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CTV News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Review: ‘Donkey Kong Bananza' trades manic platforming for unhurried exploring
An undated screenshot shows a scene from "Donkey Kong Bananza," the new game starring Nintendo's well-known simian mascot and the company's second major release for its Switch 2 console. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Nintendo of America (Mandatory Credit) TORONTO — Even a rampaging ape needs to take time to stop and smell the roses. Or so it would seem in 'Donkey Kong Bananza,' the new game released Thursday starring Nintendo's well-known simian mascot and the company's second major release for its Switch 2 console. The first original 'Donkey Kong' game in 11 years forgoes the difficult side-scrolling platform levels and manic boss battles of previous titles for a 3D world that players can explore at their own pace. It plays more like a sequel to 'Super Mario Odyssey,' a 2017 3D game starring another major Nintendo character, albeit with a lot more smashing. 'Donkey Kong Bananza' starts off with the titular hero searching for banana-shaped gems in a mine. He runs afoul of a villainous band of apes who steal the gems and make their way to the planet's core. Donkey Kong gives chase and along the way befriends a young girl named Pauline, who can empower the ape through her singing. Pauline learns different 'Bananza' songs throughout the game and can use them to turn DK into a stronger gorilla, a sure-footed zebra or a flying ostrich, among others. Things pick up once Donkey Kong moves on from the introductory level and the game's world opens up. Despite heading deeper into the planet's depths Donkey Kong and Pauline will encounter jungles, tropical beaches, deserts and more in the various substrata. All levels can also be smashed to pieces. Donkey Kong can use his prodigious strength to punch his way through almost any terrain to avoid hazards, find short cuts or hunt for collectible items. No matter how interesting the world looks on the surface, digging through rock is still digging through rock. Punching tunnels through the destructible environments to find collectibles and power-ups becomes repetitive after a time. The game's camera can also lose sight of Donkey Kong when he's underground, occasionally leading to misadventure as he emerges at the edge of a cliff or over a pit of lava. Still, much of the indiscriminate digging can be avoided for those who are content to finish the game without seeking every collectible or secret. And the worlds in 'Donkey Kong Bananza' still offer plenty to discover for those less keen on spelunking. The aforementioned banana-shaped diamonds can be recovered in a number of ways, from defeating a boss enemy to completing challenges scattered across the game to finding them in the wild. Donkey Kong can use these bananas to buy new powers or improve existing ones, adding a role-playing game element to his journey. DK can also uncover fossils that can be used to buy new outfits for Pauline or himself, and hideouts can be found peppered throughout the game's various layers. Here DK and Pauline can rest to recover health, change outfits and listen to any records collected during the adventure. Find enough hideouts on a particular level and Donkey Kong will gain extra health when he rests and unlock a concierge who will facilitate his shopping needs. The ability to casually explore and the game's lower difficulty — enemies are mostly placed as mere hindrances rather than serious obstacles, and even most boss battles are not challenging — marks a sharp contrast to DK's adventures in the 'Donkey Kong Country' series. The last game in that long-running franchise, 'Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze,' was a platformer with a hectic pace and tricky but rewarding battles. It was also well-liked by gamers, who might be in for a surprise if expecting more of the same in 'Donkey Kong Bananza.' But the switch to a 3D sandbox gives players more agency over how they want to progress. And it unleashes Donkey Kong to smash up the place without many constraints. With his ability to punch through walls, surf on chunks of granite and throw boulders at enemies with ease, DK has arguably never been more fun to play. After the Switch 2 launched last month with only 'Mario Kart World Tour' in its lineup, 'Donkey Kong Bananza' should give early adopters of the console more to sink their teeth into. Donkey Kong still smashes, but now he might take a minute to appreciate his surroundings before obliterating them. 'Donkey Kong Bananza: is rated E10+, meaning suitable for gamers aged 10 and up, and retails for $100. A digital copy of the game was provided to The Canadian Press for the purposes of this review. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2025. Curtis Withers, The Canadian Press
CNN
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Nintendo Switch 2 sales set a record in four days
Nintendo announced Wednesday that it sold more than 3.5 million Switch 2 consoles, marking a new record for the company. The Japanese company said that it's the 'highest global sales level' for any Nintendo device within the first four days of release and perhaps puts Nintendo in good shape to meet its goal of selling 15 million Switch 2 devices by the end of next March. 'We are thankful for their response and happy to see the fun they are already having with Nintendo Switch 2 as they explore new features and games that bring friends and family together in new ways,' said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America president and chief operating officer in a press release. Excitement has swirled over the $450 device because it's Nintendo's first major console launch since the original Switch arrived about eight years ago. The original Switch ended up selling 152 million units since its 2017 release. Nintendo released the Switch 2 on June 5, with hardcore gamers lining up for hours for the gaming console and Best Buy stores extending hours to meet demand. Nintendo has made significant upgrades to the Switch 2 hardware to justify the hefty price increase, including a larger screen, upgraded versions of the Joy-Con controllers and new social features. It also has several new features, including a Game Chat function that lets gamers communicate with other players by tapping a button on the console. CNN's Lisa Eadicicco contributed to this report.
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Despite Switch 2's controversial game-key cards, Nintendo president says "physical games are still a key part of our business"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. With Switch, Nintendo is currently offering the platform friendliest to physical game collectors, but the existence of game-key cards for Switch 2 has the holdouts from the supposedly inevitable digital future feeling nervous. For now, though, it seems Nintendo has no plans to abandon proper retail cartridges. "In the immediate future, physical games are still a key part of our business," Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser tells IGN. "And we value our relationships in particular with our retailers, and want to make sure we have products available for them to sell to their consumers." Technically, game-key cards do give retailers something to sell, but it remains to be seen if that's something players want to buy. Several industry figures have been outspoken about what game-key cards represent, calling them "disheartening" and saying that "we're losing some of what made the business special." "When you look at Game-Key Cards," Bowser continues, "For us, our goal with Nintendo Switch 2 – similar to what we were able to accomplish on Nintendo Switch – is to have the broadest and deepest library of content we possibly can. And that includes our publishing partners. And Game-Key Cards are a way that our publishing partners are able to bring more content onto the platform, deeper and larger, more immersive content on the platform." Game-key cards are certainly proving popular among third-party developers, as the vast majority of Switch 2 launch games not published by Nintendo are being released in this format. One exception is Cyberpunk 2077, and CD Projekt has suggested other publishers should "not underestimate the physical edition." Whether that warning means much in the end remains to be seen. Here are the upcoming Switch 2 games you need to know about.
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nintendo of America might turn your Switch into an expensive paperweight if you mod your console or install any "unauthorized" games, new policy warns
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. It sounds like Nintendo is really trying to crack down on Switch modding, as a new update to Nintendo of America's User Account Agreement says that your console may become "permanently unusable in whole or in part" if you break certain new restrictions. The new user account End User License Agreement (EULA) was sent out earlier this week, and as reported by Game File, it makes some significant changes to the second section, "license." Before we get into it, it's worth noting that Nintendo explains that the term "Nintendo Account Services" can refer to everything made available to you via your Nintendo Account, from games, to DLC, products, apps, services, and more – this phrase is about to come up a lot. Previously, the "license" section outlined that users are "not allowed to lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law." With the latest changes, Nintendo removes "sublicense" from this list, and adds "offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services" to its list of forbidden actions. The additions don't stop there, as it's now stated that users must not "bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use." That's a lot of complicated terminology, but one part that really sticks out is the bit about using hardware or software that'd cause things to operate in an unintended (un-Nintended, if you will) way. Basically, modding is a no-go as far as the company is concerned, and it sounds like it's also directly cracking down on Switch emulation, which requires users to decrypt games to, y'know, actually run them. Topping things off, users are also prohibited from obtaining, installing, or using "unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services," or exploiting them "in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use," unless Nintendo personally gives you a thumbs up to do so (or law expressly permits it). So, assuming Nintendo doesn't tell you that you're free to grab and play any "unauthorized" pirated games, uh, assume that it really doesn't want you to. Not that that should be a surprise. The consequences for breaking any of these rules could be severe, as the company warns that it can turn your Switch into an expensive paperweight if necessary. "You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions, Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part," it says. If you don't dabble in Switch modding or anything like that, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about, but it definitely sounds like the company is trying to take a stronger stance against such prohibited activities. New Nintendo of America policy asks users to give up their rights to a class-action lawsuit and call customer service instead: "Most matters can be quickly resolved in this manner."
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nintendo of America might turn your Switch into an expensive paperweight if you mod your console or install any "unauthorized" games, new policy warns
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. It sounds like Nintendo is really trying to crack down on Switch modding, as a new update to Nintendo of America's User Account Agreement says that your console may become "permanently unusable in whole or in part" if you break certain new restrictions. The new user account End User License Agreement (EULA) was sent out earlier this week, and as reported by Game File, it makes some significant changes to the second section, "license." Before we get into it, it's worth noting that Nintendo explains that the term "Nintendo Account Services" can refer to everything made available to you via your Nintendo Account, from games, to DLC, products, apps, services, and more – this phrase is about to come up a lot. Previously, the "license" section outlined that users are "not allowed to lease, rent, sublicense, publish, copy, modify, adapt, translate, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble all or any portion of the Nintendo Account Services without Nintendo's written consent, or unless otherwise expressly permitted by applicable law." With the latest changes, Nintendo removes "sublicense" from this list, and adds "offer for sale, or create derivative works of any portion of the Nintendo Account Services" to its list of forbidden actions. The additions don't stop there, as it's now stated that users must not "bypass, modify, decrypt, defeat, tamper with, or otherwise circumvent any of the functions or protections of the Nintendo Account Services, including through the use of any hardware or software that would cause the Nintendo Account Services to operate other than in accordance with its documentation and intended use." That's a lot of complicated terminology, but one part that really sticks out is the bit about using hardware or software that'd cause things to operate in an unintended (un-Nintended, if you will) way. Basically, modding is a no-go as far as the company is concerned, and it sounds like it's also directly cracking down on Switch emulation, which requires users to decrypt games to, y'know, actually run them. Topping things off, users are also prohibited from obtaining, installing, or using "unauthorized copies of Nintendo Account Services," or exploiting them "in any manner other than to use them in accordance with the applicable documentation and intended use," unless Nintendo personally gives you a thumbs up to do so (or law expressly permits it). So, assuming Nintendo doesn't tell you that you're free to grab and play any "unauthorized" pirated games, uh, assume that it really doesn't want you to. Not that that should be a surprise. The consequences for breaking any of these rules could be severe, as the company warns that it can turn your Switch into an expensive paperweight if necessary. "You acknowledge that if you fail to comply with the foregoing restrictions, Nintendo may render the Nintendo Account Services and/or the applicable Nintendo device permanently unusable in whole or in part," it says. If you don't dabble in Switch modding or anything like that, then you have absolutely nothing to worry about, but it definitely sounds like the company is trying to take a stronger stance against such prohibited activities. New Nintendo of America policy asks users to give up their rights to a class-action lawsuit and call customer service instead: "Most matters can be quickly resolved in this manner."
