I will be the first one to admit I was bummed out with the initial reveal of the Nintendo Switch 2, as well as its launch lineup. Ever since grabbing a portable gaming PC, the entire concept of “big budgeted AAA gaming on the go” had lost its novelty. It’s still very much appealing, of course, but when you have access to a Steam library on-the-go, a launch lineup plastered with third party ports and just, like, two new Nintendo games wasn’t delivering the best of first impressions. Sure, Mario Kart World is nice and all, but I’d argue that the game isn’t exactly a killer app, a system seller. I was convinced otherwise after Nintendo decided to make an entire Direct dedicated to Donkey Kong Bananza.

That was the moment I felt like I should invest right away on a Switch 2. A big, pretty, impressive 3D platformer, featuring everything I wanted from Nintendo at this exact moment: a showcase of the system’s new capabilities, a big adventure I can spend a literal hundred hours into, an easy-to-pick-up experience, and most importantly, a breath of fresh air when compared to the overly realistic and soulless AAA games we’ve been seeing these past months. I guess MindsEye had left a scar on me after all. So, did all this hype pay off? Is Donkey Kong Bananza the system’s first true killer app, and the reason for you to pick up a Switch 2? Let’s find out below.

They made him a lot dumber, but for the first time since the 90’s animated series, Donkey Kong has a personality.

If you’re thinking that Donkey Kong Bananza is either a continuation of the Donkey Kong Country formula, or even a spiritual sequel to Super Mario Odyssey (given how it was developed by the same team), you’re wrong on both accounts. Regarding the former, this feels almost like a reboot of the Donkey Kong franchise as a whole. There are no Kremlings to be seen, DK himself has been redesigned, and the gameplay is more focused on exploration, but I’m going to talk more about it further down in this review. Regarding the latter, even though Bananza is, by and large, a collectathon, it doesn’t exactly follow Odyssey‘s crazy levels of collectability and puzzle-solving.

It’s not fully linear, either. It’s almost like an in-between. Donkey Kong Bananza lets you freely explore some semi-open levels full of macguffins and additional collectibles, and you can hop between worlds at will, but the game feels less collection-centric, and more… objective-centric? I am asking myself at the moment if this is the best way to describe it, and I honestly cannot think of a better word for it. In essence, whenever you arrive at a new world, you can collect Banana Gems (this game’s Golden Bananas / Stars / Moons / essential macguffins), but they almost feel like optional side content. The main goal in each level is to find its exit, which will lead you to the next world. In order to do so, you will need to complete a set of objectives.

Transform into a Super Saiyan gorilla if you’re feeling like breaking more stuff than Fred Durst in 1999.

These linear objectives are almost always tied to the game’s main plot, which is all about DK (and Pauline, inexplicably a 13 year old girl in this game) attempting to reach the deep core of the planet, where they can have a wish granted. They are also attempting to save the world from Void Co., a maleficent ultra-industrial corporation led by the wicked baboon-like thing Void Kong. Void basically wreaks havoc in each world you visit, so it’s up to you to solve their issues, almost always culminating in a simple boss fight right before the hole that leads you to the next level.

Granted, you are not here because of a plot, so whatever nonsense was happening onscreen wasn’t exactly an issue to me. Yeah, sure, Pauline being a kid in this game, whilst Cranky Kong (also known as the original Donkey Kong which kidnapped the original Pauline back in 1981) making in-game appearances, makes no freaking sense, but for real… who cares. This is a game where layers inside the Earth’s crust have skylines, ostriches fly, Donkey Kong eats banana-shaped jewels for sustenance, 15 foot tall DJs grant you special abilities, and you can literally destroy an entire level with your bare hands if you can be bothered to do so. You’re here because Bananza is bananas.

Gigantic levels for you to explore… and demolish.

Undoubtedly, the main highlight in Donkey Kong Bananza is its voxel-based level system. Thanks to the additional horsepower provided by the Switch 2’s hardware, Nintendo was able to create gorgeous levels that can be completely destroyed with DK’s hands. Destroying the floor and walls around is essential, as many of the game’s collectibles are well-hidden inside of a mountain, or underneath piles of dirt. Even if Banana Gems aren’t mandatory collectibles for you to access new levels, you want to find as many as you can, as you can get a Skill Point for every five you eat. You can spend these Points in a small, but really effective Skill Tree that grants you many abilities, such as increased health, new mechanics, or the ability to destroy even sturdier materials throughout the levels.

Granted, you cannot LITERALLY destroy each world to smithereens, but you can get pretty close. The “chassis” of the level, comprised of metal flooring and some walls, are permanent. Everything else is good to go if you can be bothered to do so. You can unveil so much crap by demolishing a level, such as gold, fossils (they are a side currency), and treasure maps. In fact, Bananza is a nightmare for those with OCD, as you WILL feel compelled to demolish an entire level in order to get as much gold and collectibles as possible. Nintendo was able to make the sole act of collecting money irresistible. You feel compelled to punch everything in sight, just for the sake of it. It’s almost like they have found a way to reduce your brain to monkey levels of ignorance without you ever wanting to complain about it.

Dude… how are you able to eat those things? They’re minerals.

Don’t worry, not all Banana Gems are hidden inside a level’s voxel-like geometry. There are small mini-stages inside each level, which act like a mixture between a Breath of the Wild-esque Shrine and a traditional “point A to point B” level from a Donkey Kong Country game. Hell, there’s even some 2D levels that actually play just like old-school Donkey Kong Country. Some small battle arenas, reminiscent of the ones from Donkey Kong 64, are also featured, providing the game the right amount of variety to never make you feel bored whenever you visit a new level. There will alway be the right balance between simple combat, puzzle-solving, thorough exploration, bouts of nostalgia, and of course, mindless-but-cathartic bashing.

Remember when I mentioned gigantic DJs? Well, some levels feature immense Elder beings, who just so happen to be part-time DJs, who can grant you special transformation abilities. By combining Pauline’s singing skills with DK’s, uh, physiology, you can transform into a Super Saiyan-esque gorilla, a zebra, a flying ostrich (go figure), and much more. These transformations are brief, but they add that right amount of variety to make level traversing a bit more interesting. It also helps that the songs played whilst you’re transformed are easily the game’s highlights.

Of course there’s some nostalgic fanservice, but it’s actually more subtle than I was expecting.

So, what we have here is pure, utter madness. Ginormous levels with a crapton of collectibles to amass, pretty graphics showcasing what the Switch 2 is actually capable of, different transformations that are baffling but hilarious, an actual sculpting minigame that takes advantage of the new Joycon’s mouse features… the list goes on. But here comes the question: is Bananza perfect? The answer, sadly, is no. But it’s damn close. There’s nothing in this game that feels like a dealbreaker, so the following sentences will just be covered with small nitpicks because I guess I have to be one of those guys every now and then…

There’s the minute stuff, such as Pauline never shutting the hell up throughout the entire game (she acts as the voice Donkey Kong doesn’t have), the occasional camera hiccup, or the fact the soundtrack, whilst still pretty good, is just not as memorable as the ones seen in either more recent Nintendo games, or the Donkey Kong Country franchise in general. To be fair, most of my favorite tunes in Bananza, aside from the aforementioned transformation bangers, were recreations or rearrangements of older, more classic tunes from the franchsie’s history. What would be considered the biggest issue in the game as a whole is a noticeably inconsistent framerate… kinda.

Old monkey yells at cloud…

Yes, framerate drops are actually constant, but there’s a couple of catches. First of all, they are stupidly brief, in a borderline “blink-and-you’ll-miss” kind of way. Second of all, they never actually happen during crucial gameplay moments. You will either notice a more severe (but again, brief and harmless) framerate drop at the end of a cutscene, or when you go full apes*** on the physics engine and try to mutilate the Switch 2’s hardware with pure mayhem. You’ll notice less severe frame drops when you pick an explosive item, and use it on top of ANOTHER explosive item. That will result on a gigantic chunk of the level being demolished, thus, as a result, a brief framerate drop as the cost for such spectacle. As for the rest, Donkey Kong Bananza runs incredibly well, and looks gorgeous.

It wouldn’t be a Donkey Kong game without one or two minecart sections!

And there ya have it. Don’t ask me to compare Donkey Kong Bananza to Super Mario Odyssey, as I honestly think they are completely different beasts. If you want to ask me if this is the first true reason to own a Switch 2, then my answer is a resounding yes. This is the first game that made me cherish the brand new system as more than just a phone-esque upgrade. It’s the kind of game that showcases a system’s capabilities, and a company’s creative prowess still going strong after all these years. Not everything sticks the landing, but the pros overwhelmingly outweigh the cons, and that’s what really matters. Bananza is bananas, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Donkey Kong Bananza is available now on Switch 2.

Reviewed on Switch 2.