I would give a real reason for conflict, not contradicting Modern DK characterization. What if a third party makes them fight because of a misunderstanding.
Ditch the toys. Fuck em. No minis, no toy versions of bad guys. Don't know why that was a thing to begin with.
Also, I would probably try to think of some reason that you could play as both Mario and DK. Either the first half of the game is spent as Mario with the second half as DK, or vice versa, or even switching off every world. I kind of want Bowser and K. Rool to team up in one of these games, the thing with these games is that they're always heavily skewed toward Mario. We get Toads, Shy Guys, Piranha Plants, Ninjis, 1-up Mushrooms and a few other familiar Mario elements, but DK gets.... himself, and maybe a vaguely jungle themed world. A Rhino that looks kind of sorta not really like Rambi if he was a baby? Make Mario vs DK a celebration of each character's whole career. Not just Mario and the Arcade version of DK. I get that Nintendo has a stick up their ass about letting Diddy Kong witness Donkey Kong being a bad guy, that's why you involve mind control in the plot somewhere, wouldn't be the first time it happened to DK. And there's always a first for Mario. Maybe there could be deception involving Bowser Jr. and Shadow Mario. I'd love to see K. Rool and Bowser squabbling and playing a game of keep away with whatever mcguffin they have that gives them power over their rival, and it would be nice not to have DK as a man child who goes ape over a small toy version of a guy he doesn't even like that much.
Flip the roles. Play as Donkey Kong.
Donkey Kong 94. Period.
Incorporate more elements from the Country games, make it feel more like a marriage between the two series.
Yeah like the animal buddies or maybe other kongs can assist
I would give a real reason for conflict, not contradicting Modern DK characterization. What if a third party makes them fight because of a misunderstanding.
Yeah like the kremlings perhaps stage a banana steal and stage it to make it look like Mario did it or something
What about Mario x Donkey Kong?
Try to connect it with the rest of the mario and DK series better, instead of it being boring filler garbage for its plot and world
Ditch the toys. Fuck em. No minis, no toy versions of bad guys. Don't know why that was a thing to begin with. Also, I would probably try to think of some reason that you could play as both Mario and DK. Either the first half of the game is spent as Mario with the second half as DK, or vice versa, or even switching off every world. I kind of want Bowser and K. Rool to team up in one of these games, the thing with these games is that they're always heavily skewed toward Mario. We get Toads, Shy Guys, Piranha Plants, Ninjis, 1-up Mushrooms and a few other familiar Mario elements, but DK gets.... himself, and maybe a vaguely jungle themed world. A Rhino that looks kind of sorta not really like Rambi if he was a baby? Make Mario vs DK a celebration of each character's whole career. Not just Mario and the Arcade version of DK. I get that Nintendo has a stick up their ass about letting Diddy Kong witness Donkey Kong being a bad guy, that's why you involve mind control in the plot somewhere, wouldn't be the first time it happened to DK. And there's always a first for Mario. Maybe there could be deception involving Bowser Jr. and Shadow Mario. I'd love to see K. Rool and Bowser squabbling and playing a game of keep away with whatever mcguffin they have that gives them power over their rival, and it would be nice not to have DK as a man child who goes ape over a small toy version of a guy he doesn't even like that much.
Cranky vs Mario
Mario vs Ashley. https://preview.redd.it/yzjxnsg5gc9d1.jpeg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=96207492702c7451c60231b395c5ba01934e94ff
mario & lugie vsdonkey kong