
If you weren't already getting hyped for Donkey Kong Bananza, it's now totally safe to do so.
Last week in Manhattan at a closed doors hands-on preview event for the new Donkey Kong game, Nintendo confirmed that Bananza is made by the same developers of 2017's all-time platforming great, Super Mario Odyssey.

The Odyssey team has been cooking up a new 3D platformer for many years now, and their hard work has come to fruition in what's likely going to become the new bar for the genre, judging by what we have seen and played.
Following the recent Nintendo Direct, which detailed Bananza, many assumed that the Odyssey team was behind it due to the game's scope and quality. When those of us in attendance were told that this was indeed the case, the game took on a whole new aura. And then we got to play it.
Super Mario Odyssey is one of the most beloved 3D platformers of all time, and Donkey Kong Bananza is destined for the same fate. It's an absolute joy to play, as it brings forth Odyssey's open-world greatness and combines it with Donkey Kong's lovable oafish strength to create something new.
Bananza combines the massive, joyous open world of Odyssey with Donkey Kong's three core tenets, as described by Nintendo reps on hand: wild, powerful, and silly. All three are felt within gameplay as DK smashes his way through the open world, terraforming it and discovering treasures, unlockables, and new abilities throughout each massive map as he progresses the story with a younger version of Odyssey's Pauline in tow.
DK's wildness is offset and supplemented by Pauline's fully-voiced charm, his powerful nature is felt with every single terraforming punch, and his silliness is paramount through each interaction with other characters throughout the game. Everything combines to create something that feels truly special so far, in what Nintendo reps on hand described as a "can't-miss moment" in gaming. Thus far, I'm inclined to agree.

Pauline and DK combining for his Bananza powers, where he's able to channel the abilities of other animals like an ostrich or zebra, is reminiscent of Odyssey's Cappy and his Capture ability. While not quite the same, it's easy to see that title's DNA within the new game in features like this.
I only got to play DK Bananza for a few hours so far, but I know that Odyssey fans and Nintendo gamers everywhere will be thrilled with what the team has cooked up for Donkey Kong when it drops on July 17.
The post It’s official: Donkey Kong Bananza was made by the Super Mario Odyssey team, and it’s as good as you would expect appeared first on Destructoid.