Nintendo dropped their latest blockbuster on July 17, 2025. Donkey Kong Bananza brings the famous ape back to 3D platforming for the first time since 1999’s Donkey Kong 64. It’s Nintendo’s first internally developed Donkey Kong game since 2004, with the Super Mario Odyssey team handling development.
The game throws you into an underground world where everything can be smashed. You play as Donkey Kong, who teams up with a young Pauline to hunt down stolen banana-shaped diamonds called Banandium Gems from villainous apes.
Punch Through Everything
Bananza’s voxel-based terrain lets you rip chunks from walls, stack soft ground to create paths, or dig underground tunnels to hidden areas. Development started on the original Switch but moved to Switch 2 around 2021—the newer hardware enables 60fps performance and massive destructible environments that would have crashed the original console.
You collect Banandium Gems through story progression and exploration, plus Banandium Chips (tradeable for gems), fossils (for outfit customization), balloons (bottomless pit rescue), and music tracks. A skill tree lets you upgrade Donkey Kong’s abilities, addressing the franchise’s notorious difficulty that alienated casual players. Giant eels called Eelavators provide fast travel between underground layers.
Each themed layer (ice, lava, tropical) has an animal Elder teaching transformation powers. Zebra form increases speed, ostrich form enables gliding and egg bombs, fueled by collected gold currency. Pauline starts as mysterious talking rock “Odd Rock” before revealing her identity. She activates transformations through singing and shoots explosive projectiles in GameShare co-op mode across Switch 2 consoles.
The Switch 2’s mouse controls enabled DK Artist mode for carving sculptures, while Amiibo support adds explosive gold tiles and traversal spheres.
Underground Drama and Character Chaos
The plot kicks off on Ingot Isle during a gold rush. VoidCo., led by Void Kong, steals Banandium Gems to power their meteor ship and drives the island underground. Donkey Kong gets swept down and begins his recovery quest, eventually discovering the real villain: King K. Rool, imprisoned at the planet’s core disguised as the powerful Banandium Root.
After defeating K. Rool, the adventure moves to New Donk City for climactic battles. Three months later, Donkey Kong returns to help Pauline prepare for a concert, venturing underground again to work with Elders on her new song.
Nintendo completely redesigned Donkey Kong, ending decades of Kevin Bayliss’s Donkey Kong Country design. The new look combines Miyamoto’s 1981 expressiveness with Country’s adventurous feel, emphasizing facial expressions and adding overalls. This design debuted in The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) before Bananza.
Character selection sparked internal debates. Cranky Kong earned inclusion because producer Kenta Motokura enjoys the character, while Diddy Kong got demoted to a cameo. Supporting cast includes Dixie Kong and Rambi as NPCs offering advice and gems.
Why This Game Matters
This represents Nintendo positioning Donkey Kong as a major franchise again after an 11-year gap since Tropical Freeze. The game launched exclusively on Switch 2, making it a key console title that balances nostalgia with innovation—reviving side-scrolling sections and minecarts while introducing genuine environmental destruction mechanics.
The co-op focus reflects industry trends toward inclusive gaming. Instead of maintaining punishing difficulty, Nintendo added skill trees, easier modes, and cooperative features to welcome players who found previous entries too challenging.
Critics called it both a spiritual successor to Odyssey and proof that Nintendo can reinvent classic franchises for modern audiences while respecting their origins.