YouTube’s ‘Bando do Gato’ has shared three videos showing what a modern-day remake of the classic SNES game Donkey Kong Country could look like. These videos will definitely put a smile on the face of any SNES fan. And since I’m a big fan of the SNES myself, I had to share them with you.
To reimagine Donkey Kong Country, Bando do Gato used AI tools. The YouTuber took static images from the SNES version and generated, via AI, images that look absolutely gorgeous. What’s cool here is that these new AI images retain the art style of the game. I’m mentioning this because YouTube is flooded by a lot of “AI remakes” of old games. However, most of them do not retain the art style of their games. That’s not the case here.
This AI remake gives us a small look at what a real Donkey Kong Country remake could look like using the CG models Rare made back in the 90s. If you didn’t know, Rare created full 3D CG models for almost every character. Nintendo used these CG models for the game’s box art and ads. Later, Rare turned those 3D models into 2D sprites so the game could run on the SNES.
Realistically, I don’t expect Nintendo to still have those CG assets. So, the only way we can get a faithful remake of DKC is via AI tools. Then again, Nintendo Switch 2 is nowhere close to pushing graphics that can look like this. So, I don’t expect we’ll ever see a DKC remake that can look this good.
This AI remake reminded me of the Mortal Kombat one we shared a while back. Just like that project, this AI remake of Donkey Kong Country is something many fans would love to play. DKC is very special to me, and honestly, if a remake looked this good, I would buy it in an instant.
I think the best way to use AI would be as a special filter for emulators. Imagine an SNES emulator with an “AI Remake” filter that upgrades old games to this level of quality. Because AI needs a lot of RAM and CPU power, it wouldn’t work well in real time. Instead, when you turn it on, the emulator could download all the AI-made assets for a specific game and add them to the ROM. After it finishes, you could start playing the upgraded AI version of that game. That would be an amazing use of AI.
Anyway, I don’t plan to spam you with AI remakes of old/classic games. YouTube is full of them as we speak. However, from time to time, you can find some that can look really good. And this is one of them. These three videos cover almost all levels. So, be sure to watch the videos, especially if you are a DKC fan.
Enjoy and stay tuned for more!
John is the founder and Editor in Chief at DSOGaming. He is a PC gaming fan and highly supports the modding and indie communities. Before creating DSOGaming, John worked on numerous gaming websites. While he is a die-hard PC gamer, his gaming roots can be found on consoles. John loved – and still does – the 16-bit consoles, and considers SNES to be one of the best consoles. Still, the PC platform won him over consoles. That was mainly due to 3DFX and its iconic dedicated 3D accelerator graphics card, Voodoo 2. John has also written a higher degree thesis on the “The Evolution of PC graphics cards.”
Contact: Email