiarity to the audience. K Rool's status in Smash alone means that a new game could attract attention just by having him in the marketing. Nintendo can certainly be short sided at times, but it would be foolish to waste the recognition the broader Donkey Kong Universe has been getting in favor of a sudden new setting just because they can.
 
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GalacticPetey

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GalacticPetey
I agree. If anything I might be worried about DKC becoming too safe and traditional. I'd hate for DKC to become like New Super Mario Bros. I don't want such a homogenized art style that only pulls the same level themes, enemies, and bosses from the first three games over and over again. I'm not saying reinvent the wheel but as LiveStudioAudience mentioned, Nintendo's latest games have been great innovations that still keep the core identity like with Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild. I'd kill for a DK game with the level of polish and design found in those two titles.
 

Justin Little

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Messages
677

I don't know if this has ever been posted here, but this orchestrated album of DKC2's soundtrack is so beautiful. I can imagine this version of Jib Jig playing triumphantly in Dixie's hypothetical reveal trailer.
Jesus Christ! I was watching this up close with my phone, and smoke covered the video around the 5:30 mark. I thought my place was on fire. Scared the crap out of me.

Great music though.
 

Planet Cool

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Someone on Resetera (I think they might have an account on here as well) has been basically repeating what Hyle has been saying for years now. I don't know if they have any more details than he does.

Then you got someone who seems pretty sure it's going to be 2D, and Nintendo might even drop the Country name. https://www.resetera.com/threads/nintendo-general-discussion-ot18-is-anyone-else’s-thread-collecting-dust-trans-rights-are-still-human-rights.341191/page-231#post-55327450

That's all we know right now. ;)
Thanks, but oh man, I shouldn't have read those replies. "DK is not an exciting franchise no matter which team is developing it." Heckin' philistines! I bet that dude loves New Super Mario.

This talk of a new DK game being a reboot is also something I've feared. I noticed one piece of artwork with Daisy and Wart featured DK with a design that looked closer to the old arcade design.

He appears to be dimwitted here and I know this is a stretch, but this is telling enough for me.
I actually love that picture. I'm glad they finally found a good way to draw DK in 2D. His design in Cloud's Smash 4 reveal poster still gives me 'Nam flashbacks.

Another fear I have of the next DKC game and this also ties into Zelda once more: If a new Donkey Kong game were to pull a Breath of the Wild (Not as in open world, but a soft reboot) akin to what Returns tried, you'll probably see a lot of DK 'fans' pop up after it drops. You think the expand dong and HE memes were bad, that scenario will be even more damaging, especially if the Kremlings DON'T return as the main enemies or if they try to make K. Rool a buddy. Look at how self-contained Breath of the Wild is.
King K. Rool wasn't in DKC Returns and Tropical Freeze because Nintendo didn't know how much we liked him. That isn't the case anymore. Now is the least logical time for Nintendo to attempt another pseudo-reboot.

Now look at everyone critiquing older Zelda games for not being Breath of the Wild.
As someone who really, really didn't like Breath of the Wild... I hear ya. Don't mind me, I'll be over here critiquing Breath of the Wild for not being a Zelda game. Grumble grumble...
 

RoboFist

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Joined
Aug 10, 2018
Messages
374
A year ago, I made the promise to make a massive work based on some polls in relation to character support during prior epochs.

When I was writing my response a while back, I noticed many posts lamenting how the desire and focus of the Smash fanbase, has now shifted towards mostly third-party characters. As I said before this is a relatively recent phenomenon. The shift over towards mostly third-party characters is something that did not happen until the last two years.

For those of us that were around during the pre-Smash 4 speculation days, we can remember an inverse of the present situation. Most character desires were dominated by Nintendo owned characters, and there were only a few third-party characters that were among the top fanbase desires.

There are several reasons for this. One is that as I mentioned before many of the big name and well known Nintendo characters have already been added in at this point. Outside of Mario universe characters, there are very few Nintendo characters recognizable to the casual Nintendo fan. Contrast that with how many recognizable third-party characters are still not on the roster.

The other factor is how the ball got rolling on the shift towards third-party desires. Up until the announcement of the Smash Ballot, the fanbase desires were mostly relegated towards Nintendo characters and a handful of third-party character that mostly had some sort of strong connection to the Nintendo brand or hardware.

It was the advent of the Smash Ballot that gave the fanbase the direct feeling that they could influence the roster to Smash Bros., and that “any character could get in with a large enough push”. It was in 2015 where we started to begin to see very large pushes for multiple third-party character and not just one at a time like was the case with Sonic during pre-Brawl or Mega Man during pre-Smash 4. The large scale pushes for Banjo & Kazooie, Shovel Knight, Rayman, and Shantae were during the ballot period.

The next key step for the rise of third-parties among the Smash Bros. fanbase’s desires was the confirmation of Cloud. Prior to Cloud’s confirmation, many felt that third-party characters that were added in for Smash Bros. needed to have some sort of strong connection or history with the Nintendo brand (Snake was seen as a sort of anomaly that only happened only due to a personal request from Hideo Kojima).

When Cloud was confirmed, that consensus was shattered. From at that point for a growing minority, Smash Bros. was now about more than just a celebration of all things Nintendo, but for gaming as a whole. From that point on, the fanbase desires for newcomers were almost a 50/50 split between Nintendo characters and third-parties.

However, there was one last critical event that caused this even split to tilt almost entirely to third-party characters. This was the November 2018 Smash Direct and the unveil of Joker a month later. It was during the November 2018 direct where a lot of the most highly requested remaining Nintendo characters were given seeming deconfirmations (Assist Trophy roles and/or Mii costumes), as well as the belief (with the exception of Geno) that spirits were deconfirmations.

Later when Joker was confirmed, it was a reprisal of the situation with Cloud where the character had a tenuous connection to Nintendo (his only appearance on Nintendo hardware at the time was the 3DS swansong spinoff Persona Q2). Reggie Fils-Aime added to the wild speculation for the rest of the pass with a comment that Joker was emblematic of the rest of the pass, and that they were characters that we would not expect to see in Smash Bros.

It was at that point on that the Smash fanbase’s desires consisted almost entirely of third-party characters. There was also a growing sort of consensus that only third-party characters were “hype producing” or could generate mass interest. This created a negative feedback loop to which drained out a lot of remaining interest in prospective Nintendo newcomers. They were not only seen as “unlikely” but also as “not hype inducing”.

It has gotten to the point where the only four Nintendo owned characters that seem to still have a significant fanbase among the “Smash Bubble” are Bandanna Waddle Dee, Waluigi, Isaac, Dixie Kong, and Rex & Pyra. This is a significant collapse. Only three of these characters are franchise mainstays (Bandanna Waddle Dee, Waluigi, and Dixie Kong), with Isaac hailing from a series without a new game in a decade, and with Rex & Pyra it is likely the pair will have much of their fanbase depreciate once a fully new Xenoblade installment is released.

There are three snapshots that can be provided to show the drastic change over time in relation to character desires for the Smash fanbase.


The first is from late October 2014. This particular poll is notable as it was the last poll published by a long time mainstay of the pre-Smash 4 speculation community on SmashBoards, Shorts/shortiecanbrawl (he tragically died in a car accident a few weeks later). His niche in Smash speculation was to make polls and spread them to different Smash communities (GameFAQs, SmashBoards, 4chan, Reddit, etc.). He was also the preeminent supporter of Krystal during the pre-Smash 4 epoch.

This last poll he did is also particularly important because many of the characters that ranked highly in it ended up being added to Ultimate’s base roster (and DLC in the case of Banjo) or even DLC for Smash 4 (as was the case with Lucas, Roy, and Bayonetta).

Many of the Top 20 consists of veterans from prior Smash titles. Five of the Top 20 are veterans, and the Top 5 alone has three veterans (with another just barely out of the Top 5).

1. Lucas
2. Ice Climbers
3. Ridley
4. Wolf
5. K. Rool
6. Snake
7. Dixie Kong
8. Black Shadow
9. Isaac
10. Paper Mario
11. Banjo & Kazooie
12. Bandanna Dee
13. Krystal
14. Roy
15. Impa
16. Kamek
17. Hades
18. Waluigi
19. Ashley
20. Skull Kid

There are only two third-party characters in the whole of the Top 20 for this snapshot into the “old desires” of the Smash community, simply Snake and Banjo & Kazooie. One of these is a veteran, and the other is basically an honorary Nintendo character. Banjo’s performance in particular is extremely impressive because the character was seen as basically impossible still, and it was not until the Smash Ballot where there were many whom thought there existed a realistic shot towards inclusion. That should tell many here everything about the state of third-party character desires back in 2014. A seemingly impossible third-party character was by far the most wanted third-party character likely as a result of meshing well with the old theme of Smash Bros., a collection of Nintendo’s all-stars.

Removing the veterans from the poll provides a bit more insight into how third-party desires use to work for the Smash fanbase:

1. Ridley
2. K. Rool
3. Dixie Kong
4. Black Shadow
5. Isaac
6. Paper Mario
7. Banjo & Kazooie
8. Bandanna Dee
9. Krystal
10. Impa
11. Kamek
12. Hades
13. Waluigi
14. Ashley
15. Skull Kid
16. Simon Belmont
17. Bomberman
18. Dark Samus
19. Bayonetta
20. Ghirahim
21. Phoenix Wright

With the additional third-party entries that managed to make the Top 20 without the veterans there, we can further see “association with Nintendo or Nintendo hardware” as a significant indicator for support among third-parties prior to the Smash Ballot. Simon Belmont, Bomberman, and Phoenix Wright (I extended it to 21 simply because he is a character that fits well with this thesis) all have very long histories with Nintendo consoles and the software they starred in on those consoles are often considered among the most memorable of their respective console libraries. For many they are considered honorary Nintendo icons. For Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2 was among the biggest exclusives that the Wii U had, and thus she was taken under the wing by many Nintendo and Smash fans.

Even if including Phoenix Wright as part of a “Top 21”, only five of the Top 21 are third-party characters. The rest are all Nintendo characters.

A small interesting side note, is how much Geno’s fortunes changed from 2014 to now. Geno is ranked at #44 in this poll without veterans, and at #49 with veterans included. I cannot state how much specific events re-invigorated interest in this character. Other “relics” or one-shots from pre-Brawl prominence all ranked higher. Isaac and Krystal were big requests during pre-Brawl that managed to hold onto a significant portion of their requests (Isaac actually improved relative to his performance during pre-Brawl) throughout the pre-Smash 4 period. Characters like Dark Samus, Midna, Lyn, and Vaati, all that were major requests during the pre-Brawl period (though Vaati collapsed once Twilight Princess was released) had more requests than Geno for this poll. It was not a factor of “impossibility” considering you look at how a character literally owned by a competitor to Nintendo (Microsoft) was by far the most requested third-party character (it was not until 2015 where Spencer made the comments suggesting he was open to the idea of Banjo & Kazooie being a part of Smash Bros.). It was basically a combination of the Mii costume and Sakurai’s own personal endorsement (“he is pretty cool”) and his stated intention to make him playable during Brawl that got him on the Smash fanbase’s radar again.

For Dixie Kong fans, if you are wondering why she is doing so well here, it is simply because of her newfound prominence from Tropical Freeze as well as the feeling that DK deserved another newcomer. For many outside K. Rool’s fanbase, he was seen as a “relic” and thus no longer relevant to the DK brand, which thus buoyed Dixie’s support at the time. The Smash Ballot is what really helped K. Rool’s support even further. However, another factor was definitely that she was a seen as an extremely important Nintendo character that still was not yet part of the roster, and this was something that was seen as a major factor for character support prior to 2015.

Other strange anomalies from this poll should also be explained. Black Shadow ranks as high as he is because one of the strongest desires at the time was for Ganondorf to gain a completely new moveset as well as finding a character that would suitably fill Ganondorf’s current Smash moveset. There was a sense of wanting to give many long time Nintendo franchises an additional playable character, and Black Shadow to many seemed like the most fitting second choice for F-Zero (while also allowing Ganondorf to gain a new moveset). This same sense of wanting to give a long time franchise an additional playable character could probably extend as to why Kamek is ranking so high (seen as the natural second playable character for Yoshi).

With all of this said, this was pretty much what was typical of what character requests looked like prior to the Smash Ballot.



For the next screenshot into the past, we are going to look at a poll that was released in June 2018, right before the time Ultimate was formally unveiled.

1. K. Rool
2. Waluigi
3. Shovel Knight
4. Bandanna Dee
5. Crash Bandicoot
6. Banjo & Kazooie
7. Rayman
8. Rex & Pyra
9. Ridley
10. Shantae
11. Decidueye
12. Bomberman
13. Isaac
14. Spring Man
15. Dixie Kong
16. Geno
17. Sora
18. Paper Mario
19. Takamaru
20. Impa

It is from this poll that we can see much of the consequences from the Smash Ballot, the emergence of new prominent Nintendo software (Xenoblade 2, ARMS, Pokemon Sun/Moon), as well as impacts from Sakurai’s own statements (notice how much Ridley fell and how much Geno rose). The four year interval between these polls shows that there was near 50/50 parity between third-party characters and Nintendo characters for newcomer desires among the Smash fanbase.

Only half of the Top 20 from 2014 is still part of 2018’s Top 20 despite only one character (Bayonetta) having been promoted towards playable status. Of the new characters to enter the Top 20 for 2018, six of them are third-party and four of them are Nintendo (with all with the exception of Takamaru being new characters that were created less than two years prior to this poll).

It is worth noting that characters like Rayman, Shovel Knight, and Shantae first got their first major prominence in the Smash fanbase during the Smash Ballot period.

It can thus be seen as recently as two years ago, that there was a still very large demand for Nintendo characters among the Smash fanbase. Even among the third-party characters of the Top 20, many of them have a very long history or strong connection with Nintendo. However, we can definitely see from this snapshot where the tides were gradually turning toward third-party possibilities.



The last screenshot I am going to list for this discussion is a poll that was released on June 2020. It is at this point which where we can now see see the trends that some people in this thread have lamented about.

1. Crash Bandicoot
2. Geno
3. Doom Slayer
4. Sora
5. Dante
6. Rayman
7. Minecraft Steve
8. Master Chief
9. Bandanna Dee
10. Phoenix Wright
11. Reimu
12. Waluigi
13. Shantae
14. Travis Touchdown
15. Isaac
16. Dixie Kong
17. 2B
18. Rex & Pyra
19. Ryu Hayabusa
20. Arle

Only a quarter of the Top 20 has Nintendo characters. Only a single Nintendo character (barely) within the Top 10. There are even a few third-party characters that never had a proper appearance on a Nintendo console (Master Chief and 2B).

Similarly to the 2014 poll compared to the 2018 one, half (or in this case nearly half) of the characters from the prior poll still manged to be within the Top 20 of the next one. For Waluigi and Isaac in particular it is impressive considering how both managed to stay within the Top 10 despite both being Nintendo owned characters as well as both having Assist Trophy roles already in Ultimate (Bomberman, Shovel Knight, and Takamaru all basically collapsed for the 2020 poll).

The sheer collapse of Nintendo characters in the last two years was incredible. Outside the Top 20, there are only another four Nintendo characters from #21-50 (Paper Mario at #26, Porky at #30, Skull Kid at #37, and Elma at #44). This is very demoralizing to fans of Smash Bros. as a celebration of Nintendo.

As I said countless times before, I do not think we will be getting any more Nintendo newcomers in Ultimate (barring a miracle).

However, even still, it is quite possible the present trends last well after the DLC period. Smash is now seen as a celebration of gaming as a whole, as opposed to simply Nintendo and Nintendo affiliated franchises. Of the remaining highly requested Nintendo characters, only Waluigi and Bandanna Dee look to have near guaranteed futures as highly requested characters. For Dixie Kong, her future is largely contingent on whether a future major DK is made and whether she has a major role in that title. For Isaac, his future is largely tied to whether Golden Sun has a future (if there is not a Switch Golden Sun, he might very well find himself in a similar situation where Geno was during the first half of the 2010’s in terms of requests). I think for Rex & Pyra, they are destined to fall in requests as more Xenoblade titles are made.

Ultimate in many ways is a Janus, a transition between the old Smash of Nintendo All-Stars and the new Smash of a Gaming Celebration as a whole. Nearly half of the newcomers for Ultimate are third-party characters right now (9 out of 20 are third-party). I fully expect the remaining three newcomers for Ultimate to be third-party characters, leaving Ultimate with over half of its newcomers as third-party characters (12 out of 23 I expect to be third-party).

For Bandanna Waddle Dee and Waluigi (despite both being technically being characters that have been around for a long time), they are both characters that came intro prominence during the 2010’s. Dixie Kong by comparison, is a character whose highest prominence was back in the 90’s, and during the 2000’s she only existed in the background to the DK and Mario spinoffs, and it was only until Tropical Freeze where she again got to the forefront of the DK brand, only to be hurt by there having not been another DK title for at nearly seven years now.

Dixie Kong may not be the “last Nintendo All-Star” per see, but she is the last Nintendo character that headlined games in his/her own franchise that is still not part of Smash Bros.’s roster. For a large portion of the old guard of Smash Bros. supporters, she is the last remaining piece of the puzzle to them.

In regards to “long time requests” still not in Smash, there are many of those. Even going to those just from the pre-Brawl days, there is still Isaac, Geno, and Krystal (it is peculiar to see people say Geno is the last major request from the pre-Brawl days, when Isaac still had a very large fanbase up until two years ago, and Krystal was still highly requested during the Ballot period).

Dixie Kong has never been a titan in terms of requests. There have been points where she has been a part of the Top 10 and consistently been a part of the Top 20, but she has never been at the forefront of the fanbase’s desires. Aside from E3 2013 to the Smash Ballot, she has never been within striking distance of the most highly requested characters.

However, what those snapshot of the polls from 2014, 2018, and 2020 show is this: that Dixie Kong has a fanbase that has stood beside her despite all the tribulations and titanic shifts that have occurred over the last six years. Dixie Kong does not make waves with her fanbase, but she is among the few still left standing as far as Nintendo characters go.

I do not know what the future holds for Dixie Kong and her fanbase going forward. Many of her fans in this thread (including myself) have stated intentions to leave the Smash speculation and the character support scene once Ultimate’s DLC wraps up. If Dixie Kong is going to have a future she is going to need to gain a new generation of fans. The re-release of the DKC trilogy on the Switch online certainly helps in this regard (especially considering how well DKC2 and DKC3 have held up), however, she is going to need all new source material in general for her to fill the shoes left behind by Ridley and K. Rool. In regards to that, the future is very uncertain, even if a new DK title were to be announced next year (her role and prominence in a major DK title is very uncertain considering she has a long track record of missing out on critical major DK titles, examples include Diddy Kong Racing, Donkey Kong 64, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, and Donkey Kong Country Returns).

That is what the 2014 poll might show. Hope. Dixie Kong could possibly be the heir to the crown left behind by Ridley and K. Rool. She, just like them, is an iconic part to her franchise and fits in with the old meaning of what Smash Bros. was (a celebration of Nintendo) and in a way fits in with its new meaning (a celebration of gaming as a whole).

In the right circumstances, much like Geno has shown (look at where he was in the 2014 poll compared to where he is in the 2020 poll), she could have a massively revitalized fanbase. I do not know how this will come about, or if it will even ever come about, but I think she might given the right set of events, become one of the most wanted characters for Smash.

Dixie Kong is a rare (pun intended) heroine who somehow manages to appeal across demographics. “Cute, cool, badass.” She in many ways is the female Mario.

This sort of history lesson I hope offered some insight into how the desires to the Smash Bros. fanbase has changed over the last six years. I know it is disheartening for those who mostly support Nintendo characters to see this, but it is what it is. The fact is that things have changed, and we could can only make due with what the situation that has been given.

Even in such an undesirable circumstance for possible Nintendo newcomers, Dixie Kong still has a large base of support for her among the “Smash Bubble”.

Two years ago, I stated that I had basically lost nearly all hope in Dixie Kong being a part of Ultimate’s roster (this was after Joker was unveiled which seemed to signal the direction that most of Ultimate’s DLC would take). Since then, Ultimate’s DLC did take a few turns that I did not foresee at the time such as a second round of DLC and additional Nintendo characters added to roster. However, despite these developments, I do not feel any more optimistic on Dixie Kong’s prospects than I did in December 2018.

However, in the time since, I still tried to support Dixie Kong in small ways and this little community has continued to rally around her despite her prospects having changed very little.

However, what these polls show is hope. Look at Geno, he went from barely within the Top 50 in 2014, to the Top 3 in 2020. Very specific circumstances can drastically change not just a character’s perceived prospects for Smash but also fan demand for the character.

For Dixie Kong, while in 2014 she enjoyed a lot of support, a lot of it was based off her seeming “likely” as well as her seeming to be an obvious choice for inclusion (DK seemed long overdue for a third playable character, K. Rool’s last appearance in his own series was seven years ago at that point). However, at the same time, it shows that Dixie is indeed capable of becoming a part of the overall Top 10 most wanted characters.

For Dixie Kong, much like it took for Diddy Kong, K. Rool, and Banjo & Kazooie, she would need a lot of support in order to finally be noticed and considered for inclusion. Right now, Dixie supporters have done most of what they can given the circumstances. She is probably among the Top 5 most wanted Nintendo characters overall, but we are now in an epoch where the character desires have shifted dramatically over to third-party characters.

Secondly, prior her debut in Mario Kart Tour, Dixie’s last new game appearance was in 2014’s Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze. For most characters, they need a contemporary appearance in order to buoy demand for them. The re-release of the DKC trilogy for the Switch Online and her playable debut in Mario Kart Tour were positive developments, but she is going to be much more to be on the radar again for most Smash fans.

I feel Dixie Kong might be the true heir to the legacy of K. Rool and Ridley. No, she does not have the legions of passionate supporters that they do, but the fans that she does have really do like her, and many of her current fanbase is made up of those that had also supported K. Rool and Ridley. This is anecdotal, but I see many people whom had supported Ridley and K. Rool remark that Dixie seems to be “last piece to the puzzle”. Dixie Kong, much like Ridley and K. Rool, is a big part to the identity of her series, it seems fitting she was just behind those two titans in terms of votes in 2014.

A lot has changed in terms of the characters that the Smash fanbase now gravitates to, but Dixie Kong still manged to somehow still be a character that a sizable portion of the fanbase still asks for. She might not represent a new world to Smash Bros., but she like many of the newcomers added to Melee, Brawl, Smash 4, and Ultimate is a major icon to her respective franchise.

Character support can rise and fall given particular circumstances micro and macro. Particular circumstances (those circumstances pertaining only to one character or one series) or broader circumstances (trends that impact broad varieties of characters such as the shift from Nintendo characters to third-party characters). We cannot predict what circumstances might arise to hurt or help a character’s level of support, but as can be seen, there are situations that can very much hurt their support, or help them rise spectacularly.

That concludes my comprehensive essay looking at three different epochs of character support for Smash. I think Dixie Kong given the right circumstances has the potential to massively boost the support there is for her. Who knows when it might happen though, or if it will ever happen. Regardless, I wanted to make a massive work that showed how much the dynamics to character support have changed among the Smash fanbase over the past six years. It took me a year to actually get it out though. I hope it was worth it in the end and provided something interesting to consider and look at for those who chose to make it through this massive work.

Thank you very much for your time and patience in making it through this essay. I hope it was worth your time and that it might have given some of you additional insight or thoughts for consideration.
Yo, I'm coming over from the general discussion board and just wanted to say thank you for putting in this level of work. I'm an absolute sucker for this kind of thing, the whole "History of Smash Bros." side of the community. It's what made me fall in love with this series in the first place: the celebratory digital museum of it all.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of third-party characters joining the roster. I've been waiting for Banjo & Kazooie to be in Smash since I played the original Smash 64 at the age of nine, and characters like Hero and Steve feel like very worthy additions.

But even though I popped off hard for Sephiroth, his reveal almost felt bittersweet to me. I don't know why it hit me just then and not, I dunno, back when Terry or Joker were revealed, but Sephiroth got me seriously nostalgic for base game speculation. One or two third-parties and then the entirety of Nintendo's colorful backlog to choose from.

I was an enormous proponent for Lyn from Fire Emblem getting in back during the Brawl and Smash 4. To me, she felt like the ambassador of the series, the one who helped introduce the rest of the world to FE alongside Marth and Roy. She felt important, and the rest of the FE community seemed to agree.

But she was at her peak during Brawl, where Ike got in instead. It bothered me quite a bit, but reveals like Sonic, Little Mac, Bowser Jr and the Koopalings, and Duck Hunt were more than enough to help me ignore it.

But now we're three slots away from the finale to the biggest crossover in video game history, an historic and seemingly-impossible achievement, and...now I'm feeling her absence on the roster more than ever for some reason. Same with Isaac and Dixie. They feel like they just missed the boat, bad timing, and now they're forever not going to be part of Ultimate's roster.

I know people see Assist Trophies as a slap in the face, but...I mean, at least I have the privilege of getting excited whenever I summon Lyn to do her thing onstage. Same with Isaac. What kinda kills about Dixie is that the most real representation she has in Ultimate is a color swap for Dixie.

When Ultimate is all wrapped up, I'm still going to be in absolute awe of it. It's a miraculous thing. But...yeah. I really feel for you guys. I really do.

Thanks again for writing this up. I'm bookmarking this because it's legit incredibly fascinating.
 
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