With Donkey Kong Bananza so close to launch, reviewers have gotten their hands on the game. Spanish media outlet Lavanguardia received an early copy, and an opportunity to interview the game's producer, Kenta Motokura, and its director, Kazuya Takahashi. In the interview, some interesting bits of information are given, such as the fact that Donkey Kong Bananza started development soon after Super Mario Odyssey, and how this game focuses on destruction mechanics in order to differentiate Donkey Kong's style of gameplay from Mario's.

The reviewer also brought up that Bananza has some frame drops, and asked Nintendo about performance. Takahashi's response was that while they are aware of some performance drops during certain moments, the game runs well for the most part, and above all else, Nintendo prioritized fun over performance.

While the game runs smoothly overall, I've noticed some frame drops at certain times and levels while playing the final version. Are you aware of this?

Takahashi: There are several factors to consider. First, we intentionally used effects like hit-stop and slow motion to emphasize impacts. Second, because we use voxel technology, there are times when there are major changes and destruction in the environment. We're aware that performance may drop slightly at these times. However, as you say, overall the game is smooth, and at points where large-scale changes occur, we prioritized fun and playability.

Donkey Kong Bananza will be out July 17, for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Source

 

[such]

Switch 2 OLED Pro V2 when.

 

[Deleted member 753700]

It’s a feature, not a bug. Cinematic slowmotion mode

 

[subcon959]

Developer says: we prioritized fun and playability.
GBAtemp writer: Nintendo prioritized fun over performance.
GBAtemp members: *pitchforks*

How many times is this same formula gonna play out here?

 

[Xzi]

I'm a bit surprised since Odyssey was probably the most well-optimized game on Switch, but at the same time not since making every environment entirely destructible takes up a ton of processing power for physics alone. Regardless, issues like this popping up so early in the system's lifespan demonstrate why there will always be high demand for emulation of Nintendo games.

 

[raxadian]

If a Videogame company apologises in advance for bad framerates either said framerates are really bad or they are really sure people are going to complain about it and this is a preventive move.

In the Nintendo Switch launch Breath Of the Wild had several bugs they were patched over time but Nintendo didn't bother to apologise in advance.

They said nothing for the Pokemon Switch Games and they own part of Pokemon, they said nothing about the Princess Peach Switch game and they 100% own all Mario Bros characters.

Why is Nintendo saying in advance "Hey don't expect great framerates for this game"?

Why has Nintendo gotten do bad at making their own games for their own hardware? What the heck is going on?

 

[DuoForce]

You gotta be kidding me. I hate this era of Nintendo so so much

 

[SteinsGoat]

Any game developed for a console around launch will tend to have framerate drops. As more optimization techniques get developed and as more games get released, you'll notice games smooth out and speed up. Luigi's Mansion, the launch title for GameCube, had framerate drops. So did Mario 64, the launch for the N64, famously in Dire Dire Docks. The PlayStation 3 was actually so notoriously hard to develop for that later titles didn't even do it right. It's just the life of console development.

That being said, voxel technology is incredible, but it can have performance impact. Nintendo being upfront and saying that there are sparse issues, particularly towards the end of the game, is not only very upfront, but very relieving too. They were honest about where the performance impact is, and that it was only quite sparse. Performance patches will more than likely help smooth out this issue in the future once they figure out more optimization techniques for the customized Tegra.

Like the review said, overall the game is smooth. I'll take that over the unoptimized mess that is modern PC gaming.

You can just say you’re a shill, it would save time

 

[Ondrashek06]

Price/2 = FrameRate

The Switch 2 supports 120 FPS... $240 games incoming? I really hope not

 

[tofino]

nintendoified "surprise mechanics"

 

[Marc_LFD]

Switch 2 OLED Pro V2 when.

Where's NS2 OLED Pro V1?

 

[raxadian]

You gotta be kidding me. I hate this era of Nintendo so so much

It somewhat started years ago, while Nintendo cannot be blamed for bad Pokemon games as they own only a minor part of Pokemon, Nintendo own games have got really bad performance wise in their own hardware.

How come something like the Princess Peach game performs worse in the Switch that Super Mario Oddisey or Breath of the Wild that are way more demanding games?

And now Nintendo can't even do a launch game good enough that they are apologising in advance?

Honesty if Nintendo fails at videogames then why the heck should people keep buying games from them?

Freaking Sony is doing better Nintendo like games that Nintendo! Astro Bot for PS5 is basically the Super Mario Oddisey 2 Nintendo never made.

Also this is not just a portable the Switch 2 performance is comparable to a PS4 Pro so what the hell is going on?

Okay I think I asked "What the heck is going on" enough times.

Buy the game or not, the choice is yours.

 

[RedBlueGreen]

I wonder if Miyamoto distracted the staff by rambling about stuff nobody cares about like he did when they were developing Majora's Mask.

 

[BlusterBong]

Regardless, issues like this popping up so early in the system's lifespan demonstrate why there will always be high demand for emulation of Nintendo games.

And there will be high demand for Nintendo to shut it down, especially if the developers learned nothing from Yuzu or Ryujinx, except there's way less of a practical reason to do it that isn't personal (and often petty) reasons compared to last time given that there's still games being made for Switch 1 and more often than not will still run better on the native PC version.

This also extends to the snag that even if a lot of people emulating Switch 2 were doing it legitimately (super unlikely) and keeping silent.... well they're still supporting Nintendo and their practices and the ecosystem they want to maintain despite the larger outcry about it.

 

[K3Nv4]

Switch 2 pro 30fps guaranteed with Donkey Kong Bananza

 

[Deleted member 535703]

You can just say you’re a shill, it would save time

No, I think I'm gonna actually try to put some real information on this forum. Thank you though.

I am on my own personal hate train for Nintendo and just taking every opportunity to take jabs at them. It's completely personal

Yea, no I get that. I dislike Nintendo as much as the next guy, but the fact is that it's a console and in the launch window, minor frame stutters in a game isn't horrible design, just a quirk of the software not yet being optimized for the hardware at its maximum potential.

 

[jellybeangreen2]

You pay £65 and you get a version that still doesn’t run consistent? This article is the exact reason I cannot wait until CFW releases. Bring on overclocking.

Post automatically merged: Jul 13, 2025

You pay £65 and you get a version that still doesn’t run consistent? This article is the exact reason I cannot wait until CFW releases. Bring on overclocking.

Post automatically merged: Jul 13, 2025

You pay £65 and you get a version that still doesn’t run consistent? This article is the exact reason I cannot wait until CFW releases. Bring on overclocking.

 

[angelus kun]

Bruh Nintendo switch 2 it's over 700 dollars in my country and they say that? Omg Nintendo us the worst

 

[Bladexdsl]

this company just keeps getting worse and worse

 

[Osha]

Honestly feels like they should've just said nothing instead of giving a frankly bizarre "justification". Games drop frames sometimes, especially early on in a console's lifespan, shit happens, don't try to hide behind such a flimsy excuse.

 

[SylverReZ]

Nintendo learned from Todd Howard, I see. It's not a bug, but a feature.