Donkey Kong Bananza Reviews

Donkey Kong Bananza is ranked in the 100th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
9 / 10
Jul 23, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is an incredibly impressive 3D platformer for the Nintendo Switch 2 and one of Donkey Kong's greatest adventures to date.

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4 / 5
Jul 16, 2025

A brilliant core mechanic and clever design twists make Bananza a delightfully sticky 3D platform adventure topped off with a sweet central character relationship.

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Logan Plant
Top Critic
10 / 10
Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is a truly groundbreaking 3D platformer, with satisfying movement, powerful abilities, impressive destructible environments, and clever challenges that all come together in complete harmony to create Nintendo’s first Switch 2 masterpiece.

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Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is a fantastic platformer with a lot of ideas hidden inside of its barrels, but falls short of the perfection it aims for by playing a little safe.

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Jul 16, 2025

Who needs all that platforming when you can just dig there?

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9 / 10.0
Jul 24, 2025

Donkey Kong and Pauline’s adventure is a showpiece for Nintendo’s new console, and it meets the incredibly high standard the developer has been setting for itself since the ‘80s.

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GameSpot
Top Critic
9 / 10
Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is a raucous, wildly inventive, and propulsive platformer that reboots one of Nintendo's most iconic mascots.

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9 / 10.0
Jul 23, 2025

Overall, Donkey Kong Bananza does what Super Mario Odyssey did before it: offer one of the best platforming games available on a new system. The fact that the bulk of the game is about wanton joyous destruction is also another big bonus. So, if you want to tunnel to the center of the planet and destroy most of it along the way, Donkey Kong Bananza is your kind of platformer.

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4 / 5.0
Jul 23, 2025

The narrative is a step in the right direction by focusing on the relationship between the two leads and delivering a truly stellar final act.

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Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is a joy to play from start to finish thanks to the game's destructible environments and unique visuals. It's the 3D Donkey Kong game fans of the character have always wanted and it lives up to the hype, even if there are a few minor issues with its camera here and there and far too many Banandium Gems to collect in a single playthrough.

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9 / 10
Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is an almighty re-introduction to the world of 3D platforming for DK, and arguably the Switch 2's first absolute must-play. The punching and crashing is a passing novelty that, once you get your fill, quickly becomes just another way of exploring the wonderfully varied and beautifully presented layers.Whether it's smashing through the scenery with a Bananza Transformation or carefully planning a route to a hidden Banandium Gem, you'll have trouble finding more originality and, crucially, more enjoyment from a platformer in recent years. As the DK Rap so wisely said, "Donkey Kong is here." Now let's just hope he stays.

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9.5 / 10.0
Jul 18, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is perhaps the best 3D platformer of the 2020s so far. It has immaculate movement, mountains of incredibly fun content, challenges that genuinely test your skill, and a style so charming that you'll be thinking about it for weeks.

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Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is a confident subversion of the 3D platformer.

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Metro GameCentral
Top Critic
9 / 10
Jul 16, 2025

A triumphant return to centre court for Donkey Kong, with the best destruction effects in gaming and mountains of bizarre and wonderful ideas – and a surprising amount of jank when it comes to the camera.

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Destructoid
Top Critic
9 / 10.0
Jul 16, 2025

A hallmark of excellence. There may be flaws, but they are negligible and won't cause massive damage.

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93 / 100
Jul 16, 2025

As the song goes, "Donkey Kong is here," and he's here ready to rock the boat. The gorilla's new adventure boasts of being one of the first must-have games for Nintendo Switch 2 and a title on par with the Japanese company's greatest series. This is the kind of "Kong content" that deserves a new console.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

9.5 / 10.0
Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is a must-play gem poised to be one of the Nintendo Switch 2’s greatest titles. Evoking the golden era of Nintendo 64, it bursts with nostalgic charm, infectious fun, and stellar level design. If this is a glimpse of the Switch 2’s future, we’re in for something extraordinary.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

8 / 10
Jul 16, 2025

Donkey Kong Bananza is an intoxicating cacophony of brawling, digging and platforming. It's a new style of 3D platformer from Nintendo that, for better and for worse, embraces the destructive chaos of letting players tunnel through and deform the world.

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9 / 10
Jul 16, 2025

There are sequences in this game that instantly crystallized in my mind as iconic Nintendo moments, and the studio’s expertise in 3D platformers makes for a heap of fun and challenging levels. Beneath all of that, it’s the dynamic between Donkey Kong and Pauline that gives an emotional weight to everything, and drives me towards each new objective.

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Jul 16, 2025

Given that its hero can smash through any barrier – which is delightful fun in itself – Nintendo's new 3D platformer has a surreal freeform audacity

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