It'd been a long week. I completed a long list of tasks, got things done that needed to be done for a while, and made sure every chore was done to the best of my ability. After all of that work I needed to let off steam. I picked up my controller, got comfy on the couch, and took a good look at the destructible world on the screen in front of me and uttered a few words:
"Time to go apeshit."
With almost every button on my controller dedicated to destroying terrain (and any enemies unfortunate enough to get in the way), I began to tear the world up. In the depths of the dirt were fossils, treasure chests, gems, and — most importantly — bananas. And if there's any previously established lore you need to know about Donkey Kong before you play, it's that he loves bananas.
Donkey Kong Bananza isn't just Nintendo's first big single-player focused title for the Nintendo Switch 2. It's a love letter to the entire Donkey Kong franchise. For the uninitiated, 1981's Donkey Kong was a massive arcade hit and introduced three mainstays for the Mario (and Donkey Kong, respectively) series: Mario, Pauline, and the big ape himself, Donkey Kong. Beyond three arcade titles (where Donkey Kong himself wasn't playable), DK didn't get much love as Mario took the spotlight with Super Mario Bros. However, in 1994, Rare developed Donkey Kong Country, bringing new life into the series and giving us beloved characters such as the titular character, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong (Donkey Kong Country 2 & 3) and Cranky Kong, who, fun fact, is the original Donkey Kong from the arcade.
You are fine diving into Donkey Kong Bananza without any prior knowledge of the franchise as it's part of Nintendo's focus on gameplay above all else. Donkey Kong's moveset is fairly simple with three buttons dedicated to punching in different directions. You can also rip out chunks of terrain, roll, clap, and whistle with shoulder buttons and triggers. It may not sound like much, but you're able to chain moves together. One example is to grab terrain, roll (which causes you to surf the chunk on the ground), jump, hit the roll button again to grab the chunk, jump again to get a second jump, roll in mid air, and finally do a forward punch to gain slightly more forward momentum. Easy peasy.
Besides tearing up terrain, what's the arsenal of monkey business fists for? Donkey Kong Bananaza is all about breaking stuff, diving deeper towards the planet's core and finding Banandium Gems at its heart. These large crystal bananas are found by digging through the terrain, doing platforming challenges, completing challenge rooms, and by beating bosses. Finding these is similar to finding the moons in Super Mario Odyssey, which was made by the same team the year the first Nintendo Switch launched.
The main thing that sets the bananas apart from the moons, however, is their utility. In Super Mario Odyssey, you needed the moons to power your ship to go to the next level. Here, the bananas are used to level up DK's moveset. This is how the previously discussed "chunk jump" is unlocked. You can also level up and unlock moves for Bananza transformations, but we'll go into that a little later.
Bananas not being tied to progression means you can focus on completing the story if that's what you prefer. Better yet, you can decide when you're done with a sublayer rather than the game telling you when it's time to move on. Since the main plot of the game revolves around making it to the core of the planet to reach the Banandium Root and have your wish granted, I eventually focused on moving the story forward while letting myself get distracted along the way. This was my preferred way to play, as the game makes sure to do everything it can to divert your attention away from the main goal for a few minutes to get a new banana. These minute long diversions really add up though, as there are hundreds of bananas and fossils to find.
Sublayers are Donkey Kong Bananza's levels. Each sublayer is a unique biome with different quirks such as poison lakes or raining lava. There are also different NPCs on each sublayer such as monkeys, elephants, zebras, and sentient crystals called Fractones. At first, I wasn't impressed with the Fractones, but they've grown on me. They can change their shape to suit their mood (often mimicking the elder if there is one on that sublayer) and will explode and reform themselves if they get too excited — or, even better, get punched in the face. There's something cathartic about getting flavor text from a silly looking rock then immediately blasting it to a thousand pieces with a giant ape fist. Fortunately, they don't seem to mind.
Unlike the surface, the underground NPCs are aware of each other's existence. The different environments include features like artificial suns and a warp system carried out by eels (cleverly called the Eelevator) to different sublayers. As you progress, you learn more about how the underground works. I was expecting the game to handwave everything as magic, but they put effort into making a cohesive world.
Throughout the underground are characters that appear to be pseudo rulers of their sublayers, the elders. Don't worry — these unelected geriatric zoo exhibits aren't ruling to cut your healthcare. They exist for pure vibes. Their drip is exquisite and they have all retired to become renowned DJs. Through their teachings, you unlock Bananzas, which are transformations that turn DK into animals such as a Zebra, an Ostrich, or a larger Kong. They have their own gameplay styles while being only slight derivatives of DK's base moveset. For example, Kong Bananza can do a charge punch, Zebra Bananza can do a charge run, and Ostrich Bananza can glide. All of these come with a unique song sung by the talented teen, Pauline.
Earlier I mentioned that the original Donkey featured three characters: Donkey Kong, Mario, and Pauline. Pauline has been featured (as an adult) in spinoff games for years, but Nintendo took a chance and put her in not only a mainline game, but put her as the Deuteragonist. There are a few timeline concerns though, as this Pauline is a teenager. This game either takes place before Super Mario Odyssey (where Pauline is the mayor of New Donk City) or Nintendo doesn't care about continuity between games. The former is more likely, as this game is oozing with love and references to previous Donkey Kong games.
If Donkey Kong is the heart of the game, Pauline is the soul. She starts off as a timid teen apprehensive about singing in front of a crowd, but she becomes more confident with each Bananza learned and each boss defeated. Being the only fully voiced character in the game, we get plenty of lines that give her subtle character growth over time.
Each sublayer has areas called "Getaways," and staying in the bed at them will not only refill DK's health, but you'll be treated to dialog from Pauline in the middle of the night where she'll talk about the area or give her thoughts on the situation. She also mentions her grandma a few times, which could be interpreted as being the original Pauline. These sweet moments are cheesy, but they help establish the older brother-younger sister like dynamic DK and Pauline have throughout the adventure. Pauline just wants to sing, and DK is her hype man.
As far as partner characters go, Pauline is one of my favorites. She'll exclaim excitedly when you take out an enemy and she'll let you know when a banana is within sight. With how hectic the gameplay can be, this has helped me on several occasions. Her Bananza songs are also catchy as hell. The lyrics are gibberish, but you'll occasionally hear the name of the animal you're playing as. Pauline is going for a Grammy with the lyrics "oh zebra, zebra, zebraaaaa."
Donkey Kong Bananza is, along with Mario Kart World, a good reason to pick up a Nintendo Switch 2. I found the time flying while I was checking every corner of each sublayer for the next banana and fossil and couldn't wait till I had the chance to play more. The game is dense and addicting, but not overwhelming with its collectibles. Casual players can go at their own pace and fill out their collection to their satisfaction while game enthusiastics will have their appetite satiated for a while. Donkey Kong Bananza isn't just the best Donkey Kong game in two decades, it's one of Nintendo's best first-party titles of the 21st century. This team have proven themselves well with Super Mario Odyssey and now Donkey Kong Bananza, and I can't wait to see who gets to go bananas next time.
