Donkey Kong's new look in Switch 2 Mario Kart approved by former Rare artist"Change is good!"Image credit: Nintendo / Eurogamer News by Ed Nightingale Deputy News Editor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Former Rare artist Kevin Bayliss has responded to Donkey Kong's redesign seen in the Mario Kart segment of the Switch 2 announcement.As fans quickly spotted, the gorilla has received a bit of a redesign for the next karting game. He now looks closer to his film design and the retro design by Shigehisa Nakaue, with a cuter looking face.Bayliss, who redesigned Donkey Kong for the SNES game Donkey Kong Country, responded to a fan video spoofing the new look.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart 9 have been revealed - but questions remain.Watch on YouTube"You can take the KONG out of the Country, but you can't take the Country out of the Kong! (I love it - this is really funny! - Everything changes! - Change is good!)," wrote Bayliss.To see this content please enable targeting cookies.While Donkey Kong is the most obvious example, look closer and all the characters in the Mario Kart clip have a softer, more cartoonish look.Nintendo similarly redesigned Princess Peach in the box art for Princess Peach: Showtime! to be aligned with the film.To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Nintendo announced the Switch 2 last week with a short first-look trailer of the console's redesign.It was shown along with a clip of a new Mario Kart game, which fans have been scouring for clues. One theory is the addition of fuel tanks to shake up gameplay.