Nintendo says Donkey Kong in Bananza is different from the one in The Super Mario Bros. Movie

Donkey Kong was the star of Donkey Kong Bananza and also had a fairly prominent role in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. This may have been expected, but the character is different in both movies.

This information comes from Donkey Kong Bananza producer Kenta Motokura. IGN asked if he pictures DK talking in his head. Motokura responded in the affirmative, but also pointed out how in the game, Donkey Kong “is a double of the player, and so they don’t speak, allowing the player to project a little bit more.”

According to Motokura:

“So I would say yes. In my head, Donkey Kong does talk because you come upon these choices in the game and the player has the opportunity to see Donkey Kong’s expression and how he might be feeling about those, and then the player can make their choice. But also, this is different from the Donkey Kong character that you see in the movie because the one that you see in the game, in a sense, is a double of the player, and so they don’t speak, allowing the player to project a little bit more. But I think that is made up for by the fact that Pauline as a character in the game does speak. And so you have the opportunity for this speaking character to deliver hints to the player. Also, as she expresses her feelings, that’s something that the player can empathize with, or they can feel the gratitude that someone is expressing what they’re feeling in the game.”

Motokura further added that Donkey Kong in Bananza wouldn’t speak like Seth Rogan. “I can’t really imagine so,” he said.

In other news, we heard from Nintendo that the Elephant Bananza in Donkey Kong Bananza “probably went too far” in terms of destruction We covered that here.