Donkey Kong Bananza Reviews
A brilliant core mechanic and clever design twists make Bananza a delightfully sticky 3D platform adventure topped off with a sweet central character relationship.
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.
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.
Who needs all that platforming when you can just dig there?
Donkey Kong Bananza is a raucous, wildly inventive, and propulsive platformer that reboots one of Nintendo's most iconic mascots.
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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
An action-platformer with a high-rate of destruction and fun. Donkey Kong Bananza succeeds in not making us miss a true 3D Mario on the Switch 2. It can easily be considered one of the best exponents of the genre since Odyssey and sits proudly next to Galaxy in terms of variety, eccentricity, originality and fun.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Mario Kart World was a great introduction to the Switch 2, but Donkey Kong Bananza is the first can’t-miss game to come to the platform. You’d be a fool to pass on this one.
From start to finish, Donkey Kong Bonanza is a riot. I wrapped up my journey to Bananza's credits in a little over 20 hours. Your mileage will vary wildly depending on how much optional content you decide to invest time in, but that's the beauty of it. If you're not big on collectathons, there's still plenty of game here for platforming purists to enjoy. I can't recommend enough taking on the various trials – think Shrines from Breath of the Wild – littered throughout the world, though, especially if you're a fan of 2D Donkey Kong. While performance issues were largely nonexistent in handheld mode, quite severe frame rate drops were commonplace when docked, especially during certain boss battles. This doesn't take into account any day one patches that may or may not arrive on release, and not egregious enough that your enjoyment will be hampered.
Donkey Kong Bananza is another pinnacle game from Nintendo. The amount of new ideas and innovation is truly remarkable. A must have to every Switch 2 owner.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Quote nFunny, beautiful, fluid in almost all circumstances, brilliant in its level design and freedom of approach, Donkey Kong Bananza is a slap in the face and a dopamine hit that constantly stimulates and rewards the player's curiosity.ot yet available
Review in French | Read full review
In short, Donkey Kong Bananza arrives in dazzling form for its (highly anticipated) debut with gamers, once again demonstrating the extraordinary skill and fresh artistic vision of the creative team led by director Motokura, who previously rose to prominence with the splendid Super Mario Odyssey.
Review in Italian | Read full review
But Nintendo's hit rate is extraordinarily high, and when I look back on the Switch 2 era one day, Bananza will definitely be one of those extraordinary titles that I look back on with butterflies in my stomach.
Review in German | Read full review
Donkey Kong Bananza marks the first major first-party release from Nintendo since the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2.
All in all, Donkey Kong Bananza is an excellent return for the leader of the DK Crew. In the same way that Mario Kart World or Breath of the Wild felt like all-new takes on a classic formula, Bananza feels like it’s doing the same in two ways – for the Donkey Kong series itself, and as a guidepost of what we can expect from the Switch 2.