Donkey Kong Country has long been considered one of Super Nintendo’s most beautiful games, and part of that can be attributed to the designs of rare former artist Kev Bayliss. In a new YouTube video, Bayliss revealed several initial sketches of the game, including designs for Donkey Kong, Winky, the Kremlings and more. It’s a fascinating look at the design process and should be of equal interest to those who played the game when it was released in 1994 and those who discovered it last year when it was released on Nintendo Switch.
The video can be found embedded below.
Bayliss ’designs are a little more“ cartononier ”than the versions that ended up in the last game, but they still have the same feel. It’s easy to see how these sketches evolved into the designs that made it the ultimate game. While most of the characters who appeared in Donkey Kong Country they were totally original, Rare had to make a considerable effort to modernize Donkey Kong from the version that initially appeared in game rooms alongside its former enemy, Mario.
Rare’s take on Donkey Kong was clearly a great success. This version of DK not only appeared in a trio of SNES games, but the redesign of the character began to appear in Mario family games, such as Mario Kart 64 i Mario Party. Despite this close association with Nintendo’s mustache mascot, DK is absent from Universal Studios Japan’s Super Nintendo World attraction. However, a data analyzer was able to discover stamps and materials related to the character in the Super Nintendo World app. These materials feature the acquisition of Rare in DK as well as in Diddy Kong and more. This could indicate that the theme park attraction could see Donkey Kong content sometime in the future.
Many designs from previous games are often lost or discarded, so it’s really impressive to see that Bayliss’s sketches have managed to survive for more than 25 years. Maybe someday they’ll even see the release as part of a game-based art book. Given its popularity and relevance Donkey Kong Country keeps after all these years, it certainly seems like a possibility.
What do you think of that? Donkey Kong Country conceptual art? Are you a fan of the Super Nintendo game? Let us know in the comments or share your opinions directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all the games!