When the Switch 2 was fully unveiled back in April, we weren't alone in expecting the announcement of a true follow-up to Super Mario Odyssey—one of the original Switch's best-selling games and our pick for the best game of 2017. Instead, we got our first look at Donkey Kong Bananza, the big ape's first fully 3D adventure since the Rare-developed Donkey Kong 64 back in 1999.
The fact that Nintendo wasn't willing to commit its longstanding plumber mascot to its first first-party platformer on the Switch 2 could have been seen as a sign of a rushed, second-tier spin-off effort here. After playing through Donkey Kong Bananza, though, I'm happy to report nothing could be further from the truth for this deep and worthy spiritual successor to Super Mario Odyssey (from many of the same development staff). Donkey Kong Bananza captures the same sense of joyful movement and exploration as the best Mario games, while adding in an extremely satisfying terrain destruction system that shows off the Switch 2 hardware to great effect.
Beat up the earth
Its that terrain destruction system that most sets Donkey Kong Bananza from previous 3D platformers from Nintendo and others. Fully three of the four face buttons on the Switch 2 controllers are devoted to letting Donkey Kong punch either horizontally, upward, or downward, often taking out large chunks of the nearby scenery as he does.
