Donkey Kong Bananza's director, Kazuya Takahashi, has set the record straight about the game's many references and easter eggs, and basically confirmed they're just for fun.
From the moment Donkey Kong Bananza was revealed instead of the expected sequel to Super Mario Odyssey, fans have been feverishly trying to figure out where it stands in the DK universe's canon. At first, it seemed like it might be a prequel or reboot to Mario's adventures since Pauline is only 13 years old, but that didn't quite seem to be the case.
Bananza has a ton of references, winks, and nods towards the Donkey Kong Country games, which at least implied that it takes place after all of them. While that might give us some idea of where Bananza takes place in the timeline, young Pauline still raised a ton of eyebrows. It might be time to stop thinking about it all so much, though.
As pointed out by Twitter user Stealth40k, Nintendo Dream Web Japan recently had the chance to chat with the team behind Donkey Kong Bananza, which included director Kazuya Takahashi. The interview has a lot to it, but one of the most interesting segments comes when NDW asks...
