One of the reasons that so many people are head over heels for Donkey Kong Bananza since its arrival on the Switch 2 is the unique and fun dynamic between DK and the young version of Pauline. Seeing Donkey Kong act as her protector through the underground world, mixed with her “coming of age” story, and using her voice to power up DK in key moments, helped make the game stand out from other titles like it. However, when the team was first thinking of how to use Pauline in the story, they initially didn’t go for the “young teen” version.
In an interview with Nintendo Dream, which was translated by Nintendo Everything, Director Kazuya Takahashi revealed that while the Bananza forms were what brought Pauline into the mix, they initially were going to have the adult version of Pauline in Donkey Kong Bananza, not unlike the version we saw in Super Mario Odyssey. However, a certain problem came about when testing that out…
In order to allow them to travel and adventure together, we put her on DK’s back. At first we tried her as an adult but a girl felt better in terms of size, and we thought that this would be the first time for many to play as DK, so as a new character this seemed to fit better.
Yeah, that makes sense. Oh, and if you’re wondering why they kept stating that Pauline is 13 in interviews, it’s because of her role in the story:
“13 is an age where you start to experience conflicts and struggles, and also when you begin to think about your dreams for the future.”
Indeed, that is a key part of Pauline’s story in the title, and so even if it “screws with the timeline,” it was worth making her that young so that she could work well with DK.
