Completing Donkey Kong Bananza: Solving Candy Kong's Legacy

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Donkey Kong Bananza brings back Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky, plus a fun reference to an absent Kong we haven’t seen in a while.

While many Nintendo fans hoped to see a new 3D Mario game with the Switch 2, Donkey Kong Bananza marks an important moment in the life of Donkey Kong. This is his first leading role in more than ten years, and it celebrates everything about the franchise.

You can see this through several nods to past Donkey Kong games. Diddy and Dixie mention Donkey Kong Country, and characters like Rambi and Cranky Kong make appearances. Moreover, an old Kong is mentioned by name, even if he doesn’t appear in the game.

Remember Candy Kong? Donkey Kong Bananza does

It’s been a long time, but we know that Candy is still around

As mentioned earlier, Donkey Kong can meet Diddy and Dixie during the game. They reference Donkey Kong Country a lot, indicating that Bananza occurs after those games. Dixie also mentions Candy Kong while talking to DK and Pauline.

In one line, Dixie says, “Candy Kong is going to be so jealous that the three of us met up,” confirming that Candy is still part of the DK universe. This suggests that she doesn’t see DK, Dixie, and Diddy very often, indicating maybe DK isn’t around as much as he used to be.

As of now, there have been no mentions of the DK crew from Donkey Kong 64, but at least the DK Rap is still part of the lore…

Considering how long it’s been since Candy Kong was mentioned, this is a nice reference. The last mention of Candy was in the Tropical Freeze leaderboards, and before that, she hosted minigames in DK: Jungle Climber.

Even if Nintendo doesn’t fully feature Candy Kong in Donkey Kong Bananza, it’s great to hear a little about a past main character from Donkey Kong Country. Now we just need to hear something about Funky Kong, and we’ll be set.