Platform: Nintendo Switch 2
Someone at Nintendo must be a fan of Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs. How else to explain Donkey Kong Bananza, where the modern-day Lord of the Apes is sent on a wild adventure through a hollow Earth with shades of Burroughs’ lesser-known Pellucidar series? Or maybe Godzilla X Kong is a better, more recent, example of “giant ape goes underground”?
Either way, the set-up, with Donkey Kong chasing the evil VoidCo corporation of ultra-capitalist apes to the planet’s core (no, really), provides a brilliant excuse to lean into DK’s massive strength as a gameplay mechanic, giving him the newfound ability to tear through everything from topsoil to mountains. It makes for an uproarious experience in gameplay terms — younger players in particular will love just being able to smash everything up, but rampaging through everything is damn fun no matter how old you are — and also makes for a great showcase of the Switch 2’s power boost over its predecessor.
The sheer freedom to navigate and literally reshape the world is a rare treat.
The granular deformation of the worlds around you as you barrel through as a banana-fuelled juggernaut is a real flex, but also a smart and carefully considered one. Every material you encounter operates on a sort of tier of toughness – think of it as an internal Mohs scale – and can be applied to solve puzzles. Need to cross an area covered in thorns? Tear off a chunk of mountainside and wield it like a lawn strimmer to cut a path. Faced with a lava field? Lob some chunks of ice at it to cool it into easily passable rock, which can then be torn up and used as weapons. The sheer freedom to navigate and literally reshape the world is a rare treat.
Bananza is developed by the same team behind the original Switch’s Super Mario Odyssey, and sees a return of that game’s supporting songstress Pauline. Here though, she’s a 13-year-old girl (don’t overthink Super Mario continuity – that way madness lies) still finding her confidence, joining DK in hopes of finding a way back to the surface. She’s mostly there as a sidekick, although her singing can open up seals placed by VoidCo, and the Switch 2’s GameShare feature lets another player control her on a second console, where her voice turns into a sonic blast like a diminutive Black Bolt.
Pauline’s voice also helps transform DK into new “Bananza Forms”, brilliantly designed and absolutely bizarre mutations that give him special skills. These are often deliberately, hilariously counter-intuitive – including a transformation into a flightless ostrich that lets him fly and glide, while famously grassland-dwelling zebras give him the ability to run around on ice at superspeed – but they’re always a blast to play as.
Thankfully, Banandium Gems don’t gatekeep progress the way Power Moons did, allowing you to fly through the game’s story at your own pace.
Like the iconic plumber’s last main adventure, much of Bananza is structured around gathering shiny collectibles – here Banandium Gems rather than Power Moons. These are scattered plentifully around each world, sometimes requiring a tricky bit of platforming prowess to reach – DK isn’t quite as agile or versatile as Mario, but he’s got a fair few tricks to master here, including double-jumps and spinning leaps for added height – and other times tucked away in battle or challenge areas. Battle arenas are simple enough, despite occasionally throwing a curve ball in how you’re “supposed” to tackle an enemy, while challenge maps offer up three gems to find, two of which will usually be well-hidden. In a lovely nostalgic touch, some of these adopt a 2D platforming approach, reminiscent of Rare’s classic Donkey Kong Country games.
Thankfully, Banandium Gems don’t gatekeep progress the way Power Moons did, allowing you to fly through the game’s story at your own pace. Instead, they serve as a power-up tool – collect five of them, and you earn a skill point to boost DK’s abilities. There’s rarely a point you’ll feel underpowered if you don’t chase down enough of these glittering potassium sticks, but the difference is notable if you take the effort.
However, a touch more difficulty may have been welcome. Bananza isn’t exactly easy, but it is perhaps a bit too forgiving. Those powerful transformations are meant to be limited, ostensibly restricted to having enough “Bananza Energy” on a meter to trigger a change. In practice, the gold that feeds that meter is so readily available with just a bit of digging that the tank is always full — and even if it isn’t, a consumable item allows you to transform without energy anyway. That sometimes proves ever so slightly game breaking, letting you spam certain Bananza forms to overcome obstacles. Sure, any way that works, works, but it often feels like unintentional cheating.
Bananza also proves heavy on grinding, especially for completionist players. Tracking down every Banandium gem, and every fossil hidden on each subterranean layer – used to buy stat-boosting outfits and hair dye to colour swap DK’s fur – can feel like a real chore after a while. Whether you do this “organically”, exploring each level and digging deep into the earth to uncover hidden secrets, or by buying maps pinpointing locations, which requires digging around for extra gold, there can be a lot of grunt work.
Still, there’s a vein of pure joy that runs through Donkey Kong Bananza. It’s a game that exceeds Super Mario Odyssey in terms of sheer spectacle, with larger-than-life boss fights, wildly imaginative world design, and frequent eye-popping set pieces. It’s all shot through with a cartoony charm and streak of absurdist comedy, making for the great ape’s best game in years.
