Donkey Kong Bananza may only have the lovable ape in its title, but the upcoming 3D platformer is as much about his sidekick Pauline as it is DK.
I got a chance to play Donkey Kong Bananza at a special preview event on June 24, and as much as I enjoyed smashing everything in sight and terraforming the whole environment as everyone's favorite Nintendo monkey, I think that playing as the young singer Pauline is nearly as enjoyable.
Once Pauline is unlocked via story progression early on in Bananza, she becomes available for another player to play as her in local co-op while the other plays as Donkey Kong. And honestly, I can't recommend it enough.
The player controlling Pauline is able to aim an on-screen cursor with either the left analog stick or a JoyCon in mouse mode as she sits atop DK's shoulders. This cursor can be used to aim at different materials and terrain on the screen to then pick up and use her voice to sing or scream it at as a projectile, and it's so damn fun.
Under the cursor, the type of material will be labeled, and holding down ZR will enable Pauline to basically absorb it and use it to then fling at enemies or different parts of the map. It feels incredibly powerful, especially when picking up the right material (gold is deadly) to launch everywhere.
As part of my Bananza play time of just over two hours, I got to experience a boss fight against Grumpy Kong. It's doable enough solo as DK, but I got to play as Pauline as a Nintendo rep controlled Donkey Kong, and we decimated the boss battle. You can spam ZR to sing words at enemies and make a mess of the terrain, which is just plain mayhem and could easily get annoying if overdone, but it rewards accuracy when properly picking up the right materials and then aiming them at the right spots to cause severe damage.
Aiming can be difficult while the DK player is running around the screen, but there are several motion settings, like screen shake intensity, to change in the menus to help make things a bit more accessible, which I would recommend.
My biggest takeaway from the new feature, though, is that it can be played pretty effortlessly by anybody. From a youngster who wants to spam-click attacks while having fun with a parent, to a casual who can easily pick up a JoyCon and play with their significant other, to a hardcore gamer who wants to tryhard aiming with the mouse feature while their friend romps as DK, it has solid potential all-around and is not a gimmick.
I wish I had a friend to play Donkey Kong Bananza in local co-op with, since the feature unfortunately does not support online play. So, if you're looking to smash things up as DK or sing your heart out as Pauline when the game launches for Nintendo Switch 2 on July 17, hit me up.
The post I played as Pauline in Donkey Kong Bananza, and she’s as much of a powerhouse as her primate pal appeared first on Destructoid.
