Donkey Kong Bananza Confirms Return of 2 Fan Favorite Characters

Summary

Donkey Kong Bananza will be bringing back fan favorite characters.
Cranky Kong, and who appears to be Pauline, will be featured in the game.
More information on Donkey Kong Bananza will come to light in the lead-up to the game’s July 17 release date.

The upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive game Donkey Kong Bananza will feature fan-favorite characters Cranky Kong and what appears to be Pauline. Donkey Kong Bananza is set to launch for the Nintendo Switch 2 on July 17, with the game delivering an open-world 3D platformer with destructible environments.

Donkey Kong Bananza is quite easily one of the most impressive Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games shown off so far. The game features a bold new look for Donkey Kong, a great emphasis on action and exploration, new villains to defeat, and fresh abilities for Donkey Kong to utilize. It looks like the most ambitious Donkey Kong game to date, though fans will have to play it for themselves to find out if it lives up to the hype.

Donkey Kong Bananza is a Logical Progression From Nintendo Switch Online’s Offering

Nintendo has quietly kept itself busy with the Donkey Kong franchise, and its new entry on the Switch 2 has been a long time coming.

The Donkey Kong Bananza reveal trailer didn’t confirm many returning characters from the franchise’s past, but Nintendo Treehouse presentations and other sources have since confirmed that Cranky Kong will be featured in the game. The extent of Cranky Kong’s role has yet to be revealed, but it’s great to see him return in DK Bananza regardless. The other returning character is Pauline (or at least, who appears to be Pauline), who showed up in an official image shared on Nintendo’s Korean website that has since been removed.

Donkey Kong Bananza Appears to Have Cranky Kong and Pauline

The Pauline featured in the now-removed Donkey Kong Bananza key art shows a younger version of the character wearing a bracelet that looks suspiciously like Odd Rock, Donkey Kong’s companion in the new game. This has sparked all kinds of fan theories on the Internet. Some believe that Pauline is Odd Rock, while others think that this isn’t Pauline at all and is instead her daughter or some other character. If it is Pauline, it throws the Donkey Kong series timeline into some chaos, as it was previously believed that Cranky Kong was the original Donkey Kong from the arcade game who kidnapped Pauline.

Clearly, there are still a lot of unanswered questions about Donkey Kong Bananza, but luckily, fans shouldn’t have to wait too long to get answers. It’s probable that Nintendo will host a big event in June, as it does every year, which should provide more insight into the game. But even if that doesn’t happen, the Donkey Kong Bananza release date is only three months away, so fans will get to jump into the game themselves and learn everything there is to know about Donkey Kong’s next 3D platformer adventure.