Koizumi's Donkey Kong Pitch Helped Create Bananza

When Donkey Kong Bananza was first announced, speculation quickly arose that it was developed by the same team behind Super Mario Odyssey. That turned out to be true, leading to further rumors that the project initially started as Odyssey DLC or a sequel before transitioning to feature Donkey Kong. However, we have now learned that part is incorrect.

In an interview with IGN, Donkey Kong Bananza producer Kenta Motokura—who also directed Super Mario Odyssey—shared the game's origin story. He explained that Nintendo executive Yoshiaki Koizumi approached the Odyssey team and explicitly asked them to consider developing a 3D Donkey Kong title.

When Motokura revealed this, I asked if he knew why Koizumi made that request, given that Nintendo hadn't internally developed a Donkey Kong game since Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat over two decades ago. Motokura hesitated to speak for Koizumi but offered his perspective: "With so many characters at Nintendo's disposal, we're always evaluating the right timing to create a new game with a specific character to best satisfy our audience. But that's just my best guess—you'd really have to ask Mr. Koizumi for the definitive answer."

Regardless of the reasoning, the Odyssey team accepted the challenge. Their first step was to consult Donkey Kong creator Shigeru Miyamoto for initial ideas.

"He highlighted the unique actions a powerful character like Donkey Kong could perform, such as the hand slap or using his breath," Motokura explained.

"I also spoke with Mr. Koizumi, who directed Jungle Beat. For him, a key distinction from a character like Mario is Donkey Kong's longer, stronger arms. We took all these distinctive traits and brainstormed how to incorporate them into a new game."

Around the same time, a programmer on the Odyssey team was experimenting with voxel technology. Voxels are essentially 3D pixels, and this programmer was exploring ways to let players manipulate the environment using them. This technology was used on a smaller scale in Super Mario Odyssey—for example, in the Luncheon Kingdom where Mario digs through cheese, and in the Snow Kingdom where he crunches through snowdrifts. But this programmer pushed it further, developing systems that allowed players to throw voxels or dig tunnels through them.

According to Motokura, it was this combination—the discussions about Donkey Kong's strength and abilities, along with the voxel experiments—that formed the core destructive mechanics of Donkey Kong Bananza.

"When we recognized how well Donkey Kong's distinctive traits—his strength and long arms—paired with the possibilities of voxel technology, we saw a perfect match. That led us to pursue destruction as the central gameplay theme for this title."

We spoke with Motokura and director Kazuya Takahashi about various aspects of Bananza, including its place in the Donkey Kong canon and the decision to release it on the Nintendo Switch 2. You can read our full interview here and check out our hands-on preview of the game here.