Donkey Kong Bananza seemingly brings back this classic Nintendo character

Following the Nintendo Treehouse livestream and the various Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on events around the world, we’ve had a chance to see the Donkey Kong Bananza key art. Unfortunately, Nintendo Korea shared a slightly different image that has massive lore implications for the series and could even suggest a soft reboot. Genki shared the key art, which Nintendo has since taken down from its official pages, pointing out that it features a “young Pauline” hanging from Donkey Kong’s necktie. All other Donkey Kong Bananza art shows DK alongside the new purple rock creature instead, and no trailers or Treehouse gameplay footage of the Nintendo Switch 2 game has shown Pauline. What’s more, she appears to be wearing a purple rock bracelet on her wrist, suggesting that she transforms into the new sidekick. Now, I’m no Donkey Kong lore expert, but even I know that Pauline was an adult in the original DK arcade games and that the great ape in those games is actually Cranky Kong. But here, we see DK and a much younger Pauline in a game that also features Cranky Kong in his elderly state. Sproutposting on X says, “They’re about to pull a Pikmin 4 style ‘marketing friendly lore reboot that nullifies all previous games’ on the Donkey Kong franchise aren’t they,” and I can’t help but agree, but I also don’t think that it’s a bad thing. Continue reading Donkey Kong Bananza seemingly brings back this classic Nintendo character MORE FROM POCKET TACTICS: Mario games

Apr 6, 2025 - 16:29

Donkey Kong Bananza seemingly brings back this classic Nintendo character

Following the Nintendo Treehouse livestream and the various Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on events around the world, we’ve had a chance to see the Donkey Kong Bananza key art. Unfortunately, Nintendo Korea shared a slightly different image that has massive lore implications for the series and could even suggest a soft reboot.

Genki shared the key art, which Nintendo has since taken down from its official pages, pointing out that it features a “young Pauline” hanging from Donkey Kong’s necktie. All other Donkey Kong Bananza art shows DK alongside the new purple rock creature instead, and no trailers or Treehouse gameplay footage of the Nintendo Switch 2 game has shown Pauline. What’s more, she appears to be wearing a purple rock bracelet on her wrist, suggesting that she transforms into the new sidekick.

Now, I’m no Donkey Kong lore expert, but even I know that Pauline was an adult in the original DK arcade games and that the great ape in those games is actually Cranky Kong. But here, we see DK and a much younger Pauline in a game that also features Cranky Kong in his elderly state. Sproutposting on X says, “They’re about to pull a Pikmin 4 style ‘marketing friendly lore reboot that nullifies all previous games’ on the Donkey Kong franchise aren’t they,” and I can’t help but agree, but I also don’t think that it’s a bad thing.

Continue reading Donkey Kong Bananza seemingly brings back this classic Nintendo character