Gaming News An iconic Nintendo license in the hands of developers other than Mario’s parents? That’s what they said!
Although this is all now history, a developer other than Nintendo worked on the title of an iconic character from the Mario universe in 3D. But what game was it and how is that possible?
Activision in Nintendo’s small newspapers
Vicarious Visions studio, currently called Blizzard Albany and owned by Activision, was likely involved in the project.Freedom2016 a game Donkey Kong and 3D planned for the Nintendo Switch. According to information provided by Liam Robertson on the DK Vine website, Vicarious Visions was able to take care of the game’s development after impressing the gallery by including Nintendo characters in Skylanders Superchargers (specifically Bowser and Donkey Kong). This small collaboration would then have enabled Vicarious Visions to take over the project.
However, especially Nintendo Shigeru MiyamotoCreator of Mario and important figure at Nintendo,was reportedly heavily involved in the project, providing ideas and feedback on game mechanics.
Although Vicarious Visions was responsible for the game’s development, Nintendo was never too far away to give specific instructions. That was reassuring. Except that you understood it well, There was a problem.
A fabulous Donkey Kong project was immediately abandoned
The game was designed as an open-ended platformer that emphasized the movement and freedom of movement offered by Donkey Kong, including sliding through vines. Vicarious Visions wanted to use the experience the studio had gained with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 to give DK the opportunity to skate freely.
After six months of working with Nintendo, the project was abandoned. This failure is explained by Activision’s desire to focus almost exclusively on Call of Duty and abandon a whole series of franchises
Since this defeat, there has been no official announcement from Nintendo regarding a new Donkey Kong game. However, some evidence suggests that a new game may well be in development: notably Nintendo is hiring developers in 2022. The Japanese company was looking for a lead animator specializing in 3D action-adventure games. A job description strangely similar to the old DK 3D project, but unfortunately this information is far too sparse to be happy about.
Nintendo is known for not losing sight of anything and generally keeping its projects secret until they are ready to be announced. For this reason, it is possible that the charismatic Donkey Kong will release a new game after Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, but we shouldn’t hope too much lest we be disappointed.
