Drop into the lagoon in Donkey Kong Bananza. Sure, you need to chase Void Kong to the Earth’s center to save the day, but maybe you just want to soak in some water-adjacent locales as you explore this new world beneath the surface. There are plenty of secrets tucked away in each level’s hidden crevices. When you first hop in there is really only one thing to do: pick a direction and start smashing.
Donkey Kong Bananza takes Nintendo’s hallmark sandbox exploration and pushes it somewhere the studio rarely goes–pure chaos. Bananza is not interested in the kind of precision platforming that defines Mario’s visits to Peach’s Castle, Delfino Plaza, or outer space. It captures that same cheerful vibe, but lets players rip through it.
There is a long-running design idea at Nintendo that movement should feel good on its own. Shigeru Miyamoto once said he wanted players to enjoy moving Mario around an empty room. The reason Mario is so fun to control in Super Mario 64 is that Miyamoto and the small team behind the N64 classic spent months making sure he felt great to play, even if the only action possible was running around an empty space.
Combine that movement philosophy with tightly designed playgrounds and you get moments players never forget. There is nothing quite like triple hopping across the center square of Delfino Plaza, bouncing off an umbrella, and sliding into a chimney chute to grab a blue coin. It was fun just to jump around, which naturally encouraged exploration, which created a quick dopamine hit when a secret Shine Sprite appeared and the day literally got brighter.
Donkey Kong Bananza taps into that same feeling, but in an entirely different way. I am not guiding Donkey Kong across rooftops with three perfect hops. I am plowing through debris, carving my own path, and uncovering collectible-packed caverns. It becomes easy to wander off the main objective and start exploring every crack and crevice of the planet’s inner layers.
Platforming has always been a pillar of Nintendo design. Mario, Kirby, and Donkey Kong, along with other Nintendo icons, all focus on exploration through running, jumping, and a bit of flair. Donkey Kong Bananza keeps the flair, but adds a hefty serving of smash. It feels authentic because chaos is exactly what you expect from a rambunctious gorilla.
Nintendo has said before that playing as Donkey Kong should feel like an adventure through untamed spaces. Bananza producer Kenta Motokura echoed that idea in an interview, saying that with the goal of defining what 3D Donkey Kong should be and highlighting his strengths and new actions, the team felt the concept of destruction was the right fit.
In the end, Bananza succeeds because it embraces exactly what makes Donkey Kong special. It is loud, messy, and endlessly fun. The thrill is not just in reaching the core. It is in everything you smash, discover, and carve through along the way.
