Donkey Kong Bananza - Hands-On Preview
I am familiar with Donkey Kong but I didn’t grow up with a Nintendo system, so I don’t have much nostalgia for this giant gorilla. I knew that—like Mario—he has a sprawling history of games across multiple genres, but I had no idea what Donkey Kong Bananza was going to be like until I got my hands on it.
Bananza is a 3D platform adventure game with the vibe of Super Mario Odyssey. This isn’t a coincidence: it was confirmed at the preview event that the same development team is behind both of these quirky titles. In an early cutscene we got to see in-game, DK’s hat flies off into the distance with an animation that is a clear wink to Cappy, Mario’s companion in Odyssey.
I loved Odyssey, but it wasn’t the only parallel I drew as I was playing Bananza. This game appeals to the same part of me that loved Jak and Daxter when I was a kid; it’s all the design sensibilities of early-2000s 3D adventure games coupled with the technical capabilities that the Switch 2 brings to the table. DK and his companion—firstly Odd Rock, then Pauline—explore distinct biomes filled with collectibles and challenges. Some of these are easily attainable along the main path, and some are hidden or more difficult to achieve. The game rewards exploration and experimentation with its varied movement sets, and the “Banana!” audio sting whenever you find a golden banana reminds me of the sound effect that you hear every time you find a new power cell in the original Jak.
The audio design in Bananza is incredible in general. The songs that Pauline sings as you journey around the world feel heavily inspired by J-pop, and should lead to a bopping overall game soundtrack. Some of the music also seems to be remastered from classic Donkey Kong games, so if you’re a DK fan from way-back, attempts to appeal to your nostalgia are very deliberate.
The audio design is just one detail that makes Bananza feel awesome; coupled with the subtle haptics, responsive controls, and expressive animations, this game is extremely satisfying to play. Bananza is a constant parade of dopamine hits. There are golden Banandium Gems, Chips, and Fossils to find, in addition to gold nuggets and treasure chests—each of which can be spent on different upgrades, items, and customisation options. As you smash and tunnel your way through the landscape, chests appear procedurally, so it’s unlikely you’ll ever journey far without finding some treasure.
The destructible environment is what really sets Bananza apart from other 3D platform adventure games. DK can punch his way through the landscape, and the Switch 2 keeps up surprisingly well with the chaotic terrain manipulation. Depending on where you dig, sometimes the camera angle gets pretty weird, but it’s usually easy enough to find your way out of the makeshift mineshafts you’ve created. Sometimes I accidentally dug straight through a cliff and fell to my death, but I think that says more about my inability to be careful when pressing all the buttons at once than it says about the game’s design.
The movement sets in this game are a bit complicated though. It starts out simple enough: punch straight ahead, up, or down. But soon you are introduced to jumps, hand slaps, and rolls, as well as the ability to rip up the terrain, swing it around, and throw it at enemies. Collecting Banandium Gems earns you skill points, and those skill points can be spent on more abilities. DK also has a number of animal transformations called ‘Bananzas’, and each of them comes with even more unique moves.
Despite all the controls, thankfully Bananza is pretty forgiving. There are some instances where you want to achieve a very particular outcome and need to be a bit more thoughtful but, generally speaking, most buttons will get the job done (especially when the “job” is smash everything).
There are some other features that are also designed to help simplify things—especially for younger audiences. For example, ‘Assist Mode’ helps guide you towards your goal and makes enemies do less damage, and you can freely switch between it and Normal Mode at any time during play. Alternatively, there is a co-op mode where Player Two can embody Pauline, using one button to shoot an endless, overpowered stream of onomatopoeic words at enemies, terrain, and the sky.
When playing as Pauline, text prompts explain all of the different substances that make up the world—dirt, stone, concrete, gold, boom rock, etc. Each terrain type has different qualities, and some types are easier to smash through than others. Sand is a ‘soft’ material, so when you pick it up and throw it onto sturdier terrain, it sticks at weird angles and lets you build structures. I spent a solid fifteen minutes of my hands-on preview ignoring the quests and building towers instead because it was satisfying; it felt kind of like playing with kinetic sand.
It was fun to learn that you can destroy and rebuild the terrain of each level in a creative way, not just to find collectibles. There are plenty of others ways to be creative in Bananza too: you can unlock outfits and wardrobe items (which come with abilities and perks) and experiment with a pretty robust Photo Mode. The lighting in the game is gorgeous; between the neon lights in Ingot Isle, the iridescent blocks in the Lagoon Layer, and the rainbow glitter in the Canyon Layer, I can imagine myself spending hours just running around and taking photos. For creative players, there’s even a separate DK Artist Mode, which I didn’t get to play with during the preview, but that was teased on the menu screen; after using the terrain manipulation tools in-game, I’m curious to see how they’ve been adapted specifically for making sculptures.
I think there’s more to terrain strength and types than I got to see during my few hours playing Bananza. Each time you enter a new world, a terrain strength statistic appears on screen, which I am guessing might gate exploration in those areas until DK levels up his smashing abilities enough to traverse more easily. There is other terrain information as well, including a menu that tells you how many cubic metres of each block type you’ve managed to dig through so far—and that grants rewards for hitting certain milestones. If you reach a point where you have destroyed too much of a level, you can also reset the terrain on the map—which is a cool 3D rendering of the many layers you get to explore as you descend deeper and deeper towards the planet’s core.
Until now, I hadn’t found anything that excited me enough to pick up a Switch 2, but I think Donkey Kong Bananza will change that when it comes exclusively to the new console on 17 July 2025. Honestly, this game looks like it’s going to slap as hard as the big man himself when he’s trying to collect gold.
