Nintendo isn’t retiring Diddy Kong and here’s why

There have been some scattered claims going around lately saying that Nintendo is phasing out Diddy Kong, for one reason or another. If you have no idea what we’re talking about, that’s completely understandable. This claim is mostly attributed to the dormancy of the Donkey Kong franchise during the Nintendo Switch era – indeed, the only two DK games released there were Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze and Donkey Kong Country Returns HD – both ports. Combine this with Diddy Kong’s absence from prominent Mario spin-off games like Mario Party and Mario Golf, and you can (sort of) see how claims like these surfaced. We don’t think it’s true, however – just because Diddy Kong hasn’t appeared very often lately doesn’t mean Nintendo is throwing him by the wayside. So today, we’re analyzing all of his recent game and media appearances to explain why he isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Like we mentioned earlier, the Donkey Kong franchise was incredibly dormant on Nintendo Switch. It only ever received remakes and ports, and they were remasters that added very little (if anything) to the core gameplay experience. With that in mind, it’s easy to see why Diddy Kong didn’t make a ton of appearances throughout the Switch era – he simply wasn’t a very topical character. He was playable in Super Mario Party and Mario Tennis Aces in 2018, but that’s about it. He was noticeably absent from Mario Party Superstars, Super Mario Party Jamboree, and Mario Golf: Super Rush. Furthermore, Diddy Kong wasn’t included in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s character roster until 2023 – that’s over five years after the game first released! But again, given how inactive the Donkey Kong franchise was on Nintendo Switch, we think these exclusions make some sort of sense – though it’s a shame he’s missing from so many Mario spin-offs.

At the time of writing, Diddy Kong also hasn’t been confirmed to appear in Donkey Kong Bananza. In fact, some players note that Donkey Kong’s redesign for Bananza (plus the recent leak from the Korean Nintendo website) makes Diddy Kong’s appearance in the game less likely. In a way, DK’s new design is sort of like Nintendo attempting to reclaim him as one of their most popular characters or franchises. During the Switch era, Nintendo’s “big four” were Mario, Zelda, Splatoon, and Animal Crossing. Donkey Kong’s new design – plus his first 3D platformer in decades – may be the company’s attempt to add him to the “big five”. But just because Nintendo has ditched Donkey Kong’s Rare design doesn’t mean they’re abandoning the other Kongs that Rare came up with. According to early footage, Cranky Kong actually does appear in Donkey Kong Bananza, and his appearance is mostly identical to his previous look. Cranky Kong first appeared in the original Donkey Kong Country, which makes him a Rare character. We don’t necessarily expect to see Diddy Kong added as a playable character in Donkey Kong Bananza, but he’s bound to at least make a cameo as an NPC.

One other point is that Diddy Kong still hasn’t been confirmed for Mario Kart World despite the recent Nintendo Direct. This is interesting, because Mario Kart World has revealed plenty of odd characters – the Coin Coffer, Conkdor, and the Fish Bone being just a few of them. It seems odd that the developers would include these characters while ignoring a series staple like Diddy Kong, though he was excluded from Mario Kart 8 and Mario Kart 7 as well before being added back via the Booster Course Pass DLC in 2023. Still, it isn’t out of the question that Diddy Kong will eventually be revealed for the game. Funky Kong is one of the most popular characters in Mario Kart history, and he made his way to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe via DLC as well. If Nintendo plans on adding him to Mario Kart World, they’ll have to add Diddy Kong too.

One big reason why Diddy Kong isn’t going anywhere is because of Super Nintendo World. The Donkey Kong Country expansion is set to open this year in Universal Studios Orlando, and it prominently features both Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. The park itself is based on Donkey Kong Country Returns, which Diddy Kong is of course a huge part of. It doesn’t make much sense that Nintendo would create a theme park with a prominent focus on Diddy Kong, but then try to retire him in the games. That being said, it’s also interesting that Nintendo built this huge theme park around Donkey Kong’s Rare design, only to completely redesign him before the park even officially opened in America.

In any case, it’s clear to us that Diddy Kong is here to stay. We don’t know what role he’ll play in Donkey Kong Bananza, if any, but we’re sure he’ll wind up making an appearance one way or another. Given the game’s release, it’s also likely that we’ll see Diddy Kong playable in future Mario Party or Mario sports games. It’s even possible that we could see other Kongs make more frequent appearances in spin-offs too – at the time of writing, Mario Super Sluggers is the only Mario spin-off game to feature Dixie Kong and King K. Rool as playable characters. Who knows, maybe that fact will change sooner rather than later! We’re excited to see where the Donkey Kong franchise goes from here on out, and we’re sure that Diddy Kong will remain a big part of it.