The name “Donkey Kong Freedom” doesn’t bother Nintendo fans, but that’s because it was the codename for the 3D platformer game Donkey Kong, which was sadly discontinued years ago. In fact, the only reason we even know about the game is because of DK Vine’s report, as well as further revelations made by the new Did You Know Gaming? video.
The game was developed by Vicarious Visions, which has since been renamed Blizzard Albany, for the Nintendo Switch. It was to take place on a large open island, and the gameplay would emphasize the “kinetic energy” of the Donkey Kong Country games, but in 3D. Donkey Kong would slide down vines and ropes on his feet via a new feature called “vine grinding”. In doing so, Donkey Kong would have banana peels as makeshift shoes. This was in response to Miyamoto’s feedback that he was concerned about Donkey Kong getting rope burns on his legs. Meanwhile, Donkey Kong himself would have his original look, with bigger arms and smaller legs.
The story of the game would involve opening a factory on Donkey Kong Island, damming a river. If the river water stopped flowing, the banana trees would dry up and create an “ecological crisis” for those who live there. Unfortunately, the game was scrapped before deciding who the villains would be, as most of the game’s development time was spent on mechanics and the story wasn’t a priority at the time.
As for the characters, Diddy Kong and Rambi the Rhino were supposed to return. Diddy Kong would be on Donkey Kong’s back, similar to the Donkey Kong Country Returns games, and Rambi would once again be the riding horse. What might be surprising is that although the game was scrapped before deciding who else from Donkey Kong’s circle of friends and family would be in the game, there were plans to make Pauline a playable character. It is not known exactly how far her playability would go, but there were plans for her to be “the Jane Goodall or Dian Fossey of Donkey Kong Island, a man who lives among the apes and protects them from human attack”.
So why was the game ultimately scrapped? Nintendo was interested in working with Vicarious Visions, but Activision, who owned Vicarious Visions, was not interested in working with Nintendo. The founders of Vicarious Visions, Karthik and Guha Bala, who were most advocating for a partnership with Nintendo, left the company in April 2016. At that time, the game prototype had been in development for half a year. year and had a temporary code name “Sloboda” until it decided on an official one. However, without more involvement from the Bala brothers, Vicarious Visions became more vulnerable to Activision’s desire to focus on the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and their own IPs and projects, which were increasingly moving away from single-player titles. So, Donkey Kong Freedom was discontinued by the end of 2016.
