Donkey Kong Bananza dev says ditching Switch 1 makes the game “more fun”

Donkey Kong Bananza is the fuel behind Pocket Tactics’ work chat right now, at least for our hardware editor, Connor. He’s not the only one overjoyed for our banana-loving ape’s return, with the brand-new entry taking full advantage of the Nintendo Switch 2‘s hardware. It wasn’t always going to be this way, according to Nintendo, and it reveals scrapped plans for a Switch 1 port.

In the month since the Nintendo Switch 2‘s launch, it’s clear that some titles are well beyond the previous iterations’ capabilities. My Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 review makes that abundantly clear. In the case of smashing levels into muddy pulps and consuming fruit, Nintendo developers Kenta Motokura and Daisuke Watanabe discuss Donkey Kong Bananza‘s limitations on older hardware.

“We originally began developing Donkey Kong Bananza on Nintendo Switch, but we ran into some challenges. I think it was around 2021 when we started to think about moving development to Switch 2,” Motokura shares in a fresh development blog. For series fanatics, the arrival of DKB is huge. It’s the first entry developed internally by Nintendo’s Entertainment and Planning Division since 2004’s Donkey Kong Jungle Beat.

With Nintendo itself handling the reins, the first Nintendo Switch isn’t cutting it this time around. To truly harness what the Switch 2 is capable of, Watanabe adds that “being able to place more objects in the terrain didn’t just enhance the game’s visual richness. More importantly, it increased the amount of things players could destroy, which amplified the exhilaration of being able to demolish anything and everything.” It isn’t quite on the level of The Finals in the new Switch game, though.

Using the might of the handheld to drive DKB’s more demanding aspects forward, Watanabe says that “not only did Switch 2 enable the game to run well, it unlocked the game’s full potential, no, it made the game possible.” You can see a comparison of the two versions above.

But how good is it? Well, you don’t need to wait until the Donkey Kong Bananza release date to find out. I recommend checking out Connor’s preview immediately, and it has everything you need to prepare for DK’s return.

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