Donkey Kong Bananza seemingly brings back this classic Nintendo character

Following the Nintendo Treehouse livestream and the various Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on events around the world, we’ve had a chance to see the Donkey Kong Bananza key art. Unfortunately, Nintendo Korea shared a slightly different image that has massive lore implications for the series and could even suggest a soft reboot.

Genki shared the key art, which Nintendo has since taken down from its official pages, pointing out that it features a “young Pauline” hanging from Donkey Kong’s necktie. All other Donkey Kong Bananza art shows DK alongside the new purple rock creature instead, and no trailers or Treehouse gameplay footage of the Nintendo Switch 2 game has shown Pauline. What’s more, she appears to be wearing a purple rock bracelet on her wrist, suggesting that she transforms into the new sidekick.

Now, I’m no Donkey Kong lore expert, but even I know that Pauline was an adult in the original DK arcade games and that the great ape in those games is actually Cranky Kong. But here, we see DK and a much younger Pauline in a game that also features Cranky Kong in his elderly state. Sproutposting on X says, “They’re about to pull a Pikmin 4 style ‘marketing friendly lore reboot that nullifies all previous games’ on the Donkey Kong franchise aren’t they,” and I can’t help but agree, but I also don’t think that it’s a bad thing.

Nintendo games hold a special place in a lot of people’s hearts, but franchises like Mario, Kirby, and Donkey Kong are primarily aimed at children and families. Donkey Kong hasn’t had a new solo game since 2014’s Tropical Freeze, so it’s highly likely that a lot of young people are unfamiliar with his lore and only know him as a Mario Party Jamboree character or from the Mario movie. In fact, the movie version of DK acts as a visual stepping stone between his old and new designs.

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Pauline’s also made a comeback in recent years, appearing in Super Mario Odyssey, as well as the Mario Kart and Mario Party spin-offs. I think it makes complete sense for Nintendo to use the launch of the Switch 2 to breathe new life into these legacy characters more than 40 years after their introduction.

Either way, this reveal has made me even more intrigued to see what Donkey Kong Bananza has to offer both old and new fans. Pocket Tactics’ editor in chief, Ruby Spiers-Unwin, got a taste of the new adventure in her Nintendo Switch 2 hands-on, so make sure you give that a read to learn more about the Switch’s successor.