Donkey Kong Banaza was an out-of-left field announcement that came along with the Switch 2 reveal. It was the first 3d Donkey Kong game since Donkey Kong 64 and was quite unexpected. It was also developed by the same overall team that did Super Mario Odyssey, although not actually named until much later, which was also a little surprising given that it had left Retro’s stewardship but also understandable because they also had been in development on Metroid Prime 4. In part of the leadup they shared that it was born of a demo using destructible voxel terrain in the Mario Odyssey engine and they later added Donkey Kong because destruction suits his powerful character. It was also moved from Switch to Switch 2 to take advantage of the new hardware and became a launch window title.
The game they came up with if very far removed from other games in the series. Donkey Kong’s main point of interaction is punching which seems to be how Nintendo Japan viewed his abilities versus the jumping and bouncing of Donkey Kong Country. This translates into destroying an environment, pretty much anything in the environment down to boring holes into the earth. While this isn’t and wasn’t a new idea translating it to an action game was very novel as for the most part those systems work better for slower games that rely on construction mechanics. Bananza instead has you punch holes in things without much care for the end result, as long as you can accomplish you’re goal it’s encouraged.
The way they approach this is via different terrain which have different strengths and abilities. Concrete cannot be punched through by DK alone but in Banaza form or using other materials you can blast through it. Lava will hurt you but can be removed or cooled with water. Softer materials like mud don’t break into pieces but stuck to other things etc. There just enough of these that the player can keep in their head how to use them but they are strategically placed to maximize usage. However you rarely forced into doing something in a specific way, there are almost always alternate answers. In practice you never need to actually do much digging, which might be your first impulse. It doesn’t reward that, but you will find odd walls or little paths guiding you to treasure. But if you don’t quite see the paved path you are still free to punch through the earth to get it if you know it’s there.
In other cases they put you into special stages where the parameters are much more controlled and force you to explore your abilities or puzzle solve. While the main areas have a very low difficulty level because they can be approached in many ways at any pace these offer a little more challenging environment even though in modern Nintendo fashion they don’t get truly difficult until the end game.
There are a number of mechanics, most of which are based on utilizing different terrain or understanding which are best suited to a purpose but DK also has quite a few moves himself. In addition to multidirectional punching, he can tear chunks out of the level and throw them, surf on them or use them to double jump. These are further augmented by Banaza forms where he turns into various animals and gets an entirely new set of skills. These are usually the basis of the best levels, trying to figure out how best to utilize what you have. However it’s also the most frustrating because the controls do get complex and there is significant functional overlap in the buttons, particularly the shoulder buttons. Often times I rolled instead of grabbed or had some issues with the zip lines or couldn’t glare and charge the snake jump at the same time. It’s not usually a problem given the average difficulty but when pressured it feels very frustrating.
The game itself it wrapped in a very lovely world. Everything looks nice and feels good and there’s a real sense of character. DK has undergone a transformation to be more expressive and kinda stupid but it works. He’s offset by Pauline as a 12 year old who is voiced and provides commentary on the things you see. A small but nice feature is when you reach a new hideout, before you go to sleep you can hear her talk about something on her mind adding a little bit of character development. It doesn’t matter if you hear it or not but I find I always listened to those little sequences because they were heartwarming. The animal elders that you get the Banaza forms are also a highlight. They all have parts that are composed of bananas but they are old a browning bananas to indicate that they are old. Very cohesive design. They only thing I didn’t care for where the enemies which feel kinda generic and there’s a limited number but because many are augmented with different materials they wind up doing a lot with only a few varieties.
The other things that most stands out is the ending. It really does go in an interesting direction that’s quite unexpected and I agree with most that it’s really cool. The game offers a bit of post game as well and I really wish there was more of it. This is where the designers really get to flex and make challenges that are actually hard. If there’s ever DLC I wish is was closer to that because it was both frustrating and rewarding in equal measure.
I think this was the Switch 2 launch game. It’s different and it’s really good.
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