By Cap’s off
- by Alana Hagues
Diddy Kong has been strangely missing in action from much of Nintendo’s marketing, particularly around the Switch 2. At least he was there when Donkey Kong Country Returns HD came out in January…?
Anyway, the big question on everyone’s lips when Donkey Kong was shown off in Mario Kart World back in January, sporting a brand new design was: will Diddy Kong meet the same fate?
Well, the answer is yes — Diddy Kong has gotten a fresh makeover, as revealed on the Nintendo News tab on Switch. You can see him standing next to the goofier Donkey Kong we’ve become more acquainted with in recent months.
Here’s a little side-by-side we put together.
As you can see, Diddy’s undergone a much more subtle shift compared to his uncle DK — his belly is a little rounder than his old design, and he’s also got teeth now (sorry). But the biggest change might be his redesigned cap, which instead of having the white Nintendo logo on it, now has a DK pin on the side.
Notably, this part of Diddy’s design seems to take a cue from his look in the Super Mario Bros. Movie, as spotted by friend of the site and NL contributor Chris Scullion.
Of course, this has us asking yet another question — when will we see Diddy’s new design in a game? DK’s Nephew hasn’t been confirmed for Mario Kart World yet, and as far as we can tell, he’s not popped up in Donkey Kong Bananza. Surely this is where we’ll see him next, right?
We’re ready and waiting for your return, Diddy Kong
Let us know what you think of Diddy’s new design in the comments.
Alana has been with Nintendo Life since 2022, and while RPGs are her first love, Nintendo is a close second. She enjoys nothing more than overthinking battle strategies, characters, and stories. She also wishes she was a Sega air pirate.