Shigeru Miyamoto gaveDonkey Kong Bananzaa whirl while the game was in development, but he didn’t progress far in the game, to say the least. The producer ofDonkey Kong Bananzarevealed Miyamoto’s actions in a recent chat, and it mirrors prior behavior from the Nintendo legend.
Shigeru Miyamoto was ultimately responsible for what players now know as theDonkey Kongfranchise. The game initially started out as a conversion of an arcade machine that failed to sell as well as Nintendo had hoped, and thankfully, the conversion was a success. This led toMiyamoto to work on moreDonkey KonggameslikeDonkey Kong Jr.andDonkey Kong 3, so it’s easy to see why having the dev try outDonkey Kong Bananzawas a big deal.
InThe Guardian’s interview withDonkey Kong Bananzaproducer Kenta Motokura, Motokura revealed that Miyamoto would check in on the game’s progress from time to time and try it out. According to Motokura, though, instead of actually progressing throughDonkey Kong Bananzaand achieving goals, Miyamoto would instead stick to one area, “smashing and digging around a lot.” While amusing, Motokura found it to be a positive sign, saying that it was “a good thing to see him playing that way.” Motokura felt that if Miyamoto was having fun with one tiny aspect of the game like this, that it meant that players would likely be curious about a lot of the title’s elements.
Miyamoto’s Game Testing Style Isn’t Unheard Of
Amusingly, this isn’t the first time that Miyamoto has acted like this while testing a Nintendo title. Nearly a decade prior, during the development ofThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Miyamoto fixated on the game’s trees. Director Hidemaro Fujibayashi explained that when Miyamoto first tried out the title, he would do nothing but climb trees, leading to the developers placing small incentives for doing so, puttingloot inBreath of the Wild’s trees. They also placed incentives elsewhere, hoping to encourage players to check everything in the area out. However, Miyamoto didn’t follow the bread crumbs, and instead, kept climbing trees over and over.
Donkey Kong Bananzahas been seen as a big success for Nintendoand the Switch 2, and from the sound of it, Miyamoto enjoyed the bits he did experience. While some developers would likely be more interested in checking out overall gameplay or pushing the boundaries of a game, Miyamoto’s actions might more closely resemble those of newcomers to the game and even gaming in general. It seems Miyamoto still explores games from a place of curiosity and wonder, all these years after joining Nintendo.
