Donkey Kong Bananza: How Voxel Technology Powers Destruction in the Nintendo Switch 2 Debut

With the upcoming launch of Donkey Kong Bananza on the Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo once again demonstrates its commitment to innovation in game development.

Set for release on Thursday, July 17, Donkey Kong Bananza marks a bold new chapter for the iconic franchise, leveraging cutting-edge voxel technology to create an unprecedented level of destruction-focused gameplay. Background and Context: Donkey Kong Bananza is developed by a seasoned team at Nintendo, with many members previously involved in acclaimed titles such as Super Mario Odyssey.

Building on their experience crafting interactive and immersive worlds, the developers set out to redefine what players expect from 3D action games on Nintendo’s next-generation hardware. Exploring Destruction as a Core Mechanic: According to the development team, the exploration of destruction in gameplay began surprisingly early – even before Donkey Kong Bananza had taken shape.

Lead programmer Koichi Tanaka shared that experiments into destructible game environments began shortly after the release of Super Mario Odyssey.

Early prototypes included everything from giving Goomba characters powerful arms to testing terrain-shattering mechanics, all of which highlighted how satisfying and dynamic destruction-based gameplay could be. Yoshitaka Motokura, the game’s director, emphasized that these mechanics felt like a natural fit for Donkey Kong’s characteristic strength, stating that their technical experiments quickly aligned with the vision of a new Donkey Kong experience.

The result was a gameplay loop where player actions trigger ongoing interactions, keeping gameplay momentum high. Innovating with Voxel Technology: Central to Donkey Kong Bananza is voxel technology.

Tanaka explained that, whereas pixels form the basis of 2D art, voxels are their 3D counterparts.

Every element in the game—from terrain to enemies—is built out of these minute cubes, which allows for highly detailed, fully destructible environments.

By assigning different materials to each voxel (such as sand, soil, and rock), Nintendo ensures that the environment not only looks varied but also behaves realistically when destroyed.

Asuka Watanabe added that terrain constructed from materials like grass and soil can be destroyed at the finest level, enabling dynamic visual and gameplay changes as players interact with the world. Transitioning to Nintendo Switch 2: Development originally began on the Nintendo Switch, but as Tanaka recounted, the game’s advanced voxel systems quickly hit memory and performance limitations on that hardware.

By moving development to Nintendo Switch 2 around 2021, the team unlocked far greater memory and processing capacity.

This allowed for more on-screen objects, denser worlds, smoother 60 fps performance, and, crucially, the ability to support the game's ambitious scale of destruction.

According to Watanabe, these improvements made the core smashing mechanics even more exhilarating and expressive. Level Design and Creative Freedom: The game’s expansive environments—structured as Layers—encourage players to approach objectives with creativity.

Yusuke Takahashi noted that every destructive action is designed to maintain continuity, leading to new discoveries and paths.

Whether breaking through a wall or tunneling underneath, the freedom granted to players is matched by thoughtful level design to ensure the gameplay world remains engaging and navigable. Audio and Realism: To heighten immersion, extensive effort was devoted to audio design.

Kubo described how Nintendo recorded real-world sound effects using Foley techniques, capturing the textures of materials like sand and stone, and even specific items like watermelons, to ensure destruction sounds both convincing and pleasing over long play sessions. The Future of Destructible Environments on Switch 2: Donkey Kong Bananza’s integration of voxel technology sets a new standard for destructible environments in action games on Nintendo Switch 2.

By building on lessons learned from Super Mario Odyssey and pushing technical boundaries, Nintendo delivers a visually rich, physically dynamic world that encapsulates both the company’s storied past and its forward-thinking philosophy.

With its official launch looming, Donkey Kong Bananza is poised to become an essential showcase of what Nintendo Switch 2—and Nintendo’s internal development teams—can achieve.

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