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Donkey Kong Bananza's director has said not to think too deeply about the lore implications of certain easter eggs in the game.
Speaking to Nintendo Dream (via machine translation), Donkey Kong Bananza director Kazuya Takahashi talked about the decision to include callbacks to previous entries in the series, like the arcade game and Donkey Kong Country. He said that the priority, first and foremost, was to make a Donkey Kong game with the theme of destruction, and that everything else (such as whether Cranky Kong would make an appearance) was secondary.
The interviewer asked if things like classic DK levels and DK's house appearing in the Ruins Challenge levels meant that the Ruins are somehow connected to DK Island (where the original game is set). Takahashi responded, "The Ruins Challenge is a self-contained world."
As the game progresses, there are references to previous titles, but "please enjoy it without thinking too deeply about it." Which feels like a direct shot at me after I wrote that the game killed off countless Donkey Kong Country characters, but I'm glad to hear they are okay.
The team also explored why Pauline was specifically 13 years old in the game, a detail that is not typically revealed about Nintendo characters. Takahashi explains that this is the age when children "start to think about their dreams for the future," making it the perfect age for Pauline.
He also revealed that the idea of linking the Bananza transformations to song came first, then Pauline. Takahashi says, "At first, I tried using an adult character, but I thought a girl would be a better fit in terms of size," then young Pauline was born.
Shigeru Miyamoto himself suggested Donkey Kong Bananza's baffling default button settings.
