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Donkey Kong Bananza Announced for Switch 2

by John Rairdin - April 2, 2025, 10:40 am EDT
Total comments: 7 Source: Nintendo Direct

A brand new DK in a brand new 3D platformer.

Closing out today's Switch 2 Nintendo Direct was the reveal of the long rumored Donkey Kong 3D platformer. Officially revealed as Donkey Kong Bananza, the new game stars a redesigned Donkey Kong similar in appearence to the design seen in Mario Kart World and the Super Mario Bros. Movie. Though he's also wearing pants this time around.

The game places a focus on climing and bashing yoru way through a large environment. The world appears to be voxel-based with Donkey Kong able to smash his way through it, digging holes and tearing up pieces to use as weapons.

Donkey Kong Bananza is planned for release on July 17th, a little over a month after the release of the Switch 2.

Talkback

CaterkillerMatthew Osborne, Contributing WriterApril 02, 2025

Not my vision but I do like what I see. Another 3D character action game by Nintendo is always a good thing. Hopefully we see a few classic characters in there. If this does well I imagine this is what we can expect from DK going forward. This is the Mario Galaxy/Jungle Beat team through and through.

I hope we see Diddy, Dixie and Cranky in here but at the moment it's not looking likely at all. However we've seen so little so who knows? My real question is that if those characters do get to be playable in a game like this, do their character designs lend themselves to this smash and bash gameplay?

Diddy and Dixie are far smaller than DK with much smaller arms. It is probably a nothing issue as Diddy's Pop Guns and Dixie's hair provide the necessary destructive muscle in Retro's titles. Still I can't help but wonder if their character designs wouldn't fit to well with this gameplay.

Maybe the Treehouse will give us answers.

CaterkillerMatthew Osborne, Contributing WriterApril 02, 2025

Huh... Now that I think about it, King K Rool's body type would fit with this gameplay pretty well. But no way.

Or way?

Luigi DudeApril 02, 2025

Wow the rumors from years ago was true after all.  It literally said Nintendo wants Donkey Kong to be a bigger series again and a new game was being made by it's internal Japanese studios, and it was heavily hinted at being Tokyo EAD who was doing it.

Damn, this game just looks incredible.  Can't wait to see the kind of things Toyko EAD is able since this isn't a Mario game and I'm sure they have a lot of idea's over the years of things they weren't allowed to put in a Mario game, but now can go wild with.  Just looking at how frantic and crazy the action is, shows they were having a blast with the development of this game.  You can see that Jungle Beat energy of anything goes in this, except now in a 3D environment with more time and budget devoted to it.

steveyApril 03, 2025

The rock and gem motifs gives me a Goron game vibes more than DK.

CaterkillerMatthew Osborne, Contributing WriterApril 06, 2025

The more I look at this game the more infatuated I become. DK is my boy! I love love love Donkey Kong! When I first witnessed the commercial for Donkey Kong Country in the 2nd grade I made it my mission to be able to comfortably run on my hands and feet like an ape. By the end of high school I looked quite the fool but I looked totally at home in Kongo Jungle.

I can see a little bit from every Donkey Kong here. Some of the arcade, some of Rare's Country, DK64, Jungle Beat and Retro's Country. It's a wonderful amalgamation for what came before.

During my 200% run of Returns HD, I would begin to really analyze every single level. Retro made a real working world. There is so much logic and reason behind nearly every platform and peace of terrain. Floating barrels aside, there was a logical "realism" to nearly every set piece.

After a while I began to ask myself, how does this island sustain itself? Everywhere Donkey Kong goes, the place is left in absolute shambles. I can't imagine EAD took inspiration from Retro's bombastic set pieces but there really is a nice bit of cohesion between Retro's 2D games and this 3D game. Darn near everything is reduced to rubble in Donkey Kong's wake.

KhushrenadaApril 11, 2025

Honestly, it's been awhile since a game trailer made me smile so much and laugh a bit while watching it. Before the title reveal, I felt the game should be called Donkey Kong: Force of Destruction based on what was being shown. I'll admit that I'm still thrown off by the new DK look and, with all the different enemies and art style, part of me wonders if this could have been a new franchise instead but I can get over that from how wild this game looks to be with almost everything seemingly destructible. I was just sort of expecting the usual for Mario Kart but it also blew me away by taking it into an open world style format. With that and DK, Switch 2 looks to already have some bangers. And it feels like Nintendo is still keeping some games under wraps because they've got to have more Switch 2 games for the latter half of the year than just Switch 1 game add-ons. Curious to see what they might have that could top DK for the holiday season when it looks this good.

CaterkillerMatthew Osborne, Contributing WriterYesterday at 01:47 pm

I saw someone playing this and DK's movement options look so fun! The trailer didn't really convey exactly what I saw recently at one of the Nintendo events. Maybe because most of the shots showed DK smashing and bashing but I saw other footage of DK running, jumping and climbing in long strides along with his smashing abilities. It looks so good!

There are other classic characters here too. Cranky and Rambi are confirmed. Naughty's are referenced as fossils and I believe Professor Chops as well. Not to mention the Crocoid skeletons look straight up like DK64 Kremlings in skeletal form. There is a lot of neat little nods that point to even more classic characters appearing including Expresso and K Rool and I just can't wait!

Man I hope Diddy and Dixie can be apart of this gameplay! Dixie is generally viewed as having more raw strength than Diddy because of that amazing hair so I could see this gameplay justified with her in it. Diddy might be a little harder to justify but he's always been strong but just not as strong! Ripping smaller chunks from walls and maybe takes a few more hits to smash things might be all that's needed. 

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