In this 19th volume of Ask the Developer, an interview series in which developers convey in their own words Nintendo's thoughts about creating products and the unusual details they hone in on, we're talking to the developers behind Donkey Kong Bananza, a Nintendo Switch 2 game that launches on Thursday, July 17th.
Chapter 1: Chain of destruction
Chapter 3: Sparking interactions
First, can you introduce yourselves?
Motokura:
Hello, I’m Kenta Motokura, the producer for Donkey Kong Bananza. Until now, I've mostly been involved in the development of 3D Mario (1) games, having directed Super Mario 3D World (2) and Super Mario Odyssey (3). In terms of Donkey Kong games, I worked on the character designs for Donkey Kong Jungle Beat (4). As the producer for Donkey Kong Bananza, I crafted the game's concept and set the direction for the overall structure and player controls.
Takahashi:
Hello, I’m Kazuya Takahashi, one of the directors for this game. I joined Nintendo in 2020, but before that, I worked on a broad spectrum of games, including open-world RPGs and arcade games. For this game, I gave direction on the game design and worked on the level design, cut scenes, and text creation.
Tanaka:
Hello, I’m Wataru Tanaka, another of the game's directors. I've been involved in the development of several 3D Mario games since Super Mario Galaxy 2. For Super Mario Odyssey, I implemented player controls and directed the core system of action elements. As the programming director for Donkey Kong Bananza, I mostly provided direction on the processing performance and utilisation of system functions for Nintendo Switch 2, as well as enemy behavior.
Watanabe:
Hello, I’m Daisuke Watanabe, the art director. I was in charge of character design in the Super Mario Galaxy series and joined Super Mario 3D World as the design lead. I oversaw Donkey Kong Bananza's overall art direction.
Kubo:
Hi, I’m Naoto Kubo, the sound director. I’ve previously composed music for Super Mario Maker and led the overall sound development for Super Mario Odyssey. As the sound director for Donkey Kong Bananza, I co-ordinated overall sound development and controlled quality. I also composed some of the game's music myself.
We'd built up a lot of expertise in gameplay development for 3D action games through our work on 3D Mario games, including Super Mario Odyssey, but we needed to dive deeper into the fundamental question of “What is Donkey Kong?”. So, our first step was to seek out Miyamoto-san and Koizumi-san.
So you aimed to develop a game that would leverage the unique aspects of Donkey Kong as a character. Speaking of which, Donkey Kong's character design has been given a makeover, right?
Watanabe:
That was a hot topic of discussion. People's impressions of Donkey Kong actually vary quite significantly from person to person. Donkey Kong began life in the arcades as Mario's nemesis, but since then he's had many guises depending on the game, be that a cool, rugged king of the jungle or a lovable goofball. So, rather than just giving him a simple design update, we strove for a design that would get to the core of what makes Donkey Kong who he is, bringing out his unique characteristics and appeal.
Motokura:
We also interviewed people who'd drawn illustrations of Donkey Kong from way back to preserve the image of Donkey Kong in the mind of his creator, Miyamoto-san.
Watanabe:
We got no shortage of advice. From general guidance regarding his body frame and unique facial expressions, right down to the smallest detail, like how his pointy hairdo is essential...but you can't make it too long. (Laughs)
Everyone:
(Laughs)
Motokura:
Because the series has been played for such a long time, we pursued the “identity” of Donkey Kong himself in various aspects.
Watanabe:
Also, as we were testing out various moves with a temporary character model in the early phases of development, it became apparent how much bigger Donkey Kong is than Mario, giving him a considerable on-screen presence. This meant we could properly showcase a wide range of facial expressions, and by combining them with powerful moves, we felt we could create something new in terms of game feel, too.
Motokura:
When controlling a character in a 3D world, the player often sees them from behind, so we were also conscious of how Donkey Kong would look from the back while he's moving. The back view of Donkey Kong just looks like a mass of brown fur, which would make for a monotonous visual if we simply rendered him in 3D. That inspired us to make some creative adjustments to his outfit, such as giving him britches and suspenders. We also made his fur look rich and thick. Outside of this game, Donkey Kong has recently appeared in The Super Mario Bros. Movie released in 2023 and in Mario Kart World, but there's a basic character design which provided the foundation for those versions of Donkey Kong. That basic Donkey Kong design has been completely revamped. While overhauling the design, we returned to where it had all started. We took Miyamoto-san's original Donkey Kong as the basis, adding design elements from Donkey Kong Bananza here and there.
His thick fur stands out compared to the previous design, making him look wilder. And yet, at first glance, his various facial expressions also give the impression that he's a comical and charming character. That said, I saw he can alter his appearance in this game by transforming.
Takahashi:
Smashing lots of terrain and collecting gold fills up the Bananergy gauge, allowing Donkey Kong to perform Bananza transformations, in which he powers up by transforming into different animal forms. This idea emerged while we were searching for Donkey Kong's ability change. We were discussing how it might be fun if, once he transforms into a powerful Kong Bananza, he could deal out destruction in different ways, not just with regular punches, but with charge punches, piercing punches and the like. In Mario’s case, he progresses through the game by powering up and becoming bigger or using special abilities, but in this game, Donkey Kong can transform anywhere by harnessing the power of Bananza transformation. Being able to transform anywhere lets him chain together his destruction, which is the concept of this game. We thought that this chain of destruction would be compelling as an action game. And so it became one of the key gameplay elements we focused on in this title.
Chiedi allo sviluppatore, parte 19: Donkey Kong Bananza – Capitolo 1