Donkey Kong Bananza
TL;DRSmash everything. Find everything. Grin the whole time.
9.0
EssentialKit Score · 91% confidence Living review
DK is digging toward the core of the planet to get his bananas back, and almost everything in his way can be punched, peeled, ripped up and thrown. The team behind Super Mario Odyssey built a platformer around destruction, and it turns every level into a sandbox you carve yourself.
The Bananza transformations, unlocked with help from Pauline's singing, give DK new forms that remix how you dig, move and fight. The layers are packed with secrets, and the tactile joy of tearing a level apart never wears off.
The camera struggles in tight tunnels, and the frame rate dips when debris piles up. But it's the most confident, playful Nintendo game in years — and the first that feels like it could only exist on the new hardware.
Kit liked
- Destruction feels incredible
- Dense, secret-packed layers
- Transformations add real variety
- Pure, uncut joy
Kit didn't
- The camera fights you underground
- Frame-rate dips in heavy scenes
Tips & videos
- Punch everything. Gold and Banandium Gems hide inside walls, floors and ceilings.
- Treat Bananza forms as tools, not just power-ups. Each one solves a different kind of terrain.
- Rip up chunks of terrain. You can throw them, use them as shields, and even surf on them.
The verdict
The reason to own a Switch 2 is that you can punch through a planet.Kit · Sadkitty Games · Est. 1995
Ask Kit about Donkey Kong Bananza