Donkey Kong Bananza review: Messy, but all-out bananas fun

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It’s almost as if Nintendo’s work environment encourages an “anything goes” approach, where no idea is ever dismissed outright. For instance, people joke about Hideo Kojima’s quirky game inclusions, but when the concept for Donkey Kong Bananza was pitched – a monkey transforming into a muscular serpent with the ability to jump high and pause time using his eyes – I can only imagine Shigeru Miyamoto clapping in approval.

This game is so unique that it appears only Nintendo, among the top-tier developers, dares to infuse gameplay with whimsical and illogical concepts, turning them into engaging mechanics.

As we eagerly awaited the release of Switch 2, I, along with many others, harbored hopes for a follow-up to the captivating Super Mario Odyssey. However, what might seem like a departure from that game at first glance, Donkey Kong Bananza effectively embodies its spirit.

This game shares a similar layout, inviting you to delve into mid-sized outdoor spaces brimming with mini-challenges, treasures, and brainteasers to conquer, all culminating in bananas – the game’s stand-in for stars or moons. It manages to recreate the delightful sense of discovery that Odyssey excels at, ensuring that every hidden corner you venture into offers something intriguing. You’ll even stumble upon minute details within the environment that appear out of place, and be rewarded for delving deeper.

This game stands out remarkably due to its unique feature: Donkey Kong’s power to shatter anything, allowing for an extraordinary exploration of multiple layers within the terrain. Crashing through mountains provides a delightful experience, and you’ll often find yourself showered with gold nuggets and hidden treasure chests as you burrow your way towards your destination within the almost completely destructible environment.

In this game, the level design maximizes its potential by incorporating numerous secret spots filled with rewards, camouflaged within ordinary landscapes. These include hidden caves and nooks brimming with treasures. It’s fortunate that the game allows you to scan nearby areas quickly with a simple clap, revealing any interesting finds concealed behind walls. This way, players won’t have to spend hours needlessly searching every wall, hoping for a surprise banana discovery.

The act of shattering the landscape isn’t the only thing you can do; you can also tear off a piece of whatever surface you’re on for multiple purposes. For instance, you can drop this detached piece while airborne to perform a double-jump, use it as a makeshift skateboard to speed across the ground, hurl it to construct new terrain or clear obstacles in your path, or, of course, spin it to obliterate your foes.

In contrast, there’s an impressive range of terrains with distinct characteristics, each excelling at various tasks. Robust terrains are perfect for demolishing obstacles, soft ones make excellent building materials, while some possess unique traits such as ice that can extinguish lava flows, rainbow rock that propels you skyward, or golden banandium which detonates upon impact.

Regardless of what task you’re trying to complete – whether it’s defeating enemies or overcoming platforming obstacles – there are numerous resources available to help you succeed. You’ll often find that thinking creatively is key to finding a solution, and this game rewards such ingenuity. The boss battles showcase this particularly well. While they aren’t excessively difficult, they require you to apply all your learned skills in innovative ways that make victory feel rewarding.

As a gamer, let me tell you, the Bananza transformations are a game-changer for Donkey Kong! These power-ups give him extraordinary abilities, albeit temporarily. Transforming into an ostrich lets me hover and glide, turning into an elephant allows me to dig up vast tracts of land and shoot it from my trunk, and zebra mode makes me run faster than lightning. The best part? When Donkey Kong’s ape body bulks up, turns into musclebound monstrosity, and his head morphs to fit the animal form – it’s both slightly creepy and hilariously entertaining. And oh boy, the snake form… well, it’s etched in my memory (and nightmares), but that’s kind of cool too!

The game incorporates some role-playing game (RPG) aspects, such as skill points for upgrading abilities and gear that offers unique effects. However, the skill points, while present, are not essential, primarily because they mostly serve to slightly amplify your existing skills. While there are platforming abilities hidden behind this system, it seems they should have been part of the core move set instead. In essence, with the exception of boosting maximum health, these RPG elements do not significantly impact the game’s balance, and the experience would have been virtually identical if each ability had a fixed strength.

The game appears to include bananas as a means to encourage players to investigate and gather as many bananas as they can, since acquiring five bananas grants you a skill point. This approach is somewhat more refined than Odyssey’s method of restricting story advancement based on the number of moons, but the skill tree system itself doesn’t offer much excitement or incentive. The thrill of unlocking a new ability quickly wore off, and I found myself paying little heed to how I allocated my skill points from then on.

The gear system could use some improvement. Although it provides an array of appealing visual customization options for both DK and Pauline, the special effects are tailored to the specific zones they’re found in. For instance, the trousers purchasable in the ice world lessen the damage taken from icy water, a benefit only useful in that zone. Consequently, regardless of how much you admire their aesthetic appeal, it might be wise to switch to another piece of gear as soon as you depart.

The concept is clear: just like earning skill points, this system motivates you to search for fossils acting as currency for the shopping area within the app. However, it seems that the focus on optimizing for the current challenge detracts from the enjoyment of the visually appealing cosmetics. Unfortunately, once you progress to a new world, the emphasis on min-maxing fades away as the game discards the previous mechanic.

As a devoted fan, I must admit, I wasn’t anticipating the captivating narrative in this game. While it may not be an intricate, epic saga, it surpasses the norm for games within the Mario franchise. It cleverly uses Pauline to weave a heartwarming tale about self-expression that adds depth even when she’s just along for the ride on Donkey Kong’s shoulder.

In most instances, Pauline is more of a decorative element, using her voice to open doors or trigger Bananza transformations. However, I found it refreshing that she served as the main focus for the narrative, rather than merely serving gameplay purposes. Although I would have enjoyed seeing her singing abilities incorporated into more interactive gameplay elements, I appreciate the story taking center stage in this instance.

In simple terms, Donkey Kong Bananza struck a chord with me due to its mix of flaws and strengths. There’s room for improvement, but the entertaining core gameplay kept me engrossed. It manages to recreate the excitement of exploration that made Odyssey captivating while introducing fresh gameplay mechanics that continually evolved in ways I didn’t anticipate. This unexpected evolution is a testament to Nintendo’s focus on fun design, which I admire greatly. If you’ve been on the fence about buying a Switch 2, this could be the game that seals the deal for you.

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2025-07-21 14:17