Donkey Kong Bananza looks like it could be the crown jewel in the amazing Donkey Kong series, with plenty of throwbacks to previous games. So, how did the game’s director, Kazuya Takahashi, craft such a massive love letter to the franchise? Well, he went back and played all the Donkey Kong games, of course.
Donkey Kong Bananza Director Replayed All the Donkey Kong Games
In an interview with La Vanguardia, Takahashi discussed his connection with the Donkey Kong series and how his fond memories of playing older games. He had this to say:
“In my case, although I had no previous experience working on Donkey Kong games, I do have very good memories of playing Donkey Kong Jr. and, later, Donkey Kong Country. When I found out that I had been assigned to the Donkey Kong Bananza team, I went back to playing all the games in the franchise. In particular, Donkey Kong Country introduced unique mechanics such as barrel-cannons and mine wagons. I wanted to take those elements and add the destruction component. That motivated me to include memories from the past along with new ideas.”
The Link to Previous Donkey Kong Games
Donkey Kong Bananza pays tribute to the franchise in a number of ways. In addition to including characters like Diddy Kong and Cranky Kong, the game features bonus side-scrolling levels that are reminiscent of the groundbreaking Donkey Kong Country games. The inclusion of Pauline, whom Donkey Kong captured in the original Donkey Kong arcade game, also shows love for the franchise. However, reimagining her as a young girl who dreams of being a singer also shows that this game is taking the franchise in a new direction.
How Does Donkey Kong Bananza Fit Into the Timeline?
Of course, Pauline, being a young girl, opens up questions about how Bananza fits into the Donkey Kong timeline. Well, Takahashi and producer Kenta Motokura were asked exactly which Donkey Kong stars in Bananza, and Motokura said that although they had an answer in mind when developing the game, “we would like, to some extent, to leave it to the imagination of the players. I prefer not to give a definitive answer for now.” So yeah, it looks like fans will still be coming up with theories for a while.
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