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

[Planet Cool]

Stickerbush Symphony is such a magical song. There really should be a Smash stage based on Bramble Blast or Bramble Scramble, but I have no idea how it could work. Maybe the brambles could be danger zones, like the lava in Great Cave Offensive?

There should be Zingers and barrel cannons, too...

 

[Doc Monocle]

Stickerbush Symphony is such a magical song. There really should be a Smash stage based on Bramble Blast or Bramble Scramble, but I have no idea how it could work. Maybe the brambles could be danger zones, like the lava in Great Cave Offensive?

There should be Zingers and barrel cannons, too...

The Donkey Kong Country 2 bramble stage backgrounds make it look spacious enough. The wooden planks make for obvious platforms, and such a stage would offer a unique challenge-- do not walk off stage, or you will hit a thorn. Perhaps this would be the only stage without ledge grabbing as an option for recovery.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Source Gaming did a character chronicle on Kiddy Kong.

#DonkeyKong Country heroes need a co-star palling around with them, and today @LegendCartBoy is babysitting Dixie Kong’s. It’s #CharacterChronicle, starring Kiddy Kong! https://t.co/pYhCk5A2KU

— Source Gaming (@AllSourceGaming) January 28, 2021

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Just imagine if we had a Nintendo Direct today or ever again:

 

[Doc Monocle]

Just imagine if we had a Nintendo Direct today or ever again:

What is a Nintendo Direct?

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Love them underwater atmospheres.

#DKCTF #DonkeyKong pic.twitter.com/AktovPwTJP

— Dixie Kong for Smash (@DixieforSmash) January 29, 2021

 

[Justin Little]

If y'all haven't heard, Playtonic will announce some kind of rebranding very soon. They won't be announcing a new game just yet. I expect they will try to move away from being the "new RARE," and change their logo. A new 3D Yooka Laylee, I think, will be their next game since this update was disclosed with the YL backers. With them no longer chained behind Kickstarter goals, and Impossible Lair being absolutely remarkable, I have full faith their next 3D outing will be much better.

Now, what does this have to do with Dixie? It's obvious really. Nintendo has purchased about half of the company. One half will develop Playtonic universe games and the other will develop the DKC 2 spinoff we've all been waiting for: Diddy and Dixie's KongQuest! I've cracked the case again. They should call me Julimbo.

Spoiler

Like Columbo. Ya get it! Aaaaaaaahh!

 

[Planet Cool]

I'm a bit worried about that rebranding. Impossible Lair is phenomenal but apparently it didn't sell very well, so I suspect they're retiring Yooka and Laylee and going in a completely different direction, one that doesn't stroke my happy childhood nostalgia bone quite the same way. I hope that's just paranoia on my part. Trowzer is making a cameo in Clive & Wrench, after all.

I wish Jim Sterling and/or Yahtzee would review Impossible Lair, preferably the latter since he's honest (one might say brutally so) and doesn't give out low scores just to screw with people's expectations. It'd be nice if a high-profile critic that didn't like the original Yooka-Laylee praised the sequel.

Incidentally, Justin, have you been to the Yooka and Laylee support thread? It could sure use some more activity.

 

[Justin Little]

In a post from Reddit, one of the Playtonic folk was asked if Impossible Lair was successful, and they said they were satisfied or something along those lines. It didn't light the charts on fire, even for indie standards, but it seemed to have made some decent revenue.

Jim Sterling and Yahtzee thrive on being as overtly negative as possible as it gains traction for viewership. They'll probably make a passing mention of Impossible Lair that's positive, but I don't see them going out of their way to make a review of it unfortunately. It would certainly help Playtonic, that's for sure.

I might poke my head in the Yooka support thread. I love the games, and while I don't see them ever becoming playable, it would be cool to see them as a Mii costume or even a simple spirit.

 

[Dinoman96]

Yahtzee never even bothered reviewing Retro's DKC games when they first came out lol

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I'm a bit worried about that rebranding. Impossible Lair is phenomenal but apparently it didn't sell very well, so I suspect they're retiring Yooka and Laylee and going in a completely different direction, one that doesn't stroke my happy childhood nostalgia bone quite the same way. I hope that's just paranoia on my part. Trowzer is making a cameo in Clive & Wrench, after all.

I wish Jim Sterling and/or Yahtzee would review Impossible Lair, preferably the latter since he's honest (one might say brutally so) and doesn't give out low scores just to screw with people's expectations. It'd be nice if a high-profile critic that didn't like the original Yooka-Laylee praised the sequel.

Incidentally, Justin, have you been to the Yooka and Laylee support thread? It could sure use some more activity.

Honestly, I think Playtonic Games should start from square one with Yooka-Laylee and go back to 3D platforming while not making the levels so big. The levels should be the size of Kazooie or Tooie levels instead of DK64 size. Plus they should focus on making more levels in numbers making them smaller in size instead of just several big ones.

 

[ZeroJanitor]

Unless I'm mistaken, they mentioned back during the Kickstarter that they had a desire to explore new genres with different characters eventually, and if that's still true then I don't know how likely Yooka-Laythree is. I do think it would be really cool to see them create new IPs.

 

[Justin Little]

Remember there was an image of a mecha Yooka Laylee taken from Playtonic HQ. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.re...a_yookalaylee_artwork_seen_on_andy_robinsons/

It could be a hint of what's to come, or it's just a simple concept art. It looks pretty rad regardless.

I'm still rooting for a redemption arc for the lizard and bat. Impossible Lair was great, but it does seem like it only managed to turn a few heads. It could put a lot of good faith in people if they starred in a 3D platformer that actually met people's expectations. After that, Playtonic can work on whatever like Vendi's Foot Fetishes or Trowzer's Other Snake in the Pants.

 

[BirthNote]

OK so we're coming up on this thread's 4th anniversary and it's time we do some introspection. How much would y'all say this community has grown throughout the years, and does anyone have any Comments, Complaints, Compliments and/or Critiques about our sect of the fandom?

With no new DK game in sight there's little incoming hype; this coupled with Ultimate naturally dying down in its DLC cycle, plus the unpredictability of choices makes Dixie a long shot. Luckily we're getting steady Life Support from Nintendo with Mario Kart and VC updates but that's not as in-your-face as say a new game. Our fanbase has grown slowly but we haven't suffered the major blows that other bases have, and when it comes to this subforum we're now the 2nd most active Newcomer Speculation thread.

We seem pretty insulated from the usual pitfalls. We don't die out from inactivity and we don't succumb to hype overload like the larger formerly active threads. In a game of endurance we're holding strong, but we're not anywhere near surpassing the activity that some of the larger threads once had, before they were locked. Since Ultimate will be complete in 2022 by Sakurai's estimates, this entire subforum faces extinction a little while after the 6th character gets confirmed, and we're already halfway there. That means this thread will face its end, and the most we'll have regarding fan support will come from the excellent Twitter page.

In regards to Dixie herself, she's been very easily overlooked by the broader fanbase. She's a "sure why not" to many but those outside of the DKC fandom treat her as an Easy Echo when being positive and viewed as a minor character from a D-Tier franchise when being negative. Obviously Dixie's far from minor and DK is far from D-Tier, but a detractor's job is to downplay and dismiss as much as possible. It goes without saying I'm certain you can make a viable moveset out of anything, and Dixie's got more than enough to be unique. Problem I'm seeing is that there's little enthusiasm for her, even though she has a lot of people who'd be A-OK with her making the cut.

So, what do we do about it? We bring our enthusiasm with us to other sites. Even when her detractors start taking shots we don't take it personally, but have good counters ready for when they pop up. I gurantee you that if Mario never was in Smash before, and was a potential newcomer to be speculated on right now, there'd be dozens of people against his inclusion because reasons. "What's he gonna do? 'Jump on people'?! Hah!" No character is detractor-free, so remember that when advocating.

Other than that we can keep up the fan support like we are now. I'm not done with moveset ideas--I doodled up about 25 more ideas and I just need to put them in digitally--and Seashore isn't done with his stuff either. The twitter page is a fun corner as well and this thread is lively with topics that we don't seem to be replicating on other threads (correct me if I'm wrong).

So basically this is an open dialogue and everyone is free to put in their perspectives.

 

[Mariomaniac45213]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is the only thread on this site that I frequent/post in and its not because I think Dixie has a shot in the DLC (I dont sorry) and Im pretty much over Smash Ultimate as a whole (I've hit burn out). Would I like to see Dixie be added? Yes. Will I be excited for her inclusion? Absolutely!

But the reason Im still in this thread is to discuss DK as a whole with a group of people that share the same love and passion for the franchise as I do. They're aren't many places on the internet even within Nintendo circles (as previously discussed) that give the DK franchise the time in the spotlight it deserves. I have come to respect everyones contributions to this thread whether I agree with their opinions on certain aspects of the franchise or not. Cause at the end of the day we are all DKC fans by extension of Dixie. So we can have different discussions on different games, characters, music of the franchise and what the future of the franchise could hold. Those are the conversations that keep me coming back here and less of "What would Dixie's side taunt be?" No Im not knocking those discussions btw. Lol

 

[Doc Monocle]

I am sure she will be in someday. I just hope her visitation to Donkey Kong games in the future will not die. That is a sure fire guarantee of her exclusion if nothing else is. That said, I think she is popular, original, and historically significant enough that this will not likely be the case.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Since we got the first half of FP2 last year (surprisingly enough) despite covid, I was thinking we might get the remaining half this year, but if the last character or so isn’t until next year, then it’s whatever. Either way, ready for this all to be over before too long, and maybe some metagame shifts again by then with the lack of fighter adjustments from the last couple character releases...

Still too early for goodbyes and stuff right now, but is good to have some long term thinking/planning ahead of time. Nothing more for me to add right now as far as that, but if something comes to me later, I’ll bring it up. Otherwise, am kinda here for similar reasons to what Mariomaniac said. Surprised for this to be one of the most current active threads while also maintaining that balance between hype and discussion, as we know Dixie’s a long shot as is (known it since the DLC began), but still, a most notable feat in her support history.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

It does speak to both the depth of the DKC (and beyond) titles and the lack of interesting places online to talk about them that a fighter thread for a character that realistically won't get in the DLC has remained so active.

That and its been an ideal place to discuss the nature of Nintendo, platformers, and other various elements adjacent to DKC.

 

[MattX20]

I just hope the next DKC game has her playable alongside Diddy. Tropical Breeze is fun and all, but we need more beyond it

 

[Mushroomguy12]

gabocarina96 did a rock cover of Welcome to Crocodile Isle from DKC2!

 

[ChunkySlugger72]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. This is the only thread on this site that I frequent/post in and its not because I think Dixie has a shot in the DLC (I dont sorry) and Im pretty much over Smash Ultimate as a whole (I've hit burn out). Would I like to see Dixie be added? Yes. Will I be excited for her inclusion? Absolutely!

But the reason Im still in this thread is to discuss DK as a whole with a group of people that share the same love and passion for the franchise as I do. They're aren't many places on the internet even within Nintendo circles (as previously discussed) that give the DK franchise the time in the spotlight it deserves. I have come to respect everyones contributions to this thread whether I agree with their opinions on certain aspects of the franchise or not. Cause at the end of the day we are all DKC fans by extension of Dixie. So we can have different discussions on different games, characters, music of the franchise and what the future of the franchise could hold. Those are the conversations that keep me coming back here and less of "What would Dixie's side taunt be?" No Im not knocking those discussions btw. Lol

I feel the same way and have mentioned it before too in that I mainly hang out here because this is currently the most active "Donkey Kong" thread and I mainly just want to talk about the state of the DK franchise.

That's not to say I don't want her in Smash, Of course I would be happy to have Dixie in Smash, But I'm mostly satisfied with DK, Diddy Kong and King K. Rool as I have always been a bigger fan of them than Dixie and honestly I'm not begging on my knees for her inclusion like I was for Banjo-Kazooie, King K. Rool and even my current most wanted character in Crash Bandicoot.

I have already accepted the fact that she's not very likely to make it into "Ultimate" and I don't have the drive to keep on speculating post "Ultimate" when I eventually get into my 30's. Because it seems like it will probably never get bigger than this again.

I am still a very active Smash player and Banjo-Kazooie and King K.Rool are my 1-2 punch in Ultimate, But honestly in terms of DK related content, I'm looking more forwards toward the future of Donkey Kong franchise whether it's Country, 3D or Spinoffs.

 

[Planet Cool]

Jim Sterling and Yahtzee thrive on being as overtly negative as possible as it gains traction for viewership. They'll probably make a passing mention of Impossible Lair that's positive, but I don't see them going out of their way to make a review of it unfortunately. It would certainly help Playtonic, that's for sure.

That's somewhat true of Jim. His pieces on stuff like exploitative practices in the industry are good but when it comes to reviews he's something of a troll and he doesn't bother hiding it. I don't think the same is true of Yahtzee. He's as effusive with praise as he is with criticism, it's just that he's figured out (as all critics eventually do) that negative reviews are more fun to write and do better numbers. I'd call him a brutally honest, shoot-from-the-hip kinda guy, but not a troll. Also his books are very good.

Honestly, I think Playtonic Games should start from square one with Yooka-Laylee and go back to 3D platforming while not making the levels so big. The levels should be the size of Kazooie or Tooie levels instead of DK64 size. Plus they should focus on making more levels in numbers making them smaller in size instead of just several big ones.

The problem isn't the size of the levels, it's the layout. Yooka-Laylee is a prime example of what I like to call the "upturned box of Legos" school of level design. It isn't easy to tell where anything is in relation to anything else.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

YL has a lot of big space it doesn't know what to do with. If it had less quills to get while cutting the stage sizes in half, and the game really wouldn't be any worse off for it. The overall pacing of the game is affected by this because the early sense of momentum one got from a Banjo-Kazooie or Tooie doesn't really happen given how much ground you're constantly covering early on.

The best modern comparison for the original Yooka-Laylee is Hat in Time. The latter uses its size far more efficiently for most of its stages and typically fills them with either something to interact with or collect. Subcon Forest is the exception and at times feels like it suffers for it, being so big that traversing and finding things can feel like a chore at times.

 

[Justin Little]

The layout of YL didn't really bother me, honestly. In fact, I find the traversal to be more fun than either Tooie or DK 64 considering how quick you are in the game. It also has more platforming elements than either of those 2 which were always my biggest gripes with them. I do agree YL could've done a better job differentiating areas and fill up open spaces though.

 

[ZeroJanitor]

So anyone here play Diddy Kong Racing recently? I've been revisiting the game and I still love that it has a single-player mode since I love kart racers but have no friends.

Though one thing that really stands out to me is that Pipsy is the only girl in the roster (unless you choose to believe that Kazooie was in Banjo's backpack the whole time). It's something that the DS version changed by adding Dixie and Tiny Kong, although sadly at the expense of Banjo and Conker.

I wish there was some way to have a definitive version with all the characters, but unless we get a really talented ROM hacker on the case it's probably never gonna happen.

 

[Justin Little]

So anyone here play Diddy Kong Racing recently? I've been revisiting the game and I still love that it has a single-player mode since I love kart racers but have no friends.

Though one thing that really stands out to me is that Pipsy is the only girl in the roster (unless you choose to believe that Kazooie was in Banjo's backpack the whole time). It's something that the DS version changed by adding Dixie and Tiny Kong, although sadly at the expense of Banjo and Conker.

I wish there was some way to have a definitive version with all the characters, but unless we get a really talented ROM hacker on the case it's probably never gonna happen.

It's still the best kart racer ever even amongst Mario Kart 8, Sonic Racing Transformed, and Crash Team Racing. With Nintendo and MS being buddy buddy with each other, there is no better time than to rerelease it on Switch. Or they could go the extra mile and completely remake it from the ground up.

Or they could go the extra EXTRA mile and give us a darn sequel! Pokemon Snap is coming back so let's keep that nostalgia train rolling Nintendo.

 

[Dinoman96]

I guess the main problem is that Nintendo has seemingly sworn off doing anything with N64 games as far as Switch is concerned, outside of like compliations only available for a limited time. And I don't see them caring enough to do a full blown remaster or an entirely new game, especially since they have Mario Kart.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Nintendo won't do anything with F-Zero and that's a racing series with a longer legacy and more titles than DKR. They're sitting fat and happy with Mario Kart and there's a decent chance they view another Diddy Kong Racing title as redundant despite its clear differences from MK.

I think DK would be a decent base to work off of with puzzle game/puzzle platformers. Why not do a successor to Mario vs DK that moves towards utilizing the extended cast as opposed to the same two characters again? A puzzle game crossover of Panel de Pon and Donkey Kong, hey why not?

 

[Mushroomguy12]

It's a shame they don't even want to bother with MK8D DLC despite how many boatloads of people would buy it. (I guess they want to focus all their efforts on the mobile one). It's so weird to have DK as the ONLY Kong on the roster, without even Diddy Kong for pete's sake. In an ideal world, we would have had Diddy, Dixie, Funky, Cranky, Tiny, K. Rool, etc, all on the roster by now.

Mario Sluggers really was the best roster in terms of DK content for a Mario Spinoff in the series.

 

[InASnowBoundLand]

I would like a DK minigame spinoff.

Donkey Kong Party.

Mario, you are NOT invited. Payback for what happened to DK in Mario Party 6 through 9 and others.

Also we need DK Racing with animal buddies.

 

[Doc Monocle]

I would like a DK minigame spinoff.

Donkey Kong Party.

Mario, you are NOT invited. Payback for what happened to DK in Mario Party 6 through 9 and others.

Also we need DK Racing with animal buddies.

Mario knows where you live. Hehe! I do not think the Kongs would mind... would they?

 

[Planet Cool]

How are things looking over on ResetEra, guys? Have the mighty insiders dropped any breadcrumbs for us to nibble on lately?

Mario, you are NOT invited. Payback for what happened to DK in Mario Party 6 through 9 and others.

Mario Party 9 did have the best DK-themed board in the series, at least.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Pompy art.

Colored sketches of my favorite boss from DKCTF, Pompy the Presumptuous. pic.twitter.com/BG2WZORnBY

— Jovanni (@JovanniTheEagle) February 1, 2021

 

[Justin Little]

How are things looking over on ResetEra, guys? Have the mighty insiders dropped any breadcrumbs for us to nibble on lately?

Nothing. Just the usual people wanting constant reassurance a new Metroid is happening and the often brought up Idolmaster silly talk. That pretty much sums up the plot of the Nintendo side of that place.

 

[Planet Cool]

Sometimes I feel like the only person on the planet that doesn't like or care about Metroid. A part of me (the bitter, spiteful part that's still mad about the Metroid fandom's reaction to Tropical Freeze) feels like they should just put Prime 4 out of its misery already.

You know what I wish Retro was making, besides a new Donkey Kong? That canceled Boo game. That looked fresh and fun.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Yeah well, I feel like I'm one of the only Metroid fans that welcomed Tropical Freeze with open arms (I know it wasn't the entire fandom that reacted against it, mainly just the people on neogaf at the time), while I was lowkey trying to keep fans of both series from fighting or hating each other, as one that treasures both IPs and all.

Heh. While I think being that spiteful against Prime 4 makes you no better than the Tropical Freeze haters back then, MP4 being cancelled now oddly wouldn't hurt that much, when it's only had a title screenshot and nothing 3+ years later. Assuming the next DK is by EPD or something which mostly everyone collectively agrees on, am willing to bet that it'll be out well before Prime 4, or at the very least have some notable info shed on it before MP4 does.

 

[Justin Little]

Being both a DK and Metroid fan, the Metroid side of me was ashamed and embarrassed by the reactions. I get it, Metroid's only game of note was Other M and while I particularly enjoyed it, it obviously wasn't the fanbase's cup of tea. You could say it was Metroid's Jungle Beat. However, DK had it pretty rough during the 2000s where practically every game released was DK's Federation Force. DK fans had to wait more than a decade to finally get back to basics. After the major success of DKCR, it was only natural Retro would be making a sequel. It outsold the entirety of the Metroid Prime trilogy so it kinda boggles my mind no one saw it coming.

Metroid fans, on the other hand, were fed extremely well during the 2000s. Not only did Metroid got 2 great 2D platformers (Zero Mission and Fusion), but they also got a complete revamp of the Metroid formula in the 3D realm. Metroid Prime was the series Ocarina of Time/Mario 64 moment and it was glorious. It would eventually lead to two great sequels. As much as I love DK 64, that is not what I envision a 3D DK to play like. DK fans like me are still waiting for the series' OoT/Mario 64 moment.

Metroid did only get one game on the SNES whereas DK got 3 and it completely missed out on the 64. I think having an overabundance of games (which no doubt garnered a new young fanbase) was a new experience for them that seeing the train halt after Other M (or Prime 3 according to who you ask) was something they weren't used to. Retro probably didn't expect the kind of reactions Tropical Freeze received. Retro had already done 3 Prime games in a row, and with the loving reception of DKCR, Tropical Freeze was the next logical step. I hate to say it, but the reactions most likely discouraged Retro from ever touching DK ever again. I think Hyle said that a new DK wasn't even in the cards after TF.

Times are changing, seemingly for the better. Retro are now on MP4 duty and Mercury Systems are possibly working on a new 2D Metroid. And DK is finally moving back to Nintendo and it doesn't seem like it's going to be a Jungle Beat reboot situation. It does concern me it might be a 2D spinoff instead of a DKC6 or a 3D DK, but if it's successful enough we could eventually see either of them in the future. Things are finally looking up for both franchises, and I couldn't be more optimistic.

 

[BirthNote]

My main problem is that Nintendo announced MP4 waaaaay too early. If they kept quiet about it, the eventual scrapping of the product and restarting it with Retro developing it would go unnoticed, since as far as we knew, it didn't even exist. We didn't even get a BoTW 2 type of reveal, a title card is barely anything to go off of.

Anyway, the Prime trilogy is the only Metroid games I played, and while I loved each, I was happy to see Retro take on DK, cuz it showed how versatile they were as developers. I was very impressed with their platformers.

 

[ZeroJanitor]

My perspective, as someone who didn't really get into DKC until 2015 and only completed a Metroid game a couple months ago, is that I wish Metroid and DK fans would realize that they don't need to be enemies. They seem like completely different games on the surface but they actually have way more in common than you might think; both franchises are beloved for their clever level designs and sense of atmosphere, which I think is the reason Retro was so good with them.

 

[Justin Little]

If rumors are right, then Nintendo probably expected this to be out sooner before it had development trouble over at Namco Bandai. Another theory I have is that they revealed it early so Metroid fans won't complain about a new DK coming out before they knew about a new Metroid.