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I know this might sound odd given I run a gaming website (and create gaming content on social media when I’m not writing), but it’s very rare these days that I get hooked on a game, as playing games mostly feels like work and just generally I haven’t felt excited about a new game in a long, long time and whilst I knew that I was going to love Donkey Kong Bananza after playing it three times before launch, it’s got its hooks in me in a way that I didn’t expect.
Whilst I’m loving getting through the game, taking down bosses, completing all the challenge rooms and just generally making progress and seeing what each layer has in store, it’s just the general smashing and collecting element that I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with.
I’m not really a completionist by any stretch of the imagination, but there’s something about collecting the fossils and banandium gems that just feels right and is scratching an itch that I don’t noramlly get from games. I think it’s the fact that they’re all hidden just well enough that you need to use a bit of logic to get to them, but they’re never too far out of distance that you’re not finding anything. The game really uses that “one more” mentality perfectly to keep its hooks in and stop you from putting it down.
Something I wasn’t expecting to love anywhere near as much is just how fun smashing in general is. Even when I’m not necessarily working towards the objective, I’m shocked at how much fun (and almost cathartic of an experience sashing through all the different terrain is. This is something I wasn’t expecting to love anywhere near as much as I didn’t really do a lot of exploration during my previews, but maybe that’s because I was trying to see as much of the game as possible.
Every time I pick the controller up, I’m struggling to buy it down (I was up past midnight both nights on the weekend) as even as I sit at my desk writing this out, all I can think about is getting back to the game to do some smashing and seeing what else I can find.
Equally, I’m loving the balance that the game has found between giving Donkey Kong this new identity with all new mechanics, and the little bits of nostalgia and classic DK goodness that come through in music, or certain mechanics, or side levels that re-create the classic Donkey Kong games.
I’m also really enjoying the shared experience of getting through the game and getting to talk to friends about their experience. Whilst Mario Kart World was great, this feels like the Switch 2 moment that we were all hoping to get with our consoles, and it feels like an experience that never would have been possible on the original.
I’ve still got some ways to go with the game, and I’m taking my time with it, but so far, it’s absolutely tracking above Super Mario Odyssey for me, which is saying a lot given it’s my favoruite Nintendo Switch game.
James gave the game a 10/10 in our review and said that it was “literally groundbreaking” and I really can’t see how you’d come away with any other opinion after playing it. You can read the full review HERE.
If you’re looking to grab Donkey Kong Bananza, it’s available on Amazon for $99 with free shipping HERE.
