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

[ChronoBound]

I want to submit one more post before the end of this year. In 2020, we learned the identity to another four newcomers for Ultimate. Half of them (Byleth and Steve) were characters that I thought had decent prospects, and the other half (Min Min and Sephiroth) were character possibilities I did not see coming at all (for Min Min I did not see her as a possibility for DLC until it was announced that an ARMS character was going to be the first character to Pass 2).

As to Dixie Kong herself, she has had a few positive developments this year. One is that the entire Donkey Kong Country trilogy is now available for the Nintendo Switch Online, which now gives many people the opportunity to finally play the pinnacle of Dixie Kong's source material (this will be the first time that many people that they will be able to play DKC2, and particularly DKC3). Another positive development was her finally making her playable debut in the Mario Kart franchise, becoming a newcomer in Mario Kart Tour, alongside returning veteran, Funky Kong. This was her first playable appearance in a Mario spinoff title since 2008's Mario Super Sluggers, and her first new playable appearance in general since Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, which originally released in February 2014, so this was her first brand new playable appearance in over six years.

In regards to her Smash prospects, two of the four newcomers introduced to Ultimate this year were Nintendo characters (Byleth and Min Min), with one of them being a character that already existed as a spirit in the base game, which thus helped to prove that spirits do not deconfirm.

However, even with these developments over the past year, I do not see Dixie Kong as any more likely than I did two years ago when Joker was the first confirmed character for the first Fighters Pass. She is still very unlikely to be a newcomer for Ultimate's roster, unfortunately. As I said many times before, it is going to take all bunch of special circumstances aligning in her favor in order for it be a newcomer for Ultimate.

Even still, there is another year left to Ultimate's DLC. We shall see what happens with the final year of Ultimate's development.

As I said before, this thread is pretty much the last tether I have to the Smash community. I said a few times before that I find this thread nostalgic of the kind of support threads you would find during pre-Brawl and pre-Smash 4. There are even a few old faces from those days that still post in this thread (such as Diddy Kong, Young Horsetail, Ridley Prime, just to name a few). I have lost most of my interest in speculation, but I am still curious to see who the remaining three slots ending up being.

This year I only made 30 posts. By comparison, I made over 100 in 2019, and over 500 in 2018. I will probably make less posts in 2021 than I did in 2020, unless there is some sort of profound development in relation Smash DLC and/or Dixie Kong's prospects (in terms of increased perceived likelihood).

It was back in 2001 when I first decided to join the online Smash speculation and character support community. I speculated with others just what characters could potentially join Melee's roster and spoke up for characters that I personally wanted to see in (particularly Ridley). Next year will mark 20 years since I started my involvement. I never could have dreamed that a game like Ultimate could exist five years ago, let alone 20. I said this several times before but as a very long time fan of the Smash Bros. series, Ultimate feels like a culmination of the entire series especially for those of us that have been following it from the very beginning.

I have a few major writings planned for next year. Even though this thread does not get much activity, it is a little something that I like to provide for this small community. I have no idea when I would be able to finish these essays though, and it would probably be very well into the year (just look at how long it took for my essay about the shifting desires to the Smash fanbase to be completed).

I am not optimistic that we are going to see a confirmation for Dixie Kong by the end of this coming year, but I still want to see the remainder to Ultimate's DLC and share my thoughts with this little community along the way. One thing I do think there is a decent chance on happening though is the announcement of a new Donkey Kong title next year. Next year will be the 40th anniversary to the franchise, so it could very well be the case that something special will be done to commemorate it. However, I am very uncertain as to whether Dixie Kong will have a major role in such a title, as she has a very mixed track record after Donkey Kong Land 3 in terms of starring in major DK titles (after Donkey Kong Land 3, she would not have another major role in another mainline DK platformer title until Tropical Freeze).

I am hoping we get a profound miracle next year, and that not only is a new DK title unveiled with Dixie Kong having a major role in it, but that Dixie somehow makes her way onto Ultimate's legendary roster.

This coming year is very likely going to be my last one with involvement in the Smash character support and speculation scene, regardless of whether Dixie Kong makes the roster in the end or not. Ultimate in many ways was my dream Smash, It brought in my single most wanted character going all the way back to childhood (Ridley) and did many other things that I thought were unlikely to ever happen (every veteran coming back, Castlevania being brought in, Banjo-Kazooie being brought in, most stages coming back). In regards to my own personal desires, Ultimate fulfilled 95% of what I wanted to see. This game in many ways is surreal to me that it even happened, and just three years ago I would have believed it unlikely to even be possible. Again, as I said before, I feel like a spoiled child to be hoping for Dixie Kong on top of everything else that Ultimate has given to me.

I would never have thought Ultimate's DLC would last three years after the game's launch, but here we are. There are still another three slots left to be unveiled. It is a long shot, but I do think Dixie Kong is technically possible to be DLC for Ultimate. This year alone we got characters that many in the Smash speculation scene thought had unlikely prospects. It is definitely going to take a miracle and a lot of factors lining up in her favor, but I do think she is possible, even if her chances are very low.

I enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas with the people in this topic, and look forward to sharing more as Ultimate goes into its last year of development. I probably will not have anything to say until we get another character confirmation or there is some sort of major development pertaining to the Donkey Kong franchise or Dixie Kong though.

Now we go into a new year, 2021. We shall see what ultimately happens this coming year. I look forward to seeing what you all have to say and think about the possible DK developments that we might get this year and your thoughts on the remaining newcomers when they are unveiled. We will obviously keep our fingers crossed that somehow Dixie is among the newcomers confirmed in 2021. There is not much hope to go off of, but beginning this Smash cycle (March 2018) I did not see much hope for Ridley either. Hopefully, it will close out with yet another miracle. We can only wait and see.

Happy New Year to everyone in the Dixie Kong thread and those outside of it! Thank you for everything that you have contributed over the past year. It was really nice to see each of your support and creative input for this special heroine, and I look forward to seeing more of it in 2021.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I want to submit one more post before the end of this year. In 2020, we learned the identity to another four newcomers for Ultimate. Half of them (Byleth and Steve) were characters that I thought had decent prospects, and the other half (Min Min and Sephiroth) were character possibilities I did not see coming at all (for Min Min I did not see her as a possibility for DLC until it was announced that an ARMS character was going to be the first character to Pass 2).

As to Dixie Kong herself, she has had a few positive developments this year. One is that the entire Donkey Kong Country trilogy is now available for the Nintendo Switch Online, which now gives many people the opportunity to finally play the pinnacle of Dixie Kong's source material (this will be the first time that many people that they will be able to play DKC2, and particularly DKC3). Another positive development was her finally making her playable debut in the Mario Kart franchise, becoming a newcomer in Mario Kart Tour, alongside returning veteran, Funky Kong. This was her first playable appearance in a Mario spinoff title since 2008's Mario Super Sluggers, and her first new playable appearance in general since Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, which originally released in February 2014, so this was her first brand new playable appearance in over six years.

In regards to her Smash prospects, two of the four newcomers introduced to Ultimate this year were Nintendo characters (Byleth and Min Min), with one of them being a character that already existed as a spirit in the base game, which thus helped to prove that spirits do not deconfirm.

However, even with these developments over the past year, I do not see Dixie Kong as any more likely than I did two years ago when Joker was the first confirmed character for the first Fighters Pass. She is still very unlikely to be a newcomer for Ultimate's roster, unfortunately. As I said many times before, it is going to take all bunch of special circumstances aligning in her favor in order for it be a newcomer for Ultimate.

Even still, there is another year left to Ultimate's DLC. We shall see what happens with the final year of Ultimate's development.

As I said before, this thread is pretty much the last tether I have to the Smash community. I said a few times before that I find this thread nostalgic of the kind of support threads you would find during pre-Brawl and pre-Smash 4. There are even a few old faces from those days that still post in this thread (such as Diddy Kong, Young Horsetail, Ridley Prime, just to name a few). I have lost most of my interest in speculation, but I am still curious to see who the remaining three slots ending up being.

This year I only made 30 posts. By comparison, I made over 100 in 2019, and over 500 in 2018. I will probably make less posts in 2021 than I did in 2020, unless there is some sort of profound development in relation Smash DLC and/or Dixie Kong's prospects (in terms of increased perceived likelihood).

It was back in 2001 when I first decided to join the online Smash speculation and character support community. I speculated with others just what characters could potentially join Melee's roster and spoke up for characters that I personally wanted to see in (particularly Ridley). Next year will mark 20 years since I started my involvement. I never could have dreamed that a game like Ultimate could exist five years ago, let alone 20. I said this several times before but as a very long time fan of the Smash Bros. series, Ultimate feels like a culmination of the entire series especially for those of us that have been following it from the very beginning.

I have a few major writings planned for next year. Even though this thread does not get much activity, it is a little something that I like to provide for this small community. I have no idea when I would be able to finish these essays though, and it would probably be very well into the year (just look at how long it took for my essay about the shifting desires to the Smash fanbase to be completed).

I am not optimistic that we are going to see a confirmation for Dixie Kong by the end of this coming year, but I still want to see the remainder to Ultimate's DLC and share my thoughts with this little community along the way. One thing I do think there is a decent chance on happening though is the announcement of a new Donkey Kong title next year. Next year will be the 40th anniversary to the franchise, so it could very well be the case that something special will be done to commemorate it. However, I am very uncertain as to whether Dixie Kong will have a major role in such a title, as she has a very mixed track record after Donkey Kong Land 3 in terms of starring in major DK titles (after Donkey Kong Land 3, she would not have another major role in another mainline DK platformer title until Tropical Freeze).

I am hoping we get a profound miracle next year, and that not only is a new DK title unveiled with Dixie Kong having a major role in it, but that Dixie somehow makes her way onto Ultimate's legendary roster.

This coming year is very likely going to be my last one with involvement in the Smash character support and speculation scene, regardless of whether Dixie Kong makes the roster in the end or not. Ultimate in many ways was my dream Smash, It brought in my single most wanted character going all the way back to childhood (Ridley) and did many other things that I thought were unlikely to ever happen (every veteran coming back, Castlevania being brought in, Banjo-Kazooie being brought in, most stages coming back). In regards to my own personal desires, Ultimate fulfilled 95% of what I wanted to see. This game in many ways is surreal to me that it even happened, and just three years ago I would have believed it unlikely to even be possible. Again, as I said before, I feel like a spoiled child to be hoping for Dixie Kong on top of everything else that Ultimate has given to me.

I would never have thought Ultimate's DLC would last three years after the game's launch, but here we are. There are still another three slots left to be unveiled. It is a long shot, but I do think Dixie Kong is technically possible to be DLC for Ultimate. This year alone we got characters that many in the Smash speculation scene thought had unlikely prospects. It is definitely going to take a miracle and a lot of factors lining up in her favor, but I do think she is possible, even if her chances are very low.

I enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas with the people in this topic, and look forward to sharing more as Ultimate goes into its last year of development. I probably will not have anything to say until we get another character confirmation or there is some sort of major development pertaining to the Donkey Kong franchise or Dixie Kong though.

Now we go into a new year, 2021. We shall see what ultimately happens this coming year. I look forward to seeing what you all have to say and think about the possible DK developments that we might get this year and your thoughts on the remaining newcomers when they are unveiled. We will obviously keep our fingers crossed that somehow Dixie is among the newcomers confirmed in 2021. There is not much hope to go off of, but beginning this Smash cycle (March 2018) I did not see much hope for Ridley either. Hopefully, it will close out with yet another miracle. We can only wait and see.

Happy New Year to everyone in the Dixie Kong thread and those outside of it! Thank you for everything that you have contributed over the past year. It was really nice to see each of your support and creative input for this special heroine, and I look forward to seeing more of it in 2021.

Marvelous read Chrono! Bravo!

 

[Phoenix Douchebag]

I want to submit one more post before the end of this year. In 2020, we learned the identity to another four newcomers for Ultimate. Half of them (Byleth and Steve) were characters that I thought had decent prospects, and the other half (Min Min and Sephiroth) were character possibilities I did not see coming at all (for Min Min I did not see her as a possibility for DLC until it was announced that an ARMS character was going to be the first character to Pass 2).

As to Dixie Kong herself, she has had a few positive developments this year. One is that the entire Donkey Kong Country trilogy is now available for the Nintendo Switch Online, which now gives many people the opportunity to finally play the pinnacle of Dixie Kong's source material (this will be the first time that many people that they will be able to play DKC2, and particularly DKC3). Another positive development was her finally making her playable debut in the Mario Kart franchise, becoming a newcomer in Mario Kart Tour, alongside returning veteran, Funky Kong. This was her first playable appearance in a Mario spinoff title since 2008's Mario Super Sluggers, and her first new playable appearance in general since Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, which originally released in February 2014, so this was her first brand new playable appearance in over six years.

In regards to her Smash prospects, two of the four newcomers introduced to Ultimate this year were Nintendo characters (Byleth and Min Min), with one of them being a character that already existed as a spirit in the base game, which thus helped to prove that spirits do not deconfirm.

However, even with these developments over the past year, I do not see Dixie Kong as any more likely than I did two years ago when Joker was the first confirmed character for the first Fighters Pass. She is still very unlikely to be a newcomer for Ultimate's roster, unfortunately. As I said many times before, it is going to take all bunch of special circumstances aligning in her favor in order for it be a newcomer for Ultimate.

Even still, there is another year left to Ultimate's DLC. We shall see what happens with the final year of Ultimate's development.

As I said before, this thread is pretty much the last tether I have to the Smash community. I said a few times before that I find this thread nostalgic of the kind of support threads you would find during pre-Brawl and pre-Smash 4. There are even a few old faces from those days that still post in this thread (such as Diddy Kong, Young Horsetail, Ridley Prime, just to name a few). I have lost most of my interest in speculation, but I am still curious to see who the remaining three slots ending up being.

This year I only made 30 posts. By comparison, I made over 100 in 2019, and over 500 in 2018. I will probably make less posts in 2021 than I did in 2020, unless there is some sort of profound development in relation Smash DLC and/or Dixie Kong's prospects (in terms of increased perceived likelihood).

It was back in 2001 when I first decided to join the online Smash speculation and character support community. I speculated with others just what characters could potentially join Melee's roster and spoke up for characters that I personally wanted to see in (particularly Ridley). Next year will mark 20 years since I started my involvement. I never could have dreamed that a game like Ultimate could exist five years ago, let alone 20. I said this several times before but as a very long time fan of the Smash Bros. series, Ultimate feels like a culmination of the entire series especially for those of us that have been following it from the very beginning.

I have a few major writings planned for next year. Even though this thread does not get much activity, it is a little something that I like to provide for this small community. I have no idea when I would be able to finish these essays though, and it would probably be very well into the year (just look at how long it took for my essay about the shifting desires to the Smash fanbase to be completed).

I am not optimistic that we are going to see a confirmation for Dixie Kong by the end of this coming year, but I still want to see the remainder to Ultimate's DLC and share my thoughts with this little community along the way. One thing I do think there is a decent chance on happening though is the announcement of a new Donkey Kong title next year. Next year will be the 40th anniversary to the franchise, so it could very well be the case that something special will be done to commemorate it. However, I am very uncertain as to whether Dixie Kong will have a major role in such a title, as she has a very mixed track record after Donkey Kong Land 3 in terms of starring in major DK titles (after Donkey Kong Land 3, she would not have another major role in another mainline DK platformer title until Tropical Freeze).

I am hoping we get a profound miracle next year, and that not only is a new DK title unveiled with Dixie Kong having a major role in it, but that Dixie somehow makes her way onto Ultimate's legendary roster.

This coming year is very likely going to be my last one with involvement in the Smash character support and speculation scene, regardless of whether Dixie Kong makes the roster in the end or not. Ultimate in many ways was my dream Smash, It brought in my single most wanted character going all the way back to childhood (Ridley) and did many other things that I thought were unlikely to ever happen (every veteran coming back, Castlevania being brought in, Banjo-Kazooie being brought in, most stages coming back). In regards to my own personal desires, Ultimate fulfilled 95% of what I wanted to see. This game in many ways is surreal to me that it even happened, and just three years ago I would have believed it unlikely to even be possible. Again, as I said before, I feel like a spoiled child to be hoping for Dixie Kong on top of everything else that Ultimate has given to me.

I would never have thought Ultimate's DLC would last three years after the game's launch, but here we are. There are still another three slots left to be unveiled. It is a long shot, but I do think Dixie Kong is technically possible to be DLC for Ultimate. This year alone we got characters that many in the Smash speculation scene thought had unlikely prospects. It is definitely going to take a miracle and a lot of factors lining up in her favor, but I do think she is possible, even if her chances are very low.

I enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas with the people in this topic, and look forward to sharing more as Ultimate goes into its last year of development. I probably will not have anything to say until we get another character confirmation or there is some sort of major development pertaining to the Donkey Kong franchise or Dixie Kong though.

Now we go into a new year, 2021. We shall see what ultimately happens this coming year. I look forward to seeing what you all have to say and think about the possible DK developments that we might get this year and your thoughts on the remaining newcomers when they are unveiled. We will obviously keep our fingers crossed that somehow Dixie is among the newcomers confirmed in 2021. There is not much hope to go off of, but beginning this Smash cycle (March 2018) I did not see much hope for Ridley either. Hopefully, it will close out with yet another miracle. We can only wait and see.

Happy New Year to everyone in the Dixie Kong thread and those outside of it! Thank you for everything that you have contributed over the past year. It was really nice to see each of your support and creative input for this special heroine, and I look forward to seeing more of it in 2021.

Amen Chrono.

It's sad to see your interest slowly go away, but i can understand. After Banjo's confirmation and Geno's Discomfirmation, there's no horse in this race im betting, not one that is likely anyway, so i sympathize with your stance (Dixie is just someone i wish was part of DLC, but im not holding my breath).

Out of all the users that have come and gone, you were and still are one of the best, turning something as mundane and plain as arguing about fictional characters in a Party Fighter in forums into something fun, unique and filled with lore (as your speculation days of previous eras have proven) it's good that this thread has kept some of that small flame in your heart.

Here's to a new year and bright new future for Dixie supporters and all fellow people alike.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 🍌⭐️

Wishing you a happier and healthier 2021! pic.twitter.com/UQ9HjOExMa

— Dixie Kong for Smash (@DixieforSmash) January 1, 2021

 

[ZeroJanitor]

I just beat DKC3 103% for the first time today, and I enjoyed the experience a lot. I think I like this game even more now than I used to, and I was already a DKC3 defender.

Remind me why Dixie Kong isn't a more-appreciated character again?

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

Happy new year to all of Barrel Buddies.

This year's certainly going to be a movement.

So today is my birthday. How is everyone doing today?

I'm probably very late on the party here, but I'll be wishing you sweet birthdays!

____


Anywhoo, I've been going through my thoughts once more regarding the current standing of speculation and future of it, and I must say, it's grown to quite a sizable and pretty thesis. I might have to preserve a post like this for the future to really allow it to come through. Huh, I'm bit reminded of what ChronoBound does best.

Speaking which, I feel some quotations from Chrono's end had come to my mind as well when exploring my thoughts lately:

As I said before, this thread is pretty much the last tether I have to the Smash community. I said a few times before that I find this thread nostalgic of the kind of support threads you would find during pre-Brawl and pre-Smash 4.

Also, highly appreciating the nostalgic namedrops on your newest post as well Chrono. It's kinda fond being around late 20s-something, while looking back on those.

Now, I keep honestly sharing same sentiments on Ultimate being probably last time I even bother with Smash-speculation. (And how - this series has honestly lost interest from my end compared to Post-Brawl <-> Pre-Smash 4-release era).

However, I keep still recognziing how many fine choices the series had made, peaking IMO to me around Smash Ultimate's August 2018 Direct, and speculation between that to Grinch-leak after. Of course, I keep wondering what I got out of this ride for so long (Steve being perhaps more highly coveted from Nintendo than Banjo has me feel I got merely lucky than actually feeling "in-line" with the stance that BanjoKazooie should be in Smash-series - they might as well never happened at all like a lot similarly "sensible first-parties" such as Bandanna Dee, Toad, and especially Dixie Kong. It just does bring it down a little on me being happy he's here, seeing how he's probably gonna be a likely second banana to Steve due how Nintendo-centric "seniority" might end up completely vanished altogether upon Smash 6, incase it continues in Ultimate's footsteps. (Essentially I see it as giving their slot to in Smash 6, incase Microsoft AND Nintendo had to choose between one another to bring back in.)

With how I've kinda heard on more people here feeling essentially spoiled asking anymore than what Ultimate already brought them in. I really wish I was part of that crowd at times - but eh, there'll always be people living in the other side of this spectrum - me included. It has made it kinda difficult to work my thoughts still through via feeling so much in this minority that could easily be ignored in this far bigger appraisal to Smash Ultimate and everything leading up to it today as a whole.

I've been replaying DKC3 on the Switch. And as much as I would rather have Dixie Kong as a standalone character, I can't deny that a Dixie/Kiddy tag team character would have a lot of potential. One idea that gets overlooked a lot with this arrangement: In DKC3, Dixie can throw Kiddy in the air and he lands with enough force to break weak floors and open trap doors. This could easily translate into a sort of quake move that stuns nearby enemies.

Kiddy-talk again, huh? Looks like I can bring these back again, as some of things you mentioned were on my head as well:

So some food for thought that I had when I read all the views up to this point about on the Dixie's overall "absence" in K.Rool's reveal trailer. Might get bit long too, but I believe this might be pretty substantial to what we might receive about Dixie in the future.

To begin, I personally am hypothesizing that by most likely case, we won't be getting Dixie revealed in a way we expect through being continuation of K.Rool's trailer incase she's an Echo.

So far, all the Echoes were revealed via dropping them right off the bat in our faces during the presentations. The only exception to this was Richter, but that was again due being part of Simon's trailer overall.

However, K.Rool's trailer ended up not featuring Dixie in any form, so the "boat" for that has passed for her (I really wanted to say "ship", but it doesn't really work figuratively).

I'm presuming there's two outcomes that could come later regarding how we might see Dixie later.

The more likely outcome would be that we see Dixie's revealed in a later Direct as an echo, coming in from another "wave" of announcements featuring that Direct's Echo Fighters (much like Chrom & Dark Samus).

This by the way, won't feature a "continuation" to where we left off from K.Rool's trailer, as Echoes don't get such extrensive reveals, but instead are just dropped right on our faces to be shown. I presume they reveal her on SSBU's hypothetical Tropical Freeze-stage to tie in with Dixie's recent adventure in that game.

The conclusion we could then come from why she ended up an Echo despite her enduring popularity and demand from Smash-community would be that K.Rool' was just higher priority and asked for more resources due being such an unique character, so Dixie would have had to put away to a shelf some while as a considerable candidate to the roster by her own whole uniqueness, and then been casted as an Echo after dev time seemed to be plentiful enough to make some clones.

By this logic, I feel like she should have been featured in K.Rool's trailer - the only reason why she wasn't would have been to showcase her in the Tropical Freeze-stage.

Now to the other hypothesis I've made up out of what we have received so far, and what it might be in store for Dixie, incase she'd be unique. I'm thinking people will raise eyebrows at this, but just bear with me on this.

If the fact that we didn't see Dixie back in K.Rool's trailer is because she's still being worked on as a semi-clone in vein of Lucas/Wolf, I think a trailer to justify all that would feel teensy underwhelming, unless she has lots to offer despite using the same mold as Diddy Kong. See the Echo-part above.

Another thing to note is that the trailers for newcomers have all used crossover theme throughout them via featuring other Smashers, as per what we had also in Smash 4's ensemble of newcomer trailers.

So if Dixie were to get her own trailer, it'd have to have her go against not only K.Rool, but also some other villains that might be with him.

Now I don't want to say she can't take on them all together, but if I were Sakurai, I think her being another take on Diddy with hair mainly on the center would feel tad like waste of resources better used to showcase another character with more unique features to sell them at Smash's overall crowd.

In fact, if she seems more or less another spin on Diddy (harhar), what could make her unique features be even more accentuated and complemented with?

The answer is to all of this is...

Spoiler: Yeah, I'm sure you know it already.

Now hear me out. I know this would make Dixie not be featured on her own end and I don't try to imply she can't be unique enough to stand on her own but at the same time, I think Dixie being tagged with Kiddy Kong would be more interesting to Sakurai, as that not only allows for something unique to be made out of her as a playstyle, but also lets her more unique aspects to flourish even more, being able to pull stuff from recent DK-games, such as Returns + Tropical Freeze.

Starting in DKC2 and 3, you had "Team-Up"-ability, which allowed you to carry your teammate and throw them to reach unreachable places both above and below - or you could just lob them at your enemies to defeat them.

Spoiler: "Team Up" (DKC2 & 3)

This became kind of the main component behind the Kong Barrel-system we saw in Returns, where upon getting it DK could be able to hover via Diddy's rocket barrel - and allow continuous rolling if you kept shaking the Wiimote (or held the button on the 3DS-port):

So what I am trying to suggest could be in the works is that Sakurai would have gone to revisit the tag team concept that he tried to implement with Diddy and Dixie in Brawl, except with Kiddy Kong this time. This would allow Dixie to use her ponytail not only for attacks, but also lob Kiddy at enemies, or even set him for a roll as we saw in DKCR, among other ideas for tag team attacks.

Speaking which, that bit about how DKCR had continuous rolling?

It actually is from DKC3.

Spoiler: Kiddy Rolling

So it all adds up.

Imagine if in her reveal trailer, Dixie goes against K.Rool and some villains along him. She then whistles for a call, and suddenly out of nowhere comes a toddler chimp that's almost her size. The villains laugh at this, but then Dixie hauls Kiddy up with her ponytail, and throws him at them. After that, Kiddy might rebound back to Dixie, who then might try her best to carry in the air (like her Helicopter Twirl from Tropical Freeze), and use that to set up for B-Rolling Attack, and proceeds bowl over rest of the villains, until freeing DK and Diddy (incase they were shown imprisoned in cages in the trailer.)

Now I guess the things that would be ending up open here would be if Kiddy's overall implementation - would he be like Luma/Nana, or could you actually play as him? If he'd be also controllable, I can see him be (fittingly) portrayed as mini-sized echo of DK, and you could play as him via switching (giving you basically two characters to play as via former Zelda/Sheik).


Anyway, that's my thoughts on this matter. What do you all think of this? I really try to not invalidate Dixie's uniqueness here, but again, I'm just pinning down what might go down with her as of late, and with the Echo Factor playing so strong, I'm feeling less confident that we might be getting her as uniquely as she could be.

If we discussing Kiddy's corporation to Dixie's moveset, might as well bring this in again:





Anywho... I wouldn't mind Kiddy too much joining up with Dixie - heck, Kiddy could even be corporated as central basis, or secondary part to Dixie's possible "gameplay mechanic", that could bolster up her moveset to be something interesting and fresh. As of late I feel this might be one of the more interesting endgames for her, and perhaps represent her starring title more. Two ways I can see this go:

- Either Kiddy would be the heavy-weighted AI-controller partner that Dixie can use with her specials or grab and throw at other Smashers as way of KO:ing them better, be hurled at them herself, maybe power up her range/power with him around, etc. There's also the possible corporations of some mechanics seen in DK-series as a whole, like "Continous Roll" from DKCR and Tropical Freeze, which might have originated all way up from DKC3. Dixie basically would be in the spotlight, with Kiddy being her source of more raw knockout power.

However, depending on how this would be corporated, might lead this mechanic feeling like regurgitation of ones seen by Olimar, Rosalina and Joker, so I wonder how likely would this the way to corporate her.

- Another way could be making Dixie and Kiddy actually two separate characters with their own movesets playing to their strengths, while also needing each other to function all the more better. Dixie would be the acrobatically graceful and light fighter of the duo, while Kiddy could provide more unorthodox, yet heavy-hitting attacks befitting his stronk toddler nature. Basically taking how they functioned in DKC3, as did DK and Diddy in their previous titles, and taking the tagteam actions as the source inspiration on building their moveset.

I can see a mechanic to swap both anytime to corporate this, and perhaps another where other can get KO'd more harsher than the other in style of DKC-series' original health system - during which other can function on their own, but might have some of their moves become less effective as one of the characters is now absent that was needed to make them function better. Sorta like evolving the duo mechanic archetype as seen by some characters, except now with two unique fighter movesets in one, having their own strengths that complement one another: in this case Dixie's agile and acrobatic moves that could have them gain more power via Kiddy providing the muscle, and conversely Kiddy's heavy weight and probably poor recovery aided better by Dixie's airborne capabilities.

But yeah. I feel if Kiddy can add more on Dixie's moveset, I wouldn't really mind him - since he was also big part of my memories with playing DKC3 when younger.

I still might be in for Kiddy as part of Dixie's moveset, providing he'd essentially play a role of a gimmick NPC like Pikmin were for Dixie to power her moves with, making for a "DLC"-enough character to be part of the pass.

 

[Fuzzy Pickles!]

I want to submit one more post before the end of this year. In 2020, we learned the identity to another four newcomers for Ultimate. Half of them (Byleth and Steve) were characters that I thought had decent prospects, and the other half (Min Min and Sephiroth) were character possibilities I did not see coming at all (for Min Min I did not see her as a possibility for DLC until it was announced that an ARMS character was going to be the first character to Pass 2).

As to Dixie Kong herself, she has had a few positive developments this year. One is that the entire Donkey Kong Country trilogy is now available for the Nintendo Switch Online, which now gives many people the opportunity to finally play the pinnacle of Dixie Kong's source material (this will be the first time that many people that they will be able to play DKC2, and particularly DKC3). Another positive development was her finally making her playable debut in the Mario Kart franchise, becoming a newcomer in Mario Kart Tour, alongside returning veteran, Funky Kong. This was her first playable appearance in a Mario spinoff title since 2008's Mario Super Sluggers, and her first new playable appearance in general since Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, which originally released in February 2014, so this was her first brand new playable appearance in over six years.

In regards to her Smash prospects, two of the four newcomers introduced to Ultimate this year were Nintendo characters (Byleth and Min Min), with one of them being a character that already existed as a spirit in the base game, which thus helped to prove that spirits do not deconfirm.

However, even with these developments over the past year, I do not see Dixie Kong as any more likely than I did two years ago when Joker was the first confirmed character for the first Fighters Pass. She is still very unlikely to be a newcomer for Ultimate's roster, unfortunately. As I said many times before, it is going to take all bunch of special circumstances aligning in her favor in order for it be a newcomer for Ultimate.

Even still, there is another year left to Ultimate's DLC. We shall see what happens with the final year of Ultimate's development.

As I said before, this thread is pretty much the last tether I have to the Smash community. I said a few times before that I find this thread nostalgic of the kind of support threads you would find during pre-Brawl and pre-Smash 4. There are even a few old faces from those days that still post in this thread (such as Diddy Kong, Young Horsetail, Ridley Prime, just to name a few). I have lost most of my interest in speculation, but I am still curious to see who the remaining three slots ending up being.

This year I only made 30 posts. By comparison, I made over 100 in 2019, and over 500 in 2018. I will probably make less posts in 2021 than I did in 2020, unless there is some sort of profound development in relation Smash DLC and/or Dixie Kong's prospects (in terms of increased perceived likelihood).

It was back in 2001 when I first decided to join the online Smash speculation and character support community. I speculated with others just what characters could potentially join Melee's roster and spoke up for characters that I personally wanted to see in (particularly Ridley). Next year will mark 20 years since I started my involvement. I never could have dreamed that a game like Ultimate could exist five years ago, let alone 20. I said this several times before but as a very long time fan of the Smash Bros. series, Ultimate feels like a culmination of the entire series especially for those of us that have been following it from the very beginning.

I have a few major writings planned for next year. Even though this thread does not get much activity, it is a little something that I like to provide for this small community. I have no idea when I would be able to finish these essays though, and it would probably be very well into the year (just look at how long it took for my essay about the shifting desires to the Smash fanbase to be completed).

I am not optimistic that we are going to see a confirmation for Dixie Kong by the end of this coming year, but I still want to see the remainder to Ultimate's DLC and share my thoughts with this little community along the way. One thing I do think there is a decent chance on happening though is the announcement of a new Donkey Kong title next year. Next year will be the 40th anniversary to the franchise, so it could very well be the case that something special will be done to commemorate it. However, I am very uncertain as to whether Dixie Kong will have a major role in such a title, as she has a very mixed track record after Donkey Kong Land 3 in terms of starring in major DK titles (after Donkey Kong Land 3, she would not have another major role in another mainline DK platformer title until Tropical Freeze).

I am hoping we get a profound miracle next year, and that not only is a new DK title unveiled with Dixie Kong having a major role in it, but that Dixie somehow makes her way onto Ultimate's legendary roster.

This coming year is very likely going to be my last one with involvement in the Smash character support and speculation scene, regardless of whether Dixie Kong makes the roster in the end or not. Ultimate in many ways was my dream Smash, It brought in my single most wanted character going all the way back to childhood (Ridley) and did many other things that I thought were unlikely to ever happen (every veteran coming back, Castlevania being brought in, Banjo-Kazooie being brought in, most stages coming back). In regards to my own personal desires, Ultimate fulfilled 95% of what I wanted to see. This game in many ways is surreal to me that it even happened, and just three years ago I would have believed it unlikely to even be possible. Again, as I said before, I feel like a spoiled child to be hoping for Dixie Kong on top of everything else that Ultimate has given to me.

I would never have thought Ultimate's DLC would last three years after the game's launch, but here we are. There are still another three slots left to be unveiled. It is a long shot, but I do think Dixie Kong is technically possible to be DLC for Ultimate. This year alone we got characters that many in the Smash speculation scene thought had unlikely prospects. It is definitely going to take a miracle and a lot of factors lining up in her favor, but I do think she is possible, even if her chances are very low.

I enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas with the people in this topic, and look forward to sharing more as Ultimate goes into its last year of development. I probably will not have anything to say until we get another character confirmation or there is some sort of major development pertaining to the Donkey Kong franchise or Dixie Kong though.

Now we go into a new year, 2021. We shall see what ultimately happens this coming year. I look forward to seeing what you all have to say and think about the possible DK developments that we might get this year and your thoughts on the remaining newcomers when they are unveiled. We will obviously keep our fingers crossed that somehow Dixie is among the newcomers confirmed in 2021. There is not much hope to go off of, but beginning this Smash cycle (March 2018) I did not see much hope for Ridley either. Hopefully, it will close out with yet another miracle. We can only wait and see.

Happy New Year to everyone in the Dixie Kong thread and those outside of it! Thank you for everything that you have contributed over the past year. It was really nice to see each of your support and creative input for this special heroine, and I look forward to seeing more of it in 2021.

I think we are going to see a character that surprises us for the better, just a hunch. Not saying it's Dixie Kong, but I also don't think it will just be Cinderace - Lloyd Irving - Monster Hunter/Ryu Hayabusa and that will be the end of it. We did get Sephiroth after all, a character none of us sees coming. And with the final years of Ultimate speculation awaiting us, I want to see how it all turns out in the end. Maybe we don't get another character we want, but we've come too far now to not reach its, shall we say, ultimate destination.

2020 was a miserable year for many of us. Let us hope that 2021 is a better year for all.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I think we are going to see a character that surprises us for the better, just a hunch. Not saying it's Dixie Kong, but I also don't think it will just be Cinderace - Lloyd Irving - Monster Hunter/Ryu Hayabusa and that will be the end of it. We did get Sephiroth after all, a character none of us sees coming. And with the final years of Ultimate speculation awaiting us, I want to see how it all turns out in the end. Maybe we don't get another character we want, but we've come too far now to not reach its, shall we say, ultimate destination.

2020 was a miserable year for many of us. Let us hope that 2021 is a better year for all.

Same here. I'm honestly expecting another Xenoblade rep specifically Elma because there's no Xenoblade X music in the game. Why's that so important? Well look at this:

- Byleth brings Three Houses content with them.

- Min Min brings Arms music with her.

- Sephiroth brings more FF Spirits and music with him.

The recent DLC fighters have brought suspicious missing base game content with them so if Elma's in, they probably didn't put Xenoblade X music in base game because they're saving it for Elma's Challenger Pack.

 

[Justin Little]

Someone "leaked" some new DK info on Resetera, but it's all hidden content. Oh well.

 

[~ Valkyrie ~]

Someone "leaked" some new DK info on Resetera, but it's all hidden content. Oh well.

How "hidden", exactly?

Probably might be leaked by some folk soon, anyhow.

 

[Justin Little]

You have to have an account and I believe respond to see it. I would send a link to the post, but I don't want to bother the person.

 

[helloiamhere]

Happy new year Dixie thread, enjoy this now relevant monstrosity

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Happy new year Dixie thread, enjoy this now relevant monstrosity

Son of a ****! You beat me too it! Lol!

 

[Ridley_Prime]

The post was just reaffirming what people already believed; that there will be a new DK game amongst everything being set up for the series as of late.

Happy new year everyone.

 

[BravadoMan_13]

Happy new year Dixie thread, enjoy this now relevant monstrosity

What a masterpiece. Great way to start the New Year! Happy New Year fellow Dixie fans! I hope for something truly wonderful for the DKC franchise this year. Whether it's a new title or Dixie in Smash, we're ready Nintendo!

 

[Mushroomguy12]

Sakurai choosing a DKC setting for his New Years POTD.

あけましておめでとうございます!! pic.twitter.com/t7k6snsP1K

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) January 1, 2021

 

[Justin Little]

The post was just reaffirming what people already believed; that there will be a new DK game amongst everything being set up for the series as of late.

Happy new year everyone.

Oh, is that all? I'm curious if there are any other people at Resetera know about DK. Minus that one person, the insiders there have been awfully quiet about it. No hints or anything.

Sakurai choosing a DKC setting for his New Years POTD.

あけましておめでとうございます!! pic.twitter.com/t7k6snsP1K

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) January 1, 2021

This is a hint for some DK goodness this year. No one can tell me otherwise.

 

[DeniroSerafim]

This needs to be the year of Dixie.

 

[Justin Little]

It's sad honestly. Out of all of the anniversary milestones so many classic franchises are having this year, DK is the oldest and so many people are expecting little to nothing for it.

Y'know the game that single handledly saved the video game industry and is likely the reason we have these great franchises to begin with. If Donkey Kong didn't exist, or it failed in some way, there is no telling where gaming would be right now. Nintendo would've probably given up gaming for more love hotels.

So for this year, Nintendo, please for the love of God give your boy some needed attention.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

It's sad honestly. Out of all of the anniversary milestones so many classic franchises are having this year, DK is the oldest and so many people are expecting little to nothing for it.

Y'know the game that single handledly saved the video game industry and is likely the reason we have these great franchises to begin with. If Donkey Kong didn't exist, or it failed in some way, there is no telling where gaming would be right now. Nintendo would've probably given up gaming for more love hotels.

So for this year, Nintendo, please for the love of God give your boy some needed attention.

Read this and it will cheer you up:

News: How Fans Brought Back K. Rool

This is a transcript of part of the latest Kongversation, with comments from DK Vine co-founder Hyle Russell. The comments have been sort of alluded to over the past few days in the K. Rool social thread and across various Discord channels, so I wanted to throw the entirety of the remarks up...

smashboards.com

So Hyle Russell, the Co-founder of DK Vine says he has a source within Nintendo called Dave Throat and Dave Throat says Nintendo wants to make DKC obe of it's biggest franchises again like how it was during the 90s. Putting K. Rool in Smash and possibly bringing him back to DKC is all a part of that plan.

 

[Justin Little]

I remain hopeful. I'm just more upset about how badly big N dropped the ball so hard that seemingly everyone has low expectations when it comes to DK's anniversary. It should be celebrated along the likes of Zelda and Pokemon where I have no doubt preparations are in order for those two. A new DK appears to be a surefire bet, but I would like it if it comes with some sort of acknowledgement of the anniversary.

Naturally, if the new DK looks awesome, I might not care one way or the other, lol.

 

[RetrogamerMax]

I honestly think if Nintendo wants DK to stay at the top again with Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon from now until the future, they will have to have a Nintendo in house studio start developing the DKC games instead of 2nd party western developers.

 

[Mamboo07]

Wait, was K. Rool originally going to be a secret boss in Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze?

 

[Diddy Kong]

Finally got around to be playing DKC3, it has been a while and I will share my thoughts about the game with newfound perspective.

First of all, I never remembered this game being so short. Compared to DKC2, it's short and quite easy even at times. The level gimmicks present the biggest difficulty, and gimmicks are there plenty. Sometimes diminishing the overall quality of DKC3. The overall rhythm of the game also is lacking compared to DKC1, as well as the level designs, difficulty, and cast of characters.

I'm sorry to say, that despite some certain improvements as the world map, team gimmicks, boss battles, and amount of secrets, I still think DKC3 is the weakest game in the original trilogy. But only by a little. DKC1 is my preferred game because of the awesome level designs, overall natural look, a more beautiful presentation, level design, cast of characters, and of course the fact it's the original game. If it had better boss battles, and a more interactive world map, this wouldn't even be questioned.

It's a must to play for every fan of the franchise, I will add. And am glad they decided to give Dixie her own game, but I will still unfortunately have to claim that it lacks a bit of the magic the other two games had. With that said, it still comes very close to the original DKC in my opinion.

If I had to give the 3 games a rating out of 10, I think it would go like this;

DKC1: 8,8
DKC2: 10
DKC3: 8,2

 

[RetrogamerMax]

Wait, was K. Rool originally going to be a secret boss in Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze?

According to DK Vine's co-founder Hyle Russell's source Dave Throat, yes. According to him, he was but Nintendo axed the idea because Sakurai wanted to call dibs on bringing back the character.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Finally got around to be playing DKC3, it has been a while and I will share my thoughts about the game with newfound perspective.

First of all, I never remembered this game being so short. Compared to DKC2, it's short and quite easy even at times. The level gimmicks present the biggest difficulty, and gimmicks are there plenty. Sometimes diminishing the overall quality of DKC3. The overall rhythm of the game also is lacking compared to DKC1, as well as the level designs, difficulty, and cast of characters.

I'm sorry to say, that despite some certain improvements as the world map, team gimmicks, boss battles, and amount of secrets, I still think DKC3 is the weakest game in the original trilogy. But only by a little. DKC1 is my preferred game because of the awesome level designs, overall natural look, a more beautiful presentation, level design, cast of characters, and of course the fact it's the original game. If it had better boss battles, and a more interactive world map, this wouldn't even be questioned.

It's a must to play for every fan of the franchise, I will add. And am glad they decided to give Dixie her own game, but I will still unfortunately have to claim that it lacks a bit of the magic the other two games had. With that said, it still comes very close to the original DKC in my opinion.

If I had to give the 3 games a rating out of 10, I think it would go like this;

DKC1: 8,8
DKC2: 10
DKC3: 8,2

DKC1 is smooth sailing but feels a bit derivative of Mario level design at points while DKC2 is the balanced masterpiece that gets creative without feeling bogged down by its gimmicks. In that sense Double Trouble's biggest flaw is that it has genuinely novel level variations at the cost of flow. Playing Squeals on Wheels is a very different experience than that of Murky Mill, and that's even with the same kind of aesthetic stage. Even beyond that, the roulette wheel approach means consistency is much more up and down. Rocket Rush is a good example of the game's double edged sword, featuring the kind of outside the box thinking that makes it stand out 25 years later while also being a pain in the *** to play.

In a lot of ways I think the Retro titles drawn inspiration from DKC3 in how distinct they go for level gimmicks; just that they tie them into the core platforming experience a bit more closely.

 

[ZeroJanitor]

Personally, DKC3 is more my speed compared to DKC1. It hues closer to the scope of DKC2's levels while also serving as a showcase of inventive level concepts that are fun to play.

I'm also a little biased since Dixie is my favorite DK character, so this being her starring role helps.

 

[Justin Little]

I find the gimmicks introduced in DKC3 to be less fun to play like that one level that reverses your controller inputs. The bosses and world map are top notch though.

 

[Dukemon102]

I can't put DKC1 above DKC3, the levels of DKC1 feel too basic and derivative of each other, with a few exceptions (AKA water levels and Slipslide Ride) all the levels follow the structure of "Go from left to right as fast as possible". Understandably so because the game was rushed and they didn't know how to fit the assets into the SNES cartiridge without making sacrifices, but it gets monotone after a while (Which is why levels like Minecart Carnage and Blackout Basement are such a joy to me and the whole Chimpy Caverns world feels like a redundant drag). There's no incentive to look for the bonuses outside of getting extra lives and the bosses are very easy and forgettable.
Maybe because I'm the type of player that loves taking his time while playing games, enjoying the variety of ideas that the new levels might bring and looking out for where the secrets and bonus areas are, DKC3 appeals more to me for that reason. The gimmicks might annoy some people, but I see it as a new challenge to overcome. I never found Rocket Rush and Poisonous Pipeline so incredibly annoying like some people describe them, except for when you have to jump out of the water in the latter one, screw that.

DKC1 and 3 feel like the polar opposites of two extremes, the "Go fast and test your reflexes Sonic-esque" style and the "Go slow and take your time Yoshi-esque" style. With DKC2 being the perfect sweetspot.

 

[DeniroSerafim]

According to DK Vine's co-founder Hyle Russell's source Dave Throat, yes. According to him, he was but Nintendo axed the idea because Sakurai wanted to call dibs on bringing back the character.

I don't believe Hyle ever actually confirmed this, all he said was that other people within Nintendo wanted to bring K. Rool back in some capacity before Ultimate, but they were denied. From my understanding, Sakurai 'calling dibs' is what allowed K. Rool to be possible in the first place, and we know that was almost certainly due to the Smash Ballot. So for some reason, Nintendo was not okay with using the Kremlings until Smash set the precedent that they were on the table again. If all of this is to be believed, it just makes me want Dixie in Smash even more, because Sakurai's blessing clearly does a lot for a characters relevancy, and I really don't want to see future DK games without Dixie.

 

[LiveStudioAudience]

Its the kind of thing that has me thinking Nintendo really wanted Retro do their own thing away from the Rare games and/or didn't understand just how well received K Rool would be to a general audience until the Smash ballot gave them hard evidence. I admit this is my own bias talking but as I've said a lot of DKC related stuff in the last 15 years reeks of the big N gradually relenting and accepting that people wanted the 90s era elements back in full swing again.

 

[Justin Little]

Not sure why studios feel the need to reboot already beloved and established worlds with a completely different one. I've been playing the DMC reboot, and there's a moment where Donte, surrounded by debris, is wearing a wig based on Dante's hairstyle. He looks in the mirror and says "Not in a million years!" and takes it off. Who the heck wrote that and thought that was a good idea?

Barring the awful characters and plot, the game is actually quite fun to play and is refined in some areas. While Retro's reboot isn't insufferable like DmC, they both have the same misunderstanding that gameplay is the only thing fans care about. Sure we love the gameplay, but we also love everything else about it. There was no need to get rid of DK Island or the Kremlings. I understand they wanted to do something new with the enemies and I'm all for it, but the least they could do is add Kremling references to the pirate themed areas. It would've made things a lot more cohesive if the world felt more in tune with RARE's.

Thankfully, and unlike DmC, Retro's games can be interpreted in different ways in how it connects to RARE's world. Is this new island their new home after K. Rool successfully destroyed their old one, or is this a prequel and the face on the island hasn't been formed yet. I do appreciate they didn't "Donte'd" up the characters, even if they do feel like blank slates compared to what they were.

On a different subject, https://www.resetera.com/threads/ni...rights-are-still-human-rights.341191/page-232

While a lot of the comments are embarrassing and PTSD "not Metroid" inducing, it does worry me if they are working on an experimental 2D DK. It's financial suicide to do one after the failures of the King of Swing games and Jungle Beat, and it boggles my mind Nintendo might indeed repeat that mistake. The last thing DK needs is more experiments in the form of 2D. DK needs it's Prime and BotW, but I'll accept DKC6 too. The discussion seems like conjecture though. I don't know how many times I've seen speculation being completely wrong about a game despite the "evidence" saying otherwise.

 

[Mushroomguy12]

休日の一枚はこれが最後。
来週からは、月～金の週5日更新とさせていただきます pic.twitter.com/OrRoUH6p0H

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) January 3, 2021

Diddy and Isabelle, what a cute pair!

Wait a minute.....

 

[Justin Little]

休日の一枚はこれが最後。
来週からは、月～金の週5日更新とさせていただきます pic.twitter.com/OrRoUH6p0H

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) January 3, 2021

Diddy and Isabelle, what a cute pair!

Wait a minute.....

This is a hint for Dixie Kong, and no one can tell me otherwise.

 

[TropicalBreeze]

the least they could do is add Kremling references to the pirate themed areas. It would've made things a lot more cohesive if the world felt more in tune with RARE's.

They did add one, but it's incredibly easy to miss. Wouldn't be surprised if this was all they were allowed to include.

 

[Diddy Kong]

I can't put DKC1 above DKC3, the levels of DKC1 feel too basic and derivative of each other, with a few exceptions (AKA water levels and Slipslide Ride) all the levels follow the structure of "Go from left to right as fast as possible". Understandably so because the game was rushed and they didn't know how to fit the assets into the SNES cartiridge without making sacrifices, but it gets monotone after a while (Which is why levels like Minecart Carnage and Blackout Basement are such a joy to me and the whole Chimpy Caverns world feels like a redundant drag). There's no incentive to look for the bonuses outside of getting extra lives and the bosses are very easy and forgettable.
Maybe because I'm the type of player that loves taking his time while playing games, enjoying the variety of ideas that the new levels might bring and looking out for where the secrets and bonus areas are, DKC3 appeals more to me for that reason. The gimmicks might annoy some people, but I see it as a new challenge to overcome. I never found Rocket Rush and Poisonous Pipeline so incredibly annoying like some people describe them, except for when you have to jump out of the water in the latter one, screw that.

DKC1 and 3 feel like the polar opposites of two extremes, the "Go fast and test your reflexes Sonic-esque" style and the "Go slow and take your time Yoshi-esque" style. With DKC2 being the perfect sweetspot.

DKC1 wins this for me because mostly of personal taste. Let me state that first. I just think the overall scenery, presentation, cast of characters (playable, enemies and Animal Buddies), and basic but not frustrating level design puts it ahead of DKC3. Considering this is the first game, and DKC3 the last, is also part of my judgement.

I also don't quite think all the levels are basic. You got quite some variation in there. You can compare the level design of DKC1 mostly to an obstacle course. It has a very straightforward approach to this. DKC3 just does whatever it likes it seems.

But yeah, as long as we're clear DKC2 is the best game, nobody has any problems with me.

 

[Ridley_Prime]

Oh hell yeah, 2 is indisputably the best out of the three.

With 3, it didn’t occur to me until you mentioned it, but it kinda was shorter than you would expect. I guess the padding with the banana bird and brothers bear side quests masked some of the length for me, but each main sub-world just has like five levels and then the boss, while each world in the previous two games had more levels on average. 3’s bosses were also pretty hit or miss (wish there were more creative ones like Bleak), so a fair case can be made for DKC 1 vs 3 despite the former having mostly lackluster bosses.

DKC3 is a well crafted game for something that was done by Rare’s “B team” while the rest of them were already working on their N64 games at the time, but still, can see why 3 is kinda considered the anti-climax of the SNES. A better game to go out on than the final games of pretty much any other system I can think of though; SNES was the golden age despite Smash and some things not existing yet.

 

[BirthNote]

Not sure why studios feel the need to reboot already beloved and established worlds with a completely different one. I've been playing the DMC reboot, and there's a moment where Donte, surrounded by debris, is wearing a wig based on Dante's hairstyle. He looks in the mirror and says "Not in a million years!" and takes it off. Who the heck wrote that and thought that was a good idea?

Barring the awful characters and plot, the game is actually quite fun to play and is refined in some areas. While Retro's reboot isn't insufferable like DmC, they both have the same misunderstanding that gameplay is the only thing fans care about. Sure we love the gameplay, but we also love everything else about it. There was no need to get rid of DK Island or the Kremlings. I understand they wanted to do something new with the enemies and I'm all for it, but the least they could do is add Kremling references to the pirate themed areas. It would've made things a lot more cohesive if the world felt more in tune with RARE's.

Thankfully, and unlike DmC, Retro's games can be interpreted in different ways in how it connects to RARE's world. Is this new island their new home after K. Rool successfully destroyed their old one, or is this a prequel and the face on the island hasn't been formed yet. I do appreciate they didn't "Donte'd" up the characters, even if they do feel like blank slates compared to what they were.

On a different subject, https://www.resetera.com/threads/nintendo-general-discussion-ot18-is-anyone-else’s-thread-collecting-dust-trans-rights-are-still-human-rights.341191/page-232

While a lot of the comments are embarrassing and PTSD "not Metroid" inducing, it does worry me if they are working on an experimental 2D DK. It's financial suicide to do one after the failures of the King of Swing games and Jungle Beat, and it boggles my mind Nintendo might indeed repeat that mistake. The last thing DK needs is more experiments in the form of 2D. DK needs it's Prime and BotW, but I'll accept DKC6 too. The discussion seems like conjecture though. I don't know how many times I've seen speculation being completely wrong about a game despite the "evidence" saying otherwise.

It's definitely the same island. The level themes match too closely for it to be a new locale. Both have their Jungle, Temple, Forest, Cliffs, Caves, and Factory; the main difference being the aesthetic. DKC1 has an arguably more....don't take this the wrong way, basic look in locales. The temple and factory could fit in more realistic types of games and the design is straightforward for those 2 along with the caves. The DK head was probably put there for convenience sake and makes an easy design. It's a reference to King Kong's Skull Island and it saves the dev team from having to design an island's geography on the overworld. When you enter a section on DK Island's head, you're brought to a more detailed section that looks nothing like DK's head no matter what part of the island you're on. You'll be spending more time in the Level Select areas so naturally you'll see more detail there than you would in the overworld.

Retro's on the other hand is more cartoony and constantly makes references to the original Donkey Kong game in its factory and temple levels. Fits the tone I suppose, but what really makes both islands feel like the same place but redesigned is the music. There's honestly no point in having the same tracks play on what's a completely different island. I could see a track here or there playing on a different island, but to have all those tracks Return along with the same locations heavily implies that we're looking at the same place, just changed to fit the plot and gameplay. We have new villains, and the island was redesigned to justify their presence, so naturally the King Kong reference had to go. It also gave us a new section, the Volcano. What's funny is that the Forest in both games are the most consistent. The treetop levels in Returns are definitely more detailed versions of Treetop Town from DKC.

 

[Jovahexeon Joranvexeon]

Read this and it will cheer you up:

News: How Fans Brought Back K. Rool

This is a transcript of part of the latest Kongversation, with comments from DK Vine co-founder Hyle Russell. The comments have been sort of alluded to over the past few days in the K. Rool social thread and across various Discord channels, so I wanted to throw the entirety of the remarks up...

smashboards.com

So Hyle Russell, the Co-founder of DK Vine says he has a source within Nintendo called Dave Throat and Dave Throat says Nintendo wants to make DKC obe of it's biggest franchises again like how it was during the 90s. Putting K. Rool in Smash and possibly bringing him back to DKC is all a part of that plan.

I would hope it's at least a sign that they're bringing King K. Rool back as the main villain of the franchise.

 

[Dukemon102]

I think Brawl heavily influenced the approach the next DK games took after it.
Diddy permanently became attached to his jetpack and peanut guns instead of being a character primary used for his speed. Some people think it's because of DK64. But I personally think it was what Brawl's interpretation showed and the devs at Retro looked upon that to make Diddy stand out more. Also DK's Hand Slap got reworked to be like the Smash version of the move.
A similar thing happened in the Kirby games released after Brawl with Meta Knight's moveset taking several aspects from his Brawl incarnation.

So I wouldn't be surprised if the next DK games follow Ultimate's interpretation.
K. Rool becomes a villain again (And I bet the Belly armor is going to be relevant in the future DK games) and the DK Island goes back to his iconic DK's face look because of K. Rool's Final Smash.