The team behind upcoming Switch 2 platformer Donkey Kong Bananza has explained its decision to make its hero’s sidekick Pauline 13 years old – when the character has mostly been portrayed as an adult woman in previous games.
In an interview with IGN, Director Kazuya Takahashi wanted to present the heroine in a new way in order to appeal to both new and existing Nintendo fans.
“Well one of the important roles that we knew we wanted this character to accomplish was in accompanying Donkey Kong on his travels and acting in some cases as a bit of a narrator. And considering we would probably have both new players who are experiencing a Donkey Kong game for the first time, as well as people who are long-time fans of Donkey Kong. So we had the opportunity to offer a character that was familiar to long-time players, but had a new appearance that might be interesting for new folks as well.”
As for why the specific age of 13 was chosen, Takahashi said he wanted players to work it out themselves as they play through the game.
Producer Kenta Motokura – who previously directed Super Mario Odyssey – added that the team always considers how to present characters in a way that will “impact player enjoyment.”
Motokura also explained how Pauline came to be considered as a character for the game in the first place.
“Yes, as it turns out, from a very early stage in development on Donkey Kong Bananza, the team was discussing what kind of character would be best to accompany Donkey Kong on his travels. And as early as that stage, I do recall that someone had suggested Pauline might be a good choice, but Pauline was not implemented directly into game spec at that time. I think the moment we actually realized we would go in that direction came about as a result of an artist who created some concept art of the zebra transformation. We saw that image and thought it was really fun, so we immediately prototyped it to try it out in the game. And when our composer saw that, they decided to create specific music just for that transformation.
“And the music for it was so good, we thought we could expand on this and turn it into a song and maybe Pauline would be a good choice to sing that song. And so we then asked the composer to create songs for each of the transformations and I think that’s what really cemented Pauline’s place.”
Takahashi added how the team felt it was important for Bananza to have a human character, and how Pauline’s ability to sing became an important aspect of the game.
“I think one of the things that really works very well for us in choosing Pauline is that she’s human so she speaks in a language that the player will understand. And our setting is a strange underground world where you’re interacting with animals and even rocks that speak in some cases, so it’s a lot to take in. I think it’s really good for the player to have another human that they can see on-screen who is reacting to these strange things, noticing stuff, pointing them out, even giving hints. And in a game where you take destruction as its core gameplay, there’s a lot of objects that are hidden waiting to be discovered. So it’s really helpful to have information coming to the player as audio cues so it’s not getting in the way of visual information on screen.
“And we also wanted to emphasize the power of Pauline’s song in this game. And so she has the ability to make music that shows the route the player could follow or even opens up new routes to go see. And we have a co-op play that allows a second player to control Pauline’s vocal blasts that can interact with both the terrain and with enemies. Sorry, that was a rather long answer, but I really do think that a lot of ideas came out from this choice of Pauline as an accompanying character. So looking back, I think it was a choice we’re all very happy with.”
The pair also discussed how the game started life as a title for the original Nintendo Switch, before eventually making the leap to its predecessor.
Donkey Kong Bananza will launch worldwide on July 17th, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2.
More Donkey Kong Bananza
Donkey Kong Bananza began life as a Switch 1 game, similar to Mario Kart World
Donkey Kong Bananza was officially made by the Super Mario Odyssey Team
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Written by Reece Heather
A lifelong Nintendo fan and a longtime editor at Zelda Universe, Reece will forever be grateful that he somehow dodged the Naughty List of Christmas 1998, when Santa delivered the life-changing gift of a Nintendo 64 with Super Mario 64, Banjo-Kazooie, and Mario Kart 64. When he's not playing games, Reece is usually reading Punisher comics, delving helplessly into the weirdest depths of anime and manga, or spending time with his cocker spaniel Gracie -- the goodest girl ever!
