Games

Donkey Kong Bananza’s B-Button Dig Was Miyamoto’s Idea — And It Changes Everything

31 August 2025
Nintendo Switch 2
8 min.
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Donkey Kong Bananza’s B-Button Dig Was Miyamoto’s Idea — And It Changes Everything

Summary:

Wondering why Donkey Kong Bananza maps Dig to the B button, while Jump shifts to A? We unpack the reasoning straight from the development team. Director Kazuya Takahashi explained that Shigeru Miyamoto personally suggested B for digging because it feels more natural when the action is literally driving Donkey Kong downward. That one tweak ripples across the entire experience: levels lean into vertical descent, audio cues sell DK’s weight, and the control layout reinforces what your thumbs expect when you burrow through terrain. We show how the team tested the change, how players can remap if needed, and why this choice lines up with Nintendo’s long-held “feel first” philosophy. We also touch on Pauline’s musical angle and how Bananza’s identity on Switch 2 embraces smashing, tunneling, and momentum. If you came in expecting classic platformer muscle memory, give this setup a fair shake—it’s more intuitive than it looks, and you can still tailor it to your style.

The spark behind B-as-dig: Miyamoto’s nudge that reshaped feel

Every now and then, a tiny change rewires how we play. That’s what happened when Shigeru Miyamoto suggested mapping Donkey Kong’s digging action to the B button in Bananza. The team originally inherited a familiar layout—B for Jump—because that’s how our thumbs have moved for years on Nintendo platforms. Then Miyamoto’s comment landed: if DK is punching downward to break through the ground, shouldn’t the thumb press down on the lower face button? It’s a small, almost cheeky bit of logic, but it captures Nintendo’s knack for aligning physical motion with on-screen intent. The result is a layout that mirrors the action in your head and under your thumb, making each plunge feel deliberate.

Why B makes sense when you’re digging down

Think about what your thumb does when you intend to go down: it naturally dips to the lowest face button. That’s the B position on Switch 2’s layout. By tying Dig to B, Bananza syncs intent and input. Your brain says “down,” your thumb moves “down,” and DK drills down. That one-to-one mapping cuts friction in the heat of play, especially when you’re chaining punches, sprints, and plunges through crumbly terrain. Instead of fighting muscle memory, you’re reinforcing it in a new direction. There’s also a tactile rhythm here: jump arcs feel airy on the A button, while digs feel grounded on B. The contrast keeps your hands honest, reducing accidental jumps when you meant to tunnel, and making each downward smash feel satisfyingly heavy.

How the team validated the change in playtests

Any tweak to a default control scheme risks ruffling habits built over decades. The team knew that, so they tested the B-as-dig setup with a mix of experienced players and fresh eyes. What stuck wasn’t just preference—it was performance. Players were quicker to chain downward actions and less likely to miss a punch-through sequence when B handled digging. That matters in Bananza, where flow is everything and the ground is more suggestion than rule. When people can execute without overthinking, the game opens up. New players reached that flow faster, and veterans adjusted with a short ramp-up. The takeaway was simple: if an input lowers mental load and increases consistency, it earns its place on the face buttons.

What moved Jump to A—and why it’s not a deal-breaker

Moving Jump from B to A sounds heretical if you grew up with classic platformers, but in practice it clicks. A sits opposite B on the face cluster, giving your thumb a clean pivot between “up” and “down” intentions. That separation also reduces the dreaded “oops, I jumped instead of digging” moment. Once your brain maps A to airtime and B to bedrock, your hands start to dance. And if you’re still not feeling it, Bananza lets you remap. That safety net means the default can be bold without locking anyone out. Over time, the split feels like labeling the controller itself: A means airy; B means brute force. Your hands will thank you when the terrain turns to dust and timing becomes everything.

A tiny switch, a big ripple: how controls shape level design

Controls aren’t just labels—they shape what designers can trust you to do at speed. With Dig on B, Bananza leans into stacked layers, collapsing floors, and routes that reward decisive downward moves. Designers can assume quick access to a plunge and build challenges that hinge on it: crumble this ledge, carve a diagonal tunnel, then pop out into a side chamber without breaking stride. That confidence liberates level geometry. Instead of waiting for a menu pop-up to remind you how to dig, your thumb is already there, and the map can expect it. The result is a game that flows like a jackhammer ballet—messy, musical, and surprisingly precise once the layout sinks in.

The Nintendo Dream chat: what Takahashi actually said

Director Kazuya Takahashi’s conversation with Nintendo Dream made the logic plain. The team initially stuck to a Mario-like template with B as Jump, but Miyamoto nudged them to try B for digging because the motion reads as downward. After hands-on testing, that layout simply felt better. It’s a classic Nintendo move: test the intuition, not just tradition. The interview also touched on how this change fed into Bananza’s broader identity—action that celebrates smashing, tunneling, and momentum rather than dainty precision. Once that philosophy clicked, other parts of the experience fell into place, from how encounters breathe to how the world is staged around vertical collapse and recovery.

Muscle, weight, and sound: footsteps and feedback

Feel doesn’t end at the thumb. The team cranked up audio feedback to sell DK’s heft—louder footfalls, chunkier impacts, and a gritty bite when fists meet stone. Those touches matter because they teach timing without a tutorial. When a dig registers with a gravelly thud, you instinctively line up the next plunge. It’s the same thinking behind the B button choice: align senses with action so your body leads your brain. Put together, the input mapping and soundscape create a loop where each stomp, punch, and drill tells you “keep going, you’re doing it right.” It’s teaching by rumble and resonance, not just tooltips.

Donkey Kong’s “downward” identity on Switch 2

Bananza isn’t shy about what it wants from you: go down, break rules, and make your own path. On Switch 2, that vision gets powered by tech that can keep up with your destruction. The world isn’t just decorated with rubble—it’s built to be ruined, which makes downward motion a first-class citizen. The B button becomes a mission statement as much as an input. You’re not carefully climbing a tower; you’re burrowing through it with a smile. That tone difference sets Bananza apart from DK’s past outings and even its Mario cousins. It’s less about tightrope jumps and more about turning the floor plan into confetti, then surfing the aftermath to somewhere interesting.

Customization options: remapping for muscle memory

We all carry decades of thumb habits, and Bananza respects that. If your brain insists that B must be Jump, you can swap things around in the options. The key is that the default points newcomers toward success while giving veterans control over comfort. That compromise reflects Nintendo’s people-first design: start intuitive, then get out of the way. Practically, a quick remap is all it takes to restore your favorite layout—without losing the flow that the level design expects. Try the default for a couple of sessions; if it still feels off, flip it. Either way, the game stays fast and readable because the underlying systems are tuned for clarity.

Lessons from Mario and Zelda button conventions

Button “rules” aren’t as rigid as we sometimes think. Mario has worn both A and B for Jump across eras, while modern Zelda has bounced between inputs for actions like sprinting, jumping, and interacting. What matters isn’t a sacred layout—it’s whether the mapping supports the verbs the game cares about. Bananza cares about smashing and digging, so the lowest face button grabs the action that points down. Once you accept that, the rest falls into place. Your thumb pivots between sky and soil, and the game stops feeling “different” and starts feeling “right.” Conventions are useful shortcuts, not laws etched into a controller’s plastic.

Co-starring Pauline: when music guides mechanics

Pauline’s presence adds another layer to Bananza’s rhythm. Her musical angle shapes how arenas open up, how enemies react, and how Donkey Kong strings actions together. That synergy matters for controls too, because movement becomes a kind of percussion: jump is the upbeat, dig is the downbeat, and the world keeps tempo. When the design celebrates a downward beat, the input should too. That’s the poetic part of Miyamoto’s suggestion—B as Dig isn’t just ergonomic, it’s musical. It keeps our hands in time with the world, letting you drum across stone and soil without missing a note.

Advice for players: how to settle into Bananza’s controls fast

Give yourself two play sessions with the default before you reach for remap. Spend the first half-hour in a safe space punching through floors, then practice the A-to-B pivot: hop, plunge, hop, plunge. Focus on the rhythm, not the labels. Next, chain digs diagonally to feel how the level funnels you—those trajectories are where the layout really sings. Finally, tackle a mid-game area and watch how your thumb stops second-guessing itself. If, after all that, your old habits won’t budge, switch the mapping. The goal is joy, not dogma. But don’t be surprised if the default sticks; it was built to click.

Conclusion

Miyamoto’s nudge to put Dig on B looks tiny on paper and massive in practice. It lines up intent, motion, and feedback so neatly that the whole game flows around it—levels open downward, audio lands heavier, and your hands keep time with the chaos. Jump on A doesn’t break tradition; it refreshes it for a world where the floor is optional. Try it, feel it, and then tune it if you must. Either way, Bananza makes a strong case for controls that serve the verbs first and habits second.

FAQs
  • Why did Bananza map Dig to B in the first place?
    • Because the action points downward. Pressing the lower face button to drive DK into the ground aligns your thumb’s motion with your intention, reducing hesitation in fast sequences.
  • Can we remap Jump back to B?
    • Yes. If your muscle memory demands it, the options menu lets you swap inputs so you can keep your preferred setup without losing the game’s flow.
  • Did Miyamoto directly influence this choice?
    • Yes. The director explained that Miyamoto suggested B for digging, the team tested it, and it felt better, so they adopted it as the default layout.
  • Does Jump on A make platforming harder?
    • After a short adjustment period, no. The separation between A (up) and B (down) often reduces misinputs and makes chaining jumps and digs cleaner once the rhythm sets in.
  • What else changed to support the new feel?
    • Audio and feedback. Heavier footsteps, chunkier impacts, and level designs that reward decisive downward moves reinforce the control logic moment to moment.
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