Donkey Kong Bananza

 Nintendo Switch 2
Donkey Kong Bananza Image
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 143 Critic Reviews What's this?

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  • Summary: The big guy is back—and he’s not alone! Explore a vast underground world with Donkey Kong and Pauline—by smashing your way through it! With DK’s brute force and Pauline’s special singing abilities, you can crash through walls, carve tunnels with your fists, punch straight down into theThe big guy is back—and he’s not alone! Explore a vast underground world with Donkey Kong and Pauline—by smashing your way through it! With DK’s brute force and Pauline’s special singing abilities, you can crash through walls, carve tunnels with your fists, punch straight down into the ground, and even tear off chunks of terrain to swing around and throw in groundbreaking exploration. The more you smash, the more areas open up to explore. Join DK and his companion, Pauline, as they delve deep underground—and discover that this subterranean world is a lot more than it seems on the surface. Uncover a variety of environments such as arid canyons, lush forests, and frigid tundra as you peel back the world’s layers. [Nintendo]… Expand
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Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 143 out of 143
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 143
  3. Negative: 0 out of 143
  1. The Outerhaven
    Aug 27, 2025
    100
    Donkey Kong Bananza is nothing short of a revelation and revolution about what DK can be as a character and how his games can be different from Mario’s, Kirby’s, and others of his platforming ilk. He and Pauline are the epic “dynamic duo” that Nintendo can rally around to start the Switch 2 age, and you’ll love this game from start to finish…then go back for even more.
  2. Eurogamer Portugal
    Jul 16, 2025
    100
    Donkey Kong Bananza is one of Nintendo's funniest games ever, capable of bringing smiles to children's faces and energizing adults' love of video games. The 3D levels are playgrounds that you can almost completely destroy, in a design that uses simplicity as a launch pad for a huge amount of fun.
  3. Multiplayer.it
    Jul 16, 2025
    95
    If Super Mario Odyssey were a music album, it would be a top-tier Art Pop record. Donkey Kong Bananza, on the other hand, leans more towards baroque Progressive Rock. The game starts off slowly, but it's a continuous crescendo leading to a masterful finale, with unique, deep, and often brilliant mechanics. It's one of the best 3D platformers ever made - deeply respectful of the character's past, yet entirely forward-looking.
  4. GAMES.CH
    Jul 16, 2025
    90
    Donkey Kong Bananza is just the best Switch 2 exclusive so far. The destruction system alone offers so much fun and is rounded out by world exploring, a cool combat system, nice puzzles and a high variety of motivating challenges. The bosses could have been a little harder, but ultimately that's just a minor weak spot in a fantastic 3D platformer.
  5. DBLTAP
    Jul 21, 2025
    90
    It’s a little messy and definitely has a few missed opportunities, but the core gameplay is so much fun that I couldn’t put it down. It captures the thrill of exploration that made Odyssey so compelling while taking the gameplay mechanics in a completely unique direction that kept developing in ways I didn’t see coming, and that’s exactly why I love Nintendo’s fun-first approach to design so much. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to buy a Switch 2, it’s just arrived.
  6. Voxel
    Jul 16, 2025
    90
    With only a few technical flaws, Donkey Kong Bananza is a game that gets almost everything right in what it set out to do and deliver to fans of the gorilla. It's refreshing to see the character getting a brand-new game—especially in a different formula from what we’ve been used to seeing since the 1990s.
  7. Gamesurf
    Jul 16, 2025
    80
    Donkey Kong Bananza is a great adventure and a good 3D platformer, not always great, but it makes up for it with the ambition and originality of the ideas it proposes. Conveying the spirit of the last chapters, made of extreme precision and endless attempts, would not have been easy within a completely destructible 3D world. Maybe that's why a softer path was chosen, which sometimes leaves you bewildered, just like being inside a mountain digging your fists in without knowing where to go. Perhaps, more simply, Donkey Kong Bananza is a good game, but not the epoch-making platformer that is expected at the launch of a new Nintendo console.

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Awards & Rankings

5
#5 Best Nintendo Switch 2 Game of 2025