Donkey Kong Bananza: Super Smash Bro

Image courtesy of Nintendo

Us Donkey Kong fans are hungry, and Nintendo hasn’t thrown us so much as a banana since the release of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze way back in 2014, let alone the last 3D entry over 25 years ago. Sure, he’s made appearances where you’d expect him to – your Mario Karts, Super Smash Bros., Mario sports titles, hell, he was even given the Seth Rogen treatment in The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Still, he’d been in his red-capped rival’s shadow for far too long, and DK sickos have had to sit patiently and settle for his discarded banana peels. It brings me great pleasure, then, to report that Donkey Kong Bananza is not only everything fans have been asking for and then some, it’s also the best 3D platformer that Nintendo has released in close to a decade, a worthy successor to Super Mario Odyssey, and a strong game-of-the-year contender. The leader of the bunch is indeed finally back to kick some tail…

…And dirt. And stone. And concrete. And practically everything that isn’t bolted down, because the name of the game here is pure, uninhibited destruction. As you blast your way through to the planet’s core in this roughly 15-20 hour long adventure (double that for completionists), you’ll be treated to an all-you-can-smash buffet of collectibles, goofy characters, and innovative ideas brilliantly stacking on top of each other all the way down to its showstopping finale and beyond.

DK doesn’t go it alone, however. He’s accompanied throughout by an ambitious 13-year-old singer, Pauline (yeah, that Pauline) trying to get back to the surface to achieve her goal of superstardom in the human world. Meanwhile, DK’s just in it for the bananas. Typical.

Thwarting the dynamic duo’s plans is Void Co., a cabal of ne’er-do-well Kongs hurdling toward the planet’s core to reach the fabled Banandium Root – a MacGuffin supposedly capable of granting its wielder their every wish. The sinister bunch include Grumpy Kong, your classic heavyweight henchman, Poppy Kong, a more calculated and conniving capitalist, and Void Kong, the eponymous crazed evil president.

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The characters ooze charm, the friendship that gradually builds between Pauline and DK is incredibly endearing, the story takes some surprising twists and turns, and you bet your bottom dollar that its dialogue is filled to the brim with ape puns. But as you might expect, the real star of the show here is the gameplay itself. 

Any 3D platformer worth its salt is obviously hinged on the game being enjoyable to play. Tight controls, a versatile moveset, and satisfying feedback presented with slick animations are what separate the decent platformers from the GOATs. As former Nintendo of America President and Sexiest Man Alive Reggie Fils-Aimé succinctly put it, “If it’s not fun, why bother?”

Whereas Mario’s main verb is “jump,” in Bananza its “smash.” As mentioned earlier, you’ll be razing entire levels to their very foundations using DK’s bare fists, ripping chunks out of the environment to smash more efficiently, throwing bomb chunks to clumsily excavate a hidden golden banana, and so many more modes of mayhem that I wouldn’t want to spoil here. It’s a freedom of player expression rarely seen in AAA development, and it’s a miracle that the Switch 2 doesn’t buckle under the weight of the utter havoc you can wreak at every turn. Mix its gorgeous visual style with particle effects flying every which way and an impressive physics engine while (mostly) maintaining a solid 60 fps? I’m just saying it's all the more reason to suspect Nintendo of black magic.

The best part is that the first hour of gorilla demolition is just as fun as the 30th, if not more so. The act of punching through rock always feels properly crunchy thanks to the tactile feedback of the Switch 2 Joy-Cons and Pro Controller (which I played the majority of the game with) and a healthy dose of hit-stop giving every impact that satisfying extra oomph. Same goes for every other surface – digging through softer terrain like snow feels appropriately light and crisp, while butting up against hard concrete makes you work for every dent. Smashing is so addicting that I’d often zone out letting the dopamine wash over me in a trance-like state. Being showered in gold while barreling through the side of a mountain just tickles my goblin brain in just the right ways.

Despite digging deeper and deeper to the core of the planet, each layer (Bananza’s version of levels) is as colorful and vibrant as the last, with some of the later layers sporting truly breathtaking visuals. It’s a bit jarring at first to tunnel 2,000 meters into the planet, look up and see clear blue skies, but like most things Within each of these layers is a veritable treasure trove of golden bananas, fossils to unearth, and an infinite supply of procedurally generated banandium chips and gold in the ground. It wouldn’t be a DK game without a ridiculous amount of collectibles, but if you thought Donkey Kong 64 or the Donkey Kong Country titles had an absurd number of goodies to grab, Bananza has enough in each layer to satisfy even the most unquenchable collectors.

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Each collectible acts as its own type of currency, for better or worse. Fossils can be exchanged at “Style Shops” to unlock unique outfits for DK and Pauline, offering helpful buffs like taking less damage from enemies, or finding treasure maps more frequently, for example. Gold, on the other hand, can be found everywhere, so unless you make a beeline through the main story, you won’t need to search as deliberately for it. That gold can be exchanged for stuff at the aptly named “Stuff Shop,” for things like consumable items, treasure maps, and other goodies. 

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DK gains a skill point for every five golden bananas he eats that can be used in the game’s skill tree, but honestly they’re worth seeking out just to hear him go “Ooooh, banana” every time. Punching through tougher terrain, turf-surfing on water, and gaining extra sonar range for detecting collectables make up just a few of the abilities on the tree. Like the skill trees of so many other games, however, it mostly amounts to dull upgrades like increased health, or granting abilities that feel arbitrarily removed from your moveset for the sake of padding out the progression.

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Fortunately, the game makes up for an uninspired upgrade path with a near-constant revolving door of bespoke mechanics. Almost every new layer adds a new element to play around with. From rainbow chunks that blast off into the sky like a rocket, and throwable salt used to melt away acid, to bouncy surfaces and minecart shooting galleries, there are always original ideas being introduced keeping the gameplay fresh through to the very end. In some of the game’s more challenging zones, these mechanics will often stack on top of each other to create unique destruction opportunities or a thoughtful puzzle to solve.

Similar to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s shrines and Super Mario Odyssey’s secret moons, Bananza also rewards exploration through bonus levels ranging from combat challenges to platforming gauntlets. Some are cleverly hidden behind false walls, while others will be plain as day, but all are blocked off by Void Co. All it takes to cut through the purple tape is holding down the L button to unleash Pauline’s inner Shakira.

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For as deep into this review we are, I’m amazed it’s taken this long for me to get to Donkey Kong Bananza’s namesake. In each major layer, DK and Pauline will need to help out the local elders (who all happen to be DJs?) who have been inconvenienced in several ways thanks to Void Co. After lending a helping hand, the elders bestow their “Bananza” powers onto DK, allowing him to transform into the animal of that layer. For example, one Bananza turns you into an anthropomorphic giant zebra with superspeed to dash over treacherous terrain or running on water. I always knew deep down DK was a messianic figure, but this is a bit on the nose.

My personal favorite is a boring pick, but the Kong Bananza – transforming Donkey Kong into, well, a bigger gorilla with Super Saiyan banana hair – never got old. After all, if you’re ever short on gold or if you suspect there might be a golden banana in the ground below, why not just remove the ground? As Denzel Washington once said, “King Kong ain’t got shit on me.” I believe he was referencing this game.

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Once your Bananza meter is filled via excess gold intake, DK can pound his chest at any time to transform, during which Pauline belts out an earworm-inducing anthem and a bar appears letting you know how much time you have left. The thing is, gold is so abundant, (especially when you’re an overpowered super-gorilla) that the meter almost always refills before your time is up, allowing you to basically stay in an endless Bananza cycle. It’s a total power fantasy, and I appreciate that Nintendo didn’t skimp out on letting you use it to your heart’s content. Minor nitpick, but that start-stop nature of turning back into regular DK, having to hold R to transform again, and repeat is a little awkward. I do wish it’d let you just remain in Bananza form as long as you’re collecting the requisite gold.

If it sounds like Donkey Kong Bananza is a mindless breeze to get through, that’s mostly because… it is. The freeform nature of it’s level design means many of the obstacles don’t pose much of a threat and can even be completely circumvented outright. Enemies are usually only a couple punches (or throws) away from being dispatched, and boss encounters are almost insultingly simplistic. Barring the incredible final battle, they mostly come down to identifying the boss’s breakable bits and hitting that a bunch of times until their health bar depletes. Even against the Void Co. crew, their battles don’t require much thought, and are typically over in just a couple minutes. Using your Bananza forms in these fights trivializes them even further, making for a disappointingly mindless experience.

Thankfully, those aforementioned bonus combat challenges require a bit more thought when placed under a strict 30-second timer to clear every enemy. Most of these are a walk in the park as well, but later levels and endgame content often lead to frantic moments and refreshingly sweaty palms. There’s actually a startling amount of content to be found in the latter half of the game, and it’s a testament to its pacing that it rarely felt repetitive. Every time I entered a new layer after the midway point, I thought to myself “surely I’m getting close to the end–this HAS to be the final layer,” but sure enough, it just keeps going and going until you reach the credits and then it goes some more.

Bananza marks DK’s triumphant return to 3D, and one of the best platformers Nintendo has released in close to a decade. There’s fun to be found in every square inch, whether it’s progressing further and further into the planet’s core, hunting down every last banana, or just turning your brain off and basking in the rush of dopamine behind each punch. Some weak boss fights, an underwhelming skill tree, and a few other minor grievances don’t stop Donkey Kong Bananza from achieving greatness, and it serves wonderfully as Nintendo Switch 2’s first (literal and figurative) smash hit.

Final Score: 9.5/10

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