Originally planned for the Switch, Donkey Kong Bananza shifted to Switch 2 due to its voxel destruction system, enhanced processing power, and innovative features like mouse-controlled co-op and terrain sculpting.
Donkey Kong Bananza, the highly anticipated 3D platformer, was originally planned for the Nintendo Switch, but its ambitions quickly outgrew the aging hardware. In a recent interview with IGN, producer Kenta Motokura and director Kazuya Takahashi detailed how the game’s core mechanics and creative vision prompted the shift to the more powerful Nintendo Switch 2.
At the heart of this decision lies the game’s unique design philosophy: “continuity of destruction.” In Donkey Kong Bananza, players are encouraged to break parts of the environment to uncover hidden rewards, which then open up new areas that can also be destroyed, creating an ongoing loop of action, discovery, and environmental transformation. This destructible world relies heavily on voxel-based technology, which proved too demanding for the original Switch hardware.
“This allowed us to engage in creating a really extremely rich variety of materials and very large-scale changes in the environment on that new hardware,” Motokura explained. “When destruction is your core gameplay, one really important moment we wanted to preserve was when a player looks at a part of the terrain and thinks, can I break this? That sense of surprise is crucial, and we could best achieve it on Switch 2.”
Takahashi echoed this sentiment, noting that the team realized early on that the Switch 2’s processing power was necessary to deliver a “longer continuous play experience” based on the destruction system. The increased capabilities of the new console allowed the team to fully realize their creative ambitions, ensuring players could experience seamless transitions between areas and destruction-driven progression without performance compromise.
But raw power wasn’t the only factor that convinced the developers to migrate to Switch 2. Innovative features like Joy-Con 2’s mouse control support also opened exciting new gameplay opportunities, particularly for co-op mode. In this setup, a second player can assist using a pointer-style interface to control Pauline’s vocal blasts, target enemies, or interact with the environment. Additionally, the DK Artist mode lets players sculpt large voxel-based environments using the mouse-style controls, adding a creative and interactive layer to the platforming gameplay.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa had previously hinted that Donkey Kong Bananza was the kind of experience that couldn’t be realized on the original Switch. “Over the course of these eight years and counting, it has become necessary to increase hardware processing performance in order for developers to offer new gameplay experiences,” he said. “We believe Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza offer gameplay that wasn’t possible before.”
Donkey Kong Bananza is set to launch on July 17 exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 and features the return of Pauline, who last appeared in Super Mario Odyssey. Developed by the same team behind Odyssey, the game combines high-energy platforming with next-gen innovation, setting a bold new direction for the Donkey Kong series.
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