Donkey Kong Bananza director Kazuya Takahashi has said the game may suffer from occasional framerate drops because Nintendo “prioritised fun and playability” over performance.
Donkey Kong Bananza director Kazuya Takahashi has admitted the game may suffer from occasional framerate drops because Nintendo “prioritised fun and playability” over technical polish.
In a recent interview, the Donkey Kong Bananza game director confirmed the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 game could experience some framerate dips at launch, as rather than pushing for a constant 60 frames-per-second, the development team decided to focus on delivering enjoyable and responsive gameplay .
Speaking with La Vanguardia, Takahashi said: “We did have some framerate drops in there. The game’s definitely going to have some framerate drops – but I’m fine with that, because we prioritised fun and playability.”
He added that the team “intentionally used effects like hit-stop and slow motion to emphasise impacts”.
He continued: “Second, because we use voxel technology, there are times when there are major changes and destruction in the environment.”
Reflecting on the game, Takahashi said he wanted Donkey Kong Banaza to incorporate “past memories along with new ideas”, particularly when it came to destructible objects.
He explained: “Personally, while I had no prior experience working on Donkey Kong games, I do have very fond memories of playing Donkey Kong Jr. and later Donkey Kong Country.
“After I learned I’d been assigned to the Donkey Kong Bananza team, I replayed all the games in the franchise. In particular, Donkey Kong Country introduced unique mechanics like barrel cannons and minecarts.
“I wanted to revisit those elements and add a sense of destruction. That motivated me to incorporate past memories along with new ideas.”
Donkey Kong Bananza may have framerate drops as Nintendo ‘prioritised fun and playability’
