It's been 26 years since the last and only 3D Donkey Kong game dropped onto the N64. Sure, we've had sidescrolling titles in that time, but the only truly 3D Donkey Kong adventure we've ever had has been Donkey Kong 64, the Rare classic that I put so many hours into as a kid.
Donkey Kong has fallen by the wayside for a long while now; it's always felt like Nintendo were just pumping out DK content because they felt obliged to rather than because they wanted to. Now, however, thanks to DK's popularity in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, they have put him front and centre once more with a new game and a new look to boot. What's more, Nintendo have announced a Donkey Kong Bananza Direct for this Wednesday, 18th June, to tell us more about the game.
The Direct will be taking place at 2 pm UK time, which is 6 am PT and 9 am ET. It will last 15 minutes and hopefully go into more detail about some of the elements that we saw when the game was first announced.
DK feels far more cartoony than he used to be; he looks more approachable and expressive, a little sillier even. From the clips I've seen so far, the whole thing looks and feels a little more like Super Mario Galaxy than Donkey Kong 64, so I'm intrigued to see more of the gameplay and to find out how it will compare to one of my favourite N64 adventures. I hope there are lots of puzzles and not just a lot of smashing... that would get tedious very quickly!
So, I'll see you back here on the Retro Dodo website at 2 pm on Wednesday to give you my thoughts as the Direct unfolds!
Click to watch the footage of Donkey Kong Bananza from the Nintendo Switch 2 April Direct
