Donkey Kong Bananza Review: Smash First, Ask the Island Later

Donkey Kong used to be a barrel and a tie. Donkey Kong Bananza treats him like a geological event. Nintendo's Switch 2 3D platformer is a demolition sandbox with a surprising amount of affection underneath the rubble, and it is the first new Kong in years that does not feel like a cameo in someone else's game.

I played docked, then handheld on a Brisbane-to-Sydney flight that should have been email. The battery survived. The seatback in front of me did not deserve the grin.

Smash as the verb

The fantasy is simple: if you can see it, you can probably punch it. Terrain is a resource. Shortcuts are invented, not found. That could have been a gimmick that died in the first world. Bananza keeps finding new sentences for the same verb — ice, ore, song, transformation — without turning every room into a quarry.

Pauline is the unexpected load-bearing wall. She is not a hat. She is a partner, a voice, and the reason the story has a pulse instead of a banana counter. I came for the smash. I stayed because the pair of them are funny in a way modern Nintendo sometimes forgets to be.

Platforming, not just dirt

When Bananza is only a destruction toy, it is merely good. When it asks you to route a smash — to think like a speedrunner for ten seconds — it becomes excellent. Challenge rooms are where the design shows its homework. Bosses are spectacle first; a few of them fold too quickly once you are powered up.

Collectibles are plentiful in the Odyssey tradition. That will delight completionists and exhaust anyone who just wanted a clean 15-hour story. I am in the middle: I hunted more than I planned, then stopped when the island started repeating its jokes.

The Switch 2 question

This is a showcase title. Handheld holds the look. Docked lets the dirt fly. Occasional frame dips happen when you delete half a hillside, which is both a technical note and a compliment. If you bought a Switch 2 for Mario Kart World, Bananza is the reason to keep the dock warm on a weeknight.

Coverage lives on the Donkey Kong Bananza hub. For the console around it, see the Switch 2 hub and our Mario Kart World review.

Consensus, credited

According to IGN's Logan Plant, Bananza is "Nintendo's first Switch 2 masterpiece," scored 10/10. I am not that high. The smash fantasy is brilliant; a handful of late layers and easy bosses keep it out of our 9.5+ band. We are still in the same "you should play this" postcode.

In Australia, Press-Start filed Bananza as groundbreaking — literally, given the dirt. We cite the outlet, not a guessed byline, and we wrote our own playthrough.

Australia: should you buy it?

Full Nintendo AU price. Shop physical if you can wait a week for EB / JB to blink. Digital if you need it on the plane tomorrow. Skip it only if 3D collectathons make you tired; Bananza will not pretend to be a tight 8-hour arcade game.

If you have the hardware and you miss the feeling of Odyssey inventing a toy every 20 minutes, this is the one.

Score: 8.9 / 10.