A common criticism of the AAA industry these days is that while the big publishers have continued to make their games more extravagant in a variety of ways, too often they’re failing to innovate, letting their franchises stagnate. Given Nintendo’s major franchise releases since the launch of the Switch, it’s fair to argue that they’re working their hardest to buck that trend, though in general the movement appears to be towards more open-world designs. Starting with Breath of the Wild they absolutely threw down the gauntlet, radically altering the franchise while retaining many of its core elements. Mario Odyssey felt like a somewhat safer move by comparison, though working all of the transformations and incredible throwback nods into the mix were appreciated. Now, with Donkey Kong Bananza, they’ve taken another big leap forward, mixing together loads of exploration, some fun new power-ups, and a ton of chaotic destruction to redefine gamers’ expectations for the Donkey Kong franchise.

Working to identify the game’s best selling points, I’d start with the fact that it feels like it has managed to find a terrific balance overall. One of the aspects of Odyssey that was a little disappointing for me was the lack of fun combat, something Bananza doesn’t shy away from. Whether stomping around in the different layers and finding random encounters, taking on challenge stages that can sometimes get hectic since they’re usually timed, or tackling the game’s pretty varied boss fights, there’s no lack of brawling challenges here. Of course, once you’ve started mastering each of the Bananza forms, the added fun is in the variety of options you’ll have at your disposal for taking enemies out. Whether straight-up brawling as Kong, dropping egg bombs as the Ostrich, or charging in with speed as the Zebra, each form offers not only opportunities to get around specific obstacles, but also viable combat options as well. 

That combination of abilities is also extremely handy for getting around the map, sometimes in ways that clearly weren’t intended, and that’s also a testament to the developers’ confident and very open-ended stage design. That fact that you can use your radar to spot key resources hidden close by and then plow through stone in a frenzy of punches makes for a constant stream of distractions, but if you want to keep focused that remains an option. The only problem with sticking mainly to the core mission is that you’ll likely miss out on the benefit of loads of different skill improvements you can make as you continue to accumulate more bananas. Rather than the objects of your desire simply being there to collect for their own sake, the game heavily incentivizes you to hunt them all down in order to unlock new skills, stat boosts, and improvements that can really come in handy. Throw in outfits that not only allow you to be more stylish, but then also provide a variety of boosts as well, and you have plenty of opportunities to not only look great, but aid yourself in your adventure. I also love that if the pathfinding or combat are too difficult for you somehow that you have a number of helpful accessibility options to enable as well, helping to ensure that just about anyone should be able to enjoy this wild adventure.

While I wouldn’t consider the list of issues to be a long one, over many hours of play there were some quirks that popped up and are worth being aware of. Probably the most common that you’ll see, but that you do get used to over time, is that when you begin busting things up underground, the camera sometimes really has no idea where to go or what to do. Of course, that’s unfortunate to pair with a game where there’s so much emphasis on the fun and utility of doing precisely that, but the caveat to this as a complaint, is that honestly I’m not positive there’s a foolproof and clear solution to the problem. I’d consider this less of a failure, than a case of the development team somewhat painting themselves into a corner that anyone would be hard-pressed to solve. Another less common issue that would sometimes crop up would be a degree of confusion in the animations and mechanics when transitioning between terrain types or angles, with the game hitching a little visually or stuttering while changing over. Again, to some degree this feels like a function of the ambitious design, and that given all of the different ways you can move around and between zones or materials, it would be challenging to make it all bulletproof. I’ve seen mention of framerate suffering in some specific cases, but honestly I only noticed it twice in a later boss fight, but otherwise I didn’t bump into feeling there was an issue, so for me that felt like an inflated concern.

Taking it all into consideration, Bonanza really feels like a substantial upgrade to the 3D adventuring seen in Mario Odyssey, while also setting itself apart comfortably enough that it can be in its own franchise space. The destruction element, and DK’s different forms, absolutely stand out as unique features, even if some of the core movements and actions you can perform may feel vaguely similar. Of course, it would be a mistake not to mention numerous callback stages and guest appearances that older fans should absolutely appreciate, and in particular I was very happy to hear the pounding sounds of the DK Rap once more, getting its silly due. Whether you’re a fan of the Donkey Kong Country series, Mario, or pretty well any 3D platformer, and you’re open to some new chaotic fun, Donkey Kong Bananza is extremely easy to recommend and call out as an early and easy Game of the Year (non-indie, of course) contender.