>>718033568
Same team worked on both games so they connected them with a prequel. Everything else only exists as a reference, not some deep lore. In regards to Cranky, I'm pretty sure Nintendo never really confirmed that to be true. In part because it'd be fucking retarded. The arcade game is the one most ingrained in pop culture. It'd be stupid to say that that DK is actually Cranky in the same way it'd be stupid to say that it's not Mario but some character called Jumpman.