The thing about a sandbox, the literal kind that I played in as a child, is that it necessitates the “box” part. Without a clear structure and boundaries, it’s simply a pit of sand, and this renders it far less interesting to even the most imaginative minds. As humans we desire freedom in both space and action, but void of rules or goals we’re bereft of vision and doomed to chaos. These are things I thought about during four hours of a preview build of Donkey Kong Bananza, a Nintendo game where a caked-up gorilla and a tween girl punch their way to the centre of the world.
When it was first revealed, and again when I treated myself to a 20-minute morsel of a demo back in May, Bananza looked to be a fun diversion in Nintendo’s early Switch 2 catalogue. An experimental B-game that promised the kinds of freeform environmental destruction we left back in the aughts with Red Faction Guerilla (promise I won’t make the joke), I wondered if the result would betray the kinds of tight movement and level design we associate with Nintendo’s history of 3D platformers. I worried it’d be more pit than box, then, but after ploughing my way through numerous layers of its stratified underground world I’m feeling confident that this isn’t just a sandbox – it’s a whole damned playground.
Across a short introductory sequence and three distinctly-themed layers of its world, I’ve come to understand a lot more about Bananza’s design philosophy. To my delight this is still a 3D collectathon platformer at its core, and it comes with all of the craft that Nintendo’s studios have honed over decades. The parallels to Super Mario Odyssey in particular run deeper than I’d anticipated, heavily suggesting that this is, in fact, a Nintendo EPD Tokyo joint. Those familiar with Odyssey’s sprawling level layouts packing loosely guided objectives and secrets galore will feel right at home here, DK’s penchant for punching through terrain giving the experience added flavour more than outright changing the menu.
Our preview began at a familiar point – the very beginning of the game – which I’d previously had a go at during that earlier demo. The setup here is as succinct as you’d expect from a Nintendo platformer, as we witness DK’s day-to-day upended by the arrival of a trio of baddies known as VoidCo, and with them a calamitous purple meteor that plunges DK deep underground. From here, our hairy hero discovers that the best way back up is down, right to the world’s core where legend says he’ll be granted his heart’s desire. Will it be a ticket back up to the surface? Will it simply be more bananas? Who can tell with this guy?
And so begins an adventure deeper and deeper down, through a series of layers and sub layers that are worlds in and of themselves. It’s quite a neat concept and one that I’m excited to see unfold in the full game. The first major area we found ourselves in for this demo was the Lagoon Layer, a beachy paradise in which the inhabitants are having trouble with the water in the upper levels not draining down into the lower ones.
This was my first real taste of Bananza that wasn’t just smashing through walls and grabbing chunks of the floor to hurl at whatever looked my way, a proper platforming challenge that required deft navigation with plenty of jumping, climbing and being shot out of barrels – classic stuff. Although DK can freely climb, bust through or even build onto many of the surfaces he encounters, the level design is such that obstacles and predefined paths do still exist, the breadth of potential solutions is just that much wider. It’s a philosophy that worked wonders for Tears of the Kingdom, so it’s cool to see that direction applied to a totally different genre and property.
The Lagoon Layer is also where I got my first taste of one of the titular “Bananza” transformations that were recently revealed in the game’s dedicated Nintendo Direct. The first of these is Kong Bananza, gifted to DK in a story beat where we’re also introduced to the young Pauline for the first time in-game and recover an ancient record to place on something called the Eterntable, which is just a fantastic pun. These forms are temporary power-ups, usable once you’ve filled a metre by collecting gold, and the Kong Bananza is a hulking powerhouse of an ape that can obliterate even tougher materials with fists alone. It also happens to be cheeked up like nobody’s business, including the kinds of detailed glute physics I wouldn’t have expected to see in a Nintendo platformer.
The next area we were loaded into for this preview was the Canyon Layer, a sweeping swathe of dusty, red cliffs peppered with mines and refineries. Like the Lagoon, the folks here have their own way of living and their own idiosyncrasies that makes this place feel like a unique microcosm. Here I was also able to get a handle on some more features I hadn’t played with before, including DK’s team-up with Pauline.
In single-player, Pauline’s main function is to provide backup vocals to DK’s symphony of destruction, belting out melodies at the press of a button. Typically, holding down the Sing button will realise a trail of notes to guide players toward whatever the core objective is, but it can also be used to open VoidCo seals that occasionally impede progress. Where Pauline really feels like part of the team is in co-op mode, which allows a second player to take loose control of her and use her voice to support DK. In this mode, Pauline can copy the materials of objects around her and use them to fire onomatopoeic projectiles with the same properties.
In my demo, my co-op partner helped me win an intense boss fight against an enemy encased in hard stone by copying said stone and firing it back at it, obliterating its defences so I could pummel the unfortunate soul inside. It seems like it’ll be a powerful tool for younger or less experienced players to get a helping hand from a second player, while still keeping things interesting for their support. Super Mario Galaxy’s Co-Star mode this is not. This ability was also quite useful in the Canyon’s minecart sections, a gimmick that should immediately register either the greenest or most shockingly red flags for Donkey Kong Country veterans. In these, DK can pick up bombs and throw them at bits in the background while riding along set tracks, a fun way to marry a bit of the old with a bit of the new.
Something that the Canyon Layer highlighted more than anything else so far is the extent to which these increasingly-deep worlds are made to feel like lived-in places. There are tons of NPCs to chat to, some which run shops where you can buy new outfits for DK and Pauline (which do have actual character benefits to them) or pick up some Banandium Gems to add points to your growing skill tree, or even build yourself a little Getaway room to sleep in and replenish your health. It really is a natural evolution of what we saw in Odyssey, and gives Bananza an air of depth (puns!) that really legitimises it against modern “AAA” expectations, but more importantly adds a stupid amount of charm.
Opening up the map in this area, I also noticed that it was labelled with a Terrain Strength rating of two out of five stars, higher than in Lagoon. I couldn’t come to a definitive conclusion on what this rating is measuring, but it seems to be either a quirky difficulty measure or a way to denote the breadth and density of the materials you’ll encounter there. The Canyon certainly has a diversity of dirt, with everything from soft sand to clay to hard concrete and rock, and I’m pleased with how tactile it all is with softer materials acting more constructive than destructive. Yes, you can make a giant clay Kong Dong should the need strike you.
Speaking of, and I’m sure this is something that will be displayed and discussed across the internet as soon as these embargoed previews go live, the fine folks at Nintendo have accidentally let a little of their freak out with Kong Bananza’s beefy cakes. Not only are there subtle cheek physics when he runs around, but riding in one of this level’s minecarts in Kong Bananza form really pushes those physics to the max. It’s, uh, it’s something.
The final layer we took a look at in this preview was the Forest Layer. As you might expect, this was a very temperate and overgrown locale filled with lush greenery, but also packed with danger from giant, spiny brambles to toxic lakes. Here I got a chance to try out another transformation, the Ostrich Bananza, which retains the himbo energy of the Kong Bananza but adds a gliding “Flutter” move along with the ability to drop explosive eggs. It did feel initially a little underpowered in comparison to Kong, but a few unlocks in the skill tree quickly increased its utility and potential, which is reassuring.
We were a little more restricted in progressing through this area, from an embargo perspective, so I spent much of my time in Forest Layer just cruising around looking for secrets. To my absolute delight, one such secret was an optional challenge area that for all intents and purposes is a classic 2D Donkey Kong level complete with barrel launching segments and peppered with some of the terrain-y gameplay bits from Bananza proper. The game features a heap of these mini challenge rooms, once again seemingly inspired by the modern Zelda titles, but I’m really hoping to see more of these throwback diversions crop up throughout the full game, because they’re a wonderful little nod to the series’ history.
Usually I’d come away from a preview session like this with at least a few uncertainties or concerns, but a handful of hours with Donkey Kong Bananza has shown me a game that’s poised to exceed my substantial expectations. There’s genuinely so much more I could talk about after this demo, but I’ve blown right through my usual word count just to get this far. It’s a gorgeous, sprawling, goofy and destructively satisfying romp that would have to take some pretty hard turns in the final product to change my mind.
What does give me some pause is to think about how this game will go on the Nintendo Switch 2’s dedicated display. Given that performance isn’t promised in docked mode, and given how visually busy Bananza can be at times, I’m not convinced that running it with less juice and on an LCD with such low response times is going to result in a good experience. Guesswork on my part, though! It’s one of those things we just won’t know until we have the opportunity to try it.
All I can say is bring on July 17th! And also… “Oh, Banana!”
Previewed at an event hosted by Nintendo of Australia
Click here for more information on WellPlayed’s preview policy and ethics
