Nintendo reportedly working on open-world Donkey Kong game
You're sure to go "bananas" over the latest video game rumour, as Nintendo is reportedly working on an open-world Donkey Kong game to bring the grumpy gorilla back in a big way.
It's easy to forget that even before we had Mario, we had Donkey Kong. Back in 1981, Donkey Kong was throwing barrels at Jumpman and putting himself in the history books with one of the first platformers of all time.
Is an open-world Donkey Kong game on the way?
While Nintendo has become known for the big three of Mario, Pokemon, and Zelda, Donkey Kong has largely been relegated to being a supporting character in the likes of the Mario Kart and Smash games.
According to the latest episode of the Nintendo Prime Podcast, a 3D and open-world Donkey Kong game has been in development for a while and is still moving forward.
The rumours claim it was in the works under Activision's Vicarious Visions - which seems like an odd choice of developer for a Nintendo-exclusive game. Things changed, and around 2017 or 2018, the development moved in-house at Nintendo.
Originally, the VV team were working on a game where you could grind on vines with bananas on your feet. The title was called Donkey Kong Freedom, and although that's since changed, Nathanial Rumphol-Janc said that Nintendo wouldn't be working on something this long if it's just another side-scroller.
When could the Donkey Kong game release?
Explaining how things have developed, Rumphol-Janc said, "It has not been canned, it is absolutely still a thing." He said that the open-world Donkey Kong game will launch alongside the Switch successor and be a launch game for the console.
He also points out that with Nintendo opening its own Donkey Kong expansion to Super Nintendo World, DK is about to become more popular than ever. Additionally, Seth Rogen's appearance in The Super Mario Bros. Movie will surely bring him back to the mainstream.
Last year, Nintendo updated its trademark for DK, but we're still yet to get anything official from the Mario overlords. Although we've also heard the Odyssey team rumour before, Nintendo is yet to make good on these teases. Donkey Kong is long overdue for his own game, so we say, bring it on.
