When Super Smash Bros. Ultimate‘s latest Nintendo Direct aired a couple of weeks ago, it came with a few surprises in tow. Not only did the Belmonts from the Castlevania series join the party, but so did King K. Rool, the main baddie from Donkey Kong Country. And while we’re pleased that all these characters made the cut, K. Rool’s creator may be the happiest of them all.
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While speaking with Nintendo Life, former Rare designer Steve Mayles explained that he originally wasn’t consulted with getting the character involved in the game. “I had no idea he was going to be included,” he said. “I knew he had a fair chance as he had appeared as a Mii costume previously, and since then he has been at the top, or close to the top, of many votes and ballots. There seemed to be a real groundswell of positivity in K.Rool’s direction that Nintendo would find hard to ignore, I thought. I’d love to have been involved in any capacity of bringing K.Rool back of course. Maybe another time.”
But Mayles isn’t upset. In fact, he seems rather pleased about K. Rool making the cut in the roster. And he feels the fans really assisted in making him a reality as a fighting star. “K.Rool was a big part of the Rare-created Donkey Kong games in the ’90s but since then has fallen out of favour for some reason,” said Mayles. “But let’s ignore that, he’s back now! Some fans on the internet had made it their personal mission in life to bring back K.Rool, restore the King to his former glory; this passion amongst gamers always amazes me. I saw footage of the Nintendo Direct from the Nintendo store in New York with people chanting ‘K.Rool, K.Rool’ – it was great! I have no doubt the fans’ attitude to K.Rool and the proactive way they went about supporting their favourite crocodile made all the difference.”
He also enjoyed the way the character managed to fit into the Smash world. “He looks really great, a perfect modern interpretation. I couldn’t have done a better job myself! They’ve obviously paid close attention to his original design and updated him sympathetically; that really pleases me. Even the shade of green is correct and the gold armour, something that had been changed in other recent versions of K.Rool. The whole Nintendo Direct reveal was superb, the quality of the rendered sequences top-notch. K.Rool couldn’t have come back with a bigger bang! It was the whole package, even down to the incredible remix the King is getting of his famous Gangplank Galleon theme.”
As for whether Mayles wants to see any other Rare veterans join the roster (like, say, Banjo Kazooie?), he noted, “Of course! I do get worried when I think of other people updating my characters, but after the K.Rool update, I think they’d be very safe in the hands of the Smash team. Dixie Kong has the best chance of being included – let’s hope they reinstate her kneepads. An outsider would be Banjo Kazooie — obviously now a Microsoft-owned IP, but head of Xbox Phil Spencer has said in the past he sees no reason why it couldn’t happen, so who knows? I’ve seen Banjo move-sets that fans have done – they’ve got it all figured out! Banjo and Kazooie were created as Nintendo characters, so it would be great to see them back on a Nintendo console – adding them to the Smash roster seems like the perfect opportunity.”
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate smashes its way to Nintendo Switch on December 7.
(Hat tip to Nintendo Life for the scoop!)
