Game info: Nintendo
Listening: YouTube (includes extended versions)
Credits
Sound Program Lead: Satoshi Miyama
Sound Program: Taiki Asamizu
Sound Director: Naoto Kubo
Sound Design Supervisor: Shigetoshi Gohara
Sound Design Lead: Nobuyoshi Suzuki
Music: Tsukasa Usui
Sound Design: Hiroki Araya
The credits for the DLC are shown in a minigame where the names are randomly placed around a 3D stage and you need to run around and destroy them, so it’s rather difficult to verify with certainty that this is the complete list of staff.
Info
The DLC for Donkey Kong Bananza adds a new level with two environmental themes and then a new run-based challenge mode with five new pieces of music. Unlike the base game, where Naoto Kubo is credited as both sound director and music lead, he only has the director credit this time, so maybe the music here is entirely by Usui? It’s Nintendo, though, so you can never count out the possibility of directors doing music too.
The two DK Island tracks are remixes of the island’s theme from Donkey Kong 64, both done in a light orchestral style with some tropical island instrumentation like ukulele and steel percussion. I’m not really a fan of the original theme and the remixes are fine but don’t get especially wacky in the reharmonization or anything, though the night variation has some bits I liked.
The Emerald Rush themes are predictably much more actiony, all lively, uptempo tracks in a swingy jazz-rock style with a little bit of a cartoonish edge; the style is somewhat similar to the rocket barrel theme from Donkey Kong Country Returns, except with electric guitar too. It’s not a style of jazz I’m super into, but for its type I think it’s decently well-written, keeping things interesting for me with good chords and whatnot.
Recommended tracks:
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“DK Island (Sunset)” brings in a four-beat polymetric figure a few times, the writing at 1:25 is also really pretty
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“Emerald Rush #2” is the one with a trombone solo in it
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“Emerald Rush (Hurry Up!)” is just a short tension loop without guitar but it was my favorite of the jazz tracks
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