Inside the Making of Donkey Kong Bananza

Donkey Kong Bananza arrives next week, and we've just discovered the developers behind Donkey Kong's major new 3D adventure. It's the same team responsible for Super Mario Odyssey, a connection many observant fans made based on UI details and other clues from the trailers.

Now that we know the creators, it's time to hit them with a mountain of questions.

I spoke with Kenta Motokura, producer of Donkey Kong Bananza, and Kazuya Takahashi, the game's director. Motokura previously directed Super Mario Odyssey and has contributed to numerous Nintendo titles since joining as a 3D character artist during the GameCube era. His credits include Super Mario Sunshine, Pikmin, Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Super Mario Galaxy, Super Mario Land, and Super Mario 3D World on Wii U. Takahashi, who joined Nintendo in 2020, brings open-world game design experience that he says provides interesting insights for Bananza.

We've already covered key interview points elsewhere, including the game's origins, its place in the Donkey Kong series, and why it's a Nintendo Switch 2 title. But the full interview contains more valuable insights, which we've published below.

Responses have been lightly edited for clarity.