‘Donkey Kong Bananza’ is a technical dream, full of fever dream

I have played a good amount Donkey Kong Bananza In switch 2; And I’m stuck in wondering why Defunct Studio Midway never developed a right Run 3D Platformer-The All-You-Can-Destroy formula just works in this genre and works incredibly, ridiculously well.

But all these years later, Nintendo finally hit his medium, and to be honest, Dkb It’s probably my favorite game of 2025, with your hands-below. Granted, I haven’t played Garfield Kart 2 Quite, so maybe my perspective will change. You never know.

Of course, when I first started BananaI was a bit overwhelmed, I didn’t expect at all. Neuronal saturation is not due to the idea that the music of the 80s in the first region, Ingot Isle, sounded suspiciously like a new class Blue Monday (I do it completely and I do not complain), but because the game was an immediate explosion of relentless interactivity and aggressive visual stimulation.

A kind of Technicolor Arcade starring everyone’s favorite digital gorilla if you want. Or an ODE with dopamine in corrient parks and entertainment. Perhaps it is the video game equivalent to this fourth degree of Halloween parties you watched in 1994 served Cupcakes Bat and oily pizza and had the monster mash playing strong, loud. Overdose of sugar. Mostly, it was Pinocchio’s pleasure island. Fun, but a lot to get in.

Each area in Banana is largely and forcedly destructive, which is a nice nod for 2001 Red faction Or, of course, the aforementioned classic arcade Run. The environments exist exclusively to be hit, hit and collapse; so My first general impression of this new SWITCH 2 offer of first part was: What happens here, where do I go and what is my goal?

Walls, floors and ceilings are not rigid, persistent boundaries in Donkey Kong Bananza; They are open invitations for seemingly endless exploration. The huge freedom offered called in mind a particular commercial for the 90s Super Mario 64Where the radical narrator promised observers you could go wherever you want to go, do whatever you want to do. And to some extent, this has been shown to apply to the relatively graphical and classic N64 launch game. Although in the past, Super Mario 64 provided that there is nothing like the one that appears here Banana.

Donkey Kong Bananza It feels very much like a trip to Disneyland: Tons to see, tons of making tons of souvenirs to collect. The way your game leads from one collectible to another is pure addictive brilliance. Never feel like you are completely finished with a particular area. There is plenty of gold to concentrate, mini-possessions to complete, bananas and fossils to find, upgrade the trees to complete a fun but basic story to move on. There is a touch Ratchet & Clank And in the mixture, I’ll add.

I think the actor shouting Pauline in Dkb He has done a fantastic job, by the way, and it is fun to hear this character exploration in the humorous pillow speech departments that play when Donkey Kong rests on the various getaways you can build on maps. I really love the characters Banana Generally, because NPCs have a very rare quality for them, and there are even many beautiful nods in Super Nintendo’s Donkey country kong That I won’t spoil you here. They really made me smile, though, because DKC He holds a special place in my heart.

Controls are beyond Sublime in Donkey Kong BananzaAnd they ask you to continue to get involved. Play sense betrays the excellent growth team Super Mario Odyssey genealogy. This is what I said, I have reached until I say that Banana plays a remarkable grade better than OdysseyAnd I really love Odyssey. THE Odyssey DNA also appears in all the clothes you can buy for DK and Pauline, as well as Donkey Kong’s wild transformation skills. Ostrich form for victory.

The only real complaints with which I have Donkey Kong Bananza So far it is the occasional fall (especially when you use the large 3D map, the design of which I really dig, plus when there is a lot that happens on the screen) and the inkling that the game is very easy. Apart from that, this is undoubtedly my game of the year. It is a masterpiece that is an absolute pleasure to experience and I never want to stop exploring its colorful world.

Now, if you forgive me, I have more fossils and bananas to find out.

Revelation: Nintendo provided a review code for coverage purposes.