There's a lot to dig in Donkey Kong Bananza

The Star

5 days ago

A gorilla surfs on a slick disc of ice. A purple talking rock transforms into a 13-year-old girl. A giant blue eel reveals he's a music aficionado. There's a lot going on in Donkey Kong Bananza .
In the 44 years since Nintendo introduced Donkey Kong to arcades as a barrel-rolling character with resting ape face, the wild beast has gone through quite the metamorphosis. In this lavishly animated extravaganza, he displays some human attributes and a penchant for mining gold.
He listens. His eyes grow big and, sometimes, he appears to empathise. But mostly, he's the muscle that pounds, digs and slaps like the Incredible Hulk in fur, oversized necktie and ragged britches. Here, the battle is against three cliche corporate ape villains who want to get to the Earth's core, where a special wish will be granted. Donkey Kong wants to get there, too, if only for the bananas.
Down, down, down he dives through miles-long pipes in an ominous Dante-like descent. Yet it's joyful, too, because he is accompanied by Pauline, a freckle-faced dreamer who wants to return to the world above. She's the constant optimist, urging Donkey Kong on when sharp thorns, burning lava or icy water sap his energy.
Pauline, played by Kate Higgins, should be given her own abilities and agency. What she does have is the power of song, which helps Donkey Kong briefly transform into a brute with super strength. Her Broadway-style belting begins the process of vanquishing bosses like Abracajabya, a monstrous plant with thorn-tentacles that seek the simian like a homing missile. (The unusual enemy names seem like nods to T.S. Eliot.)
Before they depart a level, Donkey Kong proudly pounds his chest like a drum, and Pauline sings, enthralling the area's denizens. A standout was Zebra Bananza , a conga-inspired tune by Pauline that sounded like a mix of Idina Menzel and Gloria Estefan. There are more than 100 songs to collect and play back.
In the shop, clothes you can purchase for Pauline give the beast – not her – even more power. Playing co-op with another person allows Pauline to throw large stone exclamations like 'Wow!' They're quite destructive. But solo players who want more from Pauline are out of luck.
It's easy (and generally a delight) to get lost in these worlds, especially in the Forest Layer, which houses a hotel in a tree, the trunk holding a garden and pool. In another area, exploration is rewarded with a dusty Donkey Kong arcade machine.
Although the levels are limited in scope, Bananza has open-world-style terrain. You can dig almost wherever you want for fossils, which can be exchanged for upgrades or gold to be used as exploding bombs.
All the burrowing, however, can lead to terrible disorientation. The camera becomes wonky, and it's difficult to find a way out of the mazelike hole you've dug. Because of this, I often avoided tunneling for items, sticking with those visible aboveground.
In each town's centre, I met giant, wise beings on thrones who are also sometimes DJs. A pink headphone-wearing ostrich elder with a mane of bananas asks for help finding two halves of a vinyl album. Place them both on a massive turntable, and the ostrich offers you the power of flight.
Yes, in this fantasy, flightless birds can fly. Aloft, Donkey Kong looked somewhat like the winged monkeys from The Wizard of Oz . He's more tentative, but the wings still get the pair over pink lava and closer to the planet's core.
For me, the most exciting method of travel was a simple mine cart on a rail that puffed rainbow-colored smoke. As it cranked along, I could grab and pitch golden nuggets at a huge Tyrannosaurus rex head. I didn't want to stop because the game's inventiveness rarely did. While Bananza 's plot was awfully thin, Donkey Kong and Pauline always beckoned me back to this amusement park of earthly delights. – ©2025 The New York Times Company
(Donkey Kong Bananza is available on the Nintendo Switch 2.)
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.