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Please, next time you play Switch 2 platformer Donkey Kong Bananza, consider having a moment of silence for all the melons crushed under Nintendo devs' hands while they were recording sound effects. It's so many melons.
Spotted and translated by Automaton, Donkey Kong Bananza sound director Naoto Kubo recently gave Japanese site Nintendo Dream Web some insight to the Foley method he used while recording audio for the game, which apparently required a bountiful summer harvest of watermelon.
There's a big melon in Donkey Kong Bananza's Resort Layer. It's a watermelon that would make a more FDA-approved melon ashamed to exist – it's the size of a satellite planet, with a thick, waxy rind, and a slightly cube shape for extra intimidation factor. Smashing through the Big Watermelon requires willingness to be completely submerged in pulp on Donkey Kong's part, which is emotionally taxing enough, though Kubo says the sound of the Big Watermelon challenged Nintendo developers, too.
Foley, in sound design, refers to recording ambient noises in post-production to add realistic audio to things a microphone couldn't pick up while filming. In Donkey Kong Bananza's case, Kubo and his sound team did things like record themselves munching cookies to give Donkey Kong Banaza's apples ample crunch.
But "recording the watermelon was tough," Kubo recalls according to the translation. "We recorded the sounds of squashing and crushing watermelons, however, the recordings happened right as summer had ended. And in October, around autumn, there were no more good watermelons."
The crew had no choice but to wait until next year to keep recording, and it all worked out – the fresh melons made such a juicy sound, Kubo apparently even incorporated it into Donkey Kong Banaza's burgers.
