Donkey Kong Bananzais a delight. Partially because it dares to subvert our expectations to provide aNintendoplatformer thatis nothing like the Super Mario Odyssey successor many were expecting. At every turn it’s filled with gorgeous visuals, fun new mechanics, and lovely character moments that made me fall more in love with faces that’ve been around for years.
At the heart of this adventure is a teenage Pauline, who — instead of governing New Donk City with an angelic voice — is a spunky young adult trying to find her place in the world. An exciting twist on the legacy character none of us expected, especially with regard to how she evolves her established relationship with Donkey Kong. Instead of being kidnapped, they’re best friends.
Pauline’s Voice Is The Heart Of Donkey Kong Bananza
In the game’s early hours, Pauline is insecure, and too nervous to sing in front of strangers, despite being incredibly talented. It’s her bond with Donkey Kong, and the realisation that by singing and providing her primate friend with new powers, they can stop Void Inc. and find a way back home. Watching her come out of her shell and belt out bangers whenever you’re needing to transform into an elephant or an ostrich is so delightful, not to mention how fun it is to then use that power-up to sprint, fly, and destroy everything in your path.
Pauline is also the only character in the entire game who speaks in a human tongue. While the major villains are provided with subtitles, and she seems to understand what they say, it presents a deliberate disconnect between the human world and this one filled with all kinds of weird and wonderful creatures. Pauline is an outsider, but this doesn’t stop her from ever voicing her beliefs or fighting for what she thinks is right. And with DK by her side, anything is possible.
Now, I would be hesitant to describe Jenny Kidd’s vocal performance of Pauline as worthy of awards or any other particularly high praise, but it isn’t trying to reach the same heights as something like The Last of Us Part 2 or Ghost of Yotei. She is brought to life with the loving exuberance of a Saturday morning cartoon, spoken with a deliberate uncanny cadence that addresses both the player and other characters simultaneously. It works within the context of an experience like Bananza, and feels perfectly befitting of the wider Mario universe. So why not take things further?
The Wider Mario Universe Can Learn So Much From Teenage Pauline
Surprisingly, Pauline comes to life as a character in places most players will never see. Most layers will allow you to build small hideaways for Donkey Kong and Pauline to take a nap to restore their health, change outfits, or even talk to a crystal friend to go shopping. The more you build, the more health they restore and the capabilities you come outfitted with. But Donkey Kong Bananza isn’t a hard game, and healing items are plentiful, so the reasons to use this mechanic are few and far between. But if you do, you’re treated to some wonderful dialogue.
Pauline is a teenager with so many thoughts and feelings in a world filled with creatures that aren’t the best conversationalists. So, before drifting off to sleep most nights, she develops a habit of asking DK if he’s still awake before talking about something that’s on her mind. These conversations could involve trivial observations about the level you’re currently in, or deeper feelings Pauline is dealing with that she’d love DK’s input on. He can’t respond, but he can listen, and that’s all the recognition she needs to express genuine emotion and character.
The Legend of Zelda took the voice acting plunge with Breath of the Wild. Well, aside from Link. But that leaves Mario as one of the very few outliers in Nintendo’s exclusive catalogue.
These moments made me fall in love with Pauline’s character, cementing her as the centre of Bananza’s narrative even while it still sits squarely in the realm of platforming whimsy. It’s also the voice acting template similar Mario games could adopt in the years to come. Aside from random voice lines and sound effects, we haven’t seen the likes of Mario, Luigi, Peach or Daisy expressed as fully-voiced characters since Super Mario Sunshine. It’s time for that to change, especially with Nintendo seemingly eager to reinvent this universe for a new era anyway.
It’s impossible to imagine what these performances might look like, but similar to Pauline, we won’t know whether it’s the right decision until it’s thrown right in front of us. Odyssey was the beginning of this new interpretation of the Mario Universe, while Bananza builds upon it with greater personality and voiced performances. Whatever comes next could be Nintendo’s one and only chance to establish voice acting as a core part of its most beloved franchise.
