It’s been a little over a month since the Switch 2 released, and if you read my impressions post, you know I was very happy with it. That being said, although I really like Mario Kart World, something seemed to be missing during the launch period. Since at least the Super Nintendo, there has always been a new, single player, first party adventure on a new Nintendo platform. Those can range in scope, like the fairly small Luigi’s Mansion on the Gamecube and the gigantic The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on the Switch, but there’s always something. Mario Kart World is a very good multiplayer game, but it didn’t scratch that same itch. Thankfully, Donkey Kong Bananza is here to set the Switch 2 straight.

At it’s surface, Donkey Kong Bananza is a pretty typical 3D platformer. In fact, a lot of it’s ideas are lifted straight from the development team’s last big project, Super Mario Odyssey. You, as Donkey Kong, run through big sprawling levels looking for Bandanium gems, which from this point on I will just refer to as “bananas”. There’s also smaller collectables like fossils, that can be used to unlock outfits. These two collectables map almost perfectly to Mario Odyssey’s moons and different colored coins. But there’s actually one big difference that really makes Bananza’s collectibles stand out.

In most 3D Mario games, Odyssey included, the main collectable is used to unlock new levels. This isn’t true in Donkey Kong Bananza. In this game, simply going from objective to objective will get you to the next area of the game. The bananas instead are used to unlock new abilities. In a surprise for the genre, Bananza has a full skill tree like an RPG. These skills can be entirely new moves, like a spin jump, or can be power ups for your already existing abilities. It’s interesting because unlike most Nintendo platformers, you really don’t have to collect very many of the collectables, but doing so will make thins much easier for you.

Let’s take a break from from how the game plays and talk about the set up. Donkey Kong is apparently working as a miner, digging for bananas. He and a crew of monkeys think they’ve stumbled onto a massive amount of bananas, when suddenly bad guys, three Kongs from a company called Void Co, show up and steal them all and head towards the center of the planet. But a strange living rock, called Odd Rock, escapes from Void Co and ends up teaming up with Donkey Kong. They chase after the bad guys by going deeper and deeper into the planet.

Each level is a layer of the inside of the earth. This is very easy to forget since there seems to be sky and sunlight and all sorts of typically not underground stuff. One level actually deals with restarting an artificial sun, so I suppose you can assume that all layers have those. Each layer is very different from each other, but include pretty standard platformer tropes. You’ve got a snowy level, and a beach level, and a jungle level, and so on. It’s a weird set up, but I think it’s fun and unique.

The way you get through these levels and find the collectables is one of the really interesting parts of the game. A lot of the environments are destructible, and Donkey Kong can literally punch through them. Different buttons are assigned to different directions that you can punch, one being up, one down, and one straight forward. Using these, you can dig straight down into the earth, or plow through a mountain, or whatever you like. Sometimes it can be fun to just smash through whatever you see in front of you.

Towards the end of the first level, you’ll come across the Kong Elder, who needs you to collect a record for him. Once you’ve done this, he’ll grant you Bananza powers, enabled through Odd Rock’s singing. I guess this is a spoiler, but it was in all the marketing so I’ll just say it, when Donkey Kong pounds his chest to give Odd Rock a beat, it explodes, revealing that it was actually Pauline this whole time. Pauline is significantly younger than her appearance in Mario Odyssey, making this likely a prequel. Now that she is free, Pauline can sing, unlocking DK’s first Bananza form, Kong Bananza.

Kong Bananza causing DK to grow much larger than he was previously and all his attacks are much more powerful. He can wind up for a devastating punch and can break through rocks too tough for DK’s normal form. You can only stay in Bananza form for a limited time, however collecting gold charges up refills the cooldown meter and can get you back into the form rather quickly. Throughout the game, you’ll collect several other Bananza forms that each have unique abilities that can all be enhanced with bananas.

There’s a lot to do in the game. While you can just mainline the game and get through in under twenty hours, there’s a total of 777 bananas to collect that will take you a long time to complete if you so choose. A lot of those are done in bonus areas. These are small areas inside little portals that Pauline’s singing opens up. They reminded me a lot of Breath of the Wild’s shrines, however I think they were really trying to reference Donkey Kong Country’s bonus areas. These challenges range from simply defeating a few enemies within a time limit to long platforming challenges.

Donkey Kong Bananza is exactly the game I wish I had right when the Switch 2 launched. A month wasn’t that long of a wait, but its absence was very noticeable. With familiar plarformer ideas, a lot of unique twists to the formula, and without spoiling, one of the best final boss encounters I think I’ve ever played, Donkey Kong Bananza is the first absolute must play Switch 2 exclusive.