Developed and Published By: Nintendo
Categories: Adventure, Action
Release Date: 07.17.25
Price: $69.99
What’s better than a game about singing and bananas? I’ll cut straight to the point, Donkey Kong Bananza is the most fun that I’ve had with a first party Nintendo title in a very long time. The gameplay mechanics present here aren’t what you’d expect from the average Donkey Kong game, but they’re a very welcome surprise.
Many of the games that I enjoy the most are story based, but the story of Bananza took a backseat for me because of how fun the game was. The game begins with DK digging for bananas at Ingot Isle when an evil mining company steals all the bananas and shoves the isle underground. DK travels through various underground biomes as he tries to recover the bananas and help Pauline get back to the surface.
Donkey Kong Bananza isn’t just a 3D platformer, it’s one that offers complete environmental destruction and a bunch of clever challenges. Basically you can smash your way through any material that isn’t integral to the story or part of the map foundation. The game has many maps, called layers. If you wanted to, you could waste HOURS demolishing an entire layer piece by piece.
Why would you want to destroy the world? For a number of reasons. While obliterating the map, you reveal treasure chests, fossils, gold, banana chips, and other secrets. It’s easy to get carried away with this much power. You can even pick up chunks and swing or throw your way through enemies, walls, and other obstacles.
In the tutorial area, I was ignoring the story because I was having so much fun breaking the area. Movement and combat is so smooth and fluid, and the experience was even better with a Switch 2 Pro Controller. When I beat the prologue and made it to the lagoon layer, I had even more fun.
I probably could have sprinted through that first layer in under thirty minutes but I ended up spending many hours. I decimated the land with bombs. I found treasure maps that lead me to fossils. I found a bunch of hidden bananas that allow you to unlock skills. There were even fun challenge rooms.
In the next layer, I discovered that music was the key to overpowered moves and getting hints. Then I found the outfit shop that allowed me to trade in fossils for new pieces of clothing that offer special buffs. That was all in the lagoon map, the first of many. That was before I met Pauline or the games antagonists.
From there, the game grew with more challenging and varied environments, new characters, and a bunch of challenges and puzzles. The game never felt stale or boring, there was always something fun and engaging to do throughout the entire playthrough.
Donkey Kong Bananza is a breath of fresh air for 3D platformers, and I fully believe the extra $10 is worth it in this case. It’s a really fun game that offers a ton of enjoyable moments for both casual gamers and hardcore completionists. This is a must have.
10/10
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