Rare Former Artist Reveals Original Donkey Kong Country Art Concept

Donkey Kong Country has long been considered one of Super Nintendo’s finest games, and part of that can be attributed to the creations of rare former artist Kev Bayliss. In a new YouTube video, Bayliss revealed a number of the game’s early sketches, including designs for Donkey Kong, Winky, the Kremlings, and more. It’s a fascinating look at the design process, and it 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 bit more cartoonish than the versions that ended up in the final game, but they still have the same feel. It’s easy to see how these sketches evolved into the designs that made it into the end game. While the majority of the characters appearing in Donkey Kong Country were totally original, Rare had to make a huge effort to modernize Donkey Kong from the version that initially appeared in the arcades alongside his old nemesis, Mario.

Rare’s take on Donkey Kong was clearly very successful. Not only has this version of DK appeared in a trio of SNES games, the character overhaul has started to appear in Mario family games such as Mario Kart 64 and Mario party. Despite this close association with Nintendo’s mustached mascot, DK is notably absent from Universal Studios Japan’s Super Nintendo World attraction. However, a dataminer was able to discover buffers and materials related to the character in the Super Nintendo World app. These materials introduce Rare’s take on DK, as well as Diddy Kong, and more. This could indicate that the theme park attraction may see content from Donkey Kong in the future!

Many designs from previous games are often lost or discarded, so it’s really great to see that Bayliss sketches have managed to survive for over 25 years. Maybe one day they’ll even see the release as part of a game-based art book! Given the popularity and relevance Donkey Kong Country maintains after all these years, it certainly seems like a possibility.

What do you think of this start Donkey Kong Country concept art? Are you a fan of the Super Nintendo game? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about everything related to the game!