Donkey Kong Bananza Director Played Every Game in the Awesome Donkey Kong Series

Donkey Kong Bananza looks like it could be the crown jewel in the amazing Donkey Kong series, with plenty of throwbacks to previous games. So, how did the game’s director, Kazuya Takahashi, craft such a massive love letter to the franchise? Well, he went back and played all the Donkey Kong games, of course.

Donkey Kong Bananza Director Replayed All the Donkey Kong Games

In an interview with La Vanguardia, Takahashi discussed his connection with the Donkey Kong series and how his fond memories of playing older games. He had this to say:

“In my case, although I had no previous experience working on Donkey Kong games, I do have very good memories of playing Donkey Kong Jr. and, later, Donkey Kong Country. When I found out that I had been assigned to the Donkey Kong Bananza team, I went back to playing all the games in the franchise. In particular, Donkey Kong Country introduced unique mechanics such as barrel-cannons and mine wagons. I wanted to take those elements and add the destruction component. That motivated me to include memories from the past along with new ideas.”

The Link to Previous Donkey Kong Games