Donkey Kong Bananza's voice game is secretly its greatest strength

Donkey Kong Bananza is a joy. Partly because it dares to undermine our expectations to provide a Nintendo platform player who is not something like the Super Mario Odyssey successor that many expected. At every tour it is filled with wonderful pictures, fun new mechanics and wonderful character moments that made me fall more in love with faces that have been around for several years.

In the heart of this adventure is a teenager Pauline, who – instead of controlling New Donk City with an angel vote – is a spunky young adult trying to find his place in the world. An exciting twist on the legacy that none of us expected, especially when it comes to how she develops her established relationship with Donkey Kong. Instead of being kidnapped, the best friends are.

Pauline's voice is the heart of Donkey Kong Bananza

During the early hours of the game, Pauline is uncertain and too nervous to sing in front of strangers, even though they are extremely talented. It is her band with Donkey Kong, and the realization that by singing and giving their primate friend new forces they can stop Void Inc. and find a way at home. Looking at her coming out of her shell and tapping out bangers when you need to turn into an elephant or an ostrich is so lovely, not to mention how fun it is to then use it power-up to sprint, fly and destroy everything in your way.

Pauline is also the only character in the entire game that speaks on a human tongue. While the biggest villains are equipped with subtitles, and she seems to understand what they say, it presents a deliberate link between the human world and this filled with all kinds of strange and wonderful creatures. Pauline is an outsider, but this does not prevent her from ever expressing her faith or fighting for what she thinks is right. And with DK by her side everything is possible.

Now I would hesitate to describe Jenny Kidd's vocal performance by Pauline as worthy prices or any other particular high praise, but it does not try to reach the same heights as something similar to the last of us part 2 or Ghost of Yotei. She is brought to life with the loving abundance of a cartoon Saturday morning, which is spoken with a deliberate nasty cadence that addresses both the player and other characters at the same time. It works within the framework of an experience like Bananza and feels perfect for the wider Mario universe. So why not take things anymore?

The wider Mario universe can learn so much from Teenage Pauline

Donkey Kong and Pauline look shocked in Donkey Kong Bananza.

Surprisingly, Pauline comes to life as a character in places that most players will never see. Most layers allow you to build small hiding places for Donkey Kong and Pauline to take a nap to restore their health, change clothes or even talk to a crystal friend to shop. The more you build, the more health they restore and the capacities you are equipped with. But Donkey Kong Bananza is not a difficult game, and healing articles are abundant, so the reasons for using this mechanic are few and far between. But if you do, you are treated with any wonderful dialogue.

Pauline is a teenager with so many thoughts and feelings in a world filled with creatures that are not the best conversations. So before she drives to sleep most nights, she develops a habit of asking DK if he is still awake before talking about something that is on her mind. These conversations can involve trivial observations about the level you are currently in, or deeper feelings that Pauline has to do with her love DK's input. He can't answer, but he can listen, and it's all the recognition she needs to express genuine feelings and character.

Pauline is singing in Donkey Kong Bananza.

The legend of Zelda took the voice actions with the breath in nature. Well, apart from the link. But that leaves Mario as one of the very few Outliers in Nintendo's exclusive catalog.

These moments made me fall in love with Pauline's character and cemented her as the Center for Bananza's story even though it is still in the square in the platform. It is also the voice game template that similar Mario games can adopt in the coming years. Apart from random voting lines and sound effects, we have not seen such as Mario, Luigi, Peach or Daisy expressed as fully voted characters since Super Mario Sunshine. It's time for it to change, especially with Nintendo seemingly eager to reinvent this universe for a new era anyway.

It is impossible to imagine what these performances can look like, but is similar to Pauline, we will not know if it is the right decision until it is thrown right in front of us. Odyssey was the beginning of this new interpretation of the Mario universe, while Bananza is based on it with greater personality and expressed performances. Whatever comes after that may be Nintendo's only chance to establish voice games as a core of its most beloved franchise.