The Super Mario Bros. Movie Appears to Have Influenced a Major Mario Kart 9 Character's Redesign
Nintendo has finally revealed the Nintendo Switch 2 and alongside it Mario Kart 9, but fans have noticed one character in particular has received a major redesign seemingly inspired by The Super Mario Bros. Movie.
The trailer revealed more than a dozen characters and, while most looked exactly as fans would expect, Donkey Kong stood out as appearing quite different.
The character has had the same design for years now, even decades, and has appeared as such in the likes of Mario Kart 8, Mario Tennis, Donkey Kong Country Returns, and more. The incredibly successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie shook up his design, however, and Nintendo now appears to be incorporating this into its games.
Only a very brief look at Mario Kart 9 was shared, and Donkey Kong only appeared in a few scenes himself, and not particularly clearly, so it will be a while before the designs can be compared side by side, but it is already notably different.
This extra look will likely come in April during the Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Direct. In anticipation of this event, the console reveal trailer included just a few hints of the Nintendo Switch 2, focusing mostly on how it looks. It did confirm the hardware is mostly backwards compatible, the Joy-Cons feature a mysterious new button, and that a theory about using the controller as a mouse appears spot on.
While it was only revealed with a 2025 window, the Nintendo Switch 2 probably won’t arrive until June at the earliest. That’s because myriad hands on events are taking place worldwide, with registration for them opening very soon.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
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