Super Nintendo World's Donkey Kong door may tip a new game in 2021
Universal Japan's Super Nintendo World amusement park is nearly ready to open to the public. It's a place like no other – a video game environment that'll put the gamer in a land generally reserved for their digital avatars of all sorts. Most of what's in the park has been made public – we can see the rides, we know there'll be fun foods and experiences – but one mystery remains. What's behind the Donkey Kong door?
Per the report from Video Games Chronicle (also the source of the image above), the first play-test days of the park revealed a pathway to a locked door. This door wasn't hidden – it was certainly meant to be used in the future. It's like a real life game element – a part of the amusement park that remains inaccessible until Nintendo deems the public worthy to advance!
At the moment, the app for the amusement park refers to the amusement park as Super Nintendo World, most of the time. Every once in a while, though, the app refers to the user's location as "Super Mario Land."
It could be that this is the start of something mysterious. It could also be that Nintendo never really meant for this area to be a "bonus level" of sorts, only a part of the park that'll be delivered once the Super Mario Land bit gets a sustained test run.
Universal Japan's #SuperNintendoWorld mobile app was datamined and several Donkey Kong related stickers were found, all but confirming the existence of the rumored DK expansion. Nintendo EPD has big plans for DK, and if you can't hear them coming, you haven't been listening... pic.twitter.com/4bklc64ITi
— Kremling Kampaigner (@KRoolKountry) December 20, 2020
Datamined details from the Universal Japan Super Nintendo World mobile app showed Donkey Kong elements that hadn't yet been enabled for in-world play. Achievements, puzzle pieces, and a full family portrait (with Donkey Kong and the Mario Family) could be seen.
It's entirely possible that Nintendo is saving this expansion for a point at which they're able to release a new Donkey Kong game for Nintendo Switch in the future. Even NEWER than what we saw in December of 2020, that is to say. This would coincide with the 40th anniversary of the original Donkey Kong game, released in arcades all the way back in the year 1981!