During a special Nintendo Direct, a bunch of new details were revealed about Super Nintendo World, specifically, the upcoming Donkey Kong Country expansion. This new section of Super Nintendo World has been in the works at Universal Studios Japan for quite some time, and finally has an opening date: December 11th. As previously revealed, this expansion will be available day one at Epic Universe in Orlando next year. When it does open, Donkey Kong Country fans are going to have a lot to look forward to, including a brand-new ride, new food and merchandise options, and landmarks inspired by the video game series. There will even be some character interactions, including a photo op with the big ape himself.
The Nintendo Direct presentation can be found in the video below.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Donkey Kong Country will be connected with Super Mario Land, and as visitors pass through the entrance, they will hear music from the franchise; during the Nintendo Direct, Shigeru Miyamoto could be seen entering as the track “DK Island Swing” played. Upon their arrival, visitors will notice several points of interest based on the games, including a crate that has an image of Rambi on it, and a trio of bongo drums. If three visitors can match the beat at the same time, Rambi will emerge from his crate to greet them. Throughout the expansion, visitors can also find the four letters that spell “KONG” just as they appear in the games. These can be scanned with Power-Up Bands, including the new designs based on Donkey Kong and Diddy.
New Nintendo themed food can be found at the Jungle Beat Shakes stand. The DK Wild Hot Dog has avocado sauce and what appear to be Cool Ranch Doritos on top. There’s also the DK Crush Sundae, which is inspired by a broken barrel and comes in a barrel themed collector’s mug. Donkey Kong fans hoping for other merchandise options can check out Funky’s Fly ‘n’ Buy. The store will feature several exclusive options, including plushes based on DK and Diddy Kong.
The big highlight of the Donkey Kong Country expansion will be a ride based on the mine cart areas from the games. In the walk-up to the ride, visitors will see murals based on Donkey Kong Country Returns, as well as the original DK arcade game. The walk-up will also feature animatronics based on Cranky Kong and Squawks, who will task riders with scaring off the Tiki Tak Tribe and Tiki Tong. The ride’s story centers on the villains and their attempt to steal the Golden Banana. Unfortunately, the video did not offer a look at how the ride itself will play out, or how it will simulate the broken track sections from the video games. Instead, we just get to see a brief look at take off, where Dixie Kong can be seen making an appearance.
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All in all, Donkey Kong Country is looking like a compelling expansion to Super Nintendo World! There’s clearly a lot of fanservice happening, from callbacks to the original arcade game, to more recent entries in the series. With the attraction set to open in Japan in just a few weeks, we can likely expect to see more from the park, possibly in photos and videos shared to social media. In the meantime, this Nintendo Direct gave us a nice glimpse at how things are shaping up.
What do you think of this new section of Super Nintendo World? How do you feel about everything shown so far? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp, on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!