Kenta Motokura spoke at GDC about the creation of Donkey Kong Bananza. The Nintendo developer shared some insight into the direction they had in mind when creating the game, and even shared some of his own experience playing Mario as a child that helped shape it.
Donkey Kong Bananza is still largely the standout release of the Nintendo Switch 2’s library. The first 3D Donkey Kong game in a quarter century, it’s largely built on terraforming and reshaping the world around you to solve puzzles your way, with creativity leading the way.
At GDC, Kenta Motokura, via Game File (subscription needed), explains that playing World 1-2 of the original Super Mario Bros as a child helped shape what he wanted this game to feel like.
“I’ve loved this scene since I was a kid,” he said in Japanese, which was translated into English. “You can interact with almost everything on the screen, and, depending on how you go about that, there are multiple ways to proceed.”
The Pillars of Donkey Kong’s Character in DK Bananza
Motokura shared his view on the donkey on character and explained that the game’s concept was very simple: “Destruction. Destruction. Destruction.” Also, Motokura shared the three pillars of the Donkey Kong character. The first is that Donkey Kong is not a human. The second is that he loves bananas. The third, and perhaps most importantly, he’s got big, strong arms.
In Donkey Kong Bananza, DK is bigger, faster, and stronger, too. The first member of the DK crew, true to his nature in the video game, reformed Nintendo platformers and the Nintendo Switch successor, bending it to his strengths.
It’s the 40th anniversary of the Super Mario franchise, and while many players love DK Bananza. Many are waiting for the next 3D Mario experience. Until that time, Nintendo is focused on the Super Mario Galaxy movie. Recently, it was announced that Donald Glover will voice Yoshi in the film. Learn more about that here.
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