Donkey Kong Bananza Review

It’s been over two decades since Donkey Kong took a full 3D swing at platforming glory, and Donkey Kong Bananza is here to remind us why the big ape is gaming royalty. Nintendo’s return to internally developing a mainline DK title has generated more fanfare than a banana sale in the middle of a jungle, and Bananza doesn’t monkey around. With sandbox-style levels, destructible voxel terrain, and an odd yet endearing buddy system featuring a pre-teen Pauline, this game feels like a spiritual sequel to Super Mario Odyssey that decided to lift weights and move underground.

Developed by Nintendo EPD and built exclusively for the muscle-bound Nintendo Switch 2, Bananza is as much a technical showcase as it is a nostalgia trip. It’s loud, it’s colorful, and it gives off the chaotic but heartfelt energy of a DK barrel hurled at full speed into a Kremling’s face. It’s not just a return, it’s a reinvention, taking the sensibilities of the 2D Donkey Kong Country days, stuffing them into a voxel-powered piñata, and handing you the bat.

The story brings a welcome twist: Donkey Kong and a young version of Pauline (yes, that Pauline) head deep underground to retrieve golden banana-shaped diamonds, aka Banandium Gems. Along the way, they’ll battle rival Kongs, confront corporate greed (thanks, VoidCo.), and unleash chaos upon destructible voxel landscapes that are practically begging to be punched into oblivion. And it’s not all monkey business, there are heartfelt moments, beautiful compositions, and more homages to the Donkey Kong legacy than you can shake a vine at.

But for all its gorilla-sized ambitions, does Bananza actually stick the landing or slip on its own banana peel? Let’s dive into the game’s underground layers and unearth what makes this gem-studded jungle romp tick.

🦍 Hollow Earth Hijinks, Mining Mishaps, and Monkey Mayhem

Setting and Story

Donkey Kong Bananza plunges the franchise into bold new terrain, literally. The game’s setting is a sprawling, Hollow Earth-inspired underground kingdom called Ingot Isle, where every layer has a distinct biome and vibe. From lava-drenched caverns to crystalline ice tombs and tropical vine-choked ruins, each level feels like a hand-crafted chunk of chaos waiting to be cracked open. Instead of climbing upward like Odyssey or Galaxy, this time you’re descending deeper into mystery, madness, and mayhem.

The story starts on the surface with Donkey Kong chasing down Banandium Gems, glowing banana-shaped diamonds, stolen by the nefarious VoidCo., an evil mining corporation with ambitions as deep as their drill bits. But things quickly go off the rails when DK meets “Odd Rock,” a mysterious purple stone with a surprisingly great singing voice. Spoiler: that stone is actually a de-aged Pauline, who has lost her memory and form due to mystical Banandium magic. Naturally.

As the story unravels, Donkey Kong and Pauline must journey through treacherous layers of the earth, unlocking animal transformations, learning ancient lore from underground elders, and facing off against rival apes like Void Kong, Grumpy Kong, and the inevitable comeback of King K. Rool. In a refreshing twist, Bananza manages to balance classic cartoonish absurdity with narrative depth, Pauline’s arc, in particular, evolves from a confused rock with vocal chops to a confident co-heroine aiming for the spotlight.

The final act delivers a satisfying, cinematic climax as DK and Pauline fend off K. Rool, rescue New Donk City from toxic doom, and part ways, only to reunite in a later act involving music, memory, and a surprisingly heartfelt gorilla-human duet. It’s bananas, yes, but the good kind: rich, weird, and bursting with flavor.

💪 Punching Through Pixels, One Voxel at a Time

Gameplay and Mechanics

If Super Mario Odyssey gave you elegant hat tosses and gravity-defying parkour, Donkey Kong Bananza hands you a wrecking ball in the form of a giant, furry fist. At its core (pun intended), Bananza is a 3D platformer rooted in open-world exploration, but with one radical twist, destruction. Most of the environment is made up of destructible voxels, allowing you to literally carve your own path through the game. Want to tunnel through a wall instead of platforming over it? Go ahead. DK doesn’t ask for permission, he just punches.

Movement-wise, Donkey Kong retains a satisfying weight. His basic actions, rolling, climbing, slapping terrain, are intuitive but powerful. The tactile feedback, enhanced by rumble and clever sound design, gives every punch and terrain rip a satisfying crunch. You’re not just moving through levels, you’re mauling them. What’s more, Bananza uses terrain physics in creative ways: rip out a chunk of rock and snowboard down a slope, or stack soft soil to climb a cliff. There’s a physics playground here, and DK is the chaos agent.

The addition of a skill tree is a brilliant modernization. Using Banandium Gems, players can unlock upgrades and abilities, including strength boosts, combat improvements, and exploration perks. But the real stars are the animal transformations: a zebra for high-speed dashes and gliding, an ostrich that drops egg bombs, and more. These transformations are time-limited but highly flexible, you can swap them on the fly to solve puzzles or alter combat flow, adding an unexpected layer of tactical choice.

Exploration is king here. From mainline missions to hidden caves, optional challenges, and puzzle zones, Bananza rewards curiosity with Banandium, collectibles, and lore. The level design cleverly balances open-ended freedom with light guidance, ensuring players are never truly lost, just joyfully off-course. Nintendo EPD’s commitment to freedom pays off, sequence breaking isn’t punished but embraced. You’re not just playing the level, you’re shaping it with every punch.

🎤 Two’s Company, Kong’s a Crowd

Multiplayer and Replayability

Donkey Kong Bananza doesn’t just swing solo, it brings a delightful duet into the spotlight. The game features a co-op mode where a second player can take control of Pauline, a surprisingly powerful partner who’s more than just a sidekick. Thanks to GameShare, the co-op isn’t tethered to a single console. Whether you’re playing locally or online, Pauline can jump into the action, emit explosive projectiles, solve puzzles, and belt out songs that literally unlock new paths. Her voice is not just powerful, it’s gameplay-relevant, bridging the narrative and mechanical design in a very Nintendo way.

Unlike many tacked-on co-op features, Bananza’s cooperative play feels genuinely essential. Pauline’s powers, like activating Donkey Kong’s transformations or using her voice to remove seals, open up layered puzzle-solving possibilities and exploration shortcuts that solo players might miss entirely. It’s also worth noting that her projectile attacks give a nice combat edge in tougher segments, making her especially useful during chaotic boss fights.

Replayability comes baked in, not just with collectathon staples like Banandium Gems and Gold, but with layered progression systems. Each biome, lava, ice, tropical, and more, features branching paths, hidden objectives, and challenge rooms that reward careful exploration or raw skill. Completionists will find plenty to gnaw on, while more casual players can push forward without ever needing to 100% the world.

And let’s not forget the post-game content. Once the main story wraps, a new adventure begins as Pauline and DK prepare for a New Donk City performance. It’s more than a glorified epilogue, it’s a proper continuation that cleverly revisits earlier zones with new objectives, new dialogue, and new transformations. Add in a photo mode, art creation tools (hello, voxel sculpture fans), and Amiibo integration for quirky surprises, and you’ve got a game that never runs out of bananas to toss your way.

🎧 Pixel Punches and Voxel Vibes

Graphics and Sound

Visually, Donkey Kong Bananza is the kind of game that makes you stop mid-swing just to admire the jungle gym of destruction you’ve left behind. Built entirely with voxel technology, the environments offer a satisfyingly chunky aesthetic, think Minecraft meets Pixar, but with a level of polish only Nintendo EPD could pull off. The destructible terrain isn’t just cosmetic; it’s core to both gameplay and spectacle. You’re not just traversing a world, you’re reshaping it, and every shattered wall or crumbled floor reflects that intention with impressive clarity.

The environments range from crystalline caverns to lava-drenched volcanic chambers and bioluminescent underground jungles, each layered and teeming with motion. Special effects like slow motion, freeze-frames, and controller rumble make every punch, explosion, and transformation feel thunderous. And while some critics have raised eyebrows at occasional frame drops, these moments are rare enough not to derail the spectacle. More often than not, the game runs as smooth as DK’s drum solo.

The audio landscape is equally rich. Naoto Kubo, fresh off his work on Super Mario Odyssey, returns as sound director and brings with him a whole troop of composers who blend classic Donkey Kong themes with bold new compositions. Fans will spot reimagined tracks from Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong 64, and yes, even the infamous “DK Rap” gets a cheeky remix. Yet the soundtrack doesn’t lean on nostalgia alone. Each transformation comes with its own musical cue (the zebra’s Latin-inspired rhythm is particularly infectious), and the dynamic layering of sound ensures that music adapts fluidly to your environment and movement.

Then there’s Pauline’s voice work, which deserves special mention. Her singing isn’t just a charming narrative device, it’s a gameplay mechanic, and one that’s executed with flair. Whether she’s unleashing harmonic energy or belting out a transformation tune, her presence is always both meaningful and melodic. Coupled with environmental Foley effects that bring satisfying randomness to every crash, dig, and slap, Bananza crafts a soundscape that’s as tactile as its visuals.

🎤 Going Bananas with a Purpose

Final Thoughts

With Donkey Kong Bananza, Nintendo has delivered not just a triumphant return to the 3D platforming stage, but a bold evolution of the franchise that punches through tradition, sometimes literally. This isn’t a nostalgic museum of past glory, it’s an ambitious sandbox of destruction, creativity, and character-driven storytelling that breathes new life into the Donkey Kong brand.

By combining Odyssey-style exploration, voxel-powered terrain manipulation, and a surprisingly heartfelt narrative centered around DK and Pauline, the game manages to feel both familiar and wildly experimental. It’s not often you play a platformer where punching holes in the world is more than a gimmick, it’s strategy, discovery, and comedy all at once. This is Donkey Kong unchained.

The inclusion of Pauline as a co-protagonist, and her journey from Odd Rock to confident performer, is both charming and well-integrated, enhancing the experience whether you’re solo or playing with a friend. And the story, despite being cartoonishly wild, touches on themes of growth, ambition, and connection in surprisingly resonant ways. From banana-shaped gems to eldritch Kongs, Bananza is unapologetically weird, but that weirdness is polished, purposeful, and unforgettable.

If there’s a downside, it lies in the occasional camera hiccup and brief dips in performance, particularly during the more chaotic set pieces. But these are small bruises on what is otherwise a gorilla-sized triumph. Whether you’re a DK veteran or someone who bounced off the series in the past, Donkey Kong Bananza invites you to smash, swing, and dig into a world that rewards curiosity and chaos in equal measure.

We prepared this review with a digital copy of the Donkey Kong Bananza for the Switch 2 version provided by Nintendo.