Nintendo just revealed Pauline as a surprise character in Donkey Kong Bananza

Nintendo simply dropped a ton of particulars concerning the subsequent main Change 2 first-party sport. Donkey Kong Bananza was the star of a Nintendo Direct livestream this morning and it was crammed to the brim with nifty tidbits to get followers excited concerning the 3D platformer.The largest information is the addition of Pauline as DK’s sidekick. She goes all the way in which again to the unique Donkey Kong arcade sport. Nintendo actually pulled a quick one right here, as the primary trailer confirmed the sidekick as an anthropomorphic rock of some sort. This might be according to Mario’s numerous companions in his 3D platformers, as he is teamed up with hats, stars and different inanimate objects.Nevertheless, it was all a ruse. Pauline is the sidekick, as she was trapped within that rock. Nintendo actually went all in with this prank. Even the unique field artwork confirmed the little rock character, which has now been changed by Pauline. There’s even a two-player co-op mode through which one particular person controls Pauline. It will work on GameShare, so it solely requires one copy of the sport.WHILE IT HASN’T BEEN UPDATED ON SOME RETAIL SITES, NINTENDO HAS UPDATED THE BOX ART FOR DONKEY KONG BANANZA TO FEATURE THE REVEAL OF PAULINE INSTEAD OF THE ODD ROCK #SWITCH2 pic.twitter.com/nqKziSrPEO— FAKE (@FakePearBear) June 18, 2025There are some main lore implications right here. Donkey Kong Bananza options Pauline as a child and the Donkey Kong arcade cupboard starred her as an grownup. This throws all the things we all know concerning the arcade sport into query. Was Donkey Kong simply defending his surrogate daughter from the evil mustached plumber? Bear in mind, Donkey Kong Jr. featured Mario because the antagonist.It is also price noting that Pauline final appeared in Tremendous Mario Odyssey, because the mayor of New Donk Metropolis. Did she create town to honor her childhood hero? I’ve so many questions.Pauline wasn’t the one cool factor that Nintendo revealed as we speak. Donkey Kong Bananza has some mild RPG mechanics, within the type of a talent tree. There are outfits to buy for each DK and Pauline, which is at all times enjoyable. DK can even flip into different creatures, providing the ape new talents. Remodeling into an ostrich inexplicably grants flight and turning right into a zebra lets gamers run on water.The trailer additionally positioned a heavy emphasis on the damaging nature of the gameplay. We already knew that DK may destroy absolutely anything, resulting in novel exploration strategies, however that appears to be a fair larger a part of the sport than we thought. Bear in mind how a lot climbing up something modified the Zelda components with Breath of the Wild? That is Donkey Kong’s tackle that.Lastly, the sport will make use of the Pleasure-Con’s mouse performance. There is a bonus mode the place gamers can sculpt rocks through mouse controls. Donkey Kong Bananza is a Change 2 unique that will likely be out there on July 17. Nintendo can also be prepping an Amiibo determine that stars each Donkey Kong and Pauline. This grants a brand new outfit for Pauline.