It’s not taken long for the Switch 2 to become my product of 2025. It did so without even an exclusive new Mario title to play at launch – or since! But that’s because the Super Mario Odyssey team has been busy making something altogether different – which I’ve quietly been playing for a couple of weeks ahead of its launch.
Donkey Kong: Bananza has a lot riding on it, too, as the Switch 2’s first essential exclusive – well, I did love Mario Kart: World as a launch title, it must be said – to really try and grab a sizeable chunk of Nintendo’s new console ownership. It’s done a smashing job, pun intended, with a brilliantly chaotic platformer that defies conventions.
Bananza channels some Mario-like energy into its 3D-platformer form, but then tears up the rulebook with confident vigour. That’s because Bananza’s vast and varied landscapes are more or less completely destructible. And it’s a total blast immersing yourself into that chaos and going head-first into this endeavour – in what is nothing like any other Donkey Kong game before it.
Donky Kong Bananza trailer
What's Donkey Kong Bananza about?
Oh, you came here for a deep and engrossing storyline? Bananza is no role-playing game, let me tell you, but that's just fine. And while it's got storytelling that leans more into cartoon comedy for its dramatic effect, its basic narrative is as straightforward as it gets.
In summary: Donkey Kong is out to retrieve stolen banana-shaped diamonds from a gang of evil apes. It's pretty much that simple. This opens the opportunity for sandbox-like levels where you complete various objectives in order to progress. No big story? No bother!
That leaves a lot of space to just go headstrong into the game, the levels of which are designed to be destroyed, left, right and centre. And, thinking about it, upwards and downwards too – it's the open in scope that sometimes it's so chaotic to see what's coming next, but that's also all part of the fun.
Interestingly, this is the first original DK game made by Nintendo proper for many years, with much of the same Super Mario Odyssey team behind Bananza. Which, for fans of that Switch classic, ought to set the excitement-o-meter to 'high'. The two games are nothing alike, but that team's adept nature can still be felt. This is a videogame of the highest order.
Is Donkey Kong Bananza worth buying?
In truth, it took me a little while to get into Bananza. I've been so engrossed in the Switch 2 Edition of Tears of the Kingdom, that I'd not really set aside much spare time. And with DK just so chaotic, and the camera initially so close-up at times, it was all a bit too much for my on-the-go gaming brain.
But persevere I did, and I'm so pleased I kept going back and chipping away (the puns are endless with this one). As it doesn't take long for Donkey Kong's sheer mania to captivate. Step by step the complexity increases, the engagement heightens and you can often see these moments of Mario-like genius at play.
Others didn't need to persevere, mind, as the game's official review embargo lifted the day prior to its on-sale date, 17 July 2025, to much critical acclaim. Indeed, just take a browse at Metacritic and you'll see the title is sat on a super-rare 90/100 score. That's an incredibly high critics' average, from reputed outlets, going to show just how strong the latest DK game is.
Will players who've pre-ordered the game think the same? Time will tell on that one. What I find interesting about Bananza is that it's nothing like any other Donkey Kong title before it. Like, not even a little bit. That's both refreshing and concerning – but while it'll rile some side-scrolling die-hards, I know of others who've ordered already having never played a DK game in the past.
At this early stage – and I've still not completed the game by a long shot – everything is in place for the Switch 2's key exclusive to only further elevate the new console to even greater heights. I'm sure there'll be a Mario game at some point but, you know what? Right now we don't need one, because Bananza's intelligent chaos is just wonderful to play. And you can only play it on Nintendo's new console.
