The Game Awards: Could Donkey Kong Bananza Surprise and Win GOTY 2025?

The Game Awards 2025 is approaching as the most important event on the annual video game industry calendar, bringing heated debates, bets, and endless discussions about which title truly marked the year.

Among the most talked-about contenders is Donkey Kong Bananza, the new game in the franchise that began in the 80s, emerging as a candidate that blends nostalgia, innovation, and its own identity. In a season full of major releases, the return of the Nintendo gorilla has put fans and analysts on alert, leaving one question: "Could this be the year that Donkey Kong finally wins the coveted Game of the Year (GOTY) award?

In this article, we’ll see Why Donkey Kong Bananza could win the award and also why it might not win, analyzing its strengths, limitations, impact, and relevance within the industry.

The importance of Bananza goes beyond what it represents as a game. It symbolizes the complete revitalization of a series that went years without a major release, while simultaneously taking on a difficult challenge: competing with highly anticipated narratives, innovative proposals, and sequels such as Hades II, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach. Despite this, amidst so many giants, Donkey Kong Bananza managed to be remembered and taken extremely seriously.

The Grand Return of a Historic Franchise

Donkey Kong isn't just a video game character; he's a cornerstone of the industry's history. His return as the main protagonist in Bananza represents over four decades of legacy. The game managed to honor this past without becoming a prisoner of it, delivering a modern, dynamic, and artistically impressive adventure. Throughout 2025, audiences repeatedly expressed a desire to see classic franchises receive the treatment they deserve, and Bananza managed to live up to that very well.

This return also carries symbolic weight. After years of expectations, rumors, internal cancellations, and creative changes, Nintendo delivered what many fans were hoping for: a new Donkey Kong with its own spirit, full of personality, and with an identity that made the character an icon since the arcade era.

Visual and Artistic Style

Donkey Kong Bananza has been almost unanimously praised for its art direction, a combination of highly detailed graphics, vibrant colors, and fluid animations that transformed each scene on DK Island into a visually stunning game. The tropical aesthetic, mixed with tribal and technological elements, has built a unique identity that sets it apart from other platform games released in recent years.

Unlike many games that strive for realism or minimalism, Bananza presents a fantasy world. The richness of detail isn’t only visual but also narrative. Every screen, background, creature, and item contributes to the feeling of a living world where art isn’t merely scenery, but part of the experience.

Creative and Evolved Gameplay

Gameplay has always been a defining aspect of the Donkey Kong series, especially after the franchise's relaunch in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Tropical Freeze. Bananza manages to maintain this tradition, but advances by introducing new mechanics, such as the acrobatic combo system that allows Donkey Kong to keep up the pace in aerial and maritime levels. The game also brings back the iconic mounts, now with unique abilities that alter the structure of the levels. In addition, a new “Bananza Burst” meter enables special moves when collecting rare fruits. The game also features more complex environmental interactions, with scenarios that change according to the pace of the level or the player's actions.

Soundtrack

It’d be impossible to talk about Donkey Kong without mentioning its music. The soundtrack composed for Bananza became one of the game's strong points, with a mix of tribal rhythms, jazz, tropical rock, and atmospheric melodies that adapt to the level design. Each region of the island has its own sonic identity, creating a feeling of being in a diverse and vibrant world.

The music also functions as a narrative element, evoking nostalgic emotions, setting the mood for the challenges, and guiding the gameplay rhythm. Donkey Kong has always had a deep relationship with its music, and Bananza has managed to honor that legacy.

Extensive Content and Replayability

One of the strongest points of Bananza is the sheer volume of content in the game. Beyond the main levels, there are optional challenges, complex collectibles, secret bosses, alternative paths, and extra modes that extend the game's lifespan. Speedrunners, especially, have found Bananza to be a feast, with levels designed to optimize movement, hidden paths that favor fast routes, and physics that reward precision and creativity.

Impact and Public Reaction

The release of Bananza produced an effect that few games achieve, becoming a phenomenon: memes, songs, fan art, speedruns, and challenges dominated social media. The community embraced the game, and its constant presence in content made it more than just a simple release. Critical reception was also extremely positive, with many outlets pointing to the game as the best Donkey Kong ever made since Tropical Freeze.

Despite its qualities, Donkey Kong Bananza also has weaknesses, areas in which some competitors may have excelled. Below, we analyze the game's vulnerabilities.

Limited Innovation

Although Bananza has evolved, it doesn't represent such a radical leap in the platforming game formula. In 2025, many games sought to expand the concept of interactive narrative, gameplay, or artistic experimentation. Donkey Kong, on the other hand, follows a more traditional structure, without completely reinventing the genre. Despite being excellent, Bananza stays within its comfort zone.

Simple Story

The story of Bananza is fun, light, and effective within its own scope. However, compared to dense and cinematic narratives, the game's storyline may seem somewhat unadventurous. While narrative simplicity isn't a flaw, especially in platformers, in the overall context, the emotional depth, character development, and narrative structure might put Bananza at a disadvantage.

It can be seen as "more of the same"

While many fans loved Bananza's approach, others pointed out that it doesn't stray far from the already established formula. Some say that the game, despite being technically flawless, isn't surprising enough; in other words, it's excellent, but not exceptional enough to redefine the platforming genre.

Exaggerated Expectations

Like any game that carries a heavy burden, Bananza also grapples with expectations. Some players anticipated more radical changes, such as an open world, deep narrative systems, or completely new mechanics, and were frustrated to find that the game maintains the classic structure of the series. While these criticisms don't compromise its quality, they can affect the game's reputation and dampen the enthusiasm of new players.

Ultimately, Donkey Kong Bananza creatively and perfectly represents the strength of classic Nintendo franchises. It's a fun game, technically perfect, artistically beautiful, and full of personality. It deserves to be among the nominees, but its victory depends on how the jury interprets what they want for GOTY in 2025.

Bananza revitalized a historic franchise with impeccable execution, brilliant gameplay, and the expected impact. However, it didn't have a major innovation, narrative, complexity, or transformation of the franchise.

In the end, Bananza may not reinvent the wheel, but it spins that wheel with mastery, beauty, and passion. Now we just have to wait for the award and see if Bananza takes home the GOTY 2025, or not.