Nintendo revealed the Super Mario Odyssey team made Donkey Kong Bananza

The next 3D Mario platformer might already be here.

by Ash Parrish

Jul 1, 2025, 3:13 PM UTC

Image: Nintendo

Ash Parrish is a reporter who covers the business, culture, and communities of video games, with a focus on marginalized gamers and the quirky, horny culture of video game communities.

As previews for Donkey Kong Bananza come in ahead of the game’s July 17th release date, one tidbit has stood out on the development of this game. It’s been nearly eight years since Super Mario Odyssey, and now we know what that team has been up to, as Nintendo has officially revealed that the developers of Donkey Kong Bananza are the same team that made Odyssey.

Nintendo has a good track record of retaining and training up talent. Developers that worked on early entries in the Kirby, Mario, and Zelda franchises have stuck around to work on or lead the development of subsequent titles. The result has been relative consistency across Nintendo first-party titles, which has allowed the company to weather the last two years a bit better than its competitors. Super Mario Odyssey was one of the top five bestselling games for the original Switch, so Bananza is in more than capable hands.

According to The Verge’s Cameron Faulkner, Donkey Kong Bananza is its own game with a unique identity. But Odyssey’s development team has added a bit of Mario’s 3D platforming DNA to Donkey Kong’s first 3D platformer since Donkey Kong 64. And while the mystery of Bananza’s developer has been solved, a new one has taken its place: will there also be a 3D Mario game coming soon to the Switch 2, or is it just Bananza for now?

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