Donkey Kong Bananza might be this generation's Super Mario Odyssey
Only the second 3D platformer in the series – it's somehow been 26 years since Donkey Kong 64 – Donkey Kong Bananza sees the newly cartoonified ape wreaking merry havoc across a series of mostly destructible levels in search of golden bananas. It's part Minecraft, given your ability to burrow through the terrain at will, and part Super Mario Odyssey, with its puzzle-based objectives, special challenges, beautiful environments and hidden collectables.
The game is an impressive technical spectacle. Almost every part of Donkey Kong Bananza can be smashed through, allowing you to carve your own path towards an objective or tunnel your way through mountains without restriction. The holes you leave in your wake remain etched in the environment until you leave the level, too. Performance stays smooth, and the Switch 2 doesn't sneakily undo your hard-earned destruction to free up memory as you go.
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Levels are densely packed with things to see and do. As you dig and explore, you'll unearth secret caves and hidden treasure, with maps that lead to collectable fossils of varying degrees of rarity. Collecting stuff in Donkey Kong Bananza feels like endlessly scratching a hard-to-reach itch. The game's main currency, gold banandium ore, pings in a deeply satisfying way as you pummel it out of the earth and hoover it up, delivering a constant trickle of sweet, sweet dopamine.
Not only is it compulsive to collect, but all that gold can be used to buy new outfits for Donkey Kong and his shoulder-mounted assistant, Pauline. Revealed during the most recent Nintendo Direct, Pauline can sing to trigger voice-activated switches and uncover hidden items around the map. In the basic co-op mode, a second player can use the Joy-Con as a mouse to launch rock chunks as Pauline, a bit like the Cappy controls in Super Mario Odyssey.
Music, and specifically vinyl records, is a big theme alongside all the excavation. Records appear as collectable items, often buried deep in the dirt. They can be added to Donkey Kong's ever-expanding music library at home, while at least one challenge has you lugging a car-sized vinyl across the level to pop on a giant deck.
Challenge rooms are liberally dotted about the levels we've seen, whisking you away to classic side-scrolling sections that will be familiar to Donkey Kong fans, with barrel launchers and hidden rooms behind destructible walls. Other challenges have you clobbering enemies or destroying structures within a time limit.
Then there's Donkey Kong's ability to temporarily transform into one of several different super-powerful animal forms once you've amassed enough bananas. We saw two: the first a mega-sized monkey capable of punching through steel, the other a distractingly buff ostrich that can glide and drop exploding eggs on enemies. It's chaotic, amping up the destruction and leaving parts of the level in tatters.
Though you're free to obliterate large swathes of each level, crucially, they retain enough shape and character that Donkey Kong Bananza doesn't descend into simple, aimless destruction. The world is made up of materials of varying toughness – like sand, metal and concrete – that might require you to use explosive chunks of rock to break through. Later areas add impenetrable obstacles like poison lakes and thorny vines that offer a more guided and challenging platforming experience, while still giving you ways to improvise with the destructible environment.
Donkey Kong Bananza seems to successfully walk this line between open-ended destruction and laser-focused world design, with the ability to quickly move between previous levels hinting that replayability will be a key part of the experience too. Even during our brief playtest, each level's map ended up littered with the icons of rare pick-ups buried deep in the dirt – and regardless of whether they're meaningful to collect, the simple joy of burrowing your way through the earth to find them is worth the time.
The Switch 2 might not have had a Mario platformer at launch, but Donkey Kong Bananza is already shaping up to be this generation's Super Mario Odyssey. Stupidly silly fun, technically impressive and gorgeous to look at, it's destined to be the console's first must-have game. Donkey Kong Bananza launches 17 July, exclusively for the Nintendo Switch 2.
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Donkey Kong Bananza: gorilla finds his groove with Mariah Carey on his shoulder
While searching for gold in the dingy mines of Ingot Isle, a severe storm sweeps dungaree-donning hero Donkey Kong into a vast underground world. You think he'd be distraught, yet with the subterranean depths apparently rich in banana-shaped gemstones, DK gleefully uses his furry fists to pummel and burrow his way towards treasure. From here, the first Donkey Kong platformer since 2014 is a dirt-filled journey to the centre of the Earth. Much like the Battlefield games of old, Bananza is built to let you pulverise its destructible environments as you see fit. That seemingly enclosed starting area? You can burrow your way through the floor. Bored with jumping through a cave? Batter your way through the wall instead. There's a cathartic mindlessness to smashing seven shades of stone out of every inch of the ground beneath you, pushing the physics tech to its limits and seeing what hidden collectibles and passageways you unearth. In order to add an element of humanity to all the destruction, a young girl named Pauline (whom players may recognise from classic DK games) joins Donkers for the ride, perching on his simian shoulders while singing, like a Brit School-trained parrot. In a welcome nod to the jazz-filled refrains of Super Mario Odyssey, Pauline sends DK into a frenzy by warbling like Mariah Carey. As DK locks into a gorilla groove by thumping on his chest, Pauline steps up to the mic and sings her heart out, powering him up to new hulking heights – his Bananza form – allowing him to smash through concrete as he glows red and embarks on a rhythmic rampage. As DK's journey progresses, you unlock additional animal-themed transformations, with one later level seeing DK flutter through the air as a pretty bizarre-looking Ostrich. As it's 2025, there's now a skill tree, enabling players to upgrade DK's moves, raise his health and even teach him new attacks and tricks. Continuing the RPG-lite approach, collectible hidden fossils are also carefully scattered across each new level, a currency used to buy new stat-boosting outfits. More importantly, these outfits are a huge amount of fun, allowing you to swap DK's default crimson fur for a more gothic black-furred Kong – along with a pair of blue denim dungarees and a yellow tie of course. Thanks to its 3D hub worlds, ranged projectiles and wacky transformations, there's more than a whiff of Rare's seminal N64 Donkey Kong platformer to Bananza. Part Banjo-Kazooie, part Incredible Hulk simulator, the destruction-led chaos is a world away from the pristine Super Mario Odyssey. If you get tired of punching, you can opt to chuck objects at your surroundings instead. Donkey Kong can hurl slabs of stone and granite at foes, walls and ... well, anything really, even launching a special glowing material to destroy cursed structures and unlock one-off challenge areas. Some NPCs are even made out of gems, allowing you to pulverise them mid-conversation before they slowly reassemble, feigning nonchalance with a dead-eyed look in their shimmering crystallised irises. The development team seems to have had fun coming up with new fearsome foes for DK to face off against. From being bombarded by hordes of tiny angry blobs, to battering a golden skeletal pterodactyl or fleeing a hopping stone alligator head, the slightly nightmarish threats that you pulverise match Bananza's off-kilter tone, looking pleasingly distinct from the usual Mario fare. Bosses promise to be a big part of Bananza too, with DK clashing with the nefarious VoidCo, a brooding gang of villainous apes who steal DK's much-coveted Banandium Gems. Grumpy Kong, for example, pilots a towering concrete mech which you have to chip into layers, eventually lowering him to ground level and doing what DK now apparently does best – delivering a brutal beating. Mine kart sections make a welcome return, seeing you leap between rails to dodge obstacles and take out enemies and structures alike by chucking glowing rocks into them until they explode. In a bid to keep the frame-rate solid while you chisel the landscapes around you in real time, the visuals take a slight hit. While character models look great, certain environments and areas look a little bland – but most of the time, you're moving too swiftly to truly care. While we start off in a dingy mine, we travel through a luscious lagoon and find our way leaping out of deadly rivers of toxins in a poison-filled swamp. Like Odyssey, there's a half-hearted co-op mode in Bananza. Put in the sulky boots of Pauline, a second player can click and chip away at the environment via the Joy-Con mouse. Each click chucks or destroys bits of the environment, with both players reaching a screen-filling, eyeball-straining degree of carnage. Give this to a young'un and furious-click induced chaos will no doubt ensue. You have been warned. Donkey Kong Bananza is weird, a little janky at the moment and more chaotic than Nintendo platformers of old. It's the playable equivalent of Break Stuff by Limp Bizkit, big, brash and impossibly enjoyable. While the Switch 2 has been accused of being iterative rather than innovative, for his first Switch 2 appearance, it seems that the iconic ape is burrowing his way towards a new type of fun. Donkey Kong Bananza is released on 17 July on Nintendo Switch 2
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Games Inbox: What will be the first Mario Kart World DLC?
The Wednesday letters page asks why so many Marvel video games don't sell, as one reader wonders if 2K will ever make a FIFA game. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ More to come It has its faults, but I am now settled with Mario Kart World and while it's not as good as Mario Kart 8 it's definitely a good game. The empty open world is much less of a problem if you treat it as a failure of marketing rather than game design and I agree that they should've never hyped it up and, if they do have plans for DLC, they should've told us about it already, at least roughly. The fact that Donkey Kong and Pauline only have one skin is super suspicious but if that's connected to Bananza they're not exactly in a rush to tell us about it. I'm guessing there was no talk of it at GC's preview? My guess would be that the first DLC will be new costumes for Donkey Kong and Pauline and perhaps a new character of young (not baby) Pauline. The question for me is whether there'll be anything more than that? Would they add a new area to the map? That seems like too much effort for free DLC. Maybe they'd add a little Donkey Kong themed village or something in an existing space? There are a lot of empty plots in the game, and you could easily imagine them doing a little pop-up area to promote a new game. But is that really what they're going to do? As usual with Nintendo, we just have to wait and see. Onibee GC: There was no mention of Mario Kart at the preview, no. Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. No competition I've been playing Rematch and it is quite fun, but at the end of the day it's an arcade style game and it has very little in common with actual football. It may become popular but there's no way it can work as a serious replacement for EA Sports FC. The problem is that nothing can without the official licences and while EA has those it's basically untouchable. I'm not clear how many of them are exclusive, given Konami does use some, but nobody has ever been willing to step up and spend the money necessary to compete. There were rumours that 2K were going to get the FIFA licence next but if that's happening they've still not said anything about it. The FIFA licence alone won't help them though, they need all the clubs and players too. If that doesn't happen, given how rich 2K are, then that means EA Sports FC is never going to have anything to worry about. RInce It's-a not me Nice preview of Donkey Kong Bananza. It looks and sounds pretty good, but I can't imagine I'm the only one that wouldn't have preferred a 3D Mario instead. It's over eight years since Super Mario Odyssey and we still have no clue about what comes next. I really hope Bananza is the B-team or whatever, just so that we have a chance of getting a new Mario before the Switch 3 arrives. I know the theory about a movie tie-in next year, but I have a feeling that's more likely to be a 2D game, just to make it as a casual friendly as possible. We'll see I guess, but if Bananza is the only game we're getting from Nintendo's top team this gen, or close to the end, I'm a little underwhelmed. Korbie Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Who's on third? Was Donkey Kong Bananza being developed by the Super Mario Odyssey team really a surprise to yourselves? After that DK Direct I kind of knew instantly, it looks extremely similar to Odyssey's aesthetic. The wardrobe for gear changes is copied pixel for pixel, for one, and the vistas when burrowing deeper into the earth is very reminiscent of traveling to new worlds in Odyssey. In fact, I'd likely guess that DK himself was originally Mario and Pauline was his whatever gimmick 'sentient gloves' to help him smash and bash the world around. Which is no bad thing, it was after all, Super Mario Odyssey that prompted the purchase of my Switch in the first place. big boy bent GC: Yes, and it should've been a surprise to you too, because if they're making Bananza who's making the next 3D Mario? There are now three options to explain it: someone completely different is making it, there isn't going to be one for circa five years, or Nintendo stretched the truth as to what it means by the same team. The latter seems the most likely. Halo finite I don't want to dunk on Halo anymore than Microsoft already has but I will be shocked if there's any real interest in a reboot or whatever they're planning. You'd have to have had a long period of time without it for people to start to miss it, and want it to come back, but Halo Infinite is still being played online and it was less than four years ago it was out. That was meant to be a forever game, but it was dead on arrival and never really had a chance. I remember when Halo was the biggest thing in gaming, but the second Bungie left it all fell apart. It's been bad for too long now and I really don't think there's any coming back. Ragman Superhero fatigue It always seems weird to me how a lot of Marvel games don't sell. Basically, only Spider-Man does well and it's not a question of quality but people just not being interested in playing anything to do with the Marvel universe, beyond that and the Lego games. And Marvel Rivals, but that's free and I'm sure it wouldn't be as popular if it wasn't. I wonder if it's because they're not part of the MCU, but I doubt that would really make much difference. We'll see with the Iron Man game, which I assume is going to work at least somewhat similarly to Spider-Man. If that's a flop, then you can wrap it because nothing else is ever going to sell. Especially not Captain America x Black Panther. Funny thing is, all these failures came before the current superhero fatigue at the cinema. People just weren't interested at any time, for any reason. I don't pretend to understand it, but after hitting your head against the wall so many times, at some point you've just got to give up and accept things are the way they are. I think the only game we know of that has any real chance is the Wolverine game. I'm not sure what that's taking so long, because of the hack I guess, but whatever special sauce Insomniac have will definitely be put to the test with that and if even that isn't a major hit then it's definitely just Spider-Man and no one else. Vector Old Vegas Thinking of that Fallout deal in the Steam sale, it reminded me that we still haven't got a remaster of Fallout: New Vegas! I really can't believe that hasn't happened after all that time, it's such a licence to print money, especially after the Oblivion remaster. I don't care what they say, I think Bethesda definitely resent it being the most popular and are upset that they didn't have anything to do with it. I bet you if there is a Fallout remaster it'll be number 3 and they'll pretend that it's because it's chronological order that they had to do it first. Cole Mild approval So we're about a month into the Switch 2 and I'm, I don't know, content with it? My partner and I play a lot of Mario Kart World now, instead of Mario Kart 8. I was addicted to Devil May Cry 3 for most of June, although that was on my Switch 1, and now Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom has its claws in me again and I'm loving the graphics upgrade. Hardly a monumental change from my previous set-up but novel enough, I suppose. My feelings are similar to those when I got my PlayStation 5, in that it was a bit of a chore to pay for one and set it up, but I needed it badly as my old launch PlayStation 4 stopped playing discs and was ready for the bin. I'm still glad I got the Switch 2, because it's a nice new way to play the games and there will be lots of new software for it in the next few years, but I definitely feel like new consoles are less of a big deal than 20 years ago – the upgrade from N64 or PS1 to new hardware was huge and I don't get that feeling anymore. But ultimately there's no loss for me to get one at launch, because it's not like the old days where a console would shed £100 after a year (if anything they are more likely to increase in price). So yeah, a nice piece of kit that will hopefully serve me well until I have to buy a Switch 3 in seven or eight years, and I'm looking forward to playing Donkey Kong Bananza and Metroid Prime 4 over Christmas. ANON Inbox also-ransI hear today is the day that Microsoft is going to announce its new round of layoffs, so best of luck to everyone working for them in the UK today. I know they have a number of game developers here. Focus David Dastmalchian as M. Bison in the new Street Fighter movie is definitely a choice. He's no Raul Julia but here's hoping he understand the amount of cheese necessarily to make it work. shadow_ninja More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers' letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content. You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader's Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot. You can also leave your comments below and don't forget to follow us on Twitter. MORE: Games Inbox: Why I sold my Xbox Series X to get a Switch 2 MORE: Games Inbox: Is EA Sports FC 26 going to be a flop? MORE: Games Inbox: Is AI going to ruin video games?
