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Nintendo shared a trio of “Ask the Developer” interview sessions with members of the Donkey Kong Bananza team, and one went over the Bananza transformations and music that plays during each of them. As a result, we got to see early concept art of Zebra Bananza and hear why the music changes every time DK transforms in the new game. Nintendo Entertainment Planning & Development Department Production Group 8 members Naoto Kubo and Kenta Motokura both talked about the decision, and how that also led to Pauline being a fixture in Donkey Kong Bananza.
We already knew that Pauline singing is what triggers a Bananza form for Donkey Kong, thanks to the Nintendo Direct on June 18, 2025. That gameplay footage showed Kong Bananza, Zebra Bananza, and Ostrich Bananza, and we also got to hear the unique song that plays during that temporarily powered-up state.
Kubo first mentioned that the Bananza transformations came up as the team was working on the soundtrack. He then shared the Zebra Bananza form for Donkey Kong one of the developers shared. He then said that the concept coming up during music composition and that part of the process influenced the idea of songs playing during that form and Pauline being the trigger in Donkey Kong Bananza.
Here’s Kubo’s first statement.
“And [the designer] declared, “Donkey Kong will transform into this!” (Laughs) The mere sight of this sketch was enough to shock me, but actually seeing it programmed into action, I thought to myself, “Well, since we’ve gone this far, we might as well also transform the music that plays once Donkey Kong has transformed.” Changing the music that plays is actually quite a big deal. Even in Mario games, we don’t go that far unless it’s a major transformation, like getting a Super Star and turning invincible. But since Donkey Kong only transforms for a limited time and it has such a big impact on the gameplay, we decided to go all out with transforming the music. We envisioned a track that would give you the urge to sprint as soon as you heard it, and then the image of a zebra galloping passionately to Latin or Spanish-style music popped into my head. I mean, not that Latin music has anything to do with zebras, but still… (Laughs)”
Naoto Kubo then explained Kenta Motokura was the person who came up with the idea of Pauline being behind DK’s transformations in Donkey Kong Bananza. It’s also then that Motokura brought up the idea of Kubo composing a song for each of the Bananzas.
Motokura noted, “Originally, we were discussing whether to have Pauline in the game as a character that players could relate to. But at the time, we weren’t able to incorporate Pauline into a gameplay feature unique to this title. However, now that the transformation mechanic had started to take shape, we thought we could create something new by tying Pauline’s singing to the Bananza transformations.”
Donkey Kong Bananza will come to the Switch 2 on July 17, 2025.
