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

DK Bananza is one of those games that I had absolutely no trouble playing through. The feel of movement and destruction in this game is kinetic in a way that most games can’t capture. And it’s chock full of that signature Nintendo charm. I think what kept this from being a 5/5 for me was the lack of interesting boss design until the end. While the minute to minute gameplay was fantastic, there aren’t a lot of “wow moments” until you get close to credits. It’s steadily amazing throughout. I never felt frustrated or bored. I glided through this world like a monkey possessed. I finished the campaign with close to 600 of the 700+ bananas. Even then, it only hit that S tier territory on a few instances for me. That’s not to say Bananza isn’t special. But it’s not quite it. Not quite an all-timer. A for sure GOTY contender in a year where I’m having trouble connecting with a lot of games. And finally allowed me to sigh in relief that my Switch 2 was worth it. I’ll probably come back and continue to crack away at 100%. But for now I’m putting DK down, if only to sleep again without hearing Pauline sing about Zebras in my head.