Donkey Kong Bananza Review

From humble beginnings as the nemesis of Mario in arcade classics, to starring in his own 2D side-scrolling breakout hit, to numerous spin-offs across multiple genres, such as puzzlers and rhythm-based titles, Donkey Kong has a very long-lasting legacy. Now, the team behind the inventive Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat, which used bongos on the GameCube, and more recently 2017’s masterpiece, Super Mario Odyssey, brings the legendary simian back for a 3D open-world adventure the likes of which hasn’t been witnessed since Rare graced the Nintendo 64 with its epic Donkey Kong 64. Does this banana-filled romp offer up a healthy dose of gaming nutrition, or does it slip up on a stray, discarded peel?

For anyone that has even vaguely heard of Donkey Kong, it will come as no surprise at all that he’s bananas for…bananas. When hearing of special Banandium Gems over on Ingot Island, DK hungrily treks across to find out more, only to find a nefarious leader of a company called VoidCo – the aptly named Void Kong – has fired a meteor through the land, deep into the core of the earth. Thus begins the new expansive adventure, and what a smashing one it is indeed.

Yes, smashing, since this is actually a core aspect of the gameplay mechanic, with Donkey Kong being able to slam, smash, grab, whack, launch, and bash basically anything and everything around him. Sometimes that can result in players flying off into the abyss if going nuts with the terrain destruction, other times there are metallic restrictions in place to prevent complete chaos. Whatever the case, this demolition derby is the primary focus when Bananza kicks off. Do not be fooled, though, as there is far more to this romp!

For those that loved Super Mario Odyssey – and personally having just come off the back of replaying it, complete with its Switch 2 enhancements in terms of visuals and framerate – it is clear to see that the same team has worked on Donkey Kong Bananza. Everything from the level progression and level layout to the smooth lead character control, and various little pleasing touches throughout, even to the way the Banadium Gem clusters collected after boss encounters resemble the collection of Moons that Mario grabs after key events. It all helps to give a wonderfully familiar feel to proceedings for those that were enamoured with the 2017 Switch escapade.

Control-wise, Donkey Kong actually feels smoother to control than Mario from almost a decade ago, with some of the awkward manoeuvres associated with the iconic plumber-slash-hero not linked with DK, meaning a more streamlined approach could be taken for Bananza’s protagonist. Given the land alterations that take place on each of the layers DK traverses on his way to the core of the earth to hunt down a mysterious item by the name of the Banandium Root, it means that walls, floors, ceilings, and pretty much everything around, will more likely than not lose their original formation, which would lead to a Mario-style control system not working fluidly and plenty of untimely and ultimately frustrating deaths occurring. Yes, obviously DK can still roll off into the beyond, but he also has a spidey-style nature that means he can stick to walls. Basically, since he’s so strong, the idea is that he can strongly grab surfaces and shuffle around, scaling numerous surfaces. Some ultra-smooth ones cannot be navigated, and these are used in clever ways to prevent this becoming a ‘Float through the game with Kirby’ experience.

From his barrel rolls for extra distance on jumps, to slapping the ground to create a sonar that temporarily reveals hidden objects in structures and draws items in, spin jumps, pounding the floor to burst through to hidden depths, tearing rocks up and swinging them as weapons, throwing them as vital projectiles, or even using them to surf with across otherwise treacherous underfoot conditions, everything holds together seamlessly. Sadly, the camera can suffer from time to time due to the nature of the environmental disruptions, and when too many things start being smashed to smithereens, even the framerate can take a heavy knock, but thankfully the overall experience isn’t impacted too much by such blips.

Donkey Kong Bananza is packed to the brim with challenges, secrets to uncover, intriguing exploration elements, but also plenty of nods to the heritage of the lead character, and it really shows how much dedication EPD Tokyo has poured into making this its own gripping expedition, whilst also honouring the series’ roots, all the way back to the original arcade release, through the numerous spin-offs, and even referencing cancelled projects. There is so much to discover whilst working down from Ingot Isle, further towards the central core of the earth, visiting a plethora of stage types – volcanic, seaside, wasteland, forest-filled, iced over, and others – and sub-layers within each main section. Each area contains a wealth of special tokens, buried treasure, special collectible fossils, hidden levels, extra challenges, cameo appearances, targets to hit in terms of exploration and destruction, plus so much more. Flying through the core objectives will likely not take too long at all, but that would be completely missing the point.

Slowly taking in the intricacies of each layer visited, building up Donkey Kong’s strengths in an RPG-like development fashion, unlocking various special animal abilities (extra strength, flying, super speed, vacuum-like sucking, and so on), and sampling the delicious treats mixed into the crafting of Bananza is the way to go.

As with Super Mario Odyssey, back-tracking is the name of the game further into the adventure if wanting to get the most out of the experience. Whilst not all of the animal transformations will end up being of considerable use, seeking out the elders on key stages and gaining those abilities, and then levelling them up using collected Banadium Gems is surprisingly satisfying and doesn’t slide into the problematic trend of latter-day Rare titles that became lengthy collectathons.

It just about gets the balance right between straight up 3D adventuring, level exploration, and requirements for upgrading wardrobe items (some purely for fashion, others with status buffs), unlocking new moves, improving existing moves’ strength and longevity of usage, as well as boosting health from upping the number of overall hearts as the game progresses, to also getting temporary boosts from sleeping in resting spots that can be built around the various layers. The greater the number of resting spots constructed, the larger the temporary health boost. Bananza has a lot of core elements to work through, and a carefully adjusted amount of extras that can be completed, mixed with what seem like side quests, but ultimately are requirements for eventual progression.

Music records can also be found throughout, unlocking more of the soundtrack as play goes on. Although, the fact that some of the remixed tracks from yesteryear are more memorable than the new compositions speaks volumes, unfortunately. Talking of remixing, there are some classic Donkey Kong Country stages brought back from the days of the SNES, and they are slotted in amongst various other challenge stages that are dotted around, not merely as side missions, but with key Banandium Gems found within. Taking moments out to hit these challenges can be quite the palate cleanser, especially when facing some bosses that are either too simplistic or on the other end of the scale, proving to be confusing and a touch frustrating.

Donkey Kong Bananza in its own right is a breath of fresh air, but for those coming off the back of Super Mario Odyssey, it doesn’t quite compare as favourably. Therefore, to get the most from this, it’s best to avoid drawing too many comparisons, even if there are clear links between them.