If you had asked Nintendo fans not too long ago which project they were looking forward to the most, the likely answer would have been “a new 3D Mario game.” And that’s no surprise: since the release of the excellent Super Mario Odyssey in 2017, fans haven’t seen a full-fledged three-dimensional adventure starring the Italian plumber — unless you count the short Bowser’s Fury. However, another major character had been sidelined by Nintendo for even longer — Donkey Kong, arguably the second most important mascot of the Japanese company. Now, Nintendo has decided to kill two birds with one stone by releasing Donkey Kong Bananza, a game that both reboots the entire DK franchise and, in essence, serves as a spiritual sequel to Super Mario Odyssey. In fact, both projects share the same development team.
Donkey Kong Bananza feels like a game Nintendo could have made in the 1990s. That’s not to say it’s old-school in design — quite the opposite. The project is so bold and experimental that it inevitably evokes associations with Super Mario 64 or The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The creators of “Bananza” didn’t just breathe new life into the Donkey Kong series, they also attempted to rethink the very concept of 3D platformers. The result is so packed with fresh ideas and mechanics that it’s hard to confine it to familiar genre boundaries. At the same time, the game follows several modern trends that are unusual for Nintendo.
Take, for example, the focus on story. The Japanese company typically gives serious narrative attention only to “Zelda,” whereas the plots of its platformers almost always follow the principle “the simpler, the better.” But not in the case of Donkey Kong Bananza.
The story of the new DK could easily serve as the basis for a full-fledged animated film — almost without any edits. The tale of Donkey Kong and young singer Pauline setting off on a journey to the planet’s core to stop a gang of evil Kongs is surprisingly multi-layered: with story arcs, unexpected twists, and characters who grow and change. It’s hard to believe I’m writing this about a Nintendo platformer, but you genuinely want to finish the game not only for its fun gameplay but also to see how the story ends. The funniest part? This goes against the philosophy of Shigeru Miyamoto, who has never put story above all else.
The feeling of playing an interactive cartoon is also largely due to Bananza’s charming, personality-filled visual style. The graphics are bright and saturated, and the design of environments, objects, enemies, and characters is instantly readable — even amid all the chaos happening on screen. The updated look of Donkey Kong is especially pleasing. The hero is far more expressive than before: the artists designed dozens of facial expressions for him. He frowns when carrying a heavy boulder, snarls at enemies, and sticks out his tongue greedily at the sight of Banandium Gems — showing a beastly appetite. In cutscenes, all eyes are on Donkey Kong, even though Pauline, the numerous NPCs, and the villains are also animated to perfection.
Excited about Donkey Kong’s return?
Przejdź do ankietyBe that as it may, story and visuals are far from the most important aspects of Nintendo games. Above all else, the company’s projects are valued for their gameplay — and thankfully, Donkey Kong Bananza absolutely delivers here as well.
The core focus is on environmental destructibility — a new concept not just for Nintendo, but for platformers in general. The developers were clearly inspired by the final section of Super Mario Odyssey, where players, controlling Bowser, smash everything in sight while escaping a cave — and decided to evolve that idea into a full-fledged game.
Donkey Kong can destroy nearly everything around him to clear a path forward or uncover hidden sections of the map. He smashes rocks and stone, digs through soil, shatters ice into pieces, and generally terraforms the level beyond recognition. Some materials, like metal, are beyond the gorilla’s strength — designers use them to block access to areas the player isn’t meant to reach.
The destructibility mechanic fits perfectly in a Donkey Kong game. The hero feels like Marvel’s Hulk: it’s easy to believe in his strength when you see him demolish a house with just a couple of punches or leave a crater after landing on the ground. And most importantly — smashing and breaking things is just as fun at the end of the game as it is at the start, thanks to the combination of tactile controller feedback with expressive visual and audio effects. You could watch Banandium Gems shatter under Kong’s blows for hours — and that’s important, because you’ll be breaking hundreds of them.
Different rock types and soils are heavily used in puzzles and challenges. For example, ripping off a chunk of ice and tossing it into lava cools a section of magma, creating a small safe island. The game has plenty of such material interactions: salt makes acid evaporate, and any stone can easily crush the giant thorn bushes found in some levels. There are also fantastical rock types with unique properties: some cause massive explosions when thrown, others release gas and act as temporary jetpacks.
This complex system of destructibility and material interaction is built on the “skeleton” of Super Mario Odyssey. Donkey Kong Bananza has a nearly identical structure. Each level features two boss battles — one mid-level and one at the end. The locations are filled with Banandium Gems — the game’s equivalent of Odyssey’s Moons. In addition, there are passages to separate challenge rooms, some of which briefly transform the game into a retro 2D platformer. Sound familiar?
Many ideas from Odyssey are refined in Donkey Kong Bananza. Searching for Banandium Gems is not only fun in itself but also useful: they grant Donkey Kong new abilities. In essence, Nintendo has added an RPG-style upgrade system to the game, which again shows the company’s awareness of modern audience tastes. And as in Odyssey, you can customize appearances by choosing outfits for the gorilla and Pauline. In Bananza, however, clothing not only changes looks but also provides useful bonuses, such as reducing damage from enemy attacks — making the mechanic even more interesting.
It must be said that while Donkey Kong Bananza is a major step forward for the team, some elements are still executed better in their previous project. Odyssey’s levels are more memorable, and its boss battles more varied and dynamic. In Bananza, boss fights are fairly simple, lasting only a few minutes, and most enemies — with a few exceptions — have surprisingly modest movesets compared to Mario’s opponents.
Still, overall, Donkey Kong Bananza feels like an upgrade to the Super Mario Odyssey formula. The variety of options available to players for tackling challenges and puzzles is especially pleasing. This is thanks both to the aforementioned material interaction system (you can, for example, build an improvised bridge out of mud) and to Donkey Kong’s impressive mobility, which allows him to pull off complex rolls and jump combinations to reach hard-to-access places.
The core mechanic defining the game’s nonlinear design is the ability to transform into various animals. These so-called Bananzas, after which the game is named, are temporary forms that give the hero an entirely new set of abilities. Kong Bananza can break materials that regular Donkey Kong’s fists cannot. Zebra Bananza lets him run across water and fragile surfaces. Ostrich Bananza can fly short distances and drop egg bombs on enemies from above. Elephant Bananza turns Donkey Kong into a living vacuum cleaner, quickly clearing any obstacles. Snake Bananza can slow time and perform extremely high jumps.
All forms are useful in their own ways, but true creative freedom comes when you realize you can freely switch between transformations at any moment. Some combinations are so effective they feel like cheat codes. For example, I almost completely bypassed a series of puzzles by using the “snake-ostrich” combo: jump high as the snake, then transform into the ostrich and glide to the goal, skipping all obstacles.
And this isn’t an exploit — it’s part of Nintendo’s new approach to game design. The first signs of it could be seen in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which can also be “broken” with unconventional solutions. If Nintendo didn’t want players using the “snake-ostrich” combo, they wouldn’t have placed these transformations so close together for quick switching.
The game hooks you from the very first minutes, but in the second half — once you’ve unlocked all Bananzas and character abilities, mastered all interactions, and the developers start ramping up the challenges — it turns into a sandbox-infused platformer of the highest level of engagement. It becomes incredibly hard to put down: the creators constantly bombard you with new secrets, challenges, and situations. The only thing that breaks the flow is the loading screens: they’re relatively long and occur quite often. This seems to be a leftover from the days when Bananza was originally developed for the first Switch.
What do you think about Nintendo’s recent shift toward a more open puzzle design?
Przejdź do ankiety***
Donkey Kong Bananza quickly dispels any regrets that Nintendo didn’t prepare a new 3D Mario game for the launch of the Switch 2. With all due respect to the iconic character, we likely wouldn’t have gotten such an experimental and unconventional project if he had been the main hero instead of Donkey Kong.
Despite a few rough edges, Donkey Kong Bananza is one of the best platformers in years — perhaps the best. The game fully deserves to be part of the GOTY discussions at year’s end. And it has a real chance to win: if Astro Bot could do it, then DK certainly can. Yes, competition in 2025 is fiercer, but Donkey Kong Bananza is a game of an entirely different caliber.
What do you think? Have you tried it yet? Share your impressions in the comments.