The credits for Donkey Kong Bananza have shined a light on the game’s voice cast, including one actor who is reprising his role from the Japanese dub of Super Mario Bros. Move.
Please be aware of cast spoilers for Donkey Kong Bananza below.
Donkey Kong’s emotive grunts and the like in Donkey Kong Bananza are all voiced by Kouji Takeda, who is credited as the game’s main character in all of its various language options (thanks, IGN).
If you think that name sounds familiar, that’s because Takeda has also provided the voice of Donkey Kong in the Japanese dub of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, as well as the Japanese voice of Daruk in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to name just two.
Takeda also voiced Nintendo’s leading ape in Mario Kart World, replacing Takashi Nagasako, who previously voiced Donkey Kong for over two decades. And, DK isn’t the only character with a new voice for the Switch 2 era. Earlier this year, Samantha Kelly confirmed she’d been recast as the voice of Princess Peach and Toad after 18 years.
As for Bananza’s other lead, Pauline, she is voiced by Jenny Kidd for the English version. The character in Super Mario Odyssey is voiced by Kate Higgins, however in the Switch platformer Pauline is significantly older than in Donkey Kong Bananza.
“A brilliant core mechanic and clever design twists make Bananza a delightfully sticky 3D platform adventure topped off with a sweet central character relationship,” our Alex wrote Eurogamer’s Donkey Kong Bananza review, awarding Nintendo’s newest Switch 2 release four stars.