Mario Kart World could be due a Donkey Kong-themed expansion, fans theorize, with the bizarre lack of DK love in the Switch 2 racer leaving players suspicious

Mario Kart World released last week alongside the Nintendo Switch 2, and while people are loving it (we gave it a 4.5/5 in the GamesRadar+Mario Kart World review), if you're like me you're no doubt outraged that Donkey Kong only has one of Mario Kart World's Outfits. Despite his own game coming next month with Donkey Kong Bananza, and his big redesign the big ape only gets one new fit. To put that into context, three of the babies have five each. Even Lakitu has more than Donkey Kong, and that dude sucks!

However, Mario Kart fans think there's a reason for this, and that it could signal a potential Donkey Kong expansion coming to Mario Kart World. In a post on the Mario Kart subreddit a user has run down the strange omissions in the game. For example, Diddy Kong (who also got a redesign, despite not being in World or Bananza) is absent, as are all the other members of the DK crew.

The other points include that the majority of DK content found in Mario Kart World is based on the original arcade game, with DK Spaceport basically being a remake of it in racetrack form, and there being a ton of pixelated DK stickers. And somehow in the massive soundtrack the game has, the only DK song is the theme from the Mario Kart 7 track DK Jungle, despite other spinoffs getting tunes. They also note that there are not really any jungle tracks in the game, outside of Dino Dino Jungle (and even then, that got remixed into a laboratory this time around).

Potential DK Bananza spoilers ahead based on a Nintendo Korea leak.

Now this could either be compelling evidence or a list of things for DK fans to be bummed out by. But what I think is most interesting is that out of the main cast, the only other character to only get one extra outfit is Pauline. And if a leaked image from Nintendo Korea is anything to go by, Pauline will have a major role in Donkey Kong Bananza.

Whether it's a full-blown expansion or just some Bananza themed costumes (where are my guy's dungarees!), I could absolutely see a DK-themed update coming to Mario Kart World after it releases. Alternatively, there could be a special outfit unlock for players who purchase Bananza, similar to the one we had with Super Mario Galaxy and Mario Kart Wii back in the day.

Mario Kart World repeats Mario Kart 8's most annoying problem as Nintendo's seemingly hiding all-important stats for characters and vehicles.