Regardless of being a lifelong appreciator of Nintendo video games, Donkey Kong as a personality has by no means resonated with me all that a lot. I blame 1999’s Donkey Kong 64.
The primary try at a 3D platformer starring Nintendo’s simian celebrity got here out after I was a child with an insatiable curiosity for video video games. It additionally sucks to an virtually unbelievable diploma. DK64 is a dirty and unsightly mess, loaded with tedious collectibles that notoriously take dozens of hours to build up. (Don’t play Donkey Kong 64. I hated it then and I hate it now. That’s my overview.)
Oh yeah, I assume I’m right here to overview one other recreation, huh? Nicely, Donkey Kong Bananza is simply in regards to the reverse of 64 in each approach that issues. The primary large post-launch Nintendo Swap 2-exclusive will likely be a welcome reprieve from Mario Kart World for early adopters, due to its superbly elegant motion mechanics, delightfully destructible environments, and a brand new(-ish) companion character for Donkey Kong who virtually steals the present by herself.
In different phrases, they lastly made a great 3D platformer starring Donkey Kong, and anybody who purchased a Swap 2 at or round launch ought to most likely choose it up. Mario Kart is nice, however that is the Swap 2 recreation you’ve actually been ready for.
Donkey Kong Bananza offers DK a brand new greatest pal
It is price it to have a look at their faces from time to time.
Credit score: Nintendo
Bananza comes from the identical inside group at Nintendo that developed Tremendous Mario Odyssey, which is exemplified by its storytelling that prioritizes appeal and good vibes over lore and dialogue.
It’s primarily a reboot for the Donkey Kong character, and he is given a model new design that, frankly, makes the one which’s been in use for the previous 30 years look…not nice by comparability. Bananza begins with DK (who’s a miner looking for banana-shaped rocks) being helplessly sucked down right into a world that exists beneath the planet’s floor. Earlier than lengthy, DK hyperlinks up with Pauline, a 13-year-old human lady who rides round on his shoulder as the 2 dive deeper into the underworld in hopes of discovering a approach again as much as the floor.
Sure, this is similar Pauline who was Donkey Kong’s kidnapping sufferer within the unique Donkey Kong arcade recreation. No, Bananza doesn’t take even one second to handle no matter “continuity errors” you may suppose exist right here. Nintendo doesn’t care and neither do you have to. They made Pauline a child and made her pals with DK this time as a result of they thought it will be enjoyable. They have been proper.
What a star.
Credit score: Nintendo
As expressive and hilarious as the brand new Donkey Kong is more often than not, Pauline is the key sauce that makes Bananza work on a vibes stage. Giving our beloved ape a human companion who can converse for him in cutscenes and who affords goofy little insights from time to time helps add a variety of persona to the proceedings. What’s even higher is that Pauline is completely plausible as a 13-year-old lady; she feels three-dimensional, expressing a big selection of feelings all through the story, all whereas sometimes cracking the sorts of corny jokes that younger teenagers are wont to crack. Her private journey, which revolves round her growing confidence in her magical singing talents, can also be fairly endearing.
I hope I’m not succumbing to recency bias right here, however I do suppose this model of Pauline is among the greatest companion characters in a Nintendo recreation in a very long time.
Bananza revels in recklessness
Credit score: Nintendo
In fact, this can be a 3D platformer, so there are solely a small handful of cutscenes in Bananza and the story’s probably not what anybody is right here for. I’m happy to report, in that case, that the 3D platforming on provide right here is hermetic, with a number of room for participant freedom and extremely gratifying motion mechanics.
Nintendo’s large gimmick right here is that Donkey Kong can use his substantive fists to pound via sand, rock, stone, gold, and a lot of the different supplies that make up every of Bananza’s sprawling, open-ended ranges. If you realize there’s a Banandium Gem (this recreation’s predominant omnipresent collectible) behind a wall that’s in entrance of you, more often than not, you’ll be able to simply punch the wall till there isn’t a wall anymore. This is among the most self-evidently enjoyable recreation mechanics I’ve seen all yr. Who doesn’t love busting up ranges?
That mentioned, this might have simply gone bitter. There’s one other world, not removed from this one, the place Bananza is a complicated mess of a recreation filled with bugs and digital camera issues that make its damaging gameplay burdensome somewhat than pleasant. Nevertheless, by some means, a way, the Odyssey group discovered how one can make all of it simply work. It’s surprisingly arduous to get misplaced due to a really efficient map and intuitive stage design that subtly encourages the participant to wreak havoc in sure areas with out outright holding their hand. And in the event you do get somewhat too reckless and end up unable to progress, you’ll be able to merely restore all of the terrain you destroyed with a button within the pause menu.
Explosions good.
Credit score: Nintendo
I’m not stunned that the damaging components of Bananza are enjoyable, however I’m pleasantly stunned that they’re as elegant as they’re. There are many potential interactions between completely different supplies in Bananza, as you’ll be able to choose up mushy grime and throw it at arduous surfaces to create platforms or harness the explosive properties of gold (don’t suppose too arduous about it) to filter out surfaces which can be too arduous to punch via.
Shockingly, this by no means actually turns into complicated at any level within the roughly 15-20 hours it takes to wrap a bow on the sport. If you end up needing a sure materials to progress, it’s all the time someplace close by. What’s extra spectacular is that you simply hardly have to cease and give it some thought, as Bananza’s visible language is clear sufficient that you would be able to normally work out what to do in any given scenario simply by scanning it along with your eyes for just a few seconds.
Fight can also be much more enjoyable right here than it usually is in 3D platformers. You’ll be able to actually really feel the immense weight of DK’s punches as they land on enemies, particularly in conditions the place a punch sends an enemy careening into one other enemy for a double kill. I do have one minor criticism right here, although, which is that just a few of the early-game boss fights are a bit too primary and straightforward for my liking. There have been some that I beat in actually about 30 seconds. Bonanza makes up for this within the again half with some extraordinarily good late encounters, however nonetheless, I wasn’t bought on the boss fights within the first few hours.
It’s a great time to only transfer round these ranges
The forest stage is nice.
Credit score: Nintendo
One main motive why Tremendous Mario Odyssey was so well-regarded is that its primary platforming mechanics are gorgeously intuitive and versatile. Bananza is not any completely different.
The straightforward act of transferring from place to put as DK is a good time in and of itself. He’s received an amazing roll transfer that you need to use to choose up pace both on the bottom or within the air, and you may even punch in the midst of a roll. DK also can climb most vertical surfaces with no limitations, creating a number of enjoyable stage design alternatives that the sport undoubtedly takes benefit of. Animations circulate collectively superbly so nothing ever feels rigidly mechanical.
Admittedly, it takes about half an hour to get used to the way it all works. There are 4 face buttons on a Swap 2 controller, and three of them are devoted to various kinds of punches right here. It simply doesn’t management fairly like every other latest big-name platformer I’m conscious of. However when you get the cling of it, it feels unimaginable to effortlessly sure round these ranges in a approach that feels appropriately animalistic.
Sorry to Trouble You (2018).
Credit score: Nintendo
Pauline isn’t only a beauty associate for Donkey Kong, although, as her singing talents enable for using Bananza kinds. These rework Donkey Kong into completely different animals (resembling a swole zebra or a beefy ostrich) with completely different use circumstances. The Zebra can run actually quick, making it excellent for crossing platforms that crumble beneath your ft, whereas the ostrich can glide over massive gaps. You’ll be able to even swap between kinds on the fly for enjoyable platforming combo alternatives.
Bananza kinds add a variety of nice selection to Bananza’s moment-to-moment motion, however I want I may say the identical for the sport’s improve system. There’s a really primary talent tree right here that features passive upgrades for DK and his varied Bananza kinds, in addition to some very helpful talents you’ll be able to solely unlock there. You unlock talent factors by amassing Banandium Gems, which is admittedly a wise technique to incentivize thorough exploration.
Nonetheless, one thing about this simply didn’t sit fairly proper with me. It feels somewhat tacked on, and most of the upgrades really feel like issues it is best to simply have entry to by default. Bananza kinds particularly really feel underpowered when first unlocked, which is a bizarre and disappointing dynamic for a 3D platformer. I don’t suppose the presence of the talent tree or its shortcomings will likely be sufficient to considerably hinder anybody’s enjoyment of Bananza, however I can also’t think about it being anybody’s favourite a part of the sport, both.
Bananza one-ups Mario Odyssey in a single key space
Hey, I do know that man!
Credit score: Nintendo
I beloved Mario Odyssey, however I had (and proceed to have) a significant hang-up with it: The pacing is nuts. Mario’s first journey via a lot of the recreation’s ranges is mostly linear and somewhat rushed, with the expectation that you simply’ll return and clear them out later after you’ve left for the following story beat. It created an odd feeling of being pushed via the sport quicker than I’d have preferred.
Bonanza isn’t a considerably longer recreation by any stretch of the creativeness, clocking in at 13 hours earlier than I noticed the top credit in my playthrough. However it feels rather more satisfying to me as a result of, for essentially the most half, you’ll be able to see all of a given stage the primary time you go there. There’s a linear essential path via all of them, however there are additionally tons of enjoyable facet actions to do and (virtually) nothing feels prefer it’s off-limits or being held again for an endgame collectible hunt.
Consequently, I felt far more fulfilled after I noticed these finish credit, though I knew I’d proceed taking part in the sport as a result of I’ve a illness that may solely be cured by amassing shiny issues in 3D platformers. I’ll want extra time to ruminate on whether or not or not I believe Bananza is a greater recreation general than Odyssey, however on this regard, it actually is.
I also needs to observe earlier than we’re completed right here that Bananza does have yet one more tiny little drawback: efficiency. For essentially the most half, the sport runs at a virtually locked 60 frames per second, however there are occasional bits of slowdown. In my expertise, virtually all of those occurred throughout moments after I did not even have management over DK, like throughout quick transitional cutscenes. It does rear its head throughout some extra intense gameplay sequences, although general, I did not discover it horribly distracting at any level.
Is Donkey Kong Bananza price it?
There’s a lot I haven’t even gotten to, such because the excellent soundtrack (Pauline’s vocal themes particularly are killer) or the abundance of extremely enjoyable one-off problem ranges that you’ll find scattered round every world. Actually, I’d somewhat you all expertise these issues for yourselves as a result of I believe Bananza is totally a worthwhile funding for any Swap 2 proprietor. You possible already knew that and didn’t want me to inform you.
It’s not solely the primary good 3D platformer starring Donkey Kong, it’s only a rattling good one in its personal proper due to a singular set of mechanics that make it extra about punching than leaping. Mix that with intelligent stage design and a splendidly charming pair of heroes on the heart of the story, and also you get the Swap 2’s first stone-cold banger.
