Nintendo Says Donkey Kong Bananza 'Will Come to Symbolise 3D Donkey Kong' — in a Separate 'Branch' to 2D Games

Switch 2 blockbuster Donkey Kong Bananza volition beryllium thing of a template for the character's aboriginal 3D games, Nintendo has said, splitting DK's appearances successful 2D and 3D titles.

Similar to however Mario inactive appears successful some 2D and 3D installments — the astir caller of each being Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Super Mario Odyssey, respectively — Nintendo present sees a akin delineation successful its plans for its astir salient ape.

Expanding connected comments antecedently made to IGN astir Bananza's origins, shaper Kenta Motokura has said that the game's improvement began erstwhile Nintendo fable Yoshiaki Koizumi asked his 3D Mario squad to enactment its magic making a 3D DK crippled instead.

"With an oculus to expanding the Donkey Kong franchise further, I'd similar the squad that's been moving connected 3D Mario games to make a 3D Donkey Kong game," Motokura quoted Koizumi arsenic saying, arsenic portion of a caller Ask the Developer Q&A. It was this instruction, combined with ongoing experimentation into voxel-based destruction, that led to Donkey Kong Bananza's genesis.

Asked however Bananza sits alongside different Donkey Kong games, Motokura continued by saying that the 3D Mario squad considered this task to epitomise a caller 3D Donkey Kong "branch", abstracted to the DK's 2D platformers — leaving the doorway unfastened to some kinds of games inactive existing successful future.

"In a long-running series, novelty and continuity are some important, but we wanted this rubric to afloat convey the entreaty of Donkey Kong arsenic a character," Motokura said. "Meanwhile, we thought that by creating thing new, leveraging our acquisition processing 3D Mario games, we'd person the accidental to make 2 abstracted branches – 2D Donkey Kong and 3D Donkey Kong – conscionable arsenic we did with Mario games.

"So, keeping successful caput that this crippled volition travel to symbolise 3D Donkey Kong, and with the taxable of bringing Donkey Kong's strengths and caller actions to the forefront, we thought the conception of 'destruction' would beryllium a bully fit."

Finally, Motokura discussed Nintendo's caller Donkey Kong redesign successful much detail, and said that it was the improvement of Bananza which spearheaded the company's hunt for a caller DK look.

"Donkey Kong Bananza sparked the instauration of a plan which I deliberation amended conveys the caller Donkey Kong," Motokura said, noting that Nintendo's caller 'standard' DK was really different effort to recapture the character's archetypal design, drawn by Shigeru Miyamoto for the Donkey Kong arcade game.

"Outside of this game, Donkey Kong has precocious appeared successful The Super Mario Bros. Movie released successful 2023 and successful Mario Kart World, but there's a basal quality plan which provided the instauration for those versions of Donkey Kong," Motokura concluded. "That basal Donkey Kong plan has been wholly revamped. While overhauling the design, we returned to wherever it had each started. We took Miyamoto-san's archetypal Donkey Kong arsenic the basis, adding plan elements from Donkey Kong Bananza present and there."

What's adjacent for Donkey Kong? Well, it surely sounds similar the doorway is being near unfastened for the quality to reappear successful further 2D games successful future. And past there's the intriguing copyright listing for an unannounced Donkey Kong movie, spotted by Nintendo fans earlier this week. It seems similar there's plentifulness successful store for DK to come.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social