Donkey Kong Bananza [Nintendo Switch 2] | REVIEW

Donkey Kong is back, and this time he’s not just collecting bananas – he’s tearing through entire landscapes in search of them… literally. Donkey Kong Bananza marks the big ol’ ape’s triumphant return to 3D platforming, and it’s a wildly creative, outrageously charming, and consistently entertaining romp through a world of punchable terrain, singing duets, and explosive fruit-mineral hybrids. Yes, it’s absolutely bananas, and I wouldn’t have Donkey Kong any other way.

Check out some screenshots down below:

Developed by the team behind Super Mario Odyssey, Donkey Kong Bananza carries the polished DNA of Mario’s last 3D outing whilst confidently forging its own path – one that just so happens to be paved with crushed stone, ripped-up earth, and an unrelenting desire to break everything in sight. At first glance, it’s tempting to label this ‘Super Mario Odyssey but with punching’, and while that’s not far off the mark, the truth is that Donkey Kong Bananza trades Odyssey’s elegance for glorious chaos, and believe me, it makes for a wonderful ride.

The premise is delightfully absurd: Donkey Kong sets off to find shiny golden Banandium Gems on Ingot Isle, only to be plunged into the planet’s depths by the greedy Void Company. Alongside a wonderfully charming (and much younger than in her last appearance) Pauline, he journeys ever downward in search of treasure, justice, and maybe a way back home. The story is silly, light-hearted, and surprisingly heartfelt in places, especially as the bond between Donkey Kong and Pauline grows over the course of their subterranean adventure (even IF there’s a bit of an endearing language barrier between the pair).

The headline feature of Donkey Kong Bananza is destruction. Donkey Kong’s punch-heavy toolkit lets him dig, hurl, surf, and slam through environments with delightful force, and almost everything in the world is destructible, with the voxel-style terrain encouraging a hands-on approach to traversal. You can tunnel through a mountain, surf over perilous spikes on a rock you’ve just ripped from the ground, or carve out your own staircase on a frozen slope using your fists… it really is a sandbox that actively rewards experimentation and it makes the platforming action of the game all the more satisfying.

“Donkey Kong Bananza is an unmissable explosion of creativity, chaos, and charm – a game that knows exactly what it wants to be and punches straight through the ground, walls, and ceiling to get there.”

But Donkey Kong Bananza isn’t just about smashing things to dust, with the real joy coming in how often the game introduces new ideas and mechanics. Each ‘Layer’ of the underground world is more than just a level – it’s a fresh playground with its own quirks and ideas that ensure the gameplay remains exciting and creative throughout. One moment you’re surfing through goo in a muddy canyon, the next you’re manipulating gravity with a strange mineral, or working with musical cues to unlock a sealed door. It’s creative chaos at its finest, but offers enough structure to keep the experience grounded enough that it never becomes overwhelming. It’s a crazy amalgamation of ideas, but believe me, Nintendo have ABSOLUTELY made them all work.

As you collect Banandium Gems (shiny crystal banana-things scattered throughout the world), you’ll unlock Skill Points to upgrade Donkey Kong’s abilities or access new moves. The customization isn’t deep, but it’s meaningful and cleverly tied into the game’s core loop of exploration and experimentation, with each new feature you unlock making it easier to both progress and traverse through each level. There’s a lot to get stuck into, ensuring there are new ways to approach the gameplay right until the very end.

Then there are the Bananza Transformations: temporary power-ups that turn Donkey Kong into things like a super-strong Kong, a speed-boosting Zebra, or a fluttering Ostrich capable of egg-bombing enemies from above. Admittedly, these forms can feel a little overpowered early on, but as you progress through more difficult levels and boss encounters, they become more finely balanced so that their use feels more strategic as opposed to a way to easily get through a particularly challenging area. And speaking of bosses, Donkey Kong Bananza’s combat never tries to reinvent the platforming-action wheel, but it’s satisfying, well-paced, and utilises Donkey Kong’s skillset in meaningful and enjoyable ways. Later fights ramp up the difficulty nicely without becoming overwhelming, and the post-game content offers a surprisingly meaty challenge for those determined to find every last collectible.

Check out some screenshots down below:

There’s just so much to do in Donkey Kong Bananza, with the world densely packed with NPC quests, musical cameos, challenge rooms, and even an Artist Mode that lets you carve rock sculptures using Joy-Con motion controls. Pauline’s songs are absurdly catchy, with her singing playing a key role in gameplay, and the soundtrack as a whole proving to be fantastic. There’s just so much to love about the game, and whilst I’ve tried to cover a lot here, I feel like I can’t sing its praises enough.

Of course, all of this ambition does come with a few caveats. Though performance on the Nintendo Switch 2 is mostly solid at 60fps, it can stumble during especially intense digging sequences. Then there are other minor hitches, such as camera angles that struggle to capture all of the action, noticeable pop-in, and occasional issues with the game’s physics where the world acts in… peculiar ways (one time I got launched across the map for hitting a rock… yeah). None of these issues are dealbreakers by any means, but they are imperfections that are worth noting in what is otherwise a delightfully smooth ride.

Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch 2 (Reviewed)
Website: https://www.nintendo.com/ph/games/switch2/aaaca/index.html