Peel back the crust and uncover pure fun
By Paul Hunter
Donkey Kong Bananza comes from the same creative minds that delivered Super Mario Odyssey, and Nintendo once again has pushed the medium forward with an ambitious 3D platformer. This game innovates by allowing you to reshape the world through digging, smashing, and transforming your way through layers of earth. The result is a title that mixes high-speed movement with constant environmental reshaping that's barrels of fun.
The team behind it clearly knows its history. Bananza nods to older Donkey Kong adventures while moving far beyond the structure of Donkey Kong 64. At the same time, it keeps Odyssey’s fluid momentum, giving you a sense of nonstop action as you break through walls, launch debris, and glide across wide areas.
It also packs an in-depth collectible system and a skill tree that changes how you power up. There’s a lot to gather—bananas, chips, gold, fossils—and while not everything is essential to finishing the story, it's a game that begs you to get 100% completion. The act of hunting through destructible layers is immensely satisfying as the rewards pile up fast and furious.
On the technical side, Bananza pushes the boundary with large-scale environments filled with destructible materials that are absolutely stuffed with secrets to discover.
Is this blend of speed, destruction, and platforming enough to keep you playing until the credits roll and beyond? Let’s find out!
The tale in Donkey Kong Bananza kicks off with trouble underground. VoidCo, a not-so-friendly corporation with a suspicious interest in bananas, swipes huge banandium gems from the mines where DK is working. The theft triggers a collapse, sending him tumbling far below. Down there, he meets Pauline (initially in rock form), who clearly knows more about VoidCo than she initially lets on. Their goals quickly align: reach the core of the planet, a place said to grant any wish—whether that means infinite bananas or just a safe trip back to the surface.
From there, the adventure moves through stacked layers of earth. Each one feels like its own small world with different biome, dangers and characters to meet. DK often helps animal elders living in these areas. In return, they share transformations that give him extra ways to navigate and fight. These moments give the journey a rhythm beyond just moving forward, making the trip feel more like a shared quest than a mission for just DK and Pauline.
Long-time Donkey Kong fans will notice nods to older entries. Some hidden challenges mirror classic stages, while others play like puzzles built from familier Donkey Kong series ideas. They’re quick, playful breaks that tie the past to the present in clever ways.
What really gives the story weight is DK’s growing bond with Pauline. It starts small but becomes more personal as the game pushes toward its finale. The later sections bring surprises—some even loud, cheer-worthy ones—that lift the conclusion from something memorable to something epic. By the time it ends, it’s far more than a basic chase for bananas.
Donkey Kong Bananza turns each underground layer into a semi-open space filled with obstacles, secrets, and breakable terrain. Some layers are huge and take time to map out, while others are smaller bursts you can finish quickly.
Every material you hit acts differently. Dirt collapses fast, sand slows you, concrete takes effort, and metal barely cracks. Stringing DK’s moves together—rolling, leaping, climbing, swimming, and surfing on flying debris—creates a satisfying loop. On one run, I ignored my goals entirely and just kept smashing forward, seeing how long I could maintain speed before an unbreakable block forced me to stop.
Helping animal elders grants Bananza Transformations. These temporary animal forms give you extra power, gliding ability, or quicker ground movement. They run on gold, but gold piles up so easily that using them never feels restrictive.
Layer exploration feeds into steady rewards. Banandium gems (bananas) unlock skill upgrades, but missing them doesn’t block progress. Chips convert into more bananas, fossils unlock cosmetic options, and gold opens barrel cannons or creates safe zones. Optional challenge stages offer extra resources—puzzle-based ones stand out, but the combat and racing stages are still fantastic.
The sense of control and the pure fun of tearing through a wall to uncover a hidden fossil or blasting into a secret chamber makes each world a joy to play. The layers push you to keep digging, smashing, and testing just how far you can go.
Donkey Kong Bananza’s presentation makes every underground layer feel separate and recognizable. Jungle zones look soft and loose, while frozen snow areas seem dense and structured. Even the metallic lava sections stand out with sharper textures and brighter highlights. Small background details—cracks, roots, and shifting debris—make each layer feel shaped by what you just smashed apart.
Animations stay sharp. DK’s movements, from rolling to breaking walls, flow naturally and smoothly. Each hit kicks up particles that match the material you’re punching through. Sand scatters lightly, concrete chunks fall hard, and metal sparks briefly. These touches keep your actions easy to read even when the screen fills with debris.
The interface stays simple. Health, gold, and banana counts sit in the corners and never block your view. Transition screens between layers are fast, keeping you moving instead of staring at loading icons.
Sound design ties everything together. Each material sounds different when hit, and even picking up items has its own distinct click or chime. The music adapts per layer—light percussion in dirt tunnels, sharper beats in industrial zones—helping you recognize where you are without looking.
Performance remains mostly steady across large and small areas, with only small bursts of slowdown when the action gets super intense. But overall, the game’s visuals, audio, and interface work seemlessly together, making each layer clear, reactive, and satisfying to move through.
Final Score: 9.5/10 - Amazing
Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Action Adventure, Platformer
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.
By Paul Hunter
Donkey Kong Bananza comes from the same creative minds that delivered Super Mario Odyssey, and Nintendo once again has pushed the medium forward with an ambitious 3D platformer. This game innovates by allowing you to reshape the world through digging, smashing, and transforming your way through layers of earth. The result is a title that mixes high-speed movement with constant environmental reshaping that's barrels of fun.
The team behind it clearly knows its history. Bananza nods to older Donkey Kong adventures while moving far beyond the structure of Donkey Kong 64. At the same time, it keeps Odyssey’s fluid momentum, giving you a sense of nonstop action as you break through walls, launch debris, and glide across wide areas.
It also packs an in-depth collectible system and a skill tree that changes how you power up. There’s a lot to gather—bananas, chips, gold, fossils—and while not everything is essential to finishing the story, it's a game that begs you to get 100% completion. The act of hunting through destructible layers is immensely satisfying as the rewards pile up fast and furious.
On the technical side, Bananza pushes the boundary with large-scale environments filled with destructible materials that are absolutely stuffed with secrets to discover.
Is this blend of speed, destruction, and platforming enough to keep you playing until the credits roll and beyond? Let’s find out!
The tale in Donkey Kong Bananza kicks off with trouble underground. VoidCo, a not-so-friendly corporation with a suspicious interest in bananas, swipes huge banandium gems from the mines where DK is working. The theft triggers a collapse, sending him tumbling far below. Down there, he meets Pauline (initially in rock form), who clearly knows more about VoidCo than she initially lets on. Their goals quickly align: reach the core of the planet, a place said to grant any wish—whether that means infinite bananas or just a safe trip back to the surface.
From there, the adventure moves through stacked layers of earth. Each one feels like its own small world with different biome, dangers and characters to meet. DK often helps animal elders living in these areas. In return, they share transformations that give him extra ways to navigate and fight. These moments give the journey a rhythm beyond just moving forward, making the trip feel more like a shared quest than a mission for just DK and Pauline.
Long-time Donkey Kong fans will notice nods to older entries. Some hidden challenges mirror classic stages, while others play like puzzles built from familier Donkey Kong series ideas. They’re quick, playful breaks that tie the past to the present in clever ways.
What really gives the story weight is DK’s growing bond with Pauline. It starts small but becomes more personal as the game pushes toward its finale. The later sections bring surprises—some even loud, cheer-worthy ones—that lift the conclusion from something memorable to something epic. By the time it ends, it’s far more than a basic chase for bananas.
Donkey Kong Bananza turns each underground layer into a semi-open space filled with obstacles, secrets, and breakable terrain. Some layers are huge and take time to map out, while others are smaller bursts you can finish quickly.
Every material you hit acts differently. Dirt collapses fast, sand slows you, concrete takes effort, and metal barely cracks. Stringing DK’s moves together—rolling, leaping, climbing, swimming, and surfing on flying debris—creates a satisfying loop. On one run, I ignored my goals entirely and just kept smashing forward, seeing how long I could maintain speed before an unbreakable block forced me to stop.
Helping animal elders grants Bananza Transformations. These temporary animal forms give you extra power, gliding ability, or quicker ground movement. They run on gold, but gold piles up so easily that using them never feels restrictive.
Layer exploration feeds into steady rewards. Banandium gems (bananas) unlock skill upgrades, but missing them doesn’t block progress. Chips convert into more bananas, fossils unlock cosmetic options, and gold opens barrel cannons or creates safe zones. Optional challenge stages offer extra resources—puzzle-based ones stand out, but the combat and racing stages are still fantastic.
The sense of control and the pure fun of tearing through a wall to uncover a hidden fossil or blasting into a secret chamber makes each world a joy to play. The layers push you to keep digging, smashing, and testing just how far you can go.
Donkey Kong Bananza’s presentation makes every underground layer feel separate and recognizable. Jungle zones look soft and loose, while frozen snow areas seem dense and structured. Even the metallic lava sections stand out with sharper textures and brighter highlights. Small background details—cracks, roots, and shifting debris—make each layer feel shaped by what you just smashed apart.
Animations stay sharp. DK’s movements, from rolling to breaking walls, flow naturally and smoothly. Each hit kicks up particles that match the material you’re punching through. Sand scatters lightly, concrete chunks fall hard, and metal sparks briefly. These touches keep your actions easy to read even when the screen fills with debris.
The interface stays simple. Health, gold, and banana counts sit in the corners and never block your view. Transition screens between layers are fast, keeping you moving instead of staring at loading icons.
Sound design ties everything together. Each material sounds different when hit, and even picking up items has its own distinct click or chime. The music adapts per layer—light percussion in dirt tunnels, sharper beats in industrial zones—helping you recognize where you are without looking.
Performance remains mostly steady across large and small areas, with only small bursts of slowdown when the action gets super intense. But overall, the game’s visuals, audio, and interface work seemlessly together, making each layer clear, reactive, and satisfying to move through.
The Verdict
Donkey Kong Bananza delivers a sharp mix of exploration, combat, and terrain-breaking puzzles in layered semi-open worlds. Each section looks and sounds different, keeping you hooked as you dig deeper. Clear controls, steady performance, and a simple interface let you focus on what the game does best—letting you smash, collect, and explore without distractions. Nintendo has an obvious Game of the Year contender here, and Nintendo Switch 2 has yet another system seller.Final Score: 9.5/10 - Amazing
Donkey Kong Bananza details
Platform: Nintendo Switch 2Developer: Nintendo EPD
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Action Adventure, Platformer
Modes: Single-player
A key was provided by the publisher.