This time, the game was developed for the Nintendo Switch 2, and I could really feel the increase in specs compared to the original Nintendo Switch. For example, many fragments of the terrain were scattered around, adding to the detail and complexity. But did this make development harder?
**Tanaka:**
Rather than saying it was harder, I would consider whether we could even have made it on the original Switch. From a programmer’s perspective, the memory capacity on the original Switch would have been very tight. I think it would have been difficult to bring the expansive stages we created to that platform.
As for the differences with the Nintendo Switch 2, the staff mentioned things like, “We can have a 60 FPS frame rate,” “We can increase the number of destructible objects that the player can interact with,” and “It will be easier to design and create levels with destruction chain reactions.” Overall, the reaction was very positive because there was a significant increase in what we were able to accomplish.
In an ‘Ask the Developer’ interview, you showed pictures of the game developed on the original Nintendo Switch, and it seemed mostly finished at that point. Does the game back then run mostly the same as it does now?
**Tanaka:**
The basic structure of the game was the same, but it was still in development, and the lower floors hadn’t been made yet. At that point, we realized that if we continued developing the game in that way all the way down, it might not be possible to complete it.
**Watanabe:**
Back then, the game couldn’t maintain a stable 30 FPS frame rate, so the feel and responsiveness were very different. I don’t think it really felt like the same game we have now.
**Motokura:**
Even the shadow rendering was at a stage where we weren’t sure if we could include it. There were moments, such as when lots of gold appeared on screen, where the processing couldn’t keep up. I was surprised, thinking that the machine was being pushed to its limit.
**Tanaka:**
It wasn’t so much the amount of gold, but rather the intensity of the changes in the image (voxels). We were just beginning to tackle the technical challenges on that front, and we expected there would still be many changes as development progressed.
Is it more the terrain materials than the look of the terrain itself that affects voxel processing?
[End of interview excerpt]
https://nintendoeverything.com/nintendo-talks-about-why-donkey-kong-bananza-wouldnt-have-been-possible-on-switch-1/
