Nintendo has confirmed that the team that developed Super Mario Odyssey are responsible for the new 3D Donkey Kong, although the exact name of the studio is unknown.
According to TheGamer, the team was revealed to the press at a Donkey Kong Bananza preview event that Donkey Kong Bananza was made by “the same development team” as Mario Odyssey. However, they were told the Odyssey development team is “not under the same company as before”, according to the article.
Therefore, the game may not have been made under Nintendo’s Entertainment Planning and Development (EPD) studio despite the actual developers being the same group of people.
Fans figured out the Donkey Kong Bananza Team months ago
The statement puts to bed speculation about who could be developing the soon-to-be-released Switch 2 adventure. As the last 3D Donkey Kong game was 1999’s Donkey Kong 64, developed by the legendary British studio, Rare, the developer of Bananza was not immediately obvious.
However, after watching the Nintendo Direct, which showcased the game, many fans speculated that the game had hallmarks of the Mario Odyssey style. With a focus on exploration in semi-open world sandboxes, fans saw the DNA of Mario Odyssey leaking into the new release.
Fans were comparing Banandium Gems to moons, comparing power-up abilities to Cappy’s different hat possessions, as well as the trading fossils for customisable clothes like purple coins in Odyssey.
Even the UI elements, like menus or the photo mode, clued fans into the idea that the game was a Super Mario Odyssey successor if not literally, then spiritually.
In fact, Reddit’s top comment on the announcement points out the likelihood that it is the Mario Odyssey team, remarking, “Looks amazing. Definitely seems like the Odyssey team made this based on all the menus we saw, direct copies almost. Gets me even more excited!”
Fans are still confused about Pauline
While we now know the developer of the game, we still don’t know the lore, and that’s what is really killing fans. Young Pauline, as displayed in the showcase, is baffling fans as Pauline is clearly an adult in Super Mario Odyssey/
The paradox of a Donkey Kong game having storyline implications is something that Reddit users are both enjoying as a joke and also seriously speculating over, with one user stating:
“I know this is such a bizarre thing to say, but Kid Pauline here just raises so many timeline questions. Is this a prequel to Odyssey? Is this Pauline’s child also named Pauline? Is this a different person who just happens to be named Pauline and sing? Diddy and Dixie are here, so then it’s after the country and returns games?”
Based on the assumption that Bananza is a prequel, many are theorising the potential connection between the two games, and what leads Pauline to New Donk City with some twitter users even speculating that the game concludes with the pair founding the Mario metropolis.
However, the prequel explanation has not exactly sat well with all Nintendo fans. Putting it bluntly, Cranky Kong has made them Cranky, as his continuity does not like up relative to the other characters.
One user speculated that Donkey Kong and Pauline were more like The Doctor from Doctor Who, where the name is simply a title rather than the name of an individual:
“Maybe this game will reveal that ‘Pauline’ and ‘Donkey Kong’ are just legacy names, passed down like ‘Link’ and ‘Zelda’ — different people, same names. What? Then why is Mario always the same guy? Beats me. Maybe he found the fountain of youth in a warp pipe.”
Needless to say, the lore-hungry fans will be wanting answers when they get around to Donkey Kong Bananza.
Donkey Kong Bananza launches on July 17 for Switch 2. Check out our Switch 2 directory for all the latest on the console and its games.
