>>715676758 (OP)
So what makes you think they decided to bring him back? And no redesign on top of that. Doesn't that go against the mandate narrative?
>>715678212
They need to get the DK franchise going again as part of their multimedia venture, so bringing back the fan favorite villain is the safest bet even if its a character they didn't make in house
>>715678212
Because nobody cared for the Tikis and Snowmads, but K.Rool being revealed in Smash got a massive amount of views and streamer reactions and fan art and all sorts of shit so they said "well I guess the kids want their crocodile."
It's not that surprising unless you've forgotten that not every game dev is running on sheer spite.