Following the announcement of Donkey Kong Bananza, rumors quickly spread suggesting it was developed by the same team behind Super Mario Odyssey. This was confirmed to be true, sparking further speculation that the game initially started as DLC or a sequel to Odyssey before transitioning into a Donkey Kong title. However, we’ve now learned that part of the rumor is inaccurate.
In an interview with IGN, Kenta Motokura, producer of Donkey Kong Bananza and former director of Super Mario Odyssey, shared the project’s origin story. He explained that Nintendo executive Yoshiaki Koizumi approached the Odyssey team and specifically asked them to explore creating a 3D Donkey Kong game.
When Motokura shared this, I asked whether he knew why Koizumi made that decision, especially since Nintendo hadn’t internally developed a Donkey Kong game since Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat over two decades ago. Motokura noted that he didn't want to speak for Koizumi but offered his own perspective: “Nintendo has a wide range of characters to choose from, and we’re always thinking about the right timing to introduce a new game featuring a specific character to delight our fans. That’s just my best guess, though—you’d really have to ask Mr. Koizumi for the definitive answer.”
Regardless of the reasoning, the Odyssey team embraced the challenge. They began by consulting Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Donkey Kong, for initial ideas and inspiration.
“He highlighted many of the unique actions a powerful character like Donkey Kong could perform—such as the hand slap or his ability to blow powerfully,” Motokura explained.
“We also spoke with Mr. Koizumi, who directed Jungle Beat. He emphasized that Donkey Kong’s long, powerful arms are a key trait that sets him apart from characters like Mario. We took all these distinctive attributes and explored how to incorporate them into the gameplay of a new title.”
Around the same time, a programmer on the Odyssey team was experimenting with voxel technology. Voxels function as the three-dimensional equivalent of pixels, and this programmer was exploring ways to let players interact with and reshape the environment. A smaller version of this technology was used in Super Mario Odyssey—specifically in the Luncheon Kingdom, where Mario digs through cheese, and in the Snow Kingdom, where he breaks through snow drifts. The programmer expanded on this concept, developing mechanics that allowed players to throw voxels or carve holes through them.
According to Motokura, combining these voxel experiments with discussions about Donkey Kong’s strength and abilities led to the core destructive mechanics seen in Donkey Kong Bananza.
“Once we saw how well Donkey Kong’s unique traits—his strength and long arms—paired with the potential of voxel technology, it became clear that destruction could serve as the central gameplay pillar for this project.”
We discussed a variety of topics with Motokura and director Kazuya Takahashi, including Bananza’s place in the Donkey Kong series and its launch on the Nintendo Switch 2. You can read the full interview here and check out our hands-on preview of the game as well.
