New Donk City
This article is under construction. Therefore, please excuse its informal appearance while it is being worked on. We hope to have it completed as soon as possible.
- This article is about the recurring city. For the kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey, see Metro Kingdom.
| New Donk City | |
|---|---|
 The main street of the city in Super Mario Odyssey | |
| First appearance | Super Mario Odyssey (2017) |
| Latest appearance | Donkey Kong Bananza (2025) |
| Ruler | Pauline |
| Inhabitants | New Donkers |
| Iterations | Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker Mario Golf: Super Rush Super Mario Odyssey |
- “This...this is MY city!”
- —Pauline, Donkey Kong Bananza
New Donk City is a large city located within the Metro Kingdom. It is based on and designed after New York City, and is populated by New Donkers. It has appeared many times across Super Mario media following its introduction in Super Mario Odyssey.
In Donkey Kong Bananza, Pauline states that New Donk City is her hometown. In Super Mario Odyssey, she serves as the city's mayor.
Description[edit]
New Donk City is largely based on the real world location of New York City. The New Donk City Hall is based on the Empire State Building, while a pair of triangular-shaped buildings outside of it appear to be inspired by the Flatiron Building, and visible in the skyline are a building and bridge resembling the Chrysler Building and Brooklyn Bridge, respectively. The way the Crazy Cap stores in Super Mario Odyssey has a flagship store in New Donk City is very similar to how Nintendo's flagship store is in New York City. Some street signs in New Donk City feature cycling wrong way signs that look exactly like the signs used in New York City, and traffic lights have guy-wire masts, consistent with their design in New York. The city is notable for having humans as the main inhabitants - called "New Donkers" (the equivalent of "New Yorkers") - as well as Pauline as its mayor. New Donk City has a 1930s-1940s aesthetic as its residents are uniformly dressed in pinstripe suits and fedoras with jazz music prominent. New Donk City's nickname is "The city that never leaps", a play on New York City's nickname - "The city that never sleeps". New Donk City is also referred to as "The Big Banana" by a New Donker in Super Mario Odyssey and by Pauline in Donkey Kong Bananza, which is a play on New York City being referred to as "The Big Apple".
The location was conceived from Donkey Kong's association with human cities since the arcade game Donkey Kong, and its Game & Watch and Game Boy counterparts, which all featured an urban, New York-like setting.[1][2][3] Shigeru Miyamoto always envisioned the Donkey Kong arcade game's world as a New York City-like setting, where the steel girders and ladders were inspired by the neon lights of New York and even the game's logo was inspired by the American aesthetic.[4][5] The idea of a city themed stage in Super Mario Odyssey lead its developers to recall the Donkey Kong Game Boy game, which resulted in Pauline's inclusion as the city's mayor.[6] New Donk City features copious references to the original arcade title and is named after and themed around it, the Game Boy game and the Donkey Kong franchise as a whole.[7][8][9] New York City was stated to be the setting of the original Donkey Kong arcade game,[10] while Big-City, a location in Donkey Kong for the Game Boy, and Big Ape City, a location in Donkey Kong Land, are also implied to be the setting.[11] It is unknown if any of these are intended to be the same city.
History[edit]
Super Mario Odyssey[edit]
- Main article: Metro Kingdom
New Donk City appears as the primary location explored within the Metro Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey. It is the kingdom explored following the Lost Kingdom and features bronze Power Moons.
Mario and Cappy visit New Donk City for the first time at night, when Bowser's Airship is looming above New Donk City Hall and is deploying a Mechawiggler to drain the city of its power. After Mario defeats the Mechawiggler (earning a Multi Moon) and the city's environment switches over to daytime, Pauline requests Mario to gather four musicians in preparation for the upcoming New Donk City Festival; however, after doing so, Pauline realizes that the Underground Power Plant isn't working, and asks Mario to restore it in order to generate enough power for the festival. Once Mario accomplishes this, Pauline then asks Mario if he would like to participate in the New Donk City Festival as a thank-you for his efforts in restoring the city. After Mario traverses through the festival and speaks to Pauline, she gives him another Multi Moon.
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker[edit]
- Main article: Uptown, Downtown
A level inspired by New Donk City appears exclusively in the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Switch versions of Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, where Captain Toad is able to reach the top of the New Donk City Hall and enter the auditorium where the Toad Brigade can be found. Hammer Bros. appear as enemies in the level.
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
- Main article: New Donk City Hall (stage)
In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, the New Donk City Hall appears as a stage. The fighters are carried up the building on a moving platform as the fight progresses, fighting on the building sides. Pauline and the band appear in the background on the ground when the song Jump Up, Super Star! is chosen, and on moving platforms when the fighters are lifted up. If a fighter touches Pauline or a band member, they begin playing music.
Mario Golf: Super Rush[edit]
- Main article: New Donk City (golf course)
A course set in New Donk City later appears in Mario Golf: Super Rush. The course is very similar to its appearance in Super Mario Odyssey, though there are some Dash Panels and some other changes.
Donkey Kong Bananza[edit]
- “So this is a human city? I'll take it! Hmm... First I'll spoil it rotten... Then I'll open my jaws... AND DEVOUR THIS WHOLE TOWN!”
- —King K. Rool
New Donk City returns in Donkey Kong Bananza, making it the first location to appear in both the Donkey Kong and Super Mario series. New Donk City is first alluded to via crates specifically marked with the initials for the city on Ingot Isle. It is also shown to be located on the antipode of Ingot Isle.
Donkey Kong and Pauline arrive at the city in the game's final moments following Pauline's wish to return to the surface; however, they are pursued by King K. Rool, who subsequently uses the Banandium Root's magic properties to transform the city into a bleak version of itself featuring K. Rool propaganda (making New Donk City the first and only location to have been invaded by both Bowser and King K. Rool). A sign also renames the city to New K. Rool City. Once King K. Rool is defeated, the city returns to normal, and Pauline and Donkey Kong part ways to pursue their own goals. In the game's post-credits scene, Pauline is seen as a street performer in the city.
New Donk City is not directly visited in the game outside of this. According to Pauline, a big cleanup ensued in the city after K. Rool's defeat and Donkey Kong's departure, though the smell of bananas still lingered on.[12] After completing the Great Harmoneel's Windpipe, Donkey Kong and Pauline may wish upon the Banandium Root in the Planet Core to "return to the surface", which shows another post-credits scene of Pauline performing her new song at the City Hall, in a setting akin to the traditional festival.
Whereas the sublayer number increases by one the further down Donkey Kong and Pauline travel within a layer in the Underground World, the sections of New Donk City are labeled "NDC" followed by a number in meters depending on how high up Donkey Kong and Pauline are, beginning at 100 m after the first ascent, and followed by 225 m, 350 m, 475 m, and 700 m. This directly mirrors the naming scheme of the levels in the original Donkey Kong arcade game and how they increase from 25m (reflected in Bananza as 225 m) all the way to 100m (reflected as 700 m) at 25m intervals.
Gallery[edit]
Super Mario Odyssey[edit]
New Donk City from the ground level
New Donk City at night, during Bowser's invasion
The New Donk City Festival
Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker[edit]
New Donk City from the distance
Captain Toad on top of the New Donk City Hall
Captain Toad collecting coins on a fire escape
The Toad Brigade inside the New Donk City Hall
Mario Golf: Super Rush[edit]
A hole going straight towards the New Donk City Hall
A hole going across the rooftops of two buildings
Donkey Kong Bananza[edit]
Pauline and Donkey Kong arrive at New Donk City
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | ニュードンク・シティ[?] Nyū Donku Shiti |
New Donk City | |
| Chinese (simplified) | 纽敦市[?] Niǔdūn Shì (Mandarin) Náudēun Síh (Cantonese) |
New Donk City | |
| Chinese (traditional) | 紐頓市[13] Niǔdùn Shì (Mandarin) Náudeuhn Síh (Cantonese) |
New Donk City | |
| Dutch | New Donk City[?] | - | |
| French | New Donk City[?] | - | |
| German | New Donk City[?] | - | |
| Italian | New Donk City[?] | - | |
| Korean | 뉴동크시티[?] Nyu Dongkeu Siti |
New Donk City | |
| Portuguese | New Donk City[14] | - | |
| Russian | Нью-Донк[?] N'yu-Donk |
New Donk | |
| Spanish | Nueva Donk[?] | New Donk |
References[edit]
- ^ rollingstone.com (July 10, 2025). Another place that I would say we took inspiration from — the arcade version of Donkey Kong — in this case, was just in noticing that this was a world inhabited both by humans and by Kongs.. RollingStone (English). Retrieved July 29, 2025.
- ^ lavanguardia.com (October 12, 2017). Motokura: La primera vez que jugué a Donkey Kong en Game & Watch lo que más me impresionó fue que el juego se desarrollaba en una ciudad que se parecía mucho a Nueva York y que los personajes respondían muy bien a los movimientos del jugador.. La Vanguardia (Spanish). Retrieved July 29, 2025.
- ^ Nintendo Dream Web (January, 2018). ── ニュードンク・シティの名前はどうやって決めたのでしょうか？ 元倉 もともと都市と『ドンキーコング』のイメージってありますよね。GB『ドンキーコング』のビッグシティなどもそうですが。なので、『ドンキーコング』と都市が結びついたというのがあります。. NDW (Japanese). Retrieved July 29, 2025.
- ^ Ask the Developer Vol. 19: Donkey Kong Bananza (July 29, 2025). 元倉 もともと宮本さんの中でのドンキーコングの世界は、ニューヨークのイメージなんですよね。最初に「ドンキーコングとは何ですか？」ということを深堀りしに訊きにいったときも、「初代ドンキーコングの鉄骨とはしごの色は、ニューヨークのネオン街からきてるんだよ」という話がありました。「ドンキーコング」のロゴの「O」にある星マークにも、アメリカのイメージがあったようです。ですので「スーパードンキーコング」のようなワイルドさと、都会っぽさ、両方のイメージを持っているのが「ドンキーコング」だと思っています。. Nintendo (Japanese). Retrieved July 29, 2025.
- ^ Ask the Developer Vol. 19: Donkey Kong Bananza (July 29, 2025). Motokura: In Miyamoto-san’s mind, Donkey Kong’s world always felt like New York City. When we asked him early on, “What is Donkey Kong?” he explained that the steel beams and ladders in the original Donkey Kong game were inspired by the neon lights of New York City. Even the star in the “O” of the logo was inspired by the American aesthetic. I think the original Donkey Kong game lies somewhere in between the wildness of Donkey Kong Country, and something more urban.. Nintendo (English). Retrieved July 29, 2025.
- ^ 4Gamer.net (October 24, 2017). 4Gamer: しかし今，なぜポリーンを？ 小泉氏： ニュードンク・シティは，都市をテーマにビジュアルを作っていったわけですが，「そういえば，ウチにも昔，都市が舞台になったゲームがあったよね。そういえばマリオも出ていたよね」……と，連想ゲーム的にポリーンの名前が出てきたんです。 当初はニュードンク・シティのお姫様として出そうという案もありましたが，あの都市の世界にお姫様はないだろうということで，市長になりました。. 4Gamer (Japanese). Retrieved July 29, 2025.
- ^ Super Mario Odyssey (JP) (September 21, 2017). 「ニュードンク・シティ」の建物に描かれているグラフィティです。懐かしい人には懐かしい！？街の歴史に関係した絵なんです。. Twitter (Japanese). Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ Super Mario UK (October 12, 2017). You might stumble across some graffiti in New Donk City. This piece has some kind of link to the city's history.... Twitter (English). Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ Nintendo Dream Web (January, 2018). ── ニュードンク・シティの名前はどうやって決めたのでしょうか？ 元倉 もともと都市と『ドンキーコング』のイメージってありますよね。GB『ドンキーコング』のビッグシティなどもそうですが。なので、『ドンキーコング』と都市が結びついたというのがあります。. NDW (Japanese). Retrieved July 29, 2025.
- ^ April 25, 2023. インタビュー マリオ映画公開記念！宮本茂さんインタビュー 制作の始まりから驚きの設定まで. Nintendo Dream Web. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ 1995. Donkey Kong Land instruction booklet. Nintendo of America (American English). Page 15.
- ^ "Things were a real mess in New Donk City after all the chaos. There was a big clean up. But the whole place still smelled like bananas! The city's nickname never seemed so perfect. The Big Banana… You got that right!" - Pauline at Baboomtown Getaway, Donkey Kong Bananza
- ^ 超級瑪利歐 奧德賽 | Nintendo Switch | 任天堂官方網站 (台灣). Nintendo of Taiwan (Traditional Chinese). Archived October 11, 2017, 03:09:07 UTC from the original via Wayback Machine. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
- ^ https://www.nintendo.com/pt-pt/Jogos/Jogos-para-a-Nintendo-Switch/Captain-Toad-Treasure-Tracker-1348071.html
