Pauline is a teenager in Donkey Kong Bananza

Last week Nintendo dropped a ton of new information about the upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza. One of the surprises was that Pauline is in the game, but not in the form we’re used to seeing her in Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Tennis Aces and Super Mario Party Jamboree – but as a child.

Many interpreted this as a child equivalent to the child drivers we find in Mario Kart World, among others, and that she would be added as DLC, but now it turns out that she is actually older. Via the Japanese Nintendo Store, it is revealed (translated with Bing AI):

“A 13-year-old who loves to sing. In order to fulfill her wish to ‘go back to the surface’, she joins forces with Donkey Kong.”

This means that we are dealing with a teenager here. It seems likely that she will appear in Mario Kart World in due time, but whether it will be the start of a new series of teenage drivers is up for debate. For now, we’ll have to settle with her appearing in Donkey Kong Bananza where a second player can take control of Pauline for some good old-fashioned co-op.