Donkey Kong, showcased as D.K. in the Western versions of the game (or as "D.Kong" in the Japanese versions), acts as the protagonist of his own titular series.
He's a decent heavyweight who also happens to be the only one in the game to boast a regular-sized hurtbox, though he is otherwise a watered-down version of Bowser due to his lesser triple tap acceleration and somewhat lower bulk.
Gameplay
Stats
Top Speed
Acceleration
Turn Speed
Turn Speed Reduction
Size
Weight
50cc
100cc
150cc
Battle
Weight Class
Triple Tap A
290
310
320
245
Heavy (Average)
1.5 (Weak)
1.15
-0.002
5.5
2
Overview
Donkey Kong is a weaker heavyweight that, relative to Bowser, has both lesser bulk, recovery, and even carries a non-heavyweight hurtbox, though he still fares better than the Mario Brothers.
Strengths
Weaknesses
Top-2 Weight: He is the only character in the game who can reliably withstand colliding with Bowser, all while being decently equalised with Wario, and capable of terrorising any non-heavyweight in the cast.
Stable Handling: His lower handling angle paired with better driftless speed retention means he will have an easier time adjusting his angles than non-heavyweights pilots would.
Bad Triple Tap: His Triple Tap acceleration is severely watered down, so even though he still is able to regain max speed faster than the Mario Brothers, the speed decrease he still has to deal with before he gets that full regain means he debatably has the weakest optimal acceleration in the game despite being more consistent at recovering speed than the middleweights would.
Lower Base Speed: Since his speed is virtually the same as the other heavies and middleweights, DK will lose a bit of time over lightweights, which makes him unviable for Time Trials.
Weaker Off-Road: Without Shrooms or Stars to compensate for it, DK (much like the other heavies) will have a harder time cutting through off-road, which can be quite detrimental in a game that relies more on these types of cuts.
Movelist
Accelerate
● Average top speed. Lower than the lightweights. ● Weaker off-road. Slower than any non-lightweight. ● Decent base acceleration. Slightly worse than lightweights due to pothole speed growth, but otherwise much better than middleweights.
A
Triple Tap A
● Tied with Wario for the lowest Triple Tap modifier in the game. ● Remains slightly faster than the Mario Brothers thanks to better base acceleration.
AAA
Spin-Turn Mode
● Swerving is stable, and will cause much less circular motion than the other weight classes. ● Very practical in Battle Mode as it can be used to easily catch whiffed Item Boxes.
[AB]
Steer
● Lower turn angle when compared to both midweights and lightweights. ● To make up for it, speed retention while steering is stronger than average.
4-6 / 🢀🢂
Drift
● Average drift speed. Lower than the lightweights. ● Otherwise equalised in core attributes, like the rest of the cast.
