Donkey Kong Bananza Credits Confirm DK’s New Voice Actor — and There’s a Fresh Voice for Pauline Too
Donkey Kong Bananza is out today, and the game’s credits have now confirmed Nintendo’s main new voice actor behind Donkey Kong.
Unusually for a Nintendo game, Bananza’s credits list out each of the game’s voice actors with their specific roles — and right at the top is Kouji Takeda, credited as Donkey Kong in all of the game’s various language options.
Takeda, who voiced Donkey Kong in the Japanese dub of the Super Mario Bros. Movie, now appears to have taken over as the video game voice of Donkey Kong as well, unifying the ape’s grunts across mediums. This was something that was previously speculated — though not confirmed — when his name popped up in the credits of Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World, while DK’s previous veteran voice actor did not.
Eagled-eyed Nintendo fans noted that Takashi Nagasako, who previously voiced Donkey Kong for 21 years, was no longer credited for the character as of Mario Kart World. At the time, this was discussed as likely yet another change by Nintendo of its long-term voice acting cast, following the replacement of Princess Peach and Toad actress Samantha Kelly after 18 years and more than 70 games, and the retirement of Charles Martinet as the voice of Mario, Luigi, Wario and Waluigi after almost 30 years.
Bananza’s credits also reveal a new voice for Pauline, with actress and musician Jenny Kidd now voicing the character for its English dub.
In Super Mario Odyssey, Pauline is voiced by Kate Higgins, who also sings the game’s theme song Jump Up, Super Star! But perhaps this change is to be expected — after all, Bananza’s Pauline is now a younger, 13-year-old incarnation.
Fans have some interesting theories around this version of Pauline being a precursor to the character we see in Odyssey, something that would make Bananza a prequel — and we even asked the game’s development team for their take. But to say more, for now, would venture into spoiler territory — something that’s best left avoided until you play the game for yourself.
Intrigued? We dubbed the game as a “a brilliant successor to Super Mario Odyssey and a smashing return for a classic Nintendo character” in IGN’s Donkey Kong Bananza review. “Every element comes together in complete harmony to create Nintendo’s first Switch 2 masterpiece.”
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
