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

[Dukemon102]

I think the lack of DK characters (Or any spin off characters really) in Mario games has to do with the Japanese devs not wanting to touch characters they haven't made themselves or are foreign and "alien" to their creative ideas.
DK gets hurt more than any other franchise from this because Rare had an unique style that they couldn't understand or replicate. So they tried to reboot and delete everything with Jungle Beat, thankfully that didn't work (Even if Jungle Beat is a great game and you should play it if you haven't yet). And we had an american team willing to save Metroid and then our beloved franchise from the shadow realm.
But also, some characters like Diddy and Waluigi are so popular that they had no choice but to add them to Mario spin offs, and the baseball games needed a huge amount of characters because the sport demands it (I would lie if I said that I didn't buy the game just because Dixie and K. Rool were in it).
If there is a poll about requesting characters for Mario Kart. You can bet we should start a campaign for that. Funky got his chance so I want to play and main Dixie (And hurt Isabelle with her) so bad.

 

[TheYungLink]

Funky got his chance so I want to play and main Dixie (And hurt Isabelle with her) so bad.

Dixie and Isabelle would be best friends you MONSTER

 

[zipzapsparkle]

I have such an issue with their Mario Kart picks throughout the series. It is an opportunity to help promote characters from their established universes in order to bring more fans and attention to them. Help give them more exposure so we don't have to keep hearing 'Them? No, irrelevant!' Keep them in the spotlight as to not fall into the background. How about they add K Rool, Dixie, Mario RPG characters like Geno or Fawful, someone from Warioware like Mona or Ashley? Or keep popular ones like Diddy and Waluigi?

But no, let's add new babies, random NPCs from two missions, non-Mario universe characters and metal recolors of chatacters already on the roster 3 times.

Tour added babies before Luigi. LUIGI. Are they insane!?

Oh I know how you feel! It took Pauline a really long time to become playable in Spin offs despite her being a significant character in Mario’s history. What I don’t understand is why they keep spamming the same Baby, character in different costume, recolors types. There’s a lot of fanfavorites missing.

I know the clones are easier to pull off though but still characters like Funky should be easy to implement right?

I think Dixie and Funky might have a shot at MKT. I’d love to see her now that most of my favorite girls are all in, she’s one of the few missing.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

I have such an issue with their Mario Kart picks throughout the series. It is an opportunity to help promote characters from their established universes in order to bring more fans and attention to them. Help give them more exposure so we don't have to keep hearing 'Them? No, irrelevant!' Keep them in the spotlight as to not fall into the background. How about they add K Rool, Dixie, Mario RPG characters like Geno or Fawful, someone from Warioware like Mona or Ashley? Or keep popular ones like Diddy and Waluigi?

But no, let's add new babies, random NPCs from two missions, non-Mario universe characters and metal recolors of chatacters already on the roster 3 times.

Tour added babies before Luigi. LUIGI. Are they insane!?

It's flat out embarrassing how Mario Kart can't even have a roster barely larger than half the size of Smash Bros, given how much easier it is to make characters in a racing game compared to designing full movesets for fighting game characters. Mario Kart could easily have a Smash level size character roster too if they actually bothered to branch out to the DKC games, Subcon, the Mario RPGs, the Wario games, etc.

 

[ZeroJanitor]

i can't say i've ever thought of mario kart's rosters as being "too small". mk8's roster is a perfectly good size, just with some unusual character priorities.

 

[osby]

It's flat out embarrassing how Mario Kart can't even have a roster barely larger than half the size of Smash Bros, given how much easier it is to make characters in a racing game compared to designing full movesets for fighting game characters. Mario Kart could easily have a Smash level size character roster too if they actually bothered to branch out to the DKC games, Subcon, the Mario RPGs, the Wario games, etc.

To be fair, it's harder to differentiate characters in racing games. Hence, there's less justification for huge rosters.

 

[BirthNote]

I've been reading the problems Dixie faces in popularity, and my short response is this: I'm done waiting on a flood of people who will support Dixie now that X is in. All the people who did feel that way already showed up. I'm done hoping Nintendo will grace us with another DK game. They'll do it when they feel like it. We'll hype Dixie up ourselves. There's enough of us to build excitement for her, whether it's well-written essays, fantastic drawings, meme-like posts or whatever else.

People are itching for a strong female fighter? Boom, we got one. People wanna redirect attention to Nintendo characters? Boom, Dixie's right here. People wanna see a fighter that stands out from the rest? Boom, we got a Kong with an arm growing out the back of her head. An arm that's stronger than her limbs, that can lift, grab and throw, be used as a whip, spin like a fan and swim through strong currents. That's stuff that Diddy can't do at all, and stuff that Rayman, Shantae and Tails can only do some of.

We'll tell people why Dixie's so important to DK and why she earned her spot among Nintendo's greatest. I was surprised to see Dixie noted specifically in the TV Tropes' action girls page along with Samus Aran, and being the co-star of 2 excellent platformers as well as the star of a very good platformer is excellent too. She's not just a side Kong; she's more than the tritagonist, she's the star of her own game. She has 1 game under her belt that innovates the world map formula, introduced characters that originated in her game and brought mechanics that DK and Diddy don't have in their games. We're gonna let people know that, and I'm going to keep drawing up things every now and then. If anyone else has suggestions to build excitement and appreciate for Dixie never hesitate to share them.

 

[Quillion]

I've been reading the problems Dixie faces in popularity, and my short response is this: I'm done waiting on a flood of people who will support Dixie now that X is in. All the people who did feel that way already showed up. I'm done hoping Nintendo will grace us with another DK game. They'll do it when they feel like it. We'll hype Dixie up ourselves. There's enough of us to build excitement for her, whether it's well-written essays, fantastic drawings, meme-like posts or whatever else.

I'm still hoping we get a third DKCR game, but that's completely independent of my desire for Dixie. I'm more hoping that the Kremlings get to return to their own series after (justifiably) Retro doing new things regarding the antagonists.

I also see no reason as to why we need another DKCR game to boost Dixie's popularity. Tropical Freeze is still a fairly recent memory for us, and that boosted Dixie quite a bit.

 

[Mariomaniac45213]

Oh I know how you feel! It took Pauline a really long time to become playable in Spin offs despite her being a significant character in Mario’s history.

**** I've had my fairshare of complaints regarding the lack of usage of Rare's DK characters from Nintendo (and still do) but NOTHING will ever compare to Pauline's lack of prominence. It took Pauline 30+ years after debuting in Donkey Kong to finally become playable in a Mario Spin-off (Tennis Aces) and become a major player in a mainline Mario game (Mario Odyssey). Yeah she appeared frequently in the Mario vs. DK games but those weren't mainstream and D-Tier spin-offs AT BEST.

Where as K.Rool only took a decade long hiatus. Still sucks but nowhere NEAR as bad as Pauline. Dixie also took a fairly long hiatus having been gone (not counting the GBA ports) all the way from 1996 - 2005. A 9 year hiatus.

Pauline has had her breakout roles recently with Odyssey and Mario Kart Tour (even though the game is trash) elevating her into the mainstream. K.Rool obviously has Ultimate elevating him back into mainstay prominence (hopefully).

Dixie really needs a current "megaton title" to bring her back in the mainstream eyes. Yes Tropical Freeze is fairly recent BUT the game is nowhere near the seller Odyssey or Smash Ultimate are (oddly enough both games that reference Dixie but doesnt actually physically appear), which is unfortunate because that game deserves so much more than it has gotten. Dixie being DLC for Smash Ultimate, A newcomer in Mario Kart Tour, or being a major player in a new 3D DK game would help bring her back to the mainstream in a MAJOR way. I say 3D DK because it gives off more of a chance to show off all of Dixie's abilities and characteristics better than a new 2D DK could especially if its made by Retro again as she would more than likely remain a glorified power-up or a player 2 only character..

 

[BirthNote]

I also see no reason as to why we need another DKCR game to boost Dixie's popularity. Tropical Freeze is still a fairly recent memory for us, and that boosted Dixie quite a bit.

Agreed. There's fanbases rallying around games that came out 10, 15, 20+ years ago and they're the ones keeping it alive. That's what we gotta do; I doubt we'll go 10 years before good news comes but we're in a relatively good spot to just build her up. I'm open to suggestions if you have some.

 

[zipzapsparkle]

Mariomaniac45213

Thank you! Yeah I don’t want anyone to go through what poor Pauline did. I still remember how rude people were to fans that requested Pauline for spin offs prior to Odyssey. Some characters like Fawful still go through that and I’m not sure why.

I think pushing for Dixie to be in Smash, Tour, etc is a great idea. It should cement her status should it come true. She’s too significant to fade away.

Unless they return DK games (or spin offs). I hope they do because they’ve got potential to be a lot of fun. I hear that Retro is busy with Metroid, what if they let the Yooka Laylee developers make some DK games? Their latest game got well received.

 

[Quillion]

I hear that Retro is busy with Metroid, what if they let the Yooka Laylee developers make some DK games? Their latest game got well received.

I actually wanted Retro to collab with Playtonic since before the original Yooka Laylee. This scenario could work too.

 

[Dukemon102]

I almost finished Yooka Laylee and the Impossible Lair (The final level is NUTS) and I can say that Playtonic's team clearly has the creative vision and talent needed to still make great Donkey Kong games. But Yooka Laylee TIL sometimes feels like a "I want but I can't" because many levels repeated assets that don't fit the thematic aesthetic and there some very "cheap" animations like the water pillars or something freezing instantly without transition. Also, they probably made 2 versions of each level because they didn't have enough budget to make more. 20 original levels is like.... 4 worlds.
So basically, being an indie is holding them back. Please Nintendo. We need to make a deal here. I would love to have that Overworld system with Grant Kirkhope's music in a future DK game.

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

While they are very overprotective of their IP's, Especially one that's as old and iconic as Donkey Kong, The great thing about Nintendo reaching out to Playtonic Games is that they just won't be licensing Donkey Kong out to just any ordinary developer or an inexperienced studio, They would be returning it to the people who are responsible for the franchise's identity, characters and world.

Retro Studios can pass the franchise torch off to Playtonic Games while they work on Metroid maybe even co-developing it to help make the transition easier, That is if they have the extra resources to do it.

I would love to see a modern take on Donkey Kong Country by the original team and see where they can take the Kongs and Kremlings next.

Donkey Kong desperately needs a dedicated studio and Playtonic Games definitely look like the team for the job.

 

[Justin Little]

It would be great if Nintendo and Playtonic collaborated to remake the original DKC trilogy like Link's Awakening. Oh, and after you beat the games, you can play as all of the Kongs in each one.

 

[Strong DK]

I actually wanted Retro to collab with Playtonic since before the original Yooka Laylee. This scenario could work too.

A DKC game created by Retro and Playtonic would be just perfect. Maybe some day...

 

[smashkirby]

While they are very overprotective of their IP's, Especially one that's as old and iconic as Donkey Kong, The great thing about Nintendo reaching out to Playtonic Games is that they just won't be licensing Donkey Kong out to just any ordinary developer or an inexperienced studio, They would be returning it to the people who are responsible for the franchise's identity, characters and world.

Retro Studios can pass the franchise torch off to Playtonic Games while they work on Metroid maybe even co-developing it to help make the transition easier, That is if they have the extra resources to do it.

I would love to see a modern take on Donkey Kong Country by the original team and see where they can take the Kongs and Kremlings next.

Donkey Kong desperately needs a dedicated studio and Playtonic Games definitely look like the team for the job.

EXACTLY! THIS is what I've been saying!

 

[ZeroJanitor]

maybe they can hire playtonic to put dixie kong in smash

 

[Justin Little]

Playtonic did make a fine DKC in 2 years with a small budget and team. Sure, you can tell in some areas where the budget hit them, but they still put more effort into Impossible Lair than Nintendo's own 2D offerings and still looks visually fantastic. A partnership would certainly help us out during this long DK drought we've been having.

 

[InASnowBoundLand]

I visited my grandma today and she told me about the olden days, how it was like supporting Dixie Kong for Super Smash Bros. back when she was young.

She told me something that I think you guys would appreciate.

"Dixie fans don't have children and grandchildren. Dixie fans have 'future Dixie Kong Smash Ballot voters'."

We were born to do this.

 

[Quillion]

A partnership would certainly help us out during this long DK drought we've been having.

Please don't put it that way. Donkey Kong thrives on being a series not cheapened by franchising.

 

[Justin Little]

Please don't put it that way. Donkey Kong thrives on being a series not cheapened by franchising.

As if Nintendo wouldn't help fund it? I don't understand what you mean here.

 

[Quillion]

As if Nintendo wouldn't help fund it? I don't understand what you mean here.

I just don't want DK to be an overmilked franchise. I don't think either the Rare era or Retro era would be rather consistent in quality if it were.

 

[Sabertooth]

I want DK to be an overmilked franchise. Milk it dry.

 

[InASnowBoundLand]

We are so undermilked I can't even imagine what an overmilked DK franchise is like.

An e-shop exclusive quiz game based on Swanky Kong's quizzes???

The more DK games the better I say.

 

[zipzapsparkle]

An over milked DK franchise would probably get something like:

DKC series games at least twice a gen
DK 64 becomes its own line like NSMB vs 3DMarios
Diddy Kong Racing game every gen
A mobile DK spin-off
Remakes obviously
Another kong besides Diddy/DK gets their own adventure/spin off

maybe even the arcade DKs get remade/expanded

 

[Mushroomguy12]

An over milked DK franchise would probably get something like:

DKC series games at least twice a gen
DK 64 becomes its own line like NSMB vs 3DMarios
Diddy Kong Racing game every gen
A mobile DK spin-off
Remakes obviously
Another kong besides Diddy/DK gets their own adventure/spin off

maybe even the arcade DKs get remade/expanded

And a lot more Kongs in Smash Bros.
Undermilked would be the current DK representation.
Overmilked would be like Mario, Pokemon, and Fire Emblem's current representation, with Dixie, Cranky, Funky, and maybe even Tiny.

Correctly milked would be the current DK representation + Dixie in Smash.

 

[zipzapsparkle]

And a lot more Kongs in Smash Bros.
Undermilked would be the current DK representation.
Overmilked would be like Mario, Pokemon, and Fire Emblem's current representation, with Dixie, Cranky, Funky, and maybe even Tiny.

Correctly milked would be the current DK representation + Dixie in Smash.

+ a new DKC and a spin off like back in its SNES, N64, GCN, Wii days

 

[ZeroJanitor]

overmilked DKC franchise sounds cool and all but also we KNOW they would just nostalgia-pander to DKC1 all the time

 

[BirthNote]

I just don't want cookie-cutter platformers that ride off the name of DK while having above-average gameplay but doesn't really push the envelope. Basically I don't want New Super Mario Bros styled DKCs. There's a level of detail that Retro's DKCs have that would probably be toned down if they start milking it, which is why I want a steady stream of DK games instead of what they're doing now, which is forgetting that it exists. This IS worse than milking however.

Steady stream of games is ideal.

 

[Quillion]

I just don't want cookie-cutter platformers that ride off the name of DK while having above-average gameplay but doesn't really push the envelope. Basically I don't want New Super Mario Bros styled DKCs. There's a level of detail that Retro's DKCs have that would probably be toned down if they start milking it, which is why I want a steady stream of DK games instead of what they're doing now, which is forgetting that it exists. This IS worse than milking however.

Steady stream of games is ideal.

Again, if only Retro wasn't roped into doing Metroid Prime again, we probably would get a third DKC game.

Honestly though, I would be more okay with letting the DKC series rest again if at least this DKCR trilogy ended. Hopefully with the Kremlings coming back for revenge.

 

[BirthNote]

OK so I've been thinking, yknow how we treat a Fire Emblem entry as that particular protagonist's game and look to that as a reference for content, right? What if we did that with Dixie? What if we mined DKC3 for content, with DKC2 and Tropical Freeze filling in the gaps. We can do that by referencing content and mechanics that the other DKCs don't have, like the banana birds, vehicles, stage ideas and Kiddy being used as part of some Final Smash.

Of course, we can and should also come up with logical extensions of her hair abilities, like different types of hair whipping and stuff. It would also be smart to include her double-jump from DKCTF, and her groundpound. Basically make a moveset that's a love letter to her playable appearances in the main games, with a particular highlight on DKC3. Of course, Tropical Freeze gets a very honorable mention, while DKC2 doesn't get pushed aside either, especially in terms of music.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

This has been retweeted by the Dixie for Smash twitter, but I wanted to put it here as well. I'm literally speechless to how good this is, it's like the magnum opus for DK art.

This has been a long time coming! Here's my Donkey Kong series poster! Donkey Kong Country was one of my earliest obsessions as a kid.#DonkeyKongCountry #Nintendo #DonkeyKong pic.twitter.com/95o6ziMs0e

— @palearaptor.bsky.social (@PaleaRaptor) October 18, 2019

 

[TheYungLink]

This has been retweeted by the Dixie for Smash twitter, but I wanted to put it here as well. I'm literally speechless to how good this is, it's like the magnum opus for DK art.

This has been a long time coming! Here's my Donkey Kong series poster! Donkey Kong Country was one of my earliest obsessions as a kid.#DonkeyKongCountry #Nintendo #DonkeyKong pic.twitter.com/95o6ziMs0e

— @palearaptor.bsky.social (@PaleaRaptor) October 18, 2019

Homina homina homina homina

This is so good!

 

[Mariomaniac45213]

This has been retweeted by the Dixie for Smash twitter, but I wanted to put it here as well. I'm literally speechless to how good this is, it's like the magnum opus for DK art.

This has been a long time coming! Here's my Donkey Kong series poster! Donkey Kong Country was one of my earliest obsessions as a kid.#DonkeyKongCountry #Nintendo #DonkeyKong pic.twitter.com/95o6ziMs0e

— @palearaptor.bsky.social (@PaleaRaptor) October 18, 2019

Bruh you beat me to it. I saw it on Steve Mayles twitter and I was speechless. This needs to be framed and hung on my wall. This guy is ****IN Incredible! I wish Nintendo would retweet artwork and stuff cause this is too good to only be seen by such a small amount of people..

 

[Justin Little]

DKC- 1994
DKC2 - 1995
DKC3 - 1996
Diddy Kong Racing - 1997
Donkey Kong 64 - 1999

Hey, the series sure was successful when it was milked. Sure, I agree about wanting steady releases to avoid franchise fatigue and a potential quality drop, but I don't see how Playtonic making one game would fit those criteria.

Sorry I had to get that out of the way. That art is quite lovely.

 

[BirthNote]

DKC- 1994
DKC2 - 1995
DKC3 - 1996
Diddy Kong Racing - 1997
Donkey Kong 64 - 1999

Hey, the series sure was successful when it was milked. Sure, I agree about wanting steady releases to avoid franchise fatigue and a potential quality drop, but I don't see how Playtonic making one game would fit those criteria.

Sorry I had to get that out of the way. That art is quite lovely.

That's not milking. Not even close:
2000

• Mario Artist: Talent Studio - Nintendo 64 (64DD)
• Mario Artist: Communication Kit - Nintendo 64(64DD)
• Mario Tennis - Nintendo 64
• Paper Mario - Nintendo 64
• Mario Artist: Polygon Studio - Nintendo 64(64DD)
• Mario Tennis - Game Boy Color
• Mario Party 3 - Nintendo 64

2001

• Dr. Mario 64 - Nintendo 64
• Mario Kart: Super Circuit - Game Boy Advance
• Mario Family - Game Boy Color

2002

• Super Mario Sunshine - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Party 4 - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Bros.-e - e-Reader (Game Boy Advance)

2003

• Super Mario Fushigi no Janjan Land - Arcade
• Mario Party-e - e-Reader (Game Boy Advance)
• Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Kart: Double Dash!! - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Party 5 - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga - Game Boy Advance

2004

• Mario Golf: Advance Tour - Game Boy Advance
• Mario vs. Donkey Kong - Game Boy Advance
• Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Pinball Land (also known as Super Mario Ball) - Game Boy Advance
• Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party - Arcade
• Mario Power Tennis - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Party 6 - Nintendo GameCube

2005

• Mario Party Advance - Game Boy Advance
• Yakuman DS - Nintendo DS
• Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix (also known as Dancing Stage: Mario Mix) - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Superstar Baseball - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Tennis: Power Tour (also known as Mario Power Tennis) - Game Boy Advance
• Dr. Mario & Puzzle League - Game Boy Advance
• Mario Kart Arcade GP - Arcade
• Super Mario Fushigi no Korokoro Party 2 - Arcade
• Mario Party 7 - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario Kart DS - Nintendo DS
• Super Mario Strikers (also known as Mario Smash Football) - Nintendo GameCube
• Mario & Luigi: Partners in Time - Nintendo DS

That's multiple Mario games released in a year, over the course of 6 years. I went easy and didn't include ports outside of e-titles, remakes and games that Mario simply appears in but is not the main character, but if his name's in the title it counts. If I didn't trim this list it'd be much larger.

Nearly one DK game a year is a steady stream; in your list they even skipped 1998 and didn't release a thing. This is what most mean when they say milking. Nintendo was on the verge of making Mario's Nose Picker the way those games were going; if they weren't slapping his name on any given title they were having him appear in games not even from his series. I would love more DK games but not on that level of quantity.

 

[Dukemon102]

The 1998 skip is because of Banjo Kazooie.

But when Rare was DK's dedicated developer. They didn't "milk it". They were just the studio making his games on the same basis HAL makes the Kirby games.
Mario has dozens of developers making spin offs or different styles of entries at the same time and releasing multiple games per year to sell by name alone. That's milking. Mario still manages to keep some respect because the mainline entries mostly deliver.
The state of Pokémon however, is milking to the point of drying the cow. Making multiple games non-stop with strict deadlines, completely ignoring the need of quality and the consumers are realizing that (And I will stop there because Pokémon is a touchy subject right now).

I'm fine with DK getting one mainline release each 3 or 4 years. But right now. We are getting absolutely nothing. Maybe it's the Metroid vs DK curse. Because whenever Metroid becomes active, DK has to go to sleep and viceversa.

 

[Quillion]

For one thing, games on the level of DKCR and TF can't be made in just a year anymore. It's a far more involved process than what it was in the SNES years.

Another thing, this may be controversial, but the Rare run of the series started dipping in quality after DKC2. I don't think we would remember the series so fondly if they had continued past DK64. Retro's quality-over-quantity approach has allowed DKCR and TF to be must-play masterpieces on the level of DKC1 and 2.

 

[Justin Little]

I guess I don't understand the definition of milking then. I certainly couldn't keep up with the amount of Assassin's Creeds and CoDs that were being released yearly. No, RARE didn't milk DK as Nintendo did with Mario, but they still pumped out them out more than any of their other IPs. I'm not sure what I'm talking about anymore. I recommended Playtonic to fill in a gap and it became a discussion about milking and cheapening, lol.