We didn’t get a shiny new Mario platformer with the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, but having spent a few hours punching my way through rocks in Donkey Kong Bananza, I’m now convinced that Nintendo has given us something much better. The plumber is out. The big monkey is in. Bananza is the Switch 2’s killer game.
Only the second 3D platformer in the series – it’s somehow been 26 years since Donkey Kong 64 – Donkey Kong Bananza sees the newly cartoonified ape wreaking merry havoc across a series of mostly destructible levels in search of golden bananas. It’s part Minecraft, given your ability to burrow through the terrain at will, and part Super Mario Odyssey, with its puzzle-based objectives, special challenges, beautiful environments and hidden collectables.
