4.5/5 ★ – ItsNeon2401's review of Donkey Kong Bananza.

(Spoiler Warning: this review spoils pretty much everything in the game. You have been warned) DK Bananza is Donkey Kong Odyssey. It feels like the 3D Mario team took all the common fan criticism from SMO and addressed it here, in pursuit of a core-gamer oriented experience rather than a casual one (which would likely have not addressed some criticism, and slapped a shiny coat of DK paint and a new mechanic (digging) on there. To start this review, I will go over the common criticisms addressed in the core design Power Moons feel quantity over quality, making them feel worthless/unimportant. While I did not feel this myself, many did, with the abundance of moons just out in the open in an easy spot. In this game, pretty much every banandium gem is either at least hidden, locked to a story objective, or difficult to reach. The few that are not, do not feel worthless because of DK’s skill tree, letting him use skill points acquired from banandium gems to get stronger The main story being largely optional in each kingdom devalues it. Also did not feel this one myself but now, the main story is the only mandatory part of the game, where you can even go as far as to not collect any banandium gems Costumes should have benefits. Now they do, and some of them are pretty powerful Captures feel sparse, pointless, and less fun than Mario’s core moveset. I did not feel this one but now instead of captures, there are 5 bananza transformations, each building off of DK’s core moveset in different ways instead of replacing it (strength, utility, height, agility, flight), none of which feeling like a downgrade, all of which being something you can begin and end at will The Broodals feel devoid of any personality. VoidCo is much better Now I’m going to go over the core game features present, including DK’s moveset and progression. DK’s moveset feels almost perfect for the ape. Using a mix of rolling, jumping, bananza techniques, and object oriented techniques, there’s a good amount of skill expression present here. The bananza forms are a little unbalanced, with zebra feeling underpowered, only really fulfilling certain small, niche use cases in the game, Kong being irrelevant once you get elephant due to its enhanced mining capabilities, and elephant being OP. Both ostrich and snake are in a good spot though due to their use in navigating the environment. Another issue with bananza forms is the fact that the meter fills up so fast, you pretty much spend zero time unable to transform if you need, and if your meter isnt full, you can use either melon juice or like 30 seconds mining to fill it. It feels like an afterthought or something the team decided was unnecessary a little too late DK has a lot of techniques he can do with held items too. He can hold a rock and dig faster, jump off of a held rock in the air, and some materials have extra uses like explosions and rocket propulsion and light. Because of this, chipping away at the environment for something to use is central to the core experience, as necessary as using a barrel roll to delay a jump into midair or doing a spin jump for extra height Mining as a core mechanic is interesting, as this game buries a lot of things in the ground like caves, fossils, banandium gems, and generated treasure chests with maps to these things. It feels really satisfying to mine, especially with the elephant trunk, to the point I think its a problem. Mining in this game for long periods of time feels as addictive and nearly as detrimental as doomscrolling social media (without the downside of well, the doom). I spent far longer than I would wish mining even before going for 100% because of this, and as someone with ADHD, it feels like it fed into my executive dysfunction in a dangerous way. Other games with mining often have something to make it less of an issue. Stardew Valley has dangerous monsters and a time limit, Minecraft has creative ambitions and resource management on top of that; these games have additional game elements that force the player to think, plan, and risk their virtual lives to avoid this particular dynamic, where as DKB’s enemies and bananza timers are so inconsequential that this game doesn’t. Even as I write this review, my brain longs for the satisfaction of sucking up 3 or so chests in 3 seconds, all of them releasing a trove of gold for me to collect DK’s core moveset feels great too, but the general physics in this game feel kinda bouncy to the point where I occasionally would lose a jump I pressed because DK stalled in the air for a moment. He’s a tiny bit slower than I would like, and the camera gets a little too close for a little too long sometimes, especially while mining, but his rolling and jumps feel great The level system in this game is fantastic, and works as a form of scalable difficulty for players. Most upgrades feel like they’re worth it in some form (except less chest pound time) and allows players to scale how they want in certain areas, like taking more health for an easier experience or more digging power for a more fluid one. You can also avoid this system entirely for what looks like would be a brutal playthrough of the game. On top of this, you can level up rest spots called Getaways for more benefits every time you sleep in them, by finding more of them, another form of this scalability This games bosses are a mixed bag (and here’s where we get into heavy spoiler territory). Void’s employees, and their constructs, are pretty weak. You can dismantle them pretty quickly with punches and throws. However, once you get to Void himself, he puts up a decent fight. He constantly runs away and throws large, fast obstacles at you, and his last fight even includes a lot in the way of terrain hazards. The real star of the game though (LAST CHANCE SPOILER WARNING) is the King K Rool fight. Its all about bananza technique and area control, and only comes after a long segment of platforming where you must use all 5 bananzas to progress. By challenging his attacks head on with good timing, you can defeat him a little easier, but the fight is hectic enough and terrain eventually hazardous enough that it remains engaging even on repeat fights. I do wish there was a hard mode for it in the post game, but we can’t have everything. Now I’m going to talk about the content in this game, including levels, narrative, and postgame. The game starts with DK going to Ingot Isle to mine bananas, and he gets sucked into the underground when VoidCo begins massive mining operations there. Along the way he meets a 13 year old Pauline and helps her grow out of her anxiety around performing while they race VoidCo to the planet core to wish upon the Banandium Root for infinite bananas and a safe return home for Pauline, whose singing power led to VoidCo kidnapping her and can awaken the legendary Banandium Root. When they reach the layer just before the core, Void baits Pauline into singing by turning DK into stone, freeing King K Rool from imprisonment as he had attempted to reach the root prior. The twist with K Rool at the end was kool especially with the games enemies being revealed to be skeletal constructs based on his army, but the real star of the show here is Pauline and DK’s relationship. Through getaway conversations and story cutscenes, seeing DK and the elders empower Pauline throughout their journey and after is incredibly endearing and easily the best narrative in a game by this team. Its also nice to finally learn so much about her after she’s been in the franchise for so long, and her fully voiced single in the credits really wraps up the entire experience in a nice heartfelt bow. How VoidCo is written is nice too, with Grumpy and Poppy coming around after being beaten by DK a couple times. The story in the levels themselves is quite basic though, it's a rehash of Odyssey where VoidCo’s visit left the place in disarray and it's up to DK to fix things to progress. The density of obstacles in each level is much more prevalent in this one generally, leading to the levels feeling more perilous and meticulously designed. Even when there’s a larger area, it's generally made for something like surfing or adapting to the game’s mechanics. Places like the Frozen and Forest layers make digging a ton a risk before getting the elephant bananza because you can really easily dig into hazards or off the map. The sub areas also feel more meticulously designed, with 3 banandium gems compared to 2 moons, and often have more interesting mechanics compared to Odyssey. They’re also generally harder. There’s also the bananza rehearsals, which are semifinal gauntlets meant to test your bananza skills, and most of them can get pretty tricky, making a nice endgame challenge. However, the final challenge level in the game is quite disappointing. It's fairly succinct, and doesn’t quite reach the same level of challenge presented in the rehearsals. It felt like just when it was about to ramp up, it ended, and despite most of the game being more difficult than all others by this team, this final level does not hold up with stuff like Champion’s Road, Grandmaster Galaxy, and Darker Side of the Moon, all of which felt like more fitting final gauntlets Overall, Donkey Kong Bananza does a ton right. But its digging mechanic and lackluster postcredits finale, alongside some minor preferences I have regarding core gameplay, leaves it an imperfect, yet still great game in my eyes. Rank: A