Donkey Kong Bananza review for Nintendo Switch 2

While I’d struggle to say what my favourite game of all time would be, if you were to ask me what games I had the most fun playing would be, there’s a pretty good chance I’d say either Red Faction: Guerrilla or one of the Just Cause games. Even if they had their flaws, there are few things in gaming I’ve ever enjoyed more than running around open worlds destroying everything in sight, whether it was laying waste to the Mars colonies with a sledgehammer, or using rocket launchers to take out the military installations in banana republics.

Donkey Kong Bananza is the first game I’ve played in a long time that recaptures that joy of pure destruction. The titular gorilla, armed only with his fists, is able to punch through nearly everything around him, meaning you can battle your way through enemies and remodel the landscape without ever taking a break.

What sets Donkey Kong Bananza from some of those other games I mentioned is that not only do you have the fun of destructible environments, you’re carrying out that destruction in a 3D platformer on Nintendo’s newest system, made by the team at Nintendo that also created Super Mario Odyssey. I’m not saying that the combination leads to Donkey Kong Bananza being the greatest game of all time…but I’m not not saying that, either.

Okay, that’s probably – by which I mean definitely – hyperbole. Time will tell whether Donkey Kong Bananza has the durability to make it into conversations like that. But I think it’s entirely fair to say at this point, at the very least, that it’s a very strong contender for Game of the Year.

Interestingly, a big part of why it’s a great 3D platformer is entirely because of the fact that Donkey Kong can destroy most of the world around him. The ability to literally reshape the terrain opens up all kinds of possibilities. Stuck behind a door that won’t open? You can punch your way around it – or under it. Can’t quite reach another platform? Then you can rip up the ground beneath you and use it to pull off a double-jump. Facing off against a tough boss? Why not pick up hunks of rock and hurl them at said enemy. Want to focus on collecting things? Then good news, you’re not just limited to what you can see – the ground beneath you and the rocks and hills around you hold all kinds of treasures.

They also hold secrets, which is another area where Donkey Kong Bananza shines. You can discover areas that play line old-fashioned Donkey Kong Country levels, complete with balloons and barrels. You can punch your way down through the earth in levels that resemble some of the original DK games. Every time you discover a new portal to a side quest, you know you’re in for something fun.

Best of all, you never feel like you’re just playing the same level over and over again. Donkey Kong Bananza’s story is all about Donkey Kong (and Pauline, of course) trying to reclaim all the bananas (and find her way home), and to do this our heroes need to break out of the banana mines and find their way to the bottom of the game’s world. Every new level you burst down into is a riot of colour and inventiveness, adding new wrinkles and opening up Donkey Kong’s world more and more. You could probably question the structure of the world if you really wanted to (how does going down from a mine lead you to islands, or floating rocks in the sky?), but you’re better off just going with it and enjoying where the game takes you.

It also needs to be said that Donkey Kong Bananza shows just what the Switch 2 can pull off. All of that terraforming feels like it could’ve had the potential to be game-breaking, and there were definitely moments where I was worried I would punch my way through the side or the bottom of the world. But I never got stuck anywhere, and the DK’s world never felt like it was about to collapse around me.

I feel like I should temper my praise of Donkey Kong Bananza, but at the same time, if I did, I’d be lying. This is one of the most enjoyable games I’ve played in a long time. If you’ve been holding out on buying a Switch 2, this is the game that should make you buy one: it really is that phenomenal.

Nintendo provided us with a Donkey Kong Bananza Nintendo Switch 2 code for review purposes.