Retro briefly toyed around with Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze having a martian theme

If things had gone in a different direction, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze could have featured a martian theme.

The game ultimately starts out with the Snowmads freezing DK Island, and players go on a journey to take down Lord Fredrik. However, Retro Studios artists that worked on the title says that the martian theme was considered, albeit briefly.

Eric Kozlowsky said during a Kiki Talkz podcast:

“I think early on, it might have been discussed like were we going to do the snow theme or like a martian theme where because DK punched the moon at the end of Returns, the aliens living on the moon were going to be the invaders. “

Ted Anderson, who was also on the podcast, mentioned that he saw some concepts “but there was very few, and it was almost like at the level of doodles.” He added that “there was never anything concrete.”

Something else that we previously found out about Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze is that Enguarde was almost brought back. You can read about that here.

Thanks to Jake and Greatsong1 for the tip.