In an interview with IGN, Donkey Kong Bananza director Kazuya Takahashi and producer Kenta Motokura ( Super Mario Odyssey ’s director) were asked why Pauline is riding on DK’s back in the game. Their answer was a perfect window into how game development often seems to work at Nintendo,

In the most predictable possible progression of events, the programmer performed surgery on a grape by attaching two fists to a Goomba. In a short clip shared by Nintendo, you can see the brown tyke walk around a rocky environment that crumbles under its mighty fists.

A DK movie is just the icing on the cake for Kong. The fan-favorite character is having quite the year, with the highly anticipated upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 game, Donkey Kong Bananza, coming out on July 17, 2025. The game follows Kong and Pauline as they set out to recover stolen banana diamonds from a gang of evil apes.