- Donkey King wearing clothes in Bananza Because Nintendo was “consciously” on what he would look like “from behind”
- Donkey King went through a redesign because his brown fur “would create a monoton visual”
- Producer Kenta Motokura said the character’s coat was also improved
Nintendo has explained why Donkey King wears clothes in the latest Switch 2 exclusive, Donkey King Bananza.
As long as Donkey Kong has been around, he has typically been portrayed completely naked (if a monkey can even be naked), but in the latest rate Star Ape reviewed a makeover in both character design and wardrobe.
According to Nintendo, the team thought of giving Donkey Kong some clothes this time because it was aware of what he would look like from behind to players.
“When we control a character in a 3D world, the player often sees them from behind, so we were also aware of what Donkey Kong would look like from behind as he moves,” producer Kenta Motokura said in a recent Ask The Developer Q&A.
“The back view of Donkey King just looks like a lot of brown fur that would create a monotonous visual if we simply render him in 3D.”
Motokura also said the development team was inspired to make creative adjustments to Donkey Kong’s clothes and decided to give him a snazzy tie, britches and suspenders.
The character’s fur was also improved to “look rich and thick”, and his original design, created by Shigeru Miyamoto, has been renewed to the new game and even Mario Kart World.
“The basic Donkey Kong-Design has been completely renewed. While underwent the design, we returned to the place it started. We took Miyamoto-San’s original Donkey Kong as a basis and added design elements from Donkey King Bananza Here and there, ”he explained.
In Techradar Gaming’s review called hardware writer Dashiell Wood Donkey King Bananza “The largest Nintendo Switch 2 title to date, providing an incredible destruction system that shows the power of the new system.”
