The design DNA of Super Mario Odyssey is here, a constant collection of bananas keeps you searching for more.
DONKEY KONG BANANZA is an incredibly delightful platformer with lots of varied environments. Smashing through levels never gets tiring, and there are heaps of different environments each with their own style and charm to bash through.
With elements of one of the best Nintendo 3D platformers of last generation, Super Mario Odyssey, the same team has delivered on a game that captures a fair bit of the same magic for another tentpole series.
It's not the first 3D platformer for Donkey Kong but it's the biggest world our favourite monkey has visited yet, with something for both new players and series veterans.
Each of the levels you visit, a different layer of the planet’s core, are gorgeous as there is always plenty to discover. One of the later levels is a carnival of fast food, where you punch new holes into swiss cheese walls or dodgy scalding deepfryer lakes of oil. There are beautiful islands where you float high into the sky carrying special ore, only to punch down on gigantic fruit opening new areas. Dark caverns where you must use light and shadow to defeat certain enemies reminds me a lot of defeating certain enemies in The Legend of Zelda.
Especially running on a big television the levels are amazing to take in, and importantly, smash the hell out of. Exploring the biomes to find little surprises feels rewarding, while you’re mostly collecting just Bananas, gold and fossils, there is a lot of enjoyment from doing so again and again. Move punch repeat, I loved it personally and it never got tiring for me as I was always collecting new items. There are of course a few baddies that mix up this simple strategy of course, but you usually aren’t overly punished by sticking to the old fists, it’ll likely take you a lot longer, even if you can't get close enough to punch them directly.
Where it does get really fun is the special power up mode, Bananza, where DK embodies the spirit of a large animal elder. Snakes, Zebras, Elephants and of course even bigger apes with the Kong Bananza, DK acquires new powers that allow him with Pauline’s help to better traverse each level. There is value to revisiting locations as well, once you’ve got the Elephant’s suction power for example you can clear a lot of damaging terrain which previously blocked your path. You could embody the Snake Bananza and spring to great heights, and then smash down into the terrain or deep into water to collect new Bananas. Each of these powers are pretty situational, but you will switch back and forth a fair bit, gliding as an Ostrich to new locations or saving yourself from danger in those final moments. They are absolutely over the top, but everything in Donkey Kong is. They are also very helpful for the final bosses that cap off some of these areas.
There was one battle with a giant slug monster where I needed to use the damaging acid it spat to melt through a metal ground, exposing the salt buried underneath. It was so fun maneuvering the slow moving acid to clear the otherwise impenetrable ground below, opening up an opportunity to attack directly.
The bosses are mostly really enjoyable or simple enough but can get repetitive, especially as most of them return a couple of times during the course of the game. Not every single boss battle will be repeated but sadly some of the more straightforward ones are a few times. The final boss which I won’t spoil, takes a fair slog to get through, but it comes at a particularly rewarding moment in the story and after some excellent and nailbiting platforming so it honestly didn’t matter too much.
This game is very generous when it comes to difficulty scaling, so it's perfect for kids or those that just like a casual stressless gaming experience. I found myself whiling away hours moving through levels picking up those final bananas or collecting fossils which unlock new outfits for both DK and Pauline which give you little situational boosts, like increasing treasure drops or the time you can spend in each of the super powered Bananza modes. Extra lives which come in the forms of balloons to save your life when falling off platforms are plentiful, I did buy a batch of ten when they became available in the item shop, but after that I collected so many without using them, at one stage I had a stack of 40 or so. So feel free to fall off that cliff.
Despite some repetition, I really enjoyed my time in DONKEY KONG WORLD BANANZA. To my surprise I've spent more time than I expected collecting bananas and beating up bad guys. I'd wager I'll be up to around 30 hours or so by the time I clocked final credits, and there's plenty of extra stuff to do, when I finally put the controller down.
Putting aside the action for a moment, it makes my chest swell that Pauline and Donkey Kong have a great relationship, it’s really sweet actually. There’s plenty of heart here and lots of little nods to previous games. Nostalgia heads will enjoy exploring whole levels inspired by the original side scrolling Super Nintendo series, there are even little secrets that are a thrill for those of us who played the original. To add to the nostalgia even further, fan-favourite characters return and there’s even a few small levels which mix up the gameplay quite a bit in a nice tribute to the previous titles.
Sorry Chris Button but no Candy Kong this time around. We're keeping it G rated, it’s almost as if Nintendo heard about the impure thoughts you hold.
Nintendo really are masters at tickling that part of the brain that drives novelty. I found myself staying in areas much longer than I needed to, just to find that extra banana, those extra fossils, to unlock new outfits, and smashing up as much gold as I possibly could find. But more importantly, I loved every bit of this collection loop thanks to the smooth gameplay popping visuals and satisfying audio.
A Nintendo Switch 2 console and a copy of DONKEY KONG BANANZA was provided to SIFTER for the purpose of this review.
