Donkey Kong Bananza is chest-poundingly brilliant. After reigniting his racing rivalries in Mario Kart World, the loveable ape takes the starring role in the next first-party Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. In a career that has spanned pounding bongos against jungle beats to causing mischief for the Mushroom Kingdom’s moustachioed icon, Donkey Kong Bananza keeps the heroic ape focused on what he loves the most. Bananas.
After rumours swirl about scrumptious Golden Bananas that have been discovered on Ingot Isle, DK is lured to its ominous location where he works alongside pickaxe-wielding prospecting monkeys to unearth such mouthwatering treasure. This lucrative and surprisingly edible material is called Banandium, but the big ape’s hunt for it is cut short when the surface world’s self-proclaimed “mightiest” mining operation Void Company appears to hoover it all up for themselves.
Led by its president, Void Kong, his incessant greed results in a seismic event that causes a cave-in, pushing Ingot Isle beneath the planet’s surface. DK soon chases what appears to be a purple meteor and, as we now know, forms an unlikely duo with Pauline. While the lumbering ape wants to recover the stolen Banandium Gem hoard, Pauline wants to find a way back home to the surface. Learning that their wishes can be granted by reaching the Planet’s Core, they set out to delve ever deeper underground.
We now know that it was Yoshiaki Koizumi who had challenged the 3D Mario development team with “expanding the Donkey Kong franchise further.” The result is this game, and you can see their fingerprints everywhere in how it has been created. The layers in the Underground World, as much as their sublayers, are wonderfully varied in their design. Many layers have businesses on them, from a factory producing tasty frozen treats to ostriches running the Eggshell Hotel, who seek your help to alleviate problems caused by the Void Company’s rampant behaviour.
What is immediately satisfying is how fantastically responsive DK feels to control. His standard moveset includes Punch (Y Button), Punch Upward (X Button), Punch Downward (B Button) and Jump (A Button), with other actions like Hand Slap (R Button), Roll Forward (ZL Button) and Pick Up (ZR Button). Those actions can then be combined to perform moves like a Dive Punch to slam the ground with a powerful impact, or, having torn up terrain, a Chunk Jump that lets you leap again in midair or to perform a Turf Surf to pass over otherwise hazardous terrain.
The moveset is not as instantly accessible as it was when I first ran around Peach’s Castle in Super Mario 64 way back when, but it wasn’t long before familiarisation kicked in and everything settled into a rhythm. The big ape’s incredible physical prowess lends a profound sense of freedom to the experience, where, when you don’t feel like scaling or running around a mountain, you can simply punch your way through the middle of it. Watching DK helplessly slide down ice in the Freezer Layer? It makes it seem impassable, until you realise that you can carve out gradual steps with his fists for him to clamber up.
Donkey Kong Bananza’s destructive design never gets old, and you will need to be mindful of the materials that you are swinging and hurling about. Softer materials like sand, dirt and snow offer quicker routes to punch your way through, but won’t be much use when swung at enemies or last long when used to Turf Surf. Sturdier materials like stone and concrete are far better choices in such situations, and there are even explosive materials like pure gold and boom rocks that make quick work of anything that they come into contact with.
It is in these materials that Nintendo breaks ground with its usual playful invention, throwing in unexpected surprises like Liftoff Ore and Switcheroo Goo as your adventure progresses. I’ll leave you to experience these for yourself, and let your mind ponder what they may do. Donkey Kong Bananza forced me to think in new ways to overcome its many puzzling obstacles, which, after many decades spent playing games, is something that I really came to appreciate even 45 hours into the experience.
Pauline is the perfect companion, too. It’s heartwarming to see her friendship with DK blossom throughout the game, and, sharing that she suffers from stage fright early on, how her confidence builds to step into the spotlight long before the game’s credits roll. There are many meaningful conversations that she has with DK whenever you choose to take a power nap at a Getaway, asking whether he feels she is becoming a better singer, remembering what it was like back home or talking in her sleep to tell DK off for getting tummy ache from eating too many bananas. I worry that many players will miss out on these interactions.
Pauline’s power lies in her singing voice, duetting with DK’s whistling to lead you to your next objective or to break open the Void Company’s metallic seals. It also holds the special ability to activate the Bananza transformations that you learn from the Elders that you meet on your subterranean adventure. The Elders have all become extraordinary DJs in their retirement, and first challenge you to recover an Ancient Record to place on their Eterntable before they will impart their wisdom.
The Bananza transformations require Bananergy, which can be reached by collecting gold. The Kong Bananza is particularly devastating, offering enough raw primate power to smash through even the sturdiest materials with strong punches. Whereas the Zebra Bananza is all about speed, letting you sprint right over any terrain without slipping or sliding, and the Ostrich Bananza lets you flutter in midair to then glide and rain explosive egg bombs down on your enemies.
You earn a Skill Point for every five Banandium Gems that you retrieve, which can be spent to increase your maximum health, reduce the number of punches needed to smash through stronger terrain or to unlock new abilities like the Jump Shot, Spin Jump or Surf Surf. As you gain access to your Bananza powers, you can also choose to strengthen their abilities and unlock new moves to cause even more destruction to your surroundings.
The rate of reward is at exactly the right pace, too. I had roughly gathered around 123 Banandium Gems in the first six hours that I played, and I felt like I had barely scratched the surface of the layers that I had visited at that point. The Banandium Gems can be found scattered around every layer, a reward for anything from mere curiosity and conquering inventive boss fights to competing in Diddy and Dixie’s Rambi Rumble or tackling Challenge Rooms. There isn’t a single Challenge Room that I haven’t enjoyed, each tasking you with anything from overcoming retro-inspired side-scrolling stages to wrecking a building within a given time limit.
Donkey Kong Bananza also introduces an ancient underground species called Fractones, which like to imitate all kinds of shapes. Exchanging gold with a Constructone can ease your traversal by building shortcuts like Barrel Cannons, bridges and mine cart tracks, whereas Smashintones will reward you with a Banandium Gem if you destroy enough of a particular material on the layer that they’re on. There are also Questones who love nothing more than to get you to answer quiz questions, Growtones who guzzle down gold in a similar way to feeding Luma in Super Mario Galaxy, and Seekertones and Hiddentones who, as you may have already guessed, play hide and seek with you.
It’s been a while since I last played Super Mario Odyssey, so I hope I’m not misremembering, but I came away from Donkey Kong Bananza believing that there was so much more variety to discovering every Banandium Gem compared to Power Moons. It elevated the experience to the point that my brain continually encouraged me to hunt for “just one more” before I ended each play session. We all know that “one more” is never enough…
There are Fossils to collect in each layer that can be used at a Style Shop to purchase new outfit options for DK and Pauline. The gold that you gather can also be spent at a Stuff Shop, whether that be on recovery items such as Red Balloons, Apple Juice and Melon Juice or maps that will reveal the locations of those last few Banandium Gems or Fossils that you may be struggling to locate. There’s a third collectible in Discs to collect, too, which let you listen to the game’s soundtrack at any Getaway. These are randomly dropped by enemies that you defeat, to which I found I was rewarded with more post-completion.
It’s worth mentioning that the initial decision that you are confronted with is whether to play the game in Normal Mode or Assist Mode. Where Normal Mode is the standard way to experience DK’s latest adventure, Assist Mode sprinkles in “a little extra help” for youngsters and those who would appreciate more guidance. This simply means that musical notes will automatically float in the direction of your next destination, which is something that you can do when needed in Normal Mode, without needing to opt for Assist Mode.
Those hoping to team up with friends and family will also be pleased to know that Co-op Play has been included. Here, a second player plays as Pauline riding on DK’s shoulder. While aiming with either mouse or motion controls, they can fire vocal blasts with the ZR Button. You can strengthen these by copying the materials around you, and while I largely played solo, it’s great that someone else can join you to explore the Underground World.
If you need a breather from your hunt for Banandium Gems, DK Artist is a worthwhile distraction. This can only be played with both Joy-Con 2, where the left Joy-Con 2 is used for button input and the right Joy-Con 2 is used for mouse control input. You’re left to freely paint and carve rock sculptures based on characters and items that appear in the game, like Donkey Kong, a bunch of Banandium Gems and a health-restoring Apple. The “paint” is actually all the different materials that you will come across in the game. While I wish there was more direction to it, I had more than enough fun dabbling with the tools placed at my disposal.
One month post-launch, Donkey Kong Bananza delivers a technical powerhouse for Nintendo Switch 2, offering an early demonstration of the true potential that the portable home console successor holds. From its destructive physics and explorative design to the care given to DK and Pauline’s expressive character animation, I adore how Nintendo has approached reinventing their powerful but goofy ape. The game consistently impresses throughout, making it easier to forgive some frame rate wobbles in its most chaotic moments. Set against a joyous soundtrack, you can expect an experience that readily astounds and a tale that, like me, as I’m not ashamed to admit it, may even make you shed a tear.
Donkey Kong Bananza is nothing short of a love letter to the big ape’s past, a regrounding of his present and the start of a wondrous new chapter for the hijinks that await in his future. It’s a celebration that the gaming icon has long deserved, and a game that has delivered memories that I will cherish for decades to come. In an experience that kept upping the ante right until the very end, it was hard not to smile from start to finish with childlike wonder at the spectacle that Nintendo has achieved. The bar has once again been raised.
Version Tested: Nintendo Switch 2
Review copy provided by Nintendo
