Donkey Kong Bananza Can’t Come Soon Enough

Although it is only a month away, Donkey Kong Bananza cannot come soon enough in my opinion. There has been a lot of chatter about the lack of first party experiences for the Nintendo Switch 2, but once Donkey Kong launches on July 17th, I imagine that rhetoric will die down very quickly. Although I was less than impressed by this new Donkey Kong adventure when the game was first announced and shown off, I’ve come full circle after the latest Nintendo Direct.

Donkey Kong 64 holds such a special place in my heart. It was my favourite experience on the Nintendo 64 when it launched, and as Nintendo made its way through the Nintendo Switch years, it was one game I always wanted remastered. Although I recognized that Donkey Kong Bananza was going to be a special experience, it didn’t look like the Donkey Kong experience I wanted. Fast forward to 9:00 AM Eastern time today, June 18th. Now, Donkey Kong is looking like a Game of the Year potential.

My main issue with the first glimpses we got of Donkey Kong Bananza was that the game didn’t seem to be offering players very much. Breaking down the environment looked like a neat idea, but that was going to get pretty boring, pretty quickly, right? Sure, collecting giant banana gems would be fun, but I still left those videos and previews wanting so much more. Now we got it. Power-ups from Elders, shops to spend a variety of currencies, costumes that provide actual benefits, and so much more – I’m ready for the next iteration of Donkey Kong Bananza.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVUidGTR8xg

There is a lot to unpack from today’s Nintendo Direct, and I’m sure you’ve seen it already so I’m not going to write at length about what we saw. This does feel, though, like the Donkey Kong equivalent of Mario Odyssey, but improved in a variety of ways. The power-ups look fantastic: we only saw the gorilla, zebra, and ostrich, but I wonder what other animal powers we are going to see? I’m assuming we might see one per world we visit? That could be incorrect, but I’m hopeful!

I love all the ways we are going to be able to spend currency. Banana Chips can be traded in for gems, gold can be used for one-shot items, you can purchase clothing that gives various buffs, and so much. I love that we are not just collecting things for the sake of collecting them – they all seem to provide some kind of purpose. One or two collectible types are cool with me, but I find games are getting away from providing benefits and moving towards giant collect-a-thons.

We saw a bunch of familiar Kongs as well. Cranky Kong, Diddy Kong, and Dixie Kong, as well as everyone’s favourite Rhino, Rambi. We were shown off a bunch of sub-world missions that we can take on, including a “Defeat all the Enemies” area and a side scrolling mine cart section. Diddy and Dixie were shown off in two parts of the Direct, one of which looked like a race using Rambi. Perhaps another minigame?

All of these cameos made me wonder: will we see other popular Kongs and baddies? Will King K Rool make an appearance? Wouldn’t it be great if we saw Chunky, Tiny, Funky, and Lanky? I would love to see some throwbacks to the last 3D Donkey Kong title, and I’m holding out hope that this will happen!

My desire to play Donkey Kong Bananza is off the charts, and I’ve never been more excited for a video game in a long, long time. July 17th cannot come soon enough!