Donkey Kong Bananza

Donkey Kong Bananza is a 3D platform adventure for Nintendo Switch 2, released on July 17, 2025. Nintendo announced it in the April 2, 2025, Nintendo Switch 2 Direct. It places Donkey Kong in his first newly made 3D platformer starring role since Donkey Kong 64. The story opens on Ingot Isle, where a discovery of Golden Bananas attracts DK. VoidCo, a mining company, takes the treasure underground, sending him after it. This premise anchors the game’s descent through a succession of underground layers toward Planet Core. Nintendo presents Bananza as a Switch 2 exclusive release, rather than a cross-generation game. During his chase, Donkey Kong meets Pauline, who is depicted as a young singer and is stranded below the surface. Her goal is to get home; DK’s is recovering the Golden Bananas. Their partnership is central to both the plot and the mechanics. Pauline sings to trigger Bananza transformations, temporary forms that change how DK moves and interacts with terrain. Nintendo has shown Kong Bananza, Zebra Bananza, Ostrich Bananza, Snake Bananza, and Elephant Bananza. These transformations supply distinct abilities, including heavier smashing, fast running, gliding, climbing, and vacuuming up material. Their destination is Planet Core, where wishes can be granted. A defining feature is the amount of destructible terrain. Donkey Kong can punch through walls, floors, and rock, then pick up or throw pieces of the environment. This is not merely visual damage: breaking routes can expose collectibles, open shortcuts, or create new paths across each layer. The game also uses challenge courses and side areas that test its movement and destruction systems. The Bananza forms extend that design rather than replacing it, since transformations help DK traverse obstacles or alter terrain in specific ways. Pauline accompanies him during exploration and her singing is required to activate these forms. This emphasizes the partnership beyond story scenes. Nintendo has emphasized the game’s local cooperative play. A second player can control Pauline while the first controls Donkey Kong. In that mode, Pauline can use vocal attacks aimed with the Joy-Con 2’s mouse controls, while DK continues moving and demolishing terrain. Bananza also supports GameShare, allowing local multiplayer play with another Switch 2, and Nintendo advertised a GameChat option for online communication. These features sit alongside solo campaign, not instead of it. The title follows Donkey Kong’s long-running Nintendo series, but its setting, young Pauline, VoidCo, destruction-driven exploration, and transformation system distinguish this installment from earlier Donkey Kong games.