Why is Donkey Kong Bananza so good?
Donkey Kong is not Donkey Kong
I’m going to start with a confession: I do not care for Donkey Kong. He seems like a nice enough guy! But, overall, Donkey Kong’s oeuvre has never been my favorite. The Donkey Kong Country games are great, but it always felt like the physics of those adventures was just “off” enough to not hit the contemporary highs of Sonic or Mario. And Rare peaked too early! Donkey Kong Country 3 versus Sonic the Hedgehog 3 & Knuckles is a fight between a mighty gorilla and a helpless road urchin (DK is not the gorilla this time). The N64 outings were “what if we made that same good game but bigger” without understanding how bigger would be better: Diddy Kong Racing is Mario Kart with a wasteful open world level structure (which would never work), and Donkey Kong 64 is Mario 64 with clunky character switching. Donkey Kong Country Returns and Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze were both returns to the classic 2-D of the 16-bit Donkey Kong titles, but they similarly lacked the precision of great platformers (and something about dying 10,000 times in an exploding barrel rocket does detract from the proceedings). In thinking about decades of games where you can play as a Kong, the only game that I really remember loving was Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, and that was predominantly because it is fun to play drums. Unfortunately, the fact that that escapade was depressingly short did not help DK’s popularity.
(And we are not going to even acknowledge the portable offerings.)
So, despite being a Nintendo staple that once defined gaming as whole, Donkey Kong the character has always been a misfire. He is either a villain, or rolling around some collectathon that is “what if a great platformer was just good”. Kirby gets spin-off titles that are new, exciting, and may contain golf, Donkey Kong gets to sit around and wait for the gorilla to spin into place.
But Donkey Kong Bananza turns this primate around.
It is not just the visual redesign: this Donkey Kong is a whole new animal. We have DK’s usual ground slaps and rolling. We have barrel tossing. We even have that “coyote time” rolling air jump. And past that, we have Donkey Kong’s newest ability: punching the banana pulp out of goddamned everything. You have 
one button for jump, and then three assigned to punch, punch-down, and punch-up. Punching is the name of the game! And, give or take a Smash Bros., this is almost wholly new for the big guy. Jungle Beat had some boss battle beatings, but Donkey Kong has been a “hop on top” style fighter since he stopped menacing that plumber. Punching through damn near everything is brand new gameplay!
And he’s got a buddy, too! Donkey Kong now has Pauline as his constant cohort. While this is another obvious example of Dad Gaming (you must rescue and/or protect a young lady that exists primarily to point out health restoratives) this does immensely alter Donkey Kong’s standing in the universe. Donkey Kong’s adventures have always been based on DK maintaining his vast (banana-based) wealth. Donkey Kong himself is looking for (potassium-rich) currency and power at the start of this adventure, and his greatest goal is infinite (yellow, ape-pealing) treasure. He is a greedy animal! But there is also now a preteen moppet to rescue on multiple occasions, and the incidental goal of helping her singing career through ape fights. Pauline, for the first time in the Mario/DK franchise, has an achievable goal with a recognizable arc of evolution. And that’s relatable! Donkey Kong is not just Wario looking for more coins, he is now fighting for the next generation of starlets! And messing up the timeline something fierce!
Also, Donkey Kong wears pants now. That’s new.
So we have a whole new, fun, and marginally relatable Donkey Kong. But his world does seem familiar…
Donkey Kong is Mario?
Donkey Kong Bananza was developed by the same team responsible for Super Mario Odyssey. And it shows! It has been nearly a decade since that release, but playing through DKB will immediately make any seasoned Nintendo veteran experience flashbacks to Mario’s last big adventure. You are venturing through a “world” with the same basic beats of every level having a distinct culture/gimmick, and gradually increasing the complexity of everything along the way. Stages often feature distinct “town”, “exploration”, and “this is a videogame, jump over weird stuff” areas. Bosses are randomly distributed, and while a “big boss” topper is common, it is equally likely you will encounter some new random battle a meager third of the way through a location. Toss in chance power moons/bananas scattered about, and the Super Mario Odyssey vibes will knock your hat off.
And it is not just about gameplay quirks. A jungle filled with a poisonous, purple liquid has been a Mario staple across games, but stopping a blizzard in the ice world feels extremely familiar to one specific peregrination. You have your “pitstop” areas that are distinguished between the more robust worlds where, say, a local piece of fauna has been corrupted to be a recurring opponent. And, oh yeah, there is that whole “food kingdom right at the end” where you are hopping away around unusually lava-like food juices. It is something so maddeningly specific (and not lampshaded in any way) that you would almost think “food world at the end of the game” was some kind of trope. It is not! It is just something the exact same team did a few years back in the exact same type of game!
Why take nearly a decade to make an extremely similar game all over again? Well, for the simple reason that this is not the same type of game. Donkey Kong Bananza is different because…
Donkey Kong is Punching
So the other big Donkey Kong change is that Donkey Kong can now… change. No longer content to be a mere gorilla, Donkey Kong can become a snake, elephant, ostrich, zebra, and… Well, a gorilla again, but bigger. We are back to bigger is better! Every transformation has some unique and interesting powers, but they are all effectively obvious powerups to Donkey Kong’s existing moveset. Big Monkey increases punch power. Elephant is “long distance” punches. Zebra is all about speed. Snake lets you jump higher vertically, and Ostrich lets you jump further horizontally. Use all your transformation skills to overcome challenges, and you will find all those nanners in no time. And, while many of these transformations are introduced as keys to progress locks, most of the hidden treasures around this journey to the center of the Earth are not 100% dependent on particular transformations. If you are trying to reunite fractone pieces, or digging out buried bananas, turning into another species is rarely required. Transformations can help, but they are not the only answer.
And you know what is the least helpful transformation for finding riches? The goddamned Ostrich.
Yes, your mileage may vary. There are reports from people that love our feathered friend. But that bird craps out more than eggs when trying to find a purpose. For all the moons, stars, and shines that 
were always just out of jumping distance for Jump Man, Donkey Kong’s shining bananas are not similarly hidden. In fact, DK’s other big collectible, the humble fossil, lives encrusted in rock as a matter of course. It is not impossible to find a fossil that is on some far-off location, but that buried treasure is usually, ya know, buried. So you may Super Gorilla to punch through to a fossilized omantye. Or maybe you will enjoy some elephun to vacuum the bedrock away. But the Ostrich? An aves without a country. Donkey Kong is going to use the auxiliary slow-time trick of the Snake a thousand times before flapping to the horizon is ever useful.
All the powers in the (under) world, and variations on “punch” work the best. Mario would never.
Even if we are just examining Default Donkey Kong, the humble punch is the answer to so much. Combat gameplay has never been Nintendo’s forte. Or, to be precise, it is rare that a Nintendo hero is known for their pugilistic skills. Link is a tactical swordfighter that uses his blade, tools, and the environment to his advantage. Kirby transforms to mimic his opponents. Samus Aran is equal parts stealth assassin and walking bazooka. Looking at the Nintendo pantheon, the only proud puncher is Little Mac, and that seems to only be by dint of it being his entire profession. And he hasn’t had a starring role in over fifteen years!
But why give a damn about Nintendo characters and their propensity to punching? Because punching is different! You are not aiming a punch, or carefully timing a punch, or trying to have the right punch in reserve for a punching situation: you are just punching. Apart from a few barbed bees, absolutely every enemy and boss is…
- How do I get close enough to this thing to punch it?
- There is a barrier to punching it. How do I destroy this barrier to punch it?
Punching is Donkey Kong’s solution to everything, so everything is punchable. And whether you are tossing stones to bring down birds, or salting an oozing barrier so you can get through, punching is your prized action. There is a reason this singular action gets three buttons!
Which brings us to the obvious conclusion. Why is Donkey Kong Bananza so good? Well, because…
Donkey Kong Bananza is Punching
Donkey Kong Bananza is all about punching. You find treasures through punching. You defeat enemies through punching. The final battle is a punching-timing-puzzle. There are a thousand other things to do in Donkey Kong Bananza (we didn’t even get to talking about throwing!), but it all comes back to DK’s fists hitting whatever is on the screen. And our hero is a dumb ape! That makes perfect sense! A game about Donkey Kong solving math equations would never work; what we always needed was the big guy throwing hands. 90% of Donkey Kong Bananza’s gameplay comes down to some variation on punching, and that is brilliant.
Donkey Kong Bananza is a gigantic game with a thousand things to do, but it all boils down to doing exactly one thing well. Punchy gameplay makes Donkey Kong Bananza a champ.
SBC #45 King K. Rool & Donkey Kong Bananza
King K. Rool in Super Smash Bros Ultimate
(Note that statements below through the end of the article may spoil events from the finale of Donkey Kong Bananza)
- He any Good? Apparently King K. Rool is ranked extremely low in proper competitive play (#78 of 82), but those same lists similarly insult the Belmonts, Little Mac, and Ganondorf. So what do they know!? Personally, I will take this heavy with his ridiculous propeller recovery any day. And he has two projectiles (that make me forget which motion activates which)! And regular belly flops! And a super belly! What’s not to like, experts?
- That final smash work? Big Laser cinema scene nonsense. If nothing else, be glad that Donkey Kong Bananza grants King K. Rool an obvious final smash for next time.
- The background work? Jungle Japes is just a really basic stage with three platforms and not much else. Going to be honest here: I kinda hate the rushing water and poor lighting. Cranky Kong should move out of that neighborhood.
- Classic Mode: Super Heavyweight Class winds up being remarkably close to Wario’s outing. Our colossal croc is fighting the big(gest) boys of Smash Bros. This is also a reminder that the majority of heavies are confirmed villains (Bowser, King Dedede, Ridley, Ganondorf) or have been generally annoying at least once in their careers (Charizard, Donkey Kong). The final boss is Super Smash Bros. Brawl antagonist Galleom the Mecha Gorilla. Looks like this is the first Galleom appearance for the SBC! Neat!
- Smash Trivia: King K. Rool uses the Home-Run bat one-handed, just like in Mario Super Sluggers. Adherence to Mario Sports titles is unusual for smash characters, but someone on the staff likely paid attention to that game from a decade prior. It was K. Rool’s final appearance before performing in Smash…
- Amiibo Corner: King K. Rool was an Ultimate inductee, so you know they were designing character select poses for the ease of amiibo production at this point. And he has one of the best amiibos out there! The scales, the shiny tummy, the pose that looks delightfully accusatory: excellent freshman modeling for a maniacal lizard.
- Does Smash Bros Remember Today’s Game? Man, we are really getting outside the possibility of games from 2025 having anything to do with something released in 2018. But I am going to go ahead and say that Donkey Kong’s punch-based moveset is more a product of Smash Bros. than any Donkey Kong game. He is slaphappy when confined to his own country. And do we think K. Rool would have returned without the Smash boost in popularity?
King K. Rool in Donkey Kong Bananza
System: Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, baby! Go ahead and justify getting that brand new console/portable with a world full of voxels.- Number of players: I have been informed by reliable sources that this is an ideal game to play with children that may or may not be your own progeny. So it is apparently two players.
- What’s in a name? Alternate title for Donkey Kong Bananza could be “Donkey Kong: No, Dig Up, Stupid”.
- Fear of Missing Out: So when I first started playing DKB, I deliberately withheld my bashing. My basic thinking was that I would inevitably be punished for breaking the wrong block or ledge, and then I would be locked out of getting to a valuable banana. It was not like I was expecting some permanent missable or something, simply that it would be annoying to know I would have to reset the stage to get the big score. And it was when I had completed about 80% of the game that I realized that literally never happens. Bashing is always the answer! You are never punished for it! And that is more or less the inspiration for these punchy conclusions.
- On the other hand: It feels bad to obliterate a Fractone. They might respawn immediately, but… Why can’t I high five them, too? And then I just turned their entire village into rubble because I was missing one fossil. Oh no! What have I done!? This monkey, this monster!
- Favorite Boss: I appreciate the gameplay loop of the big boss of the Freezer Layer, Inflammonite. A little dodging, some extra running, and toss lava hazards into the mix as things become more difficult. Inflammonite was also the first creature to appear in the post-game boss rush, and that meant I destroyed the fireball about 10,000 times on my way to figuring out Sinister Blusterwing+.
- Favorite Piece of Clothing That a Gorilla is Wearing: The Soggy Cravat is a tie that neutralizes all lava everywhere in the game. The way it neuters great swaths of some layers makes me think this was some kind of debug tool, and the designers decided to leave it in for giggles. No other pair of pants or tie even comes close to its utility. It feels like cheating! And I love cheating!
Extinction Event: Fractones transform into approximations of all the animal tribes across DK’s adventure. They also take on the forms of giraffes and lions, but those faunae are nowhere to be found. Did… uh… something happen to those guys? And then a punch of sentient rocks took over their theme park?- So, did you beat it: I found every banana, completed every challenge, and was congratulated by the elders for my good work. Oh, but I did not complete all the Rambi Races. Those are dumb.
- Downloadable Content: I can 100% say I would not have bought Donkey Kong Bananza DLC if it was just advertised as Emerald Rush. I just wanted to return to DK Island, and Emerald Rush was not even on my radar as a reason to pull the trigger. “Here’s a new dk roguelike mode” is infinitely skippable when I already have Hades. But! Turns out Donkey Kong Rogue ‘em Up is a blast. An excuse to use all the skills I ignored during the main game is a whole new way to look at all these worlds, and I am glad I gave it a shot. Also: new pants.
- Did you know? In previous games, Donkey Kong has been friends with Expresso the Ostrich, Rattly the Rattlesnake, and Ellie the Elephant. Assuming you acknowledge that DK is a Gorilla to begin with, the only Bananza transformation that does not map to an animal buddy is Zebra. At least there were a few of those in Donkey Kong Country Returns, though.
- Would I play again: I think I put more hours into this one than Super Mario Odyssey. And I would have sworn I liked Mario more than Donkey Kong! We live in strange time! Regardless, I am likely to play this some more across the lifespan of the Nintendo Switch 2, because I have found I love smashing stuff.
What’s next? Random ROB is prepared to give us spooky games all through October, so first up is… Ghosts ‘n Goblins! Gird thine boxers, and get ready for Hell! Please look forward to it!
Somebody understood the assignment