Nintendo has revealed new gameplay details of Donkey Kong Bananza in today's Nintendo Direct, which has also confirmed that Super Mario Odyssey's Pauline will be your sidekick character in the game.
This younger version of Pauline was previously leaked by Nintendo, then quickly scrubbed from the internet. Exactly how this all fits into the wider Kong storyline, though, remains to be seen.
Here, Pauline can use her singing talents to transform DK into several new forms — a charging zebra, or a flying ostrich that can drop egg bombs. Pauline can also be controlled by a second player, turning Bananza into a co-op experience where Pauline's vocals become explosive blasts, helping DK with his destruction.
Using GameShare, this co-op offering can be played on multiple Switch consoles — including Switch 1 — without your co-op partner needing a copy of the game themselves.
Other new gameplay features confirmed today included the ability to skate around on ripped up pieces of the environment, and even stick them together to form new structures such as bridges.
Eagle-eyed viewers will likely have spotted returning characters Cranky Kong and Rambi the Rhino, but did you also spot Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong? You can see them here, in this image below:
SPOTTED: Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong in Donkey Kong Bananza. (They're alive!) #IGNSummerOfGaming pic.twitter.com/QgblHY4jtX
— IGN (@IGN) June 18, 2025
Nintendo itself has separately confirmed the return of Diddy and Dixie, seen here as opponents in Bananza's racing mini-game:
— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) June 18, 2025
Speaking of other familiar elements, today's Nintendo Direct also confirmed a fresh version of the iconic DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64 would feature in Bananza. (Here's hoping composer Grant Kirkhope is credited for this version, after previously complaining he had been left out of the Super Mario Movie credits.)
And speaking of credits, today's Nintendo Direct offered no further clues to the exact Nintendo development team behind Donkey Kong Bananza. Fans had previously speculated that it is the work of the company's talented Super Mario Odyssey team. Whether Pauline's reappearance here is another clue remains to be seen.
"Bananza is on track to be one of the most gorgeous Nintendo games I’ve seen," IGN wrote in our Donkey Kong Bananza hands-on preview. "It really does take advantage of Switch 2's hardware – the environments are beautiful and DK’s animations are wonderfully expressive, and I left feeling like the next generation of first-party Nintendo games had truly arrived."
Donkey Kong Bananza launches July 17, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2.
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Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
